5 fielders… who took the most catches in a test series, world record not broken for 105 years

New Delhi. In the more than 149-year-old history of Test cricket, whenever a match is won, all the credit often goes to the batsmen who score a century or the bowlers who take five wickets in an innings. But there is an old and very famous saying in the circles of cricket – ‘Catches win matches’ i.e. catch the catch, win the match. Those hawk-like eyes of a fielder standing ready in the slips, or that brilliant catch taken in the blink of an eye at silly point, makes any bowler’s hard work complete. In the history of Test cricket, there have been some witnesses who created havoc on the field for the batsmen of the opposition team during an entire series and made such a record of catches, breaking which is like a dream even for the greats of today’s era.

Kangaroo all-rounder’s great record has been unbroken for a century
Even today, a name is sitting at the pinnacle of this unique and historical record of cricket, which has passed more than a century ago. We are talking about Australia’s great all-rounder Jack Gregory. That was the historic Ashes series of the year 1920-21, when the England team was on a tour of Australia. In that series, Jack Gregory not only created havoc with the ball and bat, but the feat he accomplished in fielding also wrote history. Gregory took a total of 15 catches in 10 innings of 5 matches of that series. The speed of his catching can be gauged from the fact that his average of catches per innings was 1.5 and he did the feat of catching the maximum of 3 catches in an innings. This world record of Jack Gregory has remained unbroken for the last 105 years, which no great fielder of the world has been able to shake.

Steve Smith, who shook Gregory’s record in the modern era
In this list, when we turn the pages of modern cricket, a name comes to the fore who recently surprised the whole world with his fielding and slip catching. This is the name of Steve Smith, who is called the ‘run machine’ of modern times. When the England team was on the tour of Australia in the recently played Ashes series 2025-26, Steve Smith took fielding in the slips to a new level. Smith created a stir in this series by taking 14 catches in 8 innings of just 4 matches. His average of catches per innings was 1.75, which is incredible. His best performance in this series was 3 catches in an innings. Thanks to his excellent timing and amazing reflexes, Smith almost touched Jack Gregory’s record, but due to the short duration of the match, he missed just one catch.

The unmatched juggling of the Indian ‘Wall’ on the soil of England
Amidst the dominance of Australian giants, an Indian name is also shining with full self-respect in this historic and glorious list. That is the name of India’s stylish batsman and amazing fielder KL Rahul. In 2018, when the Indian team went to England to play the Pataudi Trophy, KL Rahul mesmerized everyone with his fielding in the slip cordon. On the fast and swinging pitches of England, where the balls come into the slips very fast, Rahul did the amazing feat of taking a total of 14 catches in 9 innings of 5 matches. During that series, Rahul’s average of catches per innings was 1.555 and he also held the Indian record of taking maximum 4 catches in a single innings. This feat of KL Rahul is still the best performance by an Indian fielder in a Test series.

That historic period of leopard-like agility in the slip cordon
Whenever fielding is talked about, the name of former Australian captain Greg Chappell is taken with great respect. While playing against England in the Ashes series of 1974-75, Greg Chappell displayed his leopard-like agility. He took a total of 14 catches in his safe hands in 11 innings of 6 matches. Chappell’s average of catches per innings in that series was 1.272 and he took the maximum of 4 catches in an innings. This brilliant fielding by Greg Chappell had made the job of Australian bowlers very easy and forced the opposition team to kneel.

When the Caribbean ‘Prince’ weaved a net for Team India with his own hands
The last name in this list is that of the great West Indies batsman, whose batting stories are sung by the world, but his fielding record is also no less than a wonder. We are talking about the ‘Prince’ of cricket Brian Lara. In 2006, when the Indian team went on the West Indies tour, Brian Lara, apart from his captaincy and batting, troubled the Indian batsmen with his fielding. Lara had taken 13 catches in 7 innings of just 4 matches. Among all the players included in this list, Brian Lara had the highest average of catches per innings at 1.857. He also achieved the feat of taking maximum 4 catches in one innings of this series. This performance of Lara shows that he was not only a great batsman but also a complete player on every front of the game.