In
sports, a
hat-trick (or
hat trick) is a feat of succeeding at anything
three times, generally in three consecutive attempts.
The term was first used in
cricket, to
describe
HH Stephenson's feat in 1858
and was used in print for the first time in 1878.
Cricket
A hat-trick occurs in cricket when a bowler dismisses three
batsmen with consecutive deliveries. The
deliveries may be interrupted by an
over bowled by another bowler from the other
end of the
pitch or the other team's
innings, but must be three consecutive
deliveries by the individual bowler. Only wickets attributed to the
bowler count towards a hat-trick; run outs do not count.
Hat-tricks are very rare and as such are treasured by bowlers. In
Test cricket history there have been
just
37 hat-tricks, the
first achieved by
Fred Spofforth for
Australia against
England in 1879, and the most recent by
Ryan Sidebottom for
England against
New Zealand in 2008. In 1912,
Australian
Jimmy Matthews achieved
the feat twice in one game against
South Africa. The only other
players to achieve two hat-tricks are Australia's
Hugh Trumble, against England in 1902 and 1904,
and
Pakistan's
Wasim Akram, in separate games against
Sri Lanka in 1999.
In
One Day International
cricket there have been
25 hat-tricks up to
3 April 2009, the first by
Jalal-ud-Din
for Pakistan against Australia in 1982, and the most recent by
Andrew Flintoff for
England against
West Indies on April 3, 2009 in the
fifth ODI of England tour of West Indies. Three players have taken
two one-day international hat-tricks in their careers:
Wasim Akram and
Saqlain Mushtaq of
Pakistan and
Chaminda Vaas of
Sri Lanka. (
Akram therefore has four international
hat-tricks in total).
In
Twenty20 International
Cricket,
Brett Lee of Australia had a
hat-trick against Bangladesh in the Super Eight of the Twenty20
World Cup on 16 September 2007 in South Africa.
Jacob Oram of New Zealand made a hat-trick
against Sri Lanka on 2 September 2009 in Colombo.
Taking two wickets in two consecutive deliveries is occasionally
known as a
brace, or (more commonly) being
on a hat-trick. This is only a run-up to the
hat-trick. If a hat-trick is not achieved, it is not called a
brace.
Four wickets in four balls is referred to in cricket literature and
record books as
four in four but the term
double hat-trick has also been used in the media,
as it will contain two different sets of three consecutively
dismissed batsmen. It has only occurred once in international
one-day cricket, in the
2007
World Cup, when
Sri
Lanka's Lasith Malinga managed
the feat against
South
Africa by dismissing
Shaun
Pollock,
Andrew Hall,
Jacques Kallis and
Makhaya Ntini, though it has occurred on other
occasions in
first-class
cricket.
Kevan James of
Hampshire took four wickets in
four balls and scored a century in the same county game against
India in 1996. The
Cricinfo report on the
game claimed that this was unique in cricket.
Albert Trott and
Joginder Rao are the only two bowlers credited
with
two hat-tricks in the same innings in first class
cricket. One of Trott's two hat-tricks, for Middlesex against
Somerset at Lords in 1907, was a four in four.
While all hat-tricks are rare and prized, some examples are
particularly extraordinary. On
2 December
1988,
Merv Hughes,
playing for Australia, dismissing
Curtly
Ambrose with the last ball of his penultimate over and
Patrick Patterson with the first ball of
his next over, wrapping up the West Indies first innings. When
Hughes returned to bowl in the West Indies second innings, he
trapped
Gordon Greenidge lbw with
his first ball, completing a hat-trick over two different innings
and becoming the only player in
Test
cricket history to achieve the three wickets of a hat-trick in
three different overs.
The most involved hat-trick was perhaps when Melbourne Club
cricketer Stephen Hickman, playing for PowerHouse, achieved a
hat-trick spread over three overs, two days, two innings, involved
the same batsman twice, and was observed by the same non striker,
with the hat-trick ball being bowled from the opposite end to the
first two. In the Mercantile Cricket Association C Grade semi final
at Fawkner Park South Yarra in Melbourne, Gunbower Cricket Club
were 8 for 109 when Hickman came on to bowl his off spin. He took a
wicket with the last ball of his third over and then bowled number
11 batsman Richard Higgins with the first ball of his next over to
complete the Gunbower innings, leaving Chris Taylor the not out
batsman. Powerhouse scored 361 putting the game out of reach of
Gunbower. In the second innings opener Taylor was joined by Higgins
at the fall of the fourth wicket as Hickman returned to the attack.
With his first ball, observed by an incredulous Taylor at the
non-strikers end, he clean bowled Higgins leaving Higgins with a
pair of
golden ducks.
At least one triple hat-trick has been achieved, in a New Zealand
club match. This feat was achieved by Scott Babot of Wainuiomata
Cricket Club playing in the Senior 3 grade. It consisted of five
wickets in five balls, across two innings, and separated by seven
days, as the match in question took place on two consecutive
Saturdays.
Marbles
In
marbles, a hat-trick occurs when a player
hits all marbles in a single turn.
Hockey
In both
field hockey and
ice hockey a hat trick is when a player scores
three goals in a single
game.
According to Henri Henri hat store, between 1950 and 1970 when
there were six NHL teams, the store rewarded players who had scored
three goals or more in one game at the Montreal Forum with a free
hat, which brought the “Hat Trick” expression into the world of
hockey. The list of winners includes the legendary players such as
Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull from Chicago Black Hawks, Maurice
Richard and Elmer Lach from Montreal Canadiens, Norm Ullman from
Detroit Red Wings, and many others.
If a member of the home team in ice hockey scores a hat trick, fans
acknowledge it by throwing their own hats from the stands onto the
ice (often causing a delay in play as the hats are removed from the
playing area).
The
earliest account of a hat being awarded for scoring three goals is
known to have occurred in Toronto
when a local
businessman, Sammy Taft, was approached
by Chicago Black Hawks forward
Alex Kaleta. According to legend,
Kaleta entered Taft's shop to purchase a new hat but didn't have
enough money. Taft arranged a deal with Kaleta stipulating that if
Kaleta scored three goals as he played the
Toronto Maple Leafs that night, he would
give him a free hat. That night, on January 26, 1946, Kaleta scored
four goals against the Maple Leafs and Taft made good on his
offer.
While this
account is credited by the Hockey Hall of Fame
as the hat trick's origin in the NHL, there exists
a competing story in Guelph
, Ontario
. In
the 1950s, the
Guelph
Biltmore Mad Hatters of the
Ontario Hockey Association (OHA),
who were then a farm team of the
National Hockey League (NHL)'s
New York Rangers, were sponsored by
Guelph-based
Biltmore Hats, a leading
manufacturer of hats with
North
American dominance. The sponsor would award any Madhatters
player who scored three goals in a game with a new
fedora.
The hat trick, as it is known in its current form, with hats thrown
from the stands onto the ice, is said to have begun among fans in
the NHL around the 1970s. Along similar lines,
Florida Panthers fans celebrated goals (not
just hat tricks) by throwing plastic rats onto the ice in 1996,
which were then cleaned up by men dressed in
Orkin exterminator outfits.
The history of this
goes back to an incident in December 1995, when Scott Mellanby scored what teammate John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed a "rat trick" after ridding the Panthers' locker room
at Miami
Arena
of an unwanted rat with his stick on the same night
he scored a pair of goals. When Mellanby scored a hat trick
in a later game some fans threw plastic rats on the ice, mimicking
the
octopus thrown by
Detroit Red Wings fans, and the practice
soon became universal for Panthers home goals. The NHL later
responded by banning the throwing of objects onto the ice by fans
at the cost of a
penalty for
the home team, but specifically allowed the traditional throwing of
hats to continue. There appears to be some leeway with regards to
what can be thrown onto the ice following a hat trick, as witnessed
after the
Nashville Predators'
Paul Kariya scored a hat trick on April
18, 2006, when two
catfish were thrown on
the ice and no penalty was given.
A natural hat trick is when a player
scores three goals in succession in one single half or period, with
no other players from either their own team, or the opposing team,
scoring any goals in-between.
On October 17, 2008, Zach Harrison of the Minnesota State
University Mavericks recorded a
shorthanded natural hat
trick against the University of North Dakota Fighting
Sioux. Harrison scored the three consecutive shorthanded goals over
a span of 29:54. According to the Hockey Hall of Fame, they were
not sure that this feat had ever been accomplished before, and have
since put Harrison's stick on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
However, C.J. Young of Harvard is believed to have accomplished a
shorthanded natural hat trick in 1988 against Dartmouth.
A player accomplishes a
Gordie Howe hat trick by
scoring a goal, getting an assist, and getting in a fight, all in
the same game (though Howe himself only recorded two in his
career). While this description has remained popular, it doesn't
satisfy the conditions of a hat trick.
Mario Lemieux once accomplished what
was unofficially referred to as a "Mario Lemieux hat trick" in
1993, by receiving radiation treatment for
Hodgkin's lymphoma the day of the game,
and then scoring a goal and an assist that night against the
Philadelphia Flyers. He has also
recorded a "5-goal hat trick" (or "ultimate hat trick",
"quintella", "Texas Hat Trick", or "
Lemieux Cycle") in which he scored in all five
possible game situations in one game, on 31 December 1988, against
the
New Jersey Devils. He scored
on a
powerplay,
short handed, even strength,
penalty shot, and an
empty net goal.
Calgary Flames star
Jarome Iginla came close on 23 February 2003,
against the
Phoenix Coyotes: he
scored on a powerplay, shorthanded, even strength and an empty net
goal, but Mario Lemieux is the only player to score the "quintella"
in
NHL
history.
Jordan Staal became the youngest player
to ever record a hat trick in the NHL at 18 years and 153 days in
Toronto on February 10, 2007.
Association football
A hat-trick occurs in
association
football when a player has scored three goals in a single game.
In common with other official record-keeping rules, goals in a
penalty
shootout are excluded from the tally.
There also exists several variations of the definition, including
the "Flawless (or German)" hat-trick, which differs in that all
three goals must be scored consecutively within one period of
play.
It has become traditional for the scorer of a hat-trick to claim
the match ball as a personal souvenir of the feat.
The world
record for fastest hat-trick belongs to former Ross County player Tommy Ross, who scored
three goals in 90 seconds, versus Nairn County F.C. in Victoria
Park
in 1964. James Hayter holds the record for
the fastest English Football League hat-trick coming on as an 84th
minute substitute for
A.F.C.
Bournemouth against
Wrexham A.F.C. netting 3 goals in less than
140 seconds.
Robbie Fowler currently
holds the fastest hat-trick in
Premiership history by scoring 3 goals within
4 minutes and 33 seconds for
Liverpool against
Arsenal in 1994.
Nigel
Clough scored a hat-trick in exactly 4 minutes in the old First
Division (the highest league in English football before the advent
of the Premier League) for
Nottingham Forest against
Queens Park Rangers in the 1987/88
season.
The fastest hat trick in the history of
Major League Soccer belongs to
Harut Karapetyan (then of the
Los Angeles Galaxy), who completed it in
roughly five minutes in a June 1998 match against the
Dallas Burn. The Galaxy won the match 8-1.
In
World Cups American
Bert Patenaude scored the first hat-trick in
the 1930 inaugural.
Sandor Kocsis
(1954),
Just Fontaine (1958) and
Gerd Müller (1970) scored two
hat-tricks in the same World Cup.
Gabriel Batistuta scored hat-tricks in two
World Cups (1994 and 1998)
Geoff Hurst
scored a hat-trick in the
1966
Final - the only one in a Final. At least one hat-trick has been
scored in every World Cup Finals except the
2006 tournament.
Seven
players have scored a hat-trick in the
UEFA European Football
Championship. Of those seven,
Michel
Platini is the only player to have scored two hat-tricks
(against Belgium and Yugoslavia), both in the group stage of
Euro 1984.
David Villa scored a hat trick at the
Euro 2008 competition in Austria and
Switzerland for Spain against group rivals Russia, a game which
Spain won 4-1.
Dennis Bergkamp scored a memorable
hat trick against
Leicester City
in September 1997. The hat trick of goals were the top three in the
Match of the Day Goal of the Month
competition for that month; a unique achievement.
Jermain Defoe of
Tottenham Hotspur scored a hat trick in
just seven minutes during the second half of a game against Wigan
on November 22nd, 2009. He then went on to score a further two
goals in the game bringing his total to five in just thirty-six
minutes. This is remarkable as Defoe became just the third player
in English
Premier League history to
score five goals in one game, following
Alan Shearer and
Andy
Cole.
Rugby league and Rugby union
In both codes of
rugby football
(
rugby union and
rugby league) a hat-trick is scored if a player
scores three or more
tries in a game. In rugby
union, a related concept is that of a "full house" (scoring a try,
conversion,
penalty goal, and
drop
goal) in a single game. When a player scored two tries, this is
often referred to as a "brace".
As with association football, it is common for the player to be
awarded the match ball after scoring a hat-trick.
Lacrosse
A hat-trick in lacrosse is when a player scores three goals in one
game. However, since lacrosse is more of a high-scoring game than
hockey or soccer, the accomplishment is not as rare as in hockey or
soccer, and good players may pick up hat-tricks easily.
In 2004,
Colorado Mammoth public
address announcer Steve Meade (a local radio broadcaster known as
"Willie B") used the phrase "sock-trick" to describe a player
scoring sixgoals in a game. When Mammoth superstar
Gary Gait scored six in a game against the
Anaheim Storm, fans threw socks onto
the playing surface, earning a delay of game penalty to Colorado
(ironically served by Gait himself).
Poker
Eliminating three players from a table with one hand in
poker is sometimes referred to as a hat-trick and is
incredibly rare.
Motor Racing
A hat trick in motor racing is deemed as three successive race
wins, winning the same event three times in a row, or when a driver
secures
pole position, sets the
fastest lap and wins the race.
Scrabble
In
scrabble, a hat-trick occurs when a
player plays three consecutive
bingo.
Darts
In
darts, a hat-trick occurs when a player
hits the
bulls-eye with all three darts in
a single turn.
See also
References
- Taking three wickets in three balls entitled the bowler to
receive a hat from his club commemorating the feat (or entitled him
to pass the hat for a cash collection). Extended Oxford English
Dictionary 1999 Edition : "It came into use after HH
Stephenson took three wickets in three balls for the all-England
eleven against the twenty-two of Hallam at the Hyde Park ground,
Sheffield in 1858. A collection was held for Stephenson (as was
customary for outstanding feats by professionals) and he was
presented with a cap or hat bought with the proceeds."
- The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket (Oxford
University Press, 1996) mentions that the word hat-trick was used
in print for the first time in The Sportsman to describe
Spofforth clean bowling three consecutive batsmen in the match
against Hastings and Districts at the Oval on 29 August 1878.
Spofforth did take a hat-trick and nine wickets in 20 balls against
the XVIII of Hastings and Districts in 1878 (not a first class
match), but the dates are incorrect.
- Warwick Franks, Australian Wisden Cricketers Almanac 2002.
Hardie Grant Books.
- Cricket Wellington - Babot: Triple
Hat-trick
- See for example "ein lupenreiner Hattrick" against
FC Köln in an
article on Róbert Vittek.
- fastest hattricks
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