Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

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1

Who were the greatest fast bowlers of all time?

If we look at each players 6 year career peak (first day of the 1st year to the last day of the last year) and list them by their strike rate then who would be the greatest fast bowler of all time? I’m sure most of us would have an inkling as we read this but I assure you apart from the No.1 position, the placements of most of the remaining names are quite surprising!!!

My first task was to choose a selection of bowlers and this had to have some limits or I could never have completed this list. Firstly a lot of the names suggested to me are ‘pages of history’ and not sportsmen as we would know them today. Some suggested the Australian fast bowler Spofforth but when I checked his stats he’d only ever played against England and no-one else. After checking a few other names I decided to set the bar at the 1970’s because it was only after this decade that we can really say that there was true competition in cricket amongst a variety of teams at a competitive level.

Fast bowlers before this period had not faced the variety of quality batsmen on varying pitches around the world that the post-70’s bowlers have had to contend with. Also there is a lot more cricket played these days, so todays bowlers have to be physically fitter and have an attack full of variety just to survive! Much of the bowlers and batsman before this period played the same teams (or even team) over and over again, they got to know each others weaknesses and strengths. If there was a player today who had only ever played against one team then would we call him great? The players from centuries ago may hold importance for those fans and pundits whose teams havent produced any truly world class players since then but the rest of us know different.

If you sent Wasim and Waqar back 80 years in a time machine during their peak, I believe they would probably blast out any teams batting order within the first 25 overs. The players we have today are professionals and incredible at what they do. It’s unfair to both sets of cricketers for us to compare todays dedicated professionals to the leisurely amateurs from era’s gone by, for whom cricket was nothing more than a hobby or something to do when they got bored.

Anyway I believe cricket only got truly competitive during the 70’s with an array of teams all fighting it out in differing conditions against all sorts of players and brand new varieties of deliveries.

The players I chose were…

Australia - Lillee, Gillespie and McGrath
England - Botham
India - Srinath and Kapil
New Zealand - Hadlee
Pakistan - Imran, Waqar and Wasim
S Africa - Pollock and Donald
W Indies - Garner, Marshall, Holding, Ambrose and Walsh.

…some people may suggest other names that I may have missed and I know the above werent all ‘strictly speaking’ fast bowlers but they are all great bowlers! I will be comparing each players 6 year peak at their discipline because when we are choosing players in all time greatest teams then we are choosing them for their peak powers and not their overall performance. Any player that can turn out all time great figures for 6 consecutive years is a great in my book!

I dont like to hold injuries against any player because that is something out of their control so 6 years is the perfect length of time for even the most injury prone players to prove their worth!!!

There will be two categories, the all time greatest bowlers and the ‘great’ bowlers. To qualify for either category a player must meet the benchmark set and each player will be ranked by their strike rate, since this is the most important factor in a test match bowlers figures!

All Time Greatest Bowlers

The benchmark set for each bowler will be exactly the same, they must have a strike rate below 50 and an average below 21 to qualify as one of the all time greatest bowlers. They must have sustained these figures for a 6 year period when they were at the peak of their abilities. Below are the results…

  1. 194 wkts at an avg of 20.02 with a S/R of 38.0 for Waqar (90-95)
  2. 154 wkts at an avg of 14.85 with a S/R of 40.9 for Imran (81-86)
  3. 238 wkts at an avg of 18.90 with a S/R of 43.1 for Marshall (84-89)
  4. 233 wkts at an avg of 19.88 with a S/R of 43.1 for Donald (95-00)
  5. 222 wkts at an avg of 18.76 with a S/R of 46.1 for Hadlee (83-88)
  6. 195 wkts at an avg of 19.87 with a S/R of 46.4 for Wasim (90-95)
  7. 286 wkts at an avg of 20.50 with a S/R of 48.1 for McGrath (95-20)

…only seven bowlers made it into the all time great category. I know the benchmark was a bit high but then dont we expect the very best from our all time greats especially at the very peaks of their careers? Waqar’s S/R at his peak is unmatchable and the only one to come close is Imran Khan. I’ve deliberately left out a certain controversial bowler because he has just hit his peak now and has only one 5 year period to his name at the moment! I did a little check on Shoaibs last few 3 year periods and his best figures are…

84 wkts at an avg of 16.52 with a S/R of 32.2 for Shoaib (00-03)

…if he can keep free from injury and sustain similar form for another two years then Waqar may have a serious challenger for his top spot!!!

Great Bowlers

Not every bowler from the 17 in my list made the benchmark and that surprised me since I felt most of them bowling at the peak of their powers would have made it but sadly they didnt. So I have created a second category for ‘great bowlers’ so that everyone could see where their favourites rank. Obviously these bowlers are still some of the best in history and fans from their respective countries will back them to the hilt as being entitled to be in the ‘greatest bowlers’ group but they didnt meet the benchmark set, which I’m sure most of you will agree was quite fair when we are talking about the best bowlers in the business.

The benchmark for the ‘great bowlers’ category is a S/R below 55 and an average below 25, the results are…

  1. 151 wkts at an avg of 21.61 with a S/R of 45.9 for Holding (81-86)
  2. 203 wkts at an avg of 22.17 with a S/R of 45.9 for Lillee (76-81)
  3. 189 wkts at an avg of 20.24 with a S/R of 50.8 for Ambrose (93-98)
  4. 129 wkts at an avg of 23.18 with a S/R of 52.2 for Walsh (85-90)
  5. 249 wkts at an avg of 19.95 with a S/R of 52.9 for Pollock (96-01)
  6. 170 wkts at an avg of 20.62 with a S/R of 53.3 for Garner (81-86)
  7. 267 wkts at an avg of 24.99 with a S/R of 53.5 for Botham (78-83)

…So there you have it, the 7 greatest bowlers (at their peak) of all time from the modern era and 7 bowlers who didnt quite make the grade but will always have a special place in people’s memories and whose names will always be mentioned alongside the names of the greatest bowlers.

There were 3 bowlers who made the ‘great’ category on strike rate but missed out due to their averages they are…

  1. 142 wkts at an avg of 25.26 with a S/R of 50.2 for Gillespie (97-02)
  2. 239 wkts at an avg of 26.94 with a S/R of 53.6 for Kapil (79-84)
  3. 142 wkts at an avg of 27.55 with a S/R of 56.0 for Srinath (95-00)

…from these three, Gillespie came closest missing out by 0.27 runs on his average.

Its also good to see players from our era like Donald, McGrath and Wasim up there with the greatest of all time.

Imran is very very underrated as a fast bowler and at his peak he was something special, he maintained a 14.85 average (the best here) and
combined it with a S/R of 40.9 (the second best here) for SIX years!

In summary, the king of fast bowlers was a foregone conclusion but the rest of the list makes for quite interesting reading, most of the people I’ve spoken to about fast bowlers would agree with me that Waqar at his peak was peerless and even the stats bear that fact out.

2

Help me understand.. this is interesting stuff... however, are you putting Waqar as #1 in the Greatest list, solely because of his Strike rate?

Because if we look at the average runs given away to get a wicket, or even for total wickets obtained during the six year peak period, Waqar is not #1. In avergaes he is second to last amongst the top 7 and in wickets he is also second to last.

Shouldn't atleast these three different factors be given weights in a reasonable criteria, and then the #1 crown be awarded?

3

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Help me understand.. this is interesting stuff... however, are you putting Waqar as #1 in the Greatest list, solely because of his Strike rate?

Because if we look at the average runs given away to get a wicket, or even for total wickets obtained during the six year peak period, Waqar is not #1. In avergaes he is second to last amongst the top 7 and in wickets he is also second to last.

Shouldn't atleast these three different factors be given weights in a reasonable criteria, and then the #1 crown be awarded?
[/QUOTE]

Here is the difference Faisal bhai.
This guy first concludes that what he wants to prove.Then he looks for statistics to proof his points and then puts the statistics. Its kinda same as Cable news Spin doctors.

Right process would be to start with stats and prove your point.In one other thread he proved Imran khan was the best ever all rounder world has ever seen. In next one He proved Imran was better bowler than Lilee.

His next thread would be Afridi is better than Richard If you compare their record on peak.Afridi was on peak only once and he scored 100 in 37 balls,Richard 's best is 100 on 66 balls I think.So Afridi is better.

4

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by fair_&_balance: *

Here is the difference Faisal bhai.
This guy first concludes that what he wants to prove.Then he looks for statistics to proof his points and then puts the statistics. Its kinda same as Cable news Spin doctors.

Right process would be to start with stats and prove your point.In one other thread he proved Imran khan was the best ever all rounder world has ever seen. In next one He proved Imran was better bowler than Lilee.

His next thread would be Afridi is better than Richard If you compare their record on peak.Afridi was on peak only once and he scored 100 in 37 balls,Richard 's best is 100 on 66 balls I think.So Afridi is better.
[/QUOTE]

come on F and B.. don’t be so rude....be more positive.. the guy has done a good job in terms of assembling the whole data and one should appreciate it...you can contradict it (and what else a desi can do except contradiction anyways) but you can also appreciate the hard work. plus if you have to contradict, do support your argument with some logic..dont just say " he did this because of that or he will do this because of this blah blah"

Well actually I do like his criteria. It is consistent and every bowler has to face the same benchmark...yeah it is based on strike rate and most of the international magazines also give strike rate a lot of importance these days.... Let me tell you why strike rate is so important. For a batsman, the most important factor is his career average and that career average is based on number of innings he played to score those runs. Right or wrong? Bradman only scored 6000 runs but his average is so stunning… and that puts him at the top of every list…well same should be true for bowlers also. Now Walsh may have taken 500 wickets but then dont forget how many balls he had to bowl to get those wickets...

To me, career average for a batsman and strike rate for a bowler is the same thing. Bowler’s “average” is based on number of runs he gave away to get those wickets and “strike rate” is number of balls he bowled to get those wickets. We all know that in test matches what really count is to take wickets as quickly as possible and it does not matter how many runs you gave away for that. That is why I pick “strike rate” over “average” as deciding criteria. That is the one of the most important factor that needs to be considered. However, number of wickets SHOULD NOT be the deciding criteria because some countries don’t have enough quality bowlers and the main striker has to bowl so many overs such as walsh, kapil dev and now days murli.

However one may question the accuracy of the 6 peak years of each player. I am not saying that he made any any mistake but i want to make sure that he selected the 6 most productive years in a sequence (and emphasis is on sequence) for every player. and i am sure he did.Now if waqar is at top, it is not thet surprising. he was one of the best fast bowlers of modern history. Bottom line is, no matter which criteria you use, these top 7 bowlers will always be there but their positons could be little different. and we are glad that our great great Ws are awlays in top 10 list .

5

His criterea looks reasonable enough.
I agree with the outcome.
Waqar is the best

6

Wasim is the best ever bowler of cricket history. Period! Don't need any proof for it. The only man who can bowl two consecutive overs without repeating a delivery. The only bowler who can turn the ball both ways in one delivery (source: Cricinfo).

7

For all the brilliance of Wasim and performance of others being discussed here, when at his peak, no fast bowler has ever come close to the destructive Waqar of the early 90's.

His stats and performance went south later on in his career. But when on song, he was the most complete fast bowler the world has ever seen. And what a song it was.

8

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Diablo Kazama: *
For all the brilliance of Wasim and performance of others being discussed here, when at his peak, no fast bowler has ever come close to the destructive Waqar of the early 90's.

[/QUOTE]

True...

I still remember the early 90s, no one would talk abt Wasim. The only name on the lips of every other child was Waqar, Waqar...and Waqar.

9

I am not saying Strike Rate is not important. Yes it is. What I am saying is that there are atleast three objective criteria to judge a bowler (S/R, Avg and Wickets), and all of them should be given some weightage. Not equal weightage, mind you. Fine, you give more weightage to S/R, but S/R should not be the ONLY criteria to select the BEST bowler the world has seen.

10

I agree with the conclusion here. Waqar at his peak was just about the best fast bowler ever. For the controversy about Wasim -vs- Waqar, maybe Mercernary would like to compare both these during the early ninties in matches where they played together and see who comes out on top?

From my personal observation, and I havent checked the records, Waqar was the more destructive of the two. Solid numbers to back this claim will be appreciated. :D

11

The players are ranked by their strike rate because that is the single most important stat in a Test bowlers figures.

Wickets win matches and the person with the lowest strike rate will take the most number of wickets per match.

Some people have noted that certain bowlers have more wickets over a 6 year period than others and they have also wondered why bowlers weren't ranked by wickets taken. Its quite simple really!

Lets take the figures of two of the top 7 bowlers...

  1. 154 wkts at an avg of 14.85 with a S/R of 40.9 for Imran (81-86)
  2. 286 wkts at an avg of 20.50 with a S/R of 48.1 for McGrath (95-20)

...now from the top 7 bowlers, Imran has the least amount of wickets yet is ranked 2nd whilst Mcgrath has the most amount of wickets but is ranked 7th. At first glance this seems a bit odd but not to those who have a better understanding of the game.

Let me provide slightly more detailed figures for the players 6 year peaks...

27 Mtchs. 154 wkts. 14.85 avg. 40.9 SR. 2.17 Eco for Imran
58 Mtchs. 286 wkts. 20.50 avg. 48.1 SR. 2.55 Eco for McGrath

...certain teams (Australia, S Africa and England) play much more Test cricket than certain other teams (Pakistan for one). Thats why some bowlers have a lot more wickets, its simply because they played more Test matches during the same 6 year period.

Imrans wickets per match ratio is 5.70 and McGraths is 4.93. McGrath is actually taking less wickets per match than Imran but ends up with more wickets by playing more than double the amount of matches Imran has!

If Imran had played 58 matches during his peak then he would have ended up with 331 wickets in the same period! Now do you see why strike rate is the number one criteria?

The second most important criteria is average and an average below 21 is good enough because it restricts the other team to an achievable total.

For example if we took the top 7 bowlers in the list above and put each of them into a hypothetical match where they would perform to their peak figures and take a 10 wicket haul, what would their match figures look like? Have a look below...

63.2 overs. 10 wkts for 200 runs to Waqar
68.1 overs. 10 wkts for 149 runs to Imran
71.5 overs. 10 wkts for 189 runs to Marshall
71.5 overs. 10 wkts for 199 runs to Donald
76.5 overs. 10 wkts for 188 runs to Hadlee
77.2 overs. 10 wkts for 199 runs to Wasim
80.1 overs. 10 wkts for 205 runs to McGrath

Waqar would take 10 wickets 4.5 overs faster than anyone else, Pakistan have proven time and again if wickets are taken quickly then teams are often induced into collapses and bowled out for relatively low scores.

On average Wasim took 14 overs longer than Waqar to pick up 10 wickets and conceded 1 run more whilst doing so. I'd rather let the opposition have that 1 run and bowl them out 14 overs quicker!

I hope the above clears up any confusion over the ranking!

12

Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

I feel their is a lot of unfairness to Dennis Lille,who I personally regard is with Malcolm Marshall the best of all fast bolwers.Remember that actually he captured 446 wickets adding the Packer stats and games against Rest of the World .Lillee has a superior strike rate to Imran Khan and his performances were better against stronger English and West Indian sides.Remember Lillee bolwing against Clive Lloyd's graet taems and still turning games.Imran was at his bset agaisnt the post Clive Lloyd sides.In Packer Cricket he overshadowed every great bolwer capturing 5 wickets per game and winning games.Infact at his peak Lillee catured around 200 wickets at a strike rate of around 48 from 1977-1982.I also think Lillee was a more complete fast bowler than Imran or Hadlee.

This is my analysis.

Dennis Lillee and Malcolm Marshall are ranked at the top ,being the most complete of fast bolwers. They vie for first place in a photo-finish. Lillee posessed greater consistency in his bowling career than Marshall and was consistently the more durable..Morally he captured 450 wickets if you add Packer and games against Rest of the World. Lillee also had greater 5 wicket and 10 wicket hauls in test Cricket. However Marshall had a better strike rate of 46.7 and an average of 20.94 as against Lillee’s figures of51.0 strike rate and 23.92 average,overshadowing the other great paceman of the famous West Indian quartet. Lillee was classically more complete but Marshall was more lethal possessing an armoury of deliveries which no great paceman could deliver and was greater master in the bio-mechanics of bolwing.He also proved himself on the docile sub-continent tracks which Lillee did not. Where Lillee stood above Marshall was in overall evaluation of match performances, particularly if you add World series Packer stats.Either could be first of second but I may give the benefit of doubt to Lillee.On pure stats,Sydney Barnes is the champion of all who in helpful condition would have overshadowed any modern great fast bowler. In terms of haul of wickets Mcgrath was the champion of all the genuine quickies with a haul of 563 wickets at 21.64.,who possessed every ingredient of a great pace bowler. Glen Mcgrath posessed greater control and accuracy than any great pace bowler bar Richard Hadlee, but lacked the agressiveness and versatality of Marshall and Lillee .Ray lindwall was rated by some cricketing greats like Fred Trueman and Alan Davidson as the best pace man they ever saw who had greater pace and control than Lillee.Had lindwall played in the years of Lillee and Holding he may well have emerged a champion with his phenomenal skill.Adjusting his figures in the 1980’s he may well have equaled if not surpassed the likes of Hadlee and Imran. Statistically to me Hadlee was the greatest paceman of all, as inspite of playing for a weak team he still captured 5 wickets per test and 36 5 wicket hauls.Richard Hadlee was the most lethal of all bolwers on green tops ,posessing as much control as Mcgrath,but not as productive as Marshall or Lillee,on flat tracks Adding test and one day Cricket Wasim Akram was the greatest of them who was more talented ,versatile and dangerous than Glen Mcgrath ,Richard Hadlee or Imran Khan but did not deliver the goods as much when required.Perhaps no pace bowler ever produced such lethal swing.. Imran Khan was not as lethal as Wasim Akram who possessed a greater repertoire of deliveries and overall bowling skill.However Imran was a greater match-winner than Wasim against superior opposition ,who simply turned and won games against top sides like the West Indies,England or Australia.. Hadlee and Imran have been rated slightly ahead of Glen Mcgrath as they had to carry the brunt of weaker bowling attacks and at their peak periods were marginally more impressive in strike rate and gained wins against superior opposition teams. For sheer speed through the air and bowling action Holding was the king of them all ... Curtly Ambrose was the most accurate paceman of all with Joel Garner and the greatest match-winner amongst pacemen of his era being a supreme champion in bowling to win a match in the 4th innings. However Ambrose was a far more predictable bowler than Roberts, Holding or Marshall. Although the ultimate champion on broken tops he was not as effective as Akram or Mcrath on flat tracks Andy Roberts was more versatile than any West Indian paceman Waqar in his peak could have equaled Lillee or Marshall.In his day his strike rate was the best by any paceman after the War and statistically overshadowed Akram.Daryl Steyn is shaping like a modern great in the class of Marshall and Lillee with the best strike rate of all great pace bolwers.He obtains pace and movement on all types of cracks and is devastating at his best.Ambrose,Donald and Waqar were statistically ahead ofHolding or Akram but lacked the skills of such greats. To me Shoaib Akhtar and Jeff Thomson were the fastest of all, but only possessed pace, unlike the great fastmen.Wes Hall and Ian Botham were unlucky to missout ,both truly great bolwers and match-winners on their day. A very important point is to asses the graet paceman at their peak periods be it Imran,Marshall,Lillee ,Hadlee or Akram.It is worth comparing their strike rates,no of wickets and averages in these periods taking World Series stats into account of Lillee and Imran.Another criteria is performances in test wins like strike rates ,percentage of wickets and averages.I have used important statistical analyses compiled by S.Rajesh of Cricinfo.to whom I owe my research in the statistical light.I have also adde Ananth Narayan’s tables of analyses.

Ratings by statistics

1.Sydney Barnes
2. RichardHadlee
3.Glen Mcgrath
4.Malcolm Marshall
5.Dennis Lillee
6.Imran Khan
7. Waqar Younus
8. Curtly Ambrose
9.Wasim Akram
10.Fred Trueman **
**11..Alan Donald
*12..Dayle Steyn *

Ratings by bowling skill

1.Malcolm Marshall
2.Dennis Lillee
3. Wasim Akram
4. Ray Lindwall
5 Sydney Barnes
6. Glen McGrath
7.Michael Holding
8.Andy Roberts
9.Richard Hadlee
10.Imran Khan
11.Curtly Ambrose
12 Waqar Younus

Overall ratings

1.Dennis Lillee
2.Malcolm Marshall
3.Sydney Barnes **
*4.Richard Hadlee *
*5.Imran Khan *
**6.Glen Mcgrath
7.Ray Lindwall
8.Wasim Akram
9.Michael Holding
10.Curtly Ambrose
11.Fred Trueman **
**12 Waqar Younus

Here are some revant stats subsatntiating my selections.I agree with you that Imran bore the brunt of aweaker pace attack and in light of that his peformace was superior.I similarly rate Richard Hadlee.Below are my sttas research figs which are relevant taken from Ananth Narayana from cricinfo.

Peer comparison of average to own team peer bowlers** (analyzed by Ananth Narayana)**

Bowler Value Points

Hadlee R.J 1.534 10.00
Imran Khan 1.377 8.98
Ambrose C.E.L 1.233 8.04
Donald A.A 1.197 7.80
Lillee D.K 1.188 7.74
Kapil Dev N 1.181 7.70
Marshall M.D 1.170 7.63
Trueman F.S 1.169 7.62
Garner J 1.156 7.54
Wasim Akram 1.151 7.51
McGrath G.D 1.149 7.49
Waqar Younis 1.123 7.32

Average quality of wickets captured** (rating of Ananth Narayana)**

Bowler Value Points

Imran Khan 25.76 10.00
Lillee D.K 24.58 9.54
Kapil Dev N 23.83 9.25
Hadlee R.J 23.64 9.18
Marshall M.D 22.97 8.92
Garner J 22.18 8.61
Waqar Younis 20.34 7.89
Donald A.A 20.06 7.79
Ambrose C.E.L 20.01 7.77
Wasim Akram 19.56 7.59
McGrath G.D 19.22 7.46

*Performance in won matches* (Ananth Narayana)**

Bowler Value Points** **** *McGrath G.D 0.492 9.84Marshall M.D 0.486 9.73Lillee D.K 0.451 9.01Waqar Younis 0.440 8.81Donald A.A 0.426 8.51Trueman F.S 0.419 8.38Ambrose C.E.L 0.414 8.27 *Hadlee R.J 0.398 7.96*Garner J 0.393 7.86Wasim Akram 0.384 7.68Imran Khan 0.364 7.27Kapil Dev N 0.198 3.96*** *****Bowling strike rate (Bpw)* –compiled by Ananth Narayana
Bowler Value Points

Waqar Younis 43.49 10.00
Marshall M.D 46.77 9.30
Donald A.A 47.03 9.24
Trueman F.S 49.44 8.72
Hadlee R.J 50.85 8.42

Performance in won matches** (Ananth Narayana)**

Bowler Value Points** **** *McGrath G.D 0.492 9.84Marshall M.D 0.486 9.73Lillee D.K 0.451 9.01Waqar Younis 0.440 8.81Donald A.A 0.426 8.51Trueman F.S 0.419 8.38Ambrose C.E.L 0.414 8.27 *Hadlee R.J 0.398 7.96*Garner J 0.393 7.86Wasim Akram 0.384 7.68Imran Khan 0.364 7.27Kapil Dev N 0.198 3.96*** *Wasim.Hadlee,Imran and Botham are relatively low which is significant because they were also batsmen.* **
% of top order wickets captured** **
Bowler Value Points

McGrath G.D 0.501 10.00
Donald A.A 0.497 9.92
Kapil Dev N 0.494 9.84
Ambrose C.E.L 0.475 9.46
Lillee D.K 0.468 9.33
Imran Khan 0.462 9.21
Trueman F.S 0.453 9.04
Marshall M.D 0.445 8.87
Hadlee R.J 0.439 8.75
Waqar Younis 0.437 8.72
Garner J 0.406 8.09
Wasim Akram 0.394 7.86

From 1978-1988 Imran ,Lillee and Marshall were outstanding
[RIGHT][RIGHT]Bowler
Tests
Wickets
Average
Strike rate
5WI/ 10WM
Imran Khan
58
272
19.39
47.8
19/ 5
Richard Hadlee
60
330
19.57
48.4
32/ 8
Joel Garner
53
234
20.27
50.6
7/ 0
Malcolm Marshall
61
300
20.88
45.8
18/ 3
Michael Holding
47
192
23.69
50.8
9/ 1
Dennis Lillee
38
184
24.32
52.6
11/ 3
Bob Willis *[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
* 60
[RIGHT][RIGHT]218
24.50
53.7
9/ 0
Ian Botham
92
363
28.07
56.0
25/ 4
Kapil Dev
95
329
29.44
60.0
19/ 2[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][RIGHT]****

**[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
**Michael Holding
[RIGHT][RIGHT]****

*[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
* Dennis Lillee

From 1983 to 1991 Marshall was outstanding

[RIGHT][RIGHT]Bowler**
Tests
Wickets
Average
Strike rate
5WI/ 10WM
Richard Hadlee
48
262
19.64
47.4
23/ 6
Malcolm Marshall
69
342
19.85
44.9
22/ 4
Joel Garner
30
135
21.28
48.3
5/ 0
Imran Khan
42
156
21.49
50.5
10/ 3
Curtly Ambrose
33
140
23.14
56.1
5/ 1
Wasim Akram
39
143
24.51
58.7
9/ 2
Courtney Wash
50
174
24.95
56.4
5/ 1[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
**
[RIGHT][RIGHT]
** **[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]

                                                                                                                          TSETS                 WKTS                   Avg.                      Str.                     Fro** Imran Khan**

[RIGHT][RIGHT]48
236
17.77
43.6
18/ 5[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
Richard Hadlee
[RIGHT][RIGHT]51
284
19.03
47.0
28/ 7[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
Malcolm Marshall
[RIGHT][RIGHT]58
297
20.20
44.7
18/ 3[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
Joel Garner
[RIGHT][RIGHT]49
210
20.62
51.8
7/ 0[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
Michael Holding
[RIGHT][RIGHT]45
184
23.38
50.3
9/ 1[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]
** Dennis Lillee**
[RIGHT][RIGHT]35
171
24.07
52.3
11/ 3[/RIGHT][/RIGHT]

Above are the figs from 1980-1988 where Imran was a champion.

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Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

Putting statistics together, and based on my memory of late 70's & early 80's WI bowling, I reckon Waqar Younis as the most dangrous fast bowler ever. He would take your wicket when you thought you were playing safe and not taking any chances.

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Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

:chai:

interesting read…

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Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

Agreed :k:

His ability to strike was just awesome and his yorkers were perfect :k:

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Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

Under Viv Richards Windies were still the outright best team in the world, the undisputed kings of cricket. So that cannot be used as a reason to put down Imran Khan or Richard Hadlee

Infact Viv Richards has a higher Test win% (54.00) than Clive Lloyd (48.64). Viv never lost a test series as captain during his 50-match tenure courtesy of match-winning bowlers like Marshall and Ambrose. Under Imran Pakistan drew three test series against West Indies, infact would have won in the Caribbean in 1988 had it not been for some very poor and biased home umpiring in that series

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283746.html

Windies decline in test cricket started much later in 1994/95. Imran played his last test in 1991

Besides it is not right to compare world series stats with test stats. Imran’s peak years were the early to mid-80s and there was no Kerry Packer’s series then. Ofcourse you had to play upto a certain standard in order to get selected for the world series (same goes for IPL) but commonsense dictates that you can never have the same motivation playing for a world series XI as when playing for your own country. Most players were in Kerry Packers for the money and are in IPL for the same reason. Anyone who thinks otherwise is seriously deluded. Let’s reduce the IPL salaries down to $100-200,000 (which is still good money) and we will see how many of these ‘committed’ foreign players w’d even bother to participate in IPL

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Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

ICC All-Time Test Bowling Ranking Points

These ratings equal maximam points these great players ever achieved during their peak years
Imran Khan’s 922 points is the best among modern greats followed by Muralitharan (920 points). Only Sid Barnes (932) and Lohman (931) achieved higher ranking points than them

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Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

wow....an old thread....and i was shocked to see my post there as well...man I am getting old!

kiyon garay murday ohkartay ho bhai logo!

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Re: Greatest Fast Bowlers (at their career peaks)

Andy Roberts came just before Hodling, Marshall, Garner et al - probably started ~ 1975. He was a genial and gentle person, but his bowling was fearsome. IMO, he belongs with the best.