EXETER cricketer Adam Bourke is still coming to terms with the incredibly rare cricket feat he achieved last weekend.
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Playing in the Tasmanian Cricket League's A reserve competition, the right-arm, fast bowler took five wickets in five consecutive balls - sometimes referred to as a triple hat-trick.
Bourke dismissed the opposition's top five batsmen in a row, with the first wicket caught in the gully, the second bowled, the third lbw and the next two bowled.
"Honestly, there are a lot more people excited than I am," Bourke said yesterday about his performance.
"It's sort of a bit weird and might not have sunk in yet, but it's good and pretty rare.
"When I've had a bit more time to think about it I will probably be over the moon about it, because it is not every day it happens."
The 29-year-old bowler said he had played cricket for the past 17 years and only took his first hat-trick at the beginning of last month.
TCL records only go back to 2005, but president Darrell Whyte said he could not recall the triple hat-trick feat happening before.
NTCA president Paul Clark said he had heard of instances of bowlers taking four wickets in four balls in NTCA, or a double hat-trick, but could not recall anyone having taken five in five balls.
"I would think that is a very rare feat and would put him in a very elite group," Clark said.
Cricket Tasmania statistician Ric Finlay only keeps first-class records but, to the best of his knowledge, had not heard of anyone taking a triple hat-trick before in state cricket.
Wikipedia records at least two instances of it having happened: one in New Zealand in 2008 and another in Ireland in 2011.
A further internet search revealed another two examples, one by North Ringwood cricketer Rav Singh in October 2011 and another by Riverina cricketer Joe Crowder in February 2012.