<P> Taking 300 or more wickets across a playing career is considered a significant achievement in Test cricket . The feat, first accomplished by Englishman Fred Trueman in 1964, has only been achieved by thirty players in the history of the game as of May 2016 . Five Australian players have taken more than 300 wickets, along with five Englishmen, four South Africans, four members of the West Indies cricket team, four Indians, three Pakistanis, two New Zealanders and three Sri Lankan players; Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are yet to see a Test player reach the 300 mark . </P> <P> As of August 2015, the retired Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has the highest aggregate with 800 wickets . He has also taken the most five - wicket hauls in an innings and ten - wicket hauls in a match, 67 and 22 times respectively, and has the fifth best bowling performance in a match, 16 wickets for 220 runs against England in 1998 . Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee is the fastest to accomplish the feat, taking 56 Tests to do so while West Indian Malcolm Marshall has the best bowling average among those to achieve the milestone, taking 376 wickets at an average of 20.94 runs . West Indian Lance Gibbs is the most economical with 1.99 runs per over while South African fast bowler Dale Steyn has the best strike rate of 41.4 balls per wicket . Among those players to have taken 300 wickets, Indian Anil Kumble has the best bowling figures for an innings, 10 wickets for 74 runs against Pakistan in 1999, which is the second best in the history of Test cricket after English player Jim Laker's 10 for 53 against Australia in 1956 . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Mat--Number of matches played </Li> <Li> Inn--Number of innings bowled </Li> <Li> Balls--Balls bowled in career </Li> <Li> Runs--Runs conceded in career </Li> <Li> Wkt--Wickets taken in career 498 </Li> <Li> Ave--Average runs per wicket </Li> </Ul> </Td> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Econ--Runs conceded per over </Li> <Li> SR--Number of balls bowled per wicket taken </Li> <Li> BBI--Best bowling in innings </Li> <Li> BBM--Best bowling in match </Li> <Li> 5wI--Five or more wickets in an innings </Li> <Li> 10wI--Ten or more wickets in a match </Li> <Li> Period--Cricketing career of the player </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who took the most wickets in test cricket