Hat-trick

This article is about the sports success. Hattrick is also the name of a game played across the internet

A hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times in three consecutive attempts. In North America it is often rendered as hat trick, with no hyphen. (The Oxford English Dictionary has it unhyphenated and gives a variety of examples published in the 19th and 20th centuries both with and without the hyphen.)

The term was originally used in cricket, and was connected with the custom of giving a hat or cap to a bowler who achieved the feat of taking three wickets in a row. It may be connected with the concept of giving someone their "cap", i.e. acknowledging them as a regular member of a representative team. Another school of thought mentions that a bowler was challenged if he could take three in three. Hats were passed around to collect the odds. The bowler succeeded and collected the large amount of cash. Thus the term hat-trick could have been also derived from this event.

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; i.e., run outs do not contribute to a hat-trick.

Hat tricks are very rare and as such are highly treasured by bowlers. The term was first used to describe H.H. Stephenson's feat in 1858 and was used in print for the first time in 1878. In Test cricket history there have been just 36 hat-tricks, the first achieved by Fred Spofforth for Australia against England in 1879, and the most recent by Irfan Pathan for India against Pakistan in 2006. 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. Nuwan Zoysa achieved a hat-trick with his first three deliveries in a Test Match against Zimbabwe in the 1999-2000 season.

In One-day International cricket there have been 20 hat-tricks, the first by Jalal-ud-Din for Pakistan against Australia in 1982, and the latest by Charl Langeveldt for South Africa against the West Indies in 2005. 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. Wasim Akram has the most international hat-tricks (four) and took two in the same series against Sri Lanka

Taking two wickets in two consecutive deliveries is occasionally known as a brace, or being on a hat-trick.

Four wickets in four balls is sometimes called a double hat-trick - as it will contain two different sets of three consecutively dismissed batsmen.

Another claim of where the term hat trick comes from, is that if a bowler took three wickets in three consecutive deliveries it was custom just to remove his hat and use it to collect money from spectators.

For a batsman a hat-trick is to hit three consecutive sixes on three balls.

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. The term was brought to ice hockey in the 1940s when Sammy Taft, a Toronto hatter, gave free hats to Maple Leafs players who scored three goals in a game. It is not certain whether he picked up this practice from cricket.

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. In the mid-1990s, Florida Panthers fans celebrated goals (not hat-tricks) by throwing plastic rats onto the ice, which were then cleaned up by men dressed in Orkin exterminator outfits. The history of this goes back to an incident in December of 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 became universal for Panthers hat tricks. 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. This has been loosely enforced, however, as witnessed after the Nashville Predators' Paul Kariya scored a hat trick on April 18, 2006: two catfish were thrown on the ice and no penalty was given.

The term natural hat trick refers to when a player scores three goals consecutively in a single game. The goals do not have to happen in the same period.

A player accomplishes a Gordie Howe hat trick by scoring a goal, getting an assist, and winning a fight, all in the same game.

Former Blackhawk Bill Mosienko holds the NHL record for scoring the quickest hat trick. He scored 3 goals in 21 seconds against the Rangers on March 23, 1952.

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 the "Ultimate Hat Trick", in which he scored in each way possible in one game. He scored on a Power Play, Shorthanded, Even-Strength, Penalty Shot and Empty Net. Lemieux is the only player to have done this in NHL history.

Football (soccer)

A hat-trick occurs in football when a player scores three goals in a single game, although there are various contrasting interpretations as to the exact criteria of a valid footballing hat-trick. It is commonly held that the goals can be scored at any time in the match, whether in normal, injury or extra time, and for some this is the only condition necessary to satifsy the definition of a hat-trickalso exists the widely accepted concept of the 'flawless' hat-trick, which differs in that all three goals must be scored consecutively within one period of play[http://www.pragerzeitung.cz/?c_id=7599. Neither interpretation includes the scoring of goals in a penalty shoot-out, as they are not recognised by the sport's regulating bodies as counting towards a player's scoring tally.

In some professional games the scorer of the hat-trick is allowed to return home with the match ball as a souvenir.

Perhaps one of the most notable hat-tricks of all time was scored by Geoff Hurst during 1966 World Cup. It is famous for being the only ever scored in a World Cup Final match, and also notorious for the controversy surrounding the validity of two of the goals (See main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup Final). It is also noteworthy that by some interpretations Hurst's efforts - valid or not - would not constitute a hat-trick on the grounds that all three goals were scored in different periods of play.

Rugby

In both codes of rugby football (rugby union and rugby league) a hat-trick is scored if a player scores three or more tries. A related concept is that of a "full house", scoring a try, conversion, penalty goal, and drop goal.

Baseball

When one batter strikes out three times in a single baseball game it is sometimes jokingly referred to as a hat trick. Four strikeouts in one game is referred to as a golden sombrero, five in one game is called a platinum sombrero, and six in one game is known as a Horn, after Sam Horn of the Baltimore Orioles who accomplished the feat in an extra-inning game in 1991. Alex S. Gonzalez of the Toronto Blue Jays tied the record in 1998.

Auto racing

In auto racing, a hat trick is attained by a driver who (1) wins a race (2) from pole position while (3) garnering the fastest recorded lap of the race.

Computer Games

The Hat Trick is featured in Unreal Tournament 2004 Capture the Flag if one player captures the flag three times. These three captures need not be consecutive.

References

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 Aug 29, 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.

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