Curtis Campher – take a bow!
Irish cricketer Curtis Campher made history on Thursday with an unlikely, stunning feat while playing for Munster Reds against North-West Warriors in the Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy.
Campher, an Ireland international, has become the first ever male player to take five wickets in five balls in professional cricket. Yep, in the entire history of the game, going back to when records began in the 19th century, an Irish player is the first to record five straight wickets.
Campher, who finished on figures of 5 wickets for 16 runs from 2.3 overs, said he was initially unaware of the record.
He told Cricket Ireland: “I wasn’t really sure what was happening. I just kind of stuck to my guns and kept it real simple and luckily it kind of went off.”
Campher already part of elite club
Incredibly, the South African-born player had come close to the feat before, taking four wickets from four balls against the Netherlands at the 2021 T20 World Cup, one of only seven players to do so.
Campher’s fifth wicket ended the match, and when asked if he could have made it six in a row with another batsmen, he said: “No, I don’t think so. It is what it is. Take the rough with the smooth. Just happy to be out there in the sun.
“Performances aside, it has been really good just to be around the boys,” he added. “When you get injured, it’s a bit of a dark place when you get into the gym and stuff like that, so it has been really nice.
North-West Warriors stumbled from 87 for 5 to 88 all out in their chase of 189 in the T20 match.
Kelis Ndhlovu previously took five wickets in five balls for Zimbabwe Women in a domestic under-19 T20 last year.
Campher will be in action for Ireland in September with the visit of England in a T20 series. They face each other on September 17, 19 and 21 at Malahide.
