Top five: The best bowling figures for England

Jim Laker – 9/37 and 10/53
So many things aligned for Laker that remarkable summer's day at Old Trafford. He was a bowler of considerable skill, the Australians were completely befuddled by his off-spin, the pitch was dusty, he had fortune on his side, while his fellow spinner didn't.

Laker took nine wickets in Australia's first innings of that Ashes Test, skittling them for 84, before returning to scalp all 10 the second time around, as England won by an innings and 170 runs. To put his feat in context, no other bowler in history has more than 17 wickets in a Test match.

Incredibly, this was also the second time he had taken all 10 Australian wickets: two-and-a-half months earlier, he'd done it for Surrey at The Oval. And how did he mark the first perfect 10 in Tests? "My celebration dinner consisted of a bottle of beer and a sandwich," he said.

George Lohmann – 9/28
Opening England's batting in the Johannesburg Test of 1896, Lohmann contributed just two runs to their 482. But he did plenty with the ball. With his ability to generate considerable movement despite moderate pace, the South African conditions were perfect for him. He became the first bowler to take nine wickets in an innings – all but the first South African wicket was his – bowling them out for 151.

He added three wickets to his tally the second time around, as England won by an innings and 197 runs. The ICC Hall of Fame inductee in 2016 also took his hundredth Test wicket in the match, in just his 16th Test.

Devon Malcolm – 9/57
On their first tour of England after readmission, the South Africans were 1-0 up going into the third Test. They recovered well from 135/6 to post 332, before England replied with 304 of their own. Then came one of the most fearsome displays of pace bowling.

Malcolm's round, slinging action had caused the batsmen trouble in the first innings, with Jonty Rhodes having to be helped back in a daze after being hit on the head. In the second innings, he was on fire. He peppered the top order with the new ball and reduced them to 1/3. Reports from the day have David Gower on commentary saying, "I think Devon means business today." He had all but one wicket in South Africa's 175 all out, setting up the hosts' eight-wicket win.

"On that day, on that pitch, he was pretty frightening at times," said Graham Thorpe. "You could tell he'd frightened a few of them, without a shadow of doubt."

Sydney Barnes – 9/103
"He was relentless, a chill wind of antagonism blew from him on the sunniest day," wrote Neville Cardus about Barnes, considered one of the most feared bowlers of his time. It is said his strength was that he got the ball to seam and swing, while also using the bounce off the wicket and getting late turn to set up the batsmen.

Barnes' 17 wickets for 159 runs on the matting surface of Johannesburg was a match record until Laker's feat years later, following up his 8/56 in the first innings with 9/103 in the second. That series, he finished with 49 wickets in four matches at 10.93. All at the age of 40. He might have got more, but declined to play the last Test, reportedly because he wasn't paid a sum promised for touring.