Harsh Thakor
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Here I am attempting to analyse the best match-winner amongst fast bowlers.It is hard to decide the criteria.One is the average in test wins,the other is number of wickets in tests won and the others are the percentage of wickets captured in wins from total taken in test career and total of team wins.My list in order of merit is posted at the end of post.
1.RICHARD HADLEE CHAMPION IN TERMS OF AVERAGES
Figures below compiled by S.Rajesh from cricinfo
Best averages by fast bowlers in Test wins (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Richard Hadlee 22 173 13.06 33.5 17/ 8
Imran Khan 26 155 14.50 38.3 11/ 6
Dale Steyn 44 291 16.03 31.4 22/5
Malcolm Marshall 43 254 16.78 38.1 17/ 4
Allan Donald 33 187 16.79 35.5 14/ 3
Curtly Ambrose 44 229 16.86 44.4 13/ 3
Fred Trueman 34 177 17.30 40.8 11/ 2
Waqar Younis 39 222 18.20 35.0 14/ 4
Dennis Lillee 31 203 18.27 39.0 17/ 6
Shaun Pollock 49 223 18.30 47.5 9/ 1
New Zealand's dependence on Hadlee was well known, but here are some numbers to put that into perspective: in the 86 Tests that he played, Hadlee took more than 35% of the wickets for his team (431 out of 1207). In wins, it improved even further, to 40.8% (173 out of 424).
2.DALE STEYN CHAMPION IN RESPECT OF WICKETS.
Best Test fast bowlers in wins (Qual: 200 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Dale Steyn 44 291 16.03 31.4 22/5
Malcolm Marshall 43 254 16.78 38.1 17/ 4
Curtly Ambrose 44 229 16.86 44.4 13/ 3
Waqar Younis 39 222 18.20 35.0 14/ 4
Dennis Lillee 31 203 18.27 39.0 17/ 6
Shaun Pollock 49 223 18.30 47.5 9/ 1
Wasim Akram 41 211 18.48 42.3 13/ 2
Glenn McGrath 84 414 19.19 47.7 18/ 3
Courtney Walsh 52 239 19.72 46.2 10/ 2
Dale Steyn is on top but benefited from era he played in ,with many more tsets being played and more minnows amongst test nations.Perhaps the biggest compliment to Marshall is the fact that he stood out even when he played with other great fast bowlers. The 1980s were an exceptional period for West Indian fast bowling, and yet in the Tests that Marshall played, he took almost a third of the wickets taken by their fast bowlers (31.37%). Marshall was clearly the leader of the pack - the next-highest wicket-taker in matches Marshall figured in was Courtney Walsh, with only 137 wickets from 42 Tests, while Curtly Ambrose had 128 from 29. (Click here for the full list.) Marshall's average and strike rate were significantly better than his other fast-bowling mates, and he took as many five-fors as all the other West Indian fast bowlers put together. Significant that Wasim Akram had bettter strike rate than Curtly Ambrose while Waqar in this respect is ahead of both of them.
3.Below I am reproducing analysis of Anantha Narayana from cricinfo blogs in 2010.It is now cricinfo cordon.
1. Top 25 bowlers based on % of team wickets in wins(Steyn's figures not updated)
No Cty Bowler Mat Wins Wkts Wkts %-of-Wkts
Own Team
1.Eng Barnes S.F 27 13 115 260 44.23
2.Nzl Hadlee R.J 86 22 173 440 39.32
3.Saf Steyn D.W 33 18 124 360 34.44
4.Saf Tayfield H.J 37 11 74 220 33.64
5.Aus Lillee D.K 70 31 203 618 32.80
6.Eng Fraser A.R.C 46 12 78 240 32.50
7..Eng Peel R 20 12 78 240 32.50
8.Eng Lohmann G.A 18 15 94 300 31.33
9.Aus McKenzie G.D 60 18 112 360 31.11
10.Eng Gough D 58 18 105 342 30.83
11.Pak Imran Khan 88 26 155 520 29.81
12.Win Marshall M.D 81 43 254 857 29.62
13.Win Croft C.E.H 27 10 57 200 28.50
14.Pak Waqar Younis 87 39 222 780 28.46
15.Saf Donald A.A 72 33 187 660 28.33
16.Eng Caddick A.R 62 21 114 402 28.27
17.Aus Davidson A.K 44 16 89 320 27.81
18..Aus Trumble H 32 14 77 280 27.50
Angus Fraser is surprisingly outstanding but with lesser wickets..If you consider aggregate wickets then Barnes, Hadlee,Steyn,Lillee,,Imran,Marshall and Waqar are outstanding.Suprising to to see Ambrose here.
Top 25 bowlers based on Ratio of bowling average in wins
No Cty Bowler Wkts <-Wins Bow Avge-> Ratio
Team Own Others
1.Eng Fraser A.R.C 78 24.20 16.53 27.90 1.69
2.Nzl Hadlee R.J 173 18.38 13.07 21.82 1.67
3.Pak Imran Khan 155 20.16 14.50 22.56 1.56
4.Eng Barnes S.F 115 17.71 13.58 20.98 1.54
6.Saf Steyn D.W 124 21.33 16.68 23.77 1.43
7.Pak Shoaib Akhtar 99 21.78 17.52 23.19 1.32
8.Eng Briggs J 84 16.01 13.01 16.86 1.30
9.Aus Davidson A.K 89 19.52 16.04 20.86 1.30
10.Aus McKenzie G.D 112 23.47 19.49 25.27 1.30
11.Aus Lillee D.K 203 21.56 18.27 23.18 1.27
12.Saf Goddard T.L 47 23.03 19.09 24.10 1.26
13.Eng Lohmann G.A 94 11.21 9.67 11.91 1.23
14.Ind Pathan I.K 66 23.70 20.26 24.88 1.23
15.Eng Peel R 78 16.97 14.67 18.07 1.23
16.Aus Trumble H 77 20.79 18.00 21.85 1.21
17.Eng Bedser A.V 74 20.09 17.54 21.04 1.20
18.Saf Pollock P.M 46 22.86 19.83 23.77 1.20
19..Win Croft C.E.H 57 19.39 17.12 20.29 1.18
Considering aggregate wickets Hadlee,Imran,Barnes ,Steyn and Lillee outstanding.Surprising that Marshall misses out on this list.
I have ordered this table on the ratio of own wickets average to other bowlers wicket average in won matches. Fraser is on top having outr=performed his peers in won matches by 69%. I am not able to explain this other than possibly the relatively weaker English attacks. Hadlee is next. However note the stunning contributions made by Imran Khan in their wins, over 55% better. Shoaib Akhtar comes into the top-10 as also the great left arm fast bowler, davidson.
Note the low averages by the concerned bowlers in wins. No doubt these figures would be influenced, partly, by the outstanding analysis against weaker teams. But neither Fraser nor Hadlee had one easy match in their careers.
4.Performance in won matches-Compiled from work of Anantha Narayana in cricinfo blogs .
MCGRATH AND MARSHALL HAVE BEST PERCENTAGE AGGREGATE HAUL OF WICKETS IN WINS.
Bowler Value Points
McGrath G.D 0.492
Marshall M.D 0.486
Lillee D.K 0.451
Waqar Younis 0.440
Donald A.A 0.426
Trueman F.S 0.419
Ambrose C.E.L 0.414
Hadlee R.J 0.398
Garner J 0.393
Wasim Akram 0.384
Imran Khan 0.364
Kapil Dev N 0.198
This is done by doing a composite calculation involving two ratios. The first is the ratio of the bowler wickets in won matches with his own career wickets. The other is the ratio of the bowler wickets in won matches against the team wickets in won matches. This rewards success and as expected, Significant Mcgrath,Marshall and Lillee are at the top.Mcgrath and Marshall had advantage of playing for champion teams of their era for major part,while in Lillee's era West Indies was a superpower.Significant that Imran and Kapil are so low here as well as Wasim's.
5.MY CONCLUSIVE RANKING OF BEST FAST BOWLERS AS MATCH-WINNERS IN ORDER OF MERIT CONSIDERING ALL FACTORS(Qualification -200 wickets)
1.Richard Hadlee-Considering he bore the brunt of such a weak attack and still won the Kiwis famous wins.
2.Malcolm Marshall-Considering he was so outstanding playing with the best paceman of all time like Garner,Holding ,Roberts,Walsh or Ambrose.
3.Imran Khan-Considering he shaped the destiny of his nation like no other cricketer with his fast bowling playing a major part and his great performances against the superpower of his time West Indies.
4.Dennis Lillee-the ultimate epitome of agression and killer instinct who could turn a complexion of game in any situation.More explosive or volatile than Mcgrath.
5.Glen Mcgrath-a bowling.metronome who starred in 71 test victories.No paceman played in so many winning tests.Placed below LIllee as he did not bowl against as strong opponents and had advantage of playing against minnows.
6.Curtly Ambrose-the best ever match-winner in a 4th innings defending a low total or on a broken wicket Above all bore the brunt of a weak attack.At his best could create the impact of an explosion.
7.Dale Steyn-Statistically arguably the best but played in an era where there were many more minnows in test cricket and twice as many matches had results.
8.Wasim Akram-Considering he bowled so much on the falt sub-continent pancakes and still took 211 wickets in winning causes I place him along the best.
9.Waqar Younus-Statistically the best match-winner in terms of strike rate in his era and better than compatriot Wasim Akram,but not at his best against the champion teams.Akram bowled better against the stronger teams.
10.Alan Donald-phenomenal pace and skill in any conditions.Won tests even on the sub-continent and England and West Indies.A demon on fast track.
11.Andy Roberts-Does not figure in the stats tables but to turn the complexion of game I would back Andy as much as Lillee or Imran.Andy won his team famous wins all over the world from Australia to England and India.
12.Fred Trueman-Few paceman ever posessed such a spirited heart.
May have been unfair to the likes of Ray Lindwall, ,Michael Holding,Kapil Dev,Courtney Walsh,Joel Garner,Ian Botham etc who may well have made this list.If Kapil bowled in helpful conditions and received more support he may well have been up there.At his best in 1977-82 Botham was surely there but lost his form later in his career.If he had played in the era of the 1970's or later Lindwall would almost certainly have made this list.Roberts preferred over Holding and Garner as he spearheaded the attack and was the pioneer of the new pace bowling era.
1.RICHARD HADLEE CHAMPION IN TERMS OF AVERAGES
Figures below compiled by S.Rajesh from cricinfo
Best averages by fast bowlers in Test wins (Qual: 150 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Richard Hadlee 22 173 13.06 33.5 17/ 8
Imran Khan 26 155 14.50 38.3 11/ 6
Dale Steyn 44 291 16.03 31.4 22/5
Malcolm Marshall 43 254 16.78 38.1 17/ 4
Allan Donald 33 187 16.79 35.5 14/ 3
Curtly Ambrose 44 229 16.86 44.4 13/ 3
Fred Trueman 34 177 17.30 40.8 11/ 2
Waqar Younis 39 222 18.20 35.0 14/ 4
Dennis Lillee 31 203 18.27 39.0 17/ 6
Shaun Pollock 49 223 18.30 47.5 9/ 1
New Zealand's dependence on Hadlee was well known, but here are some numbers to put that into perspective: in the 86 Tests that he played, Hadlee took more than 35% of the wickets for his team (431 out of 1207). In wins, it improved even further, to 40.8% (173 out of 424).
2.DALE STEYN CHAMPION IN RESPECT OF WICKETS.
Best Test fast bowlers in wins (Qual: 200 wickets) Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Dale Steyn 44 291 16.03 31.4 22/5
Malcolm Marshall 43 254 16.78 38.1 17/ 4
Curtly Ambrose 44 229 16.86 44.4 13/ 3
Waqar Younis 39 222 18.20 35.0 14/ 4
Dennis Lillee 31 203 18.27 39.0 17/ 6
Shaun Pollock 49 223 18.30 47.5 9/ 1
Wasim Akram 41 211 18.48 42.3 13/ 2
Glenn McGrath 84 414 19.19 47.7 18/ 3
Courtney Walsh 52 239 19.72 46.2 10/ 2
Dale Steyn is on top but benefited from era he played in ,with many more tsets being played and more minnows amongst test nations.Perhaps the biggest compliment to Marshall is the fact that he stood out even when he played with other great fast bowlers. The 1980s were an exceptional period for West Indian fast bowling, and yet in the Tests that Marshall played, he took almost a third of the wickets taken by their fast bowlers (31.37%). Marshall was clearly the leader of the pack - the next-highest wicket-taker in matches Marshall figured in was Courtney Walsh, with only 137 wickets from 42 Tests, while Curtly Ambrose had 128 from 29. (Click here for the full list.) Marshall's average and strike rate were significantly better than his other fast-bowling mates, and he took as many five-fors as all the other West Indian fast bowlers put together. Significant that Wasim Akram had bettter strike rate than Curtly Ambrose while Waqar in this respect is ahead of both of them.
3.Below I am reproducing analysis of Anantha Narayana from cricinfo blogs in 2010.It is now cricinfo cordon.
1. Top 25 bowlers based on % of team wickets in wins(Steyn's figures not updated)
No Cty Bowler Mat Wins Wkts Wkts %-of-Wkts
Own Team
1.Eng Barnes S.F 27 13 115 260 44.23
2.Nzl Hadlee R.J 86 22 173 440 39.32
3.Saf Steyn D.W 33 18 124 360 34.44
4.Saf Tayfield H.J 37 11 74 220 33.64
5.Aus Lillee D.K 70 31 203 618 32.80
6.Eng Fraser A.R.C 46 12 78 240 32.50
7..Eng Peel R 20 12 78 240 32.50
8.Eng Lohmann G.A 18 15 94 300 31.33
9.Aus McKenzie G.D 60 18 112 360 31.11
10.Eng Gough D 58 18 105 342 30.83
11.Pak Imran Khan 88 26 155 520 29.81
12.Win Marshall M.D 81 43 254 857 29.62
13.Win Croft C.E.H 27 10 57 200 28.50
14.Pak Waqar Younis 87 39 222 780 28.46
15.Saf Donald A.A 72 33 187 660 28.33
16.Eng Caddick A.R 62 21 114 402 28.27
17.Aus Davidson A.K 44 16 89 320 27.81
18..Aus Trumble H 32 14 77 280 27.50
Angus Fraser is surprisingly outstanding but with lesser wickets..If you consider aggregate wickets then Barnes, Hadlee,Steyn,Lillee,,Imran,Marshall and Waqar are outstanding.Suprising to to see Ambrose here.
Top 25 bowlers based on Ratio of bowling average in wins
No Cty Bowler Wkts <-Wins Bow Avge-> Ratio
Team Own Others
1.Eng Fraser A.R.C 78 24.20 16.53 27.90 1.69
2.Nzl Hadlee R.J 173 18.38 13.07 21.82 1.67
3.Pak Imran Khan 155 20.16 14.50 22.56 1.56
4.Eng Barnes S.F 115 17.71 13.58 20.98 1.54
6.Saf Steyn D.W 124 21.33 16.68 23.77 1.43
7.Pak Shoaib Akhtar 99 21.78 17.52 23.19 1.32
8.Eng Briggs J 84 16.01 13.01 16.86 1.30
9.Aus Davidson A.K 89 19.52 16.04 20.86 1.30
10.Aus McKenzie G.D 112 23.47 19.49 25.27 1.30
11.Aus Lillee D.K 203 21.56 18.27 23.18 1.27
12.Saf Goddard T.L 47 23.03 19.09 24.10 1.26
13.Eng Lohmann G.A 94 11.21 9.67 11.91 1.23
14.Ind Pathan I.K 66 23.70 20.26 24.88 1.23
15.Eng Peel R 78 16.97 14.67 18.07 1.23
16.Aus Trumble H 77 20.79 18.00 21.85 1.21
17.Eng Bedser A.V 74 20.09 17.54 21.04 1.20
18.Saf Pollock P.M 46 22.86 19.83 23.77 1.20
19..Win Croft C.E.H 57 19.39 17.12 20.29 1.18
Considering aggregate wickets Hadlee,Imran,Barnes ,Steyn and Lillee outstanding.Surprising that Marshall misses out on this list.
I have ordered this table on the ratio of own wickets average to other bowlers wicket average in won matches. Fraser is on top having outr=performed his peers in won matches by 69%. I am not able to explain this other than possibly the relatively weaker English attacks. Hadlee is next. However note the stunning contributions made by Imran Khan in their wins, over 55% better. Shoaib Akhtar comes into the top-10 as also the great left arm fast bowler, davidson.
Note the low averages by the concerned bowlers in wins. No doubt these figures would be influenced, partly, by the outstanding analysis against weaker teams. But neither Fraser nor Hadlee had one easy match in their careers.
4.Performance in won matches-Compiled from work of Anantha Narayana in cricinfo blogs .
MCGRATH AND MARSHALL HAVE BEST PERCENTAGE AGGREGATE HAUL OF WICKETS IN WINS.
Bowler Value Points
McGrath G.D 0.492
Marshall M.D 0.486
Lillee D.K 0.451
Waqar Younis 0.440
Donald A.A 0.426
Trueman F.S 0.419
Ambrose C.E.L 0.414
Hadlee R.J 0.398
Garner J 0.393
Wasim Akram 0.384
Imran Khan 0.364
Kapil Dev N 0.198
This is done by doing a composite calculation involving two ratios. The first is the ratio of the bowler wickets in won matches with his own career wickets. The other is the ratio of the bowler wickets in won matches against the team wickets in won matches. This rewards success and as expected, Significant Mcgrath,Marshall and Lillee are at the top.Mcgrath and Marshall had advantage of playing for champion teams of their era for major part,while in Lillee's era West Indies was a superpower.Significant that Imran and Kapil are so low here as well as Wasim's.
5.MY CONCLUSIVE RANKING OF BEST FAST BOWLERS AS MATCH-WINNERS IN ORDER OF MERIT CONSIDERING ALL FACTORS(Qualification -200 wickets)
1.Richard Hadlee-Considering he bore the brunt of such a weak attack and still won the Kiwis famous wins.
2.Malcolm Marshall-Considering he was so outstanding playing with the best paceman of all time like Garner,Holding ,Roberts,Walsh or Ambrose.
3.Imran Khan-Considering he shaped the destiny of his nation like no other cricketer with his fast bowling playing a major part and his great performances against the superpower of his time West Indies.
4.Dennis Lillee-the ultimate epitome of agression and killer instinct who could turn a complexion of game in any situation.More explosive or volatile than Mcgrath.
5.Glen Mcgrath-a bowling.metronome who starred in 71 test victories.No paceman played in so many winning tests.Placed below LIllee as he did not bowl against as strong opponents and had advantage of playing against minnows.
6.Curtly Ambrose-the best ever match-winner in a 4th innings defending a low total or on a broken wicket Above all bore the brunt of a weak attack.At his best could create the impact of an explosion.
7.Dale Steyn-Statistically arguably the best but played in an era where there were many more minnows in test cricket and twice as many matches had results.
8.Wasim Akram-Considering he bowled so much on the falt sub-continent pancakes and still took 211 wickets in winning causes I place him along the best.
9.Waqar Younus-Statistically the best match-winner in terms of strike rate in his era and better than compatriot Wasim Akram,but not at his best against the champion teams.Akram bowled better against the stronger teams.
10.Alan Donald-phenomenal pace and skill in any conditions.Won tests even on the sub-continent and England and West Indies.A demon on fast track.
11.Andy Roberts-Does not figure in the stats tables but to turn the complexion of game I would back Andy as much as Lillee or Imran.Andy won his team famous wins all over the world from Australia to England and India.
12.Fred Trueman-Few paceman ever posessed such a spirited heart.
May have been unfair to the likes of Ray Lindwall, ,Michael Holding,Kapil Dev,Courtney Walsh,Joel Garner,Ian Botham etc who may well have made this list.If Kapil bowled in helpful conditions and received more support he may well have been up there.At his best in 1977-82 Botham was surely there but lost his form later in his career.If he had played in the era of the 1970's or later Lindwall would almost certainly have made this list.Roberts preferred over Holding and Garner as he spearheaded the attack and was the pioneer of the new pace bowling era.
