Best Australian Spin Bowlers In Tests Featured

Top 7 Australian Spin Bowlers In Tests Since 1950

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). Most of our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 7 Australian Spin bowlers in Test Cricket since 1950.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2025-02-15

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PRIMARY CRITERIA
3.1. PROLIFIC
3.2. CONSISTENT
3.2.1. Against All Teams
3.2.2. Against Top Teams
3.3. ATTACKING
3.4. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)
3.5. PRIMARY RATING
4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA
4.1. HOME/AWAY
4.1.1. At Home
4.1.2. Away From Home
4.2. FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS
4.2.1. Favourable Conditions Rating
4.2.1.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians Outside Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. TOP FORM AT HOME
5.2. TOP FORM AWAY
5.3. WKTS/INN
5.4. IMPACT INNINGS
5.5. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
Nations Filter

The Nations Rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from Australia.

  • The Rating of the players from Australia remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from Australia.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Wickets, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Top Form Home, Top Form Away, Wkts/Inn, Impact Inns
The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

  • TS Ave: 25.00; Player X Ave: 30.00; Section Points: 300.00
  • TS Points: 300.00(Max); Player X Points: TS Ave/Ave X 300 = 25.00/30.00 X 300 = 250.00
  • Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Ave being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
Top Teams (TT)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams. Here is some information about the Top Teams:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine top teams.
  • The top teams are calculated by decades.
  • Further, they are divided into In Asia and Outside Asia.
  • A bowler’s performace is counted in TT if it comes in the specific condition and in the specific decade.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings 50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 200.00
Consistent Average 400.00
Attacking Strike Rate 300.00
Best Bowling Top Bowling Performances 100.00

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period from 1950 to present is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS LR Gibbs WI 1958 1976 1967 148 309 140.00
1 R Benaud AUS 1952 1964 1958 116 248 112.36
2 AA Mallett AUS 1968 1980 1974 71 132 59.81
3 B Yardley AUS 1978 1983 1980.5 58 126 57.09
4 JW Gleeson AUS 1967 1972 1969.5 53 93 42.14
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS M Muralitharan SL 1992 2010 2001 230 800 200.00
1 SK Warne AUS 1992 2007 1999.5 273 708 177.00
2 SCG MacGill AUS 1998 2008 2003 85 208 52.00
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS NM Lyon AUS 2011 2025 2018 253 553 170.00
1 NM Lyon AUS 2011 2025 2018 253 553 170.00

CONSISTENT

R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly it takes into account:-

  • Strength of Opposition.
  • Venues at which a player has played.
  • Time Period in which a bowler has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets 100

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS M Muralitharan 230 18180 800 22.73 23.77 200.00
1 SK Warne 273 17995 708 25.42 24.42 194.68
2 NM Lyon 253 16699 553 30.20 27.25 174.49
3 R Benaud 116 6704 248 27.03 27.73 171.45
4 SCG MacGill 85 6038 208 29.03 27.75 171.35
5 B Yardley 58 3986 126 31.63 27.99 169.89
6 AA Mallett 71 3940 132 29.85 29.24 162.63
7 JW Gleeson 53 3367 93 36.20 33.28 142.86

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS SK Warne 242 15927 638 24.96 23.99 200.00
1 SK Warne 242 15927 638 24.96 23.99 200.00
2 R Benaud 116 6704 248 27.03 27.73 173.00
3 B Yardley 50 3501 111 31.54 27.91 171.93
4 NM Lyon 219 14732 473 31.15 28.11 170.70
5 SCG MacGill 45 3353 111 30.21 28.88 166.15
6 AA Mallett 56 3124 100 31.24 30.60 156.78
7 JW Gleeson 45 3110 84 37.02 34.04 140.96

ATTACKING

R SR

Relative Strike Rate (R SR) for bowlers is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with SR.

Criteria: Points For R SR or Balls/Wkt

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets 100
RANK BOWLER INNS BALLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS SCG MacGill 85 11237 208 54.02 57.31 300.00
1 SCG MacGill 85 11237 208 54.02 57.31 300.00
2 SK Warne 273 40704 708 57.49 58.34 294.72
3 B Yardley 58 8909 126 70.71 58.64 293.21
4 AA Mallett 71 9990 132 75.68 65.26 263.46
5 NM Lyon 253 34103 553 61.67 67.59 254.40
6 R Benaud 116 19108 248 77.05 68.26 251.90
7 JW Gleeson 53 8857 93 95.24 79.28 216.89

BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 7 innings divided by 7.

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 7 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE WT RAT
TS M Muralitharan 9/51 9/65 8/46 8/70 8/87 7/46 7/84 8.00 100.00
1 NM Lyon 8/50 8/64 7/94 7/94 7/152 6/49 6/60 7.00 87.50
1 SK Warne 8/71 7/23 7/52 7/56 7/94 7/165 6/31 7.00 87.50
3 SCG MacGill 8/108 7/50 7/104 5/43 5/56 5/57 5/65 6.00 75.00
4 R Benaud 7/72 6/52 6/70 6/115 5/43 5/49 5/53 5.71 71.43
5 B Yardley 7/98 7/187 6/84 5/88 5/107 5/132 4/35 5.57 69.64
6 AA Mallett 8/59 6/64 5/53 5/91 5/114 5/126 4/21 5.43 67.86
7 JW Gleeson 5/61 5/122 5/125 4/56 4/70 4/83 4/91 4.43 55.36

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is half of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 SK Warne 177.00 394.68 294.72 87.50 953.90 476.95
2 NM Lyon 170.00 345.18 254.40 87.50 857.09 428.54
3 R Benaud 112.36 344.45 251.90 71.43 780.14 390.07
4 SCG MacGill 52.00 337.51 300.00 75.00 764.51 382.25
5 B Yardley 57.09 341.82 293.21 69.64 761.76 380.88
6 AA Mallett 59.81 319.41 263.46 67.86 710.53 355.27
7 JW Gleeson 42.14 283.82 216.89 55.36 598.20 299.10

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions

The Conditions Ratings are calculated by applying the four criteria of the Primary Rating to diffirent conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Ratings to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 250.00
Away 1,000.00
Favourable Conditions 250.00
Unfavourable Conditions 1,000.00

HOME/AWAY

HOME/AWAY RATING

Points to note:-

  • U.A.E. is considered as a second Home for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  • All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani bowlers are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 129 319 26.39 60.87 859.83 214.96
2 NM Lyon 133 268 31.08 64.65 794.40 198.60
3 B Yardley 36 79 32.18 72.53 760.54 190.14
4 SCG MacGill 54 135 27.69 53.30 745.75 186.44
5 R Benaud 54 104 30.74 86.96 692.17 173.04
6 AA Mallett 39 63 32.81 78.62 628.73 157.18
7 JW Gleeson 27 49 34.82 94.65 589.11 147.28

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 144 389 24.61 54.72 968.10 968.10
2 NM Lyon 120 285 29.36 58.86 821.93 821.93
3 R Benaud 62 144 24.35 69.89 788.86 788.86
4 AA Mallett 32 69 27.14 73.00 726.68 726.68
5 SCG MacGill 31 73 31.51 55.36 713.78 713.78
6 B Yardley 22 47 30.72 67.64 688.98 688.98
7 JW Gleeson 26 44 37.75 95.89 553.11 553.11

FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

Favourable/Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Points to note:-

  • Unfavourable Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Spinners and In Asia for Pacers.
  • Favourable Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Favourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 46 127 26.82 52.65 853.42 213.35
2 NM Lyon 56 154 30.06 60.15 845.61 211.40
3 R Benaud 23 71 19.32 61.96 838.57 209.64
4 AA Mallett 10 28 19.11 64.00 706.69 176.67
5 SCG MacGill 13 36 26.25 45.64 636.99 159.25
6 JW Gleeson 6 10 34.70 106.60 500.00 125.00
7 B Yardley 10 19 39.79 83.05 448.47 112.12

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 227 581 25.11 58.55 902.35 902.35
2 NM Lyon 197 399 30.25 62.26 790.55 790.55
3 B Yardley 48 107 30.19 68.51 732.28 732.28
4 SCG MacGill 72 172 29.61 55.78 692.53 692.53
5 R Benaud 93 177 30.12 83.10 655.72 655.72
6 AA Mallett 61 104 32.74 78.83 599.14 599.14
7 JW Gleeson 47 83 36.39 93.87 545.09 545.09

CONDITIONS RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 SK Warne 968.10 214.96 902.35 213.35 2,298.76 229.88
2 NM Lyon 821.93 198.60 790.55 211.40 2,022.49 202.25
3 R Benaud 788.86 173.04 655.72 209.64 1,827.26 182.73
4 SCG MacGill 713.78 186.44 692.53 159.25 1,752.00 175.20
5 B Yardley 688.98 190.14 732.28 112.12 1,723.52 172.35
6 AA Mallett 726.68 157.18 599.14 176.67 1,659.68 165.97
7 JW Gleeson 553.11 147.28 545.09 125.00 1,370.48 137.05

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Top Form Home 200.00
Top Form Away 800.00
Wkts Per Inn 500.00
Impact Innings 1,000.00
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our OVERALL Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 30 91 17.66 51.57 866.12 173.22
2 SCG MacGill 30 88 23.07 47.98 754.09 150.82
3 NM Lyon 30 72 24.60 56.19 689.32 137.86
4 B Yardley 30 70 29.41 67.86 683.92 136.78
5 R Benaud 30 71 26.70 76.08 636.94 127.39
6 AA Mallett 30 51 27.84 74.92 567.77 113.55
7 JW Gleeson 27 49 34.82 94.65 497.17 99.43

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 30 106 18.91 38.68 982.32 785.86
2 R Benaud 30 96 19.70 61.94 824.00 659.20
3 NM Lyon 30 84 23.39 46.52 815.94 652.75
4 SCG MacGill 30 73 30.48 53.79 698.33 558.67
5 AA Mallett 30 67 26.67 72.64 676.19 540.95
6 B Yardley 22 47 30.72 67.64 583.91 467.12
7 JW Gleeson 26 44 37.75 95.89 491.57 393.26

WKTS/INN

WKTS/INN RATING

Points to note:-

  • This rating gives points for wkts taken per inn.
  • All Teams, Top Teams and Top 7 Batsmen are the criteria used.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS WKTS/INN RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 273 708 2.59 725.62 362.81
2 SCG MacGill 85 208 2.45 664.86 332.43
3 B Yardley 58 126 2.17 643.50 321.75
4 NM Lyon 253 553 2.19 623.07 311.54
5 R Benaud 116 248 2.14 610.61 305.30
6 JW Gleeson 53 93 1.75 518.39 259.20
7 AA Mallett 71 132 1.86 510.75 255.38

IMPACT INNINGS

Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact either in terms of wickets or strike rate. Know All About II. These are the criteria for an inning to be included in II:-

  • A Bowler takes equal to or more wickets than 5.
  • A Bowler equal to or more wickets than 2 at a good AVE or SR.
  • 1st and 2nd; and 3rd and 4th inns are clubbed together.
  • The AVE should be less than 70% of the AVE of the better innings or
  • The SR should be less than 70% of the SR of the better innings.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 273 126 46.15 899.48 899.48
2 R Benaud 116 45 38.79 725.79 725.79
3 NM Lyon 253 90 35.57 696.14 696.14
4 B Yardley 58 21 36.21 630.77 630.77
5 AA Mallett 71 24 33.80 616.21 616.21
6 SCG MacGill 85 32 37.65 615.71 615.71
7 JW Gleeson 53 17 32.08 487.46 487.46

SECONDARY RATING

The total of the above three criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW WPI II TOT SEC RAT
1 SK Warne 173.22 785.86 362.81 899.48 2,221.37 222.14
2 R Benaud 127.39 659.20 305.30 725.79 1,817.68 181.77
3 NM Lyon 137.86 652.75 311.54 696.14 1,798.29 179.83
4 SCG MacGill 150.82 558.67 332.43 615.71 1,657.62 165.76
5 B Yardley 136.78 467.12 321.75 630.77 1,556.43 155.64
6 AA Mallett 113.55 540.95 255.38 616.21 1,526.10 152.61
7 JW Gleeson 99.43 393.26 259.20 487.46 1,239.35 123.93

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts. Half the points are for Primary Criteria; one-fourth for Conditions; and one-fourth for Secondary Criteria.

RANK OV RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 2 SK Warne AUS 476.95 229.88 222.14 928.96
2 4 NM Lyon AUS 428.54 202.25 179.83 810.62
3 8 R Benaud AUS 390.07 182.73 181.77 754.57
4 12 SCG MacGill AUS 382.25 175.20 165.76 723.22
5 15 B Yardley AUS 380.88 172.35 155.64 708.87
6 19 AA Mallett AUS 355.27 165.97 152.61 673.84
7 49 JW Gleeson AUS 299.10 137.05 123.93 560.08

TOP TEAMS

Top Teams In Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1950s AUS WI PAK IND ENG
1960s WI AUS PAK IND NZ ENG
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ IND
1990s IND PAK SA AUS SL WI
2000s AUS IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG NZ SA
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ ENG SL

Top Teams Outside Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1950s AUS ENG WI SA
1960s ENG AUS WI SA NZ
1970s SA ENG WI AUS IND
1980s WI NZ AUS ENG PAK
1990s AUS SA WI PAK ENG NZ
2000s AUS ENG SA IND NZ PAK
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND PAK
2020s AUS ENG NZ SA IND WI
FULL RATING WITH ALL NATIONS

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