Narayana59
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World Test Championship - The Era Of Doctored Pitches & Technique-less Batsmen ?
Many critics are blaming modern-day batsmen for low batting averages, but they don't have any idea about how the introduction of the WTC made the life of batters miserable in different host countries.
Here is a comparison of bowling strength of different countries at home venues between 1990-July 1997 and 2018- july2025 .
Australian Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home (min 20 wickets)
1990-Jul 1997:
1- BA Reid - 46 wickets at 15.63 AVG in 7 matches.
2-Alderman - 29 wickets at 21.65 AVG in 6 matches.
3 -Shane Warne - 127 wickets at 23.04 AVG in 28 matches.
4- Glenn McGrath - 76 wickets at 23.38 AVG in 16 matches
5-McDermott - 146 wickets at 24.25 AVG in 29 matches
6 - Mark Waugh - 23 wickets in 33 innings at 29.6 AVG.
Current Australian Bowlers (2018-2025):
Scott Boland - 49 wickets at 12.63 AVG in 9 matches
Pat Cummins - 162 wickets at 19.00 AVG in 24 matches
Josh Hazlewood - 85 wickets at 20.27 AVG in 22 matches
Starc - 142 wickets at 25.35 AVG in 35 matches
Green - 22 wickets at 25.63 AVG in 25 innings
Lyon - 133 wickets at 28.41 AVG in 36 matches.
**Conclusion: Batting in Australia in the current era is significantly more difficult than in the 90s, or current era bowlers are simply better.
South African Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997
P De Villiers - 41 wickets at 22.29 AVG in 7 matches
Pollock - 30 wickets at 23.96 AVG in 10 matches
Allan Donald - 86 wickets at 24.13 AVG in 19 matches.
C Mathews - 34 wickets at 24.88 AVG in 11 matches.
McMillan - 51 wickets in 36 innings at 28.44 AVG.
Now
2018-2025 jul
L Ngidi - 39 wickets at 17.30 AVG in 9 matches
Philander - 48 wickets at 19.50 AVG in 14 matches.
M Morkel - 28 wickets at 19.78 AVG in 6 matches .
Jansen - 51 wickets at 19.78 AVG in 10 matches .
Oliver - 39 wickets at 20.53 AVG in 9 matches.
Kagiso Rabada - 134 wickets at 21.4 AVG in 26 matches.
Nortje - 35 wickets at 23.62 AVG in 7 matches.
Dale Steyn (washed) - 20 wickets at 29.75 AVG in 6 matches .
*Conclusion: Batting in South Africa in the WTC era is way tougher than in the 90s, or the bowling quality of the current South African team is far superior to 90s bowlers.
West Indies Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997 Jul:
C Ambrose - 123 wickets at 20.27 AVG in 30 matches.
Ian Bishop - 52 wickets at 23.28 AVG in 14 matches
Rose - 23 wickets at 23.69 AVG in 7 matches.
Malcolm Marshall - 24 wickets at 23.70 AVG in 7 matches.
C Walsh - 103 wickets at 26.47 AVG in 29 matches.
Patterson - 20 wickets at 29.95 AVG in 7 matches.
2018- July 2025:
K Mayers - 26 wickets at 15.00 AVG in 9 matches.
S Joseph- 32 wickets at 19.15 AVG in 6 matches.
J Seales - 71 wickets at 20.19 AVG in 16 matches
K Roach - 106 wickets at 20.42 AVG in 25 matches
J Holder - 72 wickets at 21.00 AVG in 22 matches
Gabriel - 46 wickets at 28.06 AVG in 14 matches
*Conclusion: Batting in West Indies is always difficult. Current West Indies bowlers are nowhere near Ambrose and Walsh in away conditions, but at home, current West Indies bowlers are better (except Ambrose).
England Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
DeFreitas - 77 wickets at 25.66 AVG in 18 matches.
Only 1 Bolwer.
2018-2025:
Ollie Robinson - 50 wickets at 20.26 AVG in 10 matches
Atkinson - 37 wickets at 20.56 AVG in 7 matches
Chris Woakes- 105 wickets at 23.49 AVG in 27 matches.
Stuart Broad - 146 wickets at 23.86 AVG in 34 matches
Jimmy Anderson - 103 wickets at 24.79 in 30 matches.
Jofra Archer - 33 wickets at 26.54 AVG in 9 matches.
Wood - 40 wickets at 26.70 AVG in 11 matches.
Ben Stokes - 82 wickets at 26.87 AVG in 51 innings
Potts - 28 wickets at 29.32 AVG in 8 matches.
*Conclusion: WTC era bowlers are way better than 90s Eng bowlers.
New Zealand Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Morrison - 106 wickets at 25.98 AVG in 23 matches
Watson - 22 wickets at 27.95 AVG in 6 matches
Doull - 36 wickets at 29.75 AVG in 10 innings.
2018-2025:
Kyle Jamieson - 56 wickets at 17.37 AVG in 11 matches.
Matt Henry - 73 wickets at 23.02 AVG in 15 matches.
Boult - 74 wickets 24.09 AVG in 15 matches.
Wagner - 83 wickets at 26.34 AVG in 20 matches.
W O'Rourke - 21 wickets at 27.57 AVG in 5 matches.
Southee - 116 wickets at 28.00 AVG in 29 matches.
*Conclusion: wtc era bowlers are way better.
Indian Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Kapil Dev - 20 wickets at 20.00 AVG in 8 matches.
Raju - 63 wickets at 20.41 AVG in 12 Matches.
Anil Kumble - 92 wickets at 21.42 AVG in 17 matches
Srinath - 30 wickets in 9 matches at 25.80 AVG.
Prabhakar - 22 wickets at 28.22 AVG in 14 matches.
2018-2025:
Jasprit Bumrah - 47 wickets at 17.19 AVG in 12 matches.
Umesh Yadav - 43 wickets in 11 matches at 18.25 AVG.
Axar Patel - 47 wickets at 18.65 AVG in 11 matches .
Ashwin - 163 wickets at 19.15 AVG in 34 matches
Jadeja - 107 wickets at 21.15 AVG in 24 matches.
Ishant Sharma - 24 wickets in 18 innings at 21.41 AVG.
Kuldeep yadav - 24 wickets at 23.47 AVG in 8 matches
*Conclusion: Indian bowlers are always great at home, but WTC era bowlers are simply another level.
Pakistan Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Waqar Younis - 110 wickets at 17.25 AVG in just 18 matches .
Wasim Akram - 77 wickets at 17.71 AVG in 16 matches.
Aaqib Javed - 29 wickets at 26.65 AVG in 10 matches.
Mushtaq Ahmed - 33 wickets at 27.96 AVG in 9 matches.
2018-2025:
Noman Ali - 60 wickets at 23.00 AVG in 11 matches.
Sajid Khan - 38 wickets at 29.81 AVG in 7 matches
*Conclusion: 90s Pakistan bowlers were way better than current pakistan bowlers.
Sri Lanka Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Muralidaran - 61 wickets at 25.41 AVG in 14 matches (4.3 wpm).
Warnaweera - 28 wickets at 29.14 AVG in 7 matches.
Only 2 Bolwers.
Now 2018–2025 :
MDK Perera - 46 wickets at 24.28 AVG in 8 matches (5+ wpm).
N Jayasuriya - 96 wickets in 14 matches at 27.42 AVG (almost 7 wpm ).
A Dhananjay - 23 wickets at 18.73 AVG in 4 matches.
R Mendis - 70 wickets at 28.85 AVG in 14 matches (5 wpm).
A Fernando - 29 wickets in 21 innings at 29.82 AVG.
*Conclusion: 90s Sri Lankan bowlers are highly overrated, and 90s Sri Lanka used to produce Rawalpindi-type highways where teams used to score 950, 700+, 600+, 500+, etc., consistently. Current WTC bowlers are superior to 90s Sri Lankan bowlers at home till now.
So, the fact is that except for Pakistan, the majority of WTC pacers average <23 at home. How can a batsman score runs at 50+ AVG against these quality bowlers when there isn't a single team with minnows level Bolwers exist in WTC era (cricket in Pakistan is almost dead)?
To summarize, the WTC era is the greatest age of bowling, and the quality of current bowlers is far superior to the quality of 90s bowlers in every host country except for Pakistan.
See the drastic difference in Total Number of Bolwers in different host countries with< 20 AVG, < 25 AVG and< 30 AVG (min 20 wickets).
.https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-fc699136059d6296fbdb225c1f1c7037
Source - ESPNstatsguru
Many critics are blaming modern-day batsmen for low batting averages, but they don't have any idea about how the introduction of the WTC made the life of batters miserable in different host countries.
Here is a comparison of bowling strength of different countries at home venues between 1990-July 1997 and 2018- july2025 .
Australian Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home (min 20 wickets)
1990-Jul 1997:
1- BA Reid - 46 wickets at 15.63 AVG in 7 matches.
2-Alderman - 29 wickets at 21.65 AVG in 6 matches.
3 -Shane Warne - 127 wickets at 23.04 AVG in 28 matches.
4- Glenn McGrath - 76 wickets at 23.38 AVG in 16 matches
5-McDermott - 146 wickets at 24.25 AVG in 29 matches
6 - Mark Waugh - 23 wickets in 33 innings at 29.6 AVG.
Current Australian Bowlers (2018-2025):
Scott Boland - 49 wickets at 12.63 AVG in 9 matches
Pat Cummins - 162 wickets at 19.00 AVG in 24 matches
Josh Hazlewood - 85 wickets at 20.27 AVG in 22 matches
Starc - 142 wickets at 25.35 AVG in 35 matches
Green - 22 wickets at 25.63 AVG in 25 innings
Lyon - 133 wickets at 28.41 AVG in 36 matches.
**Conclusion: Batting in Australia in the current era is significantly more difficult than in the 90s, or current era bowlers are simply better.
South African Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997
P De Villiers - 41 wickets at 22.29 AVG in 7 matches
Pollock - 30 wickets at 23.96 AVG in 10 matches
Allan Donald - 86 wickets at 24.13 AVG in 19 matches.
C Mathews - 34 wickets at 24.88 AVG in 11 matches.
McMillan - 51 wickets in 36 innings at 28.44 AVG.
Now
2018-2025 jul
L Ngidi - 39 wickets at 17.30 AVG in 9 matches
Philander - 48 wickets at 19.50 AVG in 14 matches.
M Morkel - 28 wickets at 19.78 AVG in 6 matches .
Jansen - 51 wickets at 19.78 AVG in 10 matches .
Oliver - 39 wickets at 20.53 AVG in 9 matches.
Kagiso Rabada - 134 wickets at 21.4 AVG in 26 matches.
Nortje - 35 wickets at 23.62 AVG in 7 matches.
Dale Steyn (washed) - 20 wickets at 29.75 AVG in 6 matches .
*Conclusion: Batting in South Africa in the WTC era is way tougher than in the 90s, or the bowling quality of the current South African team is far superior to 90s bowlers.
West Indies Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997 Jul:
C Ambrose - 123 wickets at 20.27 AVG in 30 matches.
Ian Bishop - 52 wickets at 23.28 AVG in 14 matches
Rose - 23 wickets at 23.69 AVG in 7 matches.
Malcolm Marshall - 24 wickets at 23.70 AVG in 7 matches.
C Walsh - 103 wickets at 26.47 AVG in 29 matches.
Patterson - 20 wickets at 29.95 AVG in 7 matches.
2018- July 2025:
K Mayers - 26 wickets at 15.00 AVG in 9 matches.
S Joseph- 32 wickets at 19.15 AVG in 6 matches.
J Seales - 71 wickets at 20.19 AVG in 16 matches
K Roach - 106 wickets at 20.42 AVG in 25 matches
J Holder - 72 wickets at 21.00 AVG in 22 matches
Gabriel - 46 wickets at 28.06 AVG in 14 matches
*Conclusion: Batting in West Indies is always difficult. Current West Indies bowlers are nowhere near Ambrose and Walsh in away conditions, but at home, current West Indies bowlers are better (except Ambrose).
England Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
DeFreitas - 77 wickets at 25.66 AVG in 18 matches.
Only 1 Bolwer.
2018-2025:
Ollie Robinson - 50 wickets at 20.26 AVG in 10 matches
Atkinson - 37 wickets at 20.56 AVG in 7 matches
Chris Woakes- 105 wickets at 23.49 AVG in 27 matches.
Stuart Broad - 146 wickets at 23.86 AVG in 34 matches
Jimmy Anderson - 103 wickets at 24.79 in 30 matches.
Jofra Archer - 33 wickets at 26.54 AVG in 9 matches.
Wood - 40 wickets at 26.70 AVG in 11 matches.
Ben Stokes - 82 wickets at 26.87 AVG in 51 innings
Potts - 28 wickets at 29.32 AVG in 8 matches.
*Conclusion: WTC era bowlers are way better than 90s Eng bowlers.
New Zealand Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Morrison - 106 wickets at 25.98 AVG in 23 matches
Watson - 22 wickets at 27.95 AVG in 6 matches
Doull - 36 wickets at 29.75 AVG in 10 innings.
2018-2025:
Kyle Jamieson - 56 wickets at 17.37 AVG in 11 matches.
Matt Henry - 73 wickets at 23.02 AVG in 15 matches.
Boult - 74 wickets 24.09 AVG in 15 matches.
Wagner - 83 wickets at 26.34 AVG in 20 matches.
W O'Rourke - 21 wickets at 27.57 AVG in 5 matches.
Southee - 116 wickets at 28.00 AVG in 29 matches.
*Conclusion: wtc era bowlers are way better.
Indian Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Kapil Dev - 20 wickets at 20.00 AVG in 8 matches.
Raju - 63 wickets at 20.41 AVG in 12 Matches.
Anil Kumble - 92 wickets at 21.42 AVG in 17 matches
Srinath - 30 wickets in 9 matches at 25.80 AVG.
Prabhakar - 22 wickets at 28.22 AVG in 14 matches.
2018-2025:
Jasprit Bumrah - 47 wickets at 17.19 AVG in 12 matches.
Umesh Yadav - 43 wickets in 11 matches at 18.25 AVG.
Axar Patel - 47 wickets at 18.65 AVG in 11 matches .
Ashwin - 163 wickets at 19.15 AVG in 34 matches
Jadeja - 107 wickets at 21.15 AVG in 24 matches.
Ishant Sharma - 24 wickets in 18 innings at 21.41 AVG.
Kuldeep yadav - 24 wickets at 23.47 AVG in 8 matches
*Conclusion: Indian bowlers are always great at home, but WTC era bowlers are simply another level.
Pakistan Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Waqar Younis - 110 wickets at 17.25 AVG in just 18 matches .
Wasim Akram - 77 wickets at 17.71 AVG in 16 matches.
Aaqib Javed - 29 wickets at 26.65 AVG in 10 matches.
Mushtaq Ahmed - 33 wickets at 27.96 AVG in 9 matches.
2018-2025:
Noman Ali - 60 wickets at 23.00 AVG in 11 matches.
Sajid Khan - 38 wickets at 29.81 AVG in 7 matches
*Conclusion: 90s Pakistan bowlers were way better than current pakistan bowlers.
Sri Lanka Bowlers with <30 AVG at Home
1990-1997:
Muralidaran - 61 wickets at 25.41 AVG in 14 matches (4.3 wpm).
Warnaweera - 28 wickets at 29.14 AVG in 7 matches.
Only 2 Bolwers.
Now 2018–2025 :
MDK Perera - 46 wickets at 24.28 AVG in 8 matches (5+ wpm).
N Jayasuriya - 96 wickets in 14 matches at 27.42 AVG (almost 7 wpm ).
A Dhananjay - 23 wickets at 18.73 AVG in 4 matches.
R Mendis - 70 wickets at 28.85 AVG in 14 matches (5 wpm).
A Fernando - 29 wickets in 21 innings at 29.82 AVG.
*Conclusion: 90s Sri Lankan bowlers are highly overrated, and 90s Sri Lanka used to produce Rawalpindi-type highways where teams used to score 950, 700+, 600+, 500+, etc., consistently. Current WTC bowlers are superior to 90s Sri Lankan bowlers at home till now.
So, the fact is that except for Pakistan, the majority of WTC pacers average <23 at home. How can a batsman score runs at 50+ AVG against these quality bowlers when there isn't a single team with minnows level Bolwers exist in WTC era (cricket in Pakistan is almost dead)?
To summarize, the WTC era is the greatest age of bowling, and the quality of current bowlers is far superior to the quality of 90s bowlers in every host country except for Pakistan.
See the drastic difference in Total Number of Bolwers in different host countries with< 20 AVG, < 25 AVG and< 30 AVG (min 20 wickets).
.https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-fc699136059d6296fbdb225c1f1c7037
Source - ESPNstatsguru