Curtis Campher: Ireland allrounder Curtis Campher made history on Thursday by becoming the first male cricketer to take five wickets in five balls in a professional match. He achieved the feat while playing for Munster Reds against North-West Warriors in the Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy and finished with figures of five for 16 from 2.3 overs. Campher, who captains Munster Reds, took the five wickets across his second and third overs as the Warriors collapsed from 87 for five to 88 all out while chasing 189.
The sequence began with the fifth delivery of the 12th over when Campher bowled Jared Wilson with an inswinger. On the next ball, he trapped Graham Hume leg-before with another inswinger that struck him on the back foot. Campher returned for the 14th over and completed a hat-trick on the first ball when Andy McBrine mistimed a slog to deep midwicket. Robbie Millar edged behind on the next delivery while Josh Wilson was bowled after Campher came around the wicket.
Speaking about the record-breaking spell, Campher said he did not realise what was happening due to the over change. “I just stuck to my guns and kept it real simple. Luckily it worked,” he said. When asked if he could have taken six in six had another batter been available, he said, “No, I do not 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 said. “Injuries can be tough when you spend time in the gym. So it has been nice to be treated with good weather and enjoy the game again.”
This was Campher’s second game since returning from a finger injury that had ruled him out of the West Indies series. In his comeback match on Tuesday, he scored 57 runs but did not bowl. On Thursday, he contributed 44 runs from 24 balls before taking the historic five wickets.
Campher is also one of the few bowlers to take four wickets in four balls in T20 Internationals. However, he is not the first cricketer overall to take five wickets in five balls. That record belongs to Zimbabwe Women allrounder Kelis Ndhlovu, who achieved the feat in 2024 while playing for Zimbabwe Under-19 against Eagles Women in a domestic T20 match.
