Decades Rating - Best ODI Fast Bowlers In 1990s

Top ODI Fast Bowler of the Decade (1990 – 1999)

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 1990s. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 10 Fast bowlers in ODI cricket in the 1990s.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2025-09-15

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. ECONOMIC
3.3.1. Against All Teams
3.3.2. Against Top Teams
3.4. BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)
3.5. BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)
3.6. 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 Outside Asia
4.2.1.2. Asians Outside Asia
4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.2.2.2. Asians In Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. WORLD CUP
5.2. IMPACT INNINGS
5.3. TOP FORM
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. DECADES RATING
7. NON WEAK TEAMS
8. TOP TEAMS

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Wickets, Average, Economy, BBI (Wkts & Eco)
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary World Cup, Top Form, 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.
TT and NWT

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams (TT) and non weak teams (NWT). Here is some information:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine TT and NWT.
  • They are calculated by decades.
  • A bowler's performace is counted in TT or NWT if it comes against that team in the specific decade.
  • Knock Out and Super Six matches of ODI World Cup are also counted.
  • TT & NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 15
Min Career Wkts 25

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 200.00
Consistent Average 300.00
Economic Strike Rate 300.00
Best Bowling Top Inns (Wkts) 100.00
Economic Bowling Top Inns (Eco) 100.00

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK BOWLER NAT INNS WKTS RAT
TS Wasim Akram PAK 194 279 200.00
1 Wasim Akram PAK 194 279 200.00
2 Waqar Younis PAK 162 275 197.13
3 J Srinath IND 174 237 169.89
4 AA Donald SA 120 206 147.67
5 CEL Ambrose WI 134 160 114.70
6 GD McGrath AUS 101 147 105.38
7 CA Walsh WI 118 128 91.76
8 SM Pollock SA 82 118 84.59
9 CJ McDermott AUS 74 113 81.00
10 DW Fleming AUS 66 105 75.27

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 bowler has played.
  • Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets 50
Min Wickets (TT) 30

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS AA Donald 120 4336 206 21.05 21.24 150.00
1 AA Donald 120 4336 206 21.05 21.24 150.00
2 CJ McDermott 74 2433 113 21.53 22.37 142.40
3 DW Fleming 66 2484 105 23.66 23.73 134.23
4 Waqar Younis 162 6346 275 23.08 23.94 133.05
5 Wasim Akram 194 6530 279 23.41 24.25 131.34
6 SM Pollock 82 2759 118 23.38 24.36 130.75
7 GD McGrath 101 3645 147 24.80 25.56 124.62
8 CEL Ambrose 134 4137 160 25.86 25.86 123.20
9 J Srinath 174 6688 237 28.22 28.21 112.94
10 CA Walsh 118 3909 128 30.54 30.75 103.58

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS CJ McDermott 63 2100 95 22.11 22.84 150.00
1 CJ McDermott 63 2100 95 22.11 22.84 150.00
2 AA Donald 86 3138 132 23.77 23.21 147.60
3 Wasim Akram 136 4740 194 24.43 24.69 138.78
4 CEL Ambrose 104 3255 128 25.43 24.84 137.90
5 SM Pollock 50 1726 68 25.38 25.73 133.18
6 DW Fleming 49 1935 69 28.04 27.07 126.56
7 Waqar Younis 118 4806 177 27.15 27.55 124.34
8 GD McGrath 74 2732 98 27.88 28.10 121.93
9 J Srinath 119 4685 144 32.53 31.28 109.52
10 CA Walsh 87 2823 88 32.08 31.44 108.99

ECONOMIC

R ER

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

Criteria: Points For R ER

Min Qualification For TS
Min Balls 1000

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS MR Whitney 29 1584 874 3.31 3.48 150.00
1 CEL Ambrose 134 7128 4137 3.48 3.56 146.57
2 CJ McDermott 74 3959 2433 3.69 3.85 135.54
3 CA Walsh 118 6157 3909 3.81 3.87 134.81
4 Wasim Akram 194 10226 6530 3.83 3.91 133.47
5 SM Pollock 82 4347 2759 3.81 3.96 131.77
6 GD McGrath 101 5449 3645 4.01 4.16 125.54
7 AA Donald 120 6438 4336 4.04 4.19 124.77
8 DW Fleming 66 3461 2484 4.31 4.35 120.03
9 J Srinath 174 9199 6688 4.36 4.40 118.64
10 Waqar Younis 162 8249 6346 4.62 4.72 110.60

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS CEL Ambrose 104 5572 3255 3.51 3.57 150.00
1 CEL Ambrose 104 5572 3255 3.51 3.57 150.00
2 CA Walsh 87 4570 2823 3.71 3.74 143.14
3 CJ McDermott 63 3350 2100 3.76 3.92 136.37
4 Wasim Akram 136 7310 4740 3.89 3.97 134.62
5 SM Pollock 50 2620 1726 3.95 4.07 131.49
6 AA Donald 86 4580 3138 4.11 4.21 127.02
7 GD McGrath 74 3968 2732 4.13 4.23 126.35
8 J Srinath 119 6249 4685 4.50 4.48 119.37
9 DW Fleming 49 2509 1935 4.63 4.57 117.17
10 Waqar Younis 118 6034 4806 4.78 4.86 110.16

BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler against Non Weak Teams in the 1990s. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 5 innings divided by 5.

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBW RAT
TS Waqar Younis 6/26 6/30 6/44 5/11 5/16 5.60 100.00
1 Waqar Younis 6/26 6/30 6/44 5/11 5/16 5.60 100.00
2 Wasim Akram 5/15 5/16 5/19 4/18 4/23 4.60 82.14
2 GD McGrath 5/14 5/40 5/52 4/24 4/25 4.60 82.14
2 SM Pollock 6/35 5/36 4/33 4/34 4/45 4.60 82.14
5 CEL Ambrose 5/32 5/53 4/18 4/36 4/36 4.40 78.57
6 J Srinath 5/24 5/41 4/35 4/52 3/23 4.20 75.00
6 AA Donald 5/29 4/17 4/29 4/31 4/32 4.20 75.00
8 DW Fleming 5/36 4/28 4/39 4/49 3/14 4.00 71.43
9 CJ McDermott 4/34 4/42 3/19 3/23 3/25 3.40 60.71
10 CA Walsh 4/16 3/24 3/28 3/28 3/28 3.20 57.14

BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)

BBE

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Economy of a bowler against Non Weak Teams. Best Bowling By Economy (BBE) is the Relative Economy of the bowler in the 5 Inns. Only 30+ Balls performaces are counted in this criteria.

Criteria: Points For Economy In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBE RAT
TS CEL Ambrose 10.0/5 5.0/4 8.4/9 6.0/8 9.4/16 1.09 100.00
1 CEL Ambrose 10.0/5 5.0/4 8.4/9 6.0/8 9.4/16 1.09 100.00
2 SM Pollock 8.0/10 9.0/13 10.0/15 8.0/13 6.0/11 1.57 69.42
3 CJ McDermott 7.0/8 6.0/8 10.0/15 10.0/17 6.0/11 1.58 69.11
4 Wasim Akram 8.0/11 7.0/11 8.0/13 6.0/11 9.4/18 1.69 64.64
5 GD McGrath 9.0/13 8.0/12 8.4/14 10.0/18 7.0/13 1.70 64.25
6 Waqar Younis 5.0/7 8.0/13 6.4/11 8.0/14 7.0/13 1.71 63.84
7 CA Walsh 7.0/10 8.0/14 9.0/16 7.0/13 10.0/19 1.79 61.18
8 DW Fleming 10.0/14 9.0/15 7.0/12 7.0/13 9.3/27 1.93 56.74
9 AA Donald 10.0/17 8.2/15 6.4/13 6.0/12 9.0/18 1.94 56.25
10 J Srinath 7.0/12 9.0/16 6.0/12 9.0/18 10.0/22 1.97 55.49

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above five criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the five criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ECO BBW BBE RAT PRI PTS
1 Wasim Akram 200.00 270.12 268.09 82.14 64.64 884.99 353.99
2 CEL Ambrose 114.70 261.10 296.57 78.57 100.00 850.94 340.38
3 Waqar Younis 197.13 257.39 220.77 100.00 63.84 839.13 335.65
4 AA Donald 147.67 297.60 251.78 75.00 56.25 828.31 331.32
5 CJ McDermott 81.00 292.40 271.91 60.71 69.11 775.13 310.05
6 SM Pollock 84.59 263.93 263.26 82.14 69.42 763.34 305.34
7 J Srinath 169.89 222.46 238.01 75.00 55.49 760.85 304.34
8 GD McGrath 105.38 246.54 251.89 82.14 64.25 750.19 300.08
9 DW Fleming 75.27 260.79 237.20 71.43 56.74 701.42 280.57
10 CA Walsh 91.76 212.57 277.95 57.14 61.18 700.60 280.24

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions Rating is calculated by applying the five criteria of Primary Rating to various conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points.

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

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 20.00
Away 80.00
Favourable Conditions 20.00
Unfavourable Conditions 80.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

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

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Waqar Younis 71 125 21.41 4.56 792.55 15.85
2 Wasim Akram 80 107 24.92 3.97 786.25 15.72
3 CJ McDermott 46 68 20.71 3.46 750.56 15.01
4 SM Pollock 32 50 20.22 3.60 729.07 14.58
5 GD McGrath 39 72 19.17 3.91 709.69 14.19
6 J Srinath 61 80 28.18 4.29 671.12 13.42
7 AA Donald 40 61 24.77 4.05 661.04 13.22
8 CEL Ambrose 38 45 28.02 3.78 649.77 13.00
9 CA Walsh 36 36 37.86 4.55 509.84 10.20
10 DW Fleming 9 12 29.25 4.23 500.00 10.00

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Wasim Akram 114 172 22.47 3.74 839.45 67.16
2 CEL Ambrose 96 115 25.01 3.37 834.93 66.79
3 AA Donald 80 145 19.48 4.04 827.70 66.22
4 Waqar Younis 91 150 24.47 4.66 752.19 60.17
5 CA Walsh 82 92 27.67 3.50 720.59 57.65
6 J Srinath 113 157 28.24 4.40 716.20 57.30
7 DW Fleming 57 93 22.94 4.32 700.43 56.03
8 GD McGrath 62 75 30.20 4.08 667.75 53.42
9 SM Pollock 50 68 25.71 3.94 662.27 52.98
10 CJ McDermott 28 45 22.78 4.05 660.02 52.80

FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

FC/UC 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 Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 CEL Ambrose 102 122 25.92 3.43 831.73 16.63
2 AA Donald 96 160 21.51 3.99 830.30 16.61
3 CJ McDermott 62 99 20.02 3.58 804.36 16.09
4 SM Pollock 67 96 22.33 3.66 799.54 15.99
5 GD McGrath 71 107 23.20 3.87 757.77 15.16
6 CA Walsh 80 90 30.33 3.87 681.19 13.62
7 DW Fleming 30 45 24.29 4.11 620.37 12.41

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Wasim Akram 100 150 22.79 3.75 954.05 19.08
2 Waqar Younis 80 134 23.66 4.59 899.99 18.00
3 J Srinath 66 94 26.16 4.19 747.84 14.96

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 DW Fleming 36 60 23.18 4.47 824.07 65.93
2 AA Donald 24 46 19.46 4.26 794.59 63.57
3 CEL Ambrose 32 38 25.66 3.66 768.22 61.46
4 CA Walsh 38 38 31.03 3.68 722.63 57.81
5 GD McGrath 30 40 29.08 4.37 706.10 56.49
6 SM Pollock 15 22 27.95 4.46 555.90 44.47
7 CJ McDermott 12 14 32.21 4.24 509.17 40.73

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Wasim Akram 94 129 24.12 3.92 900.51 72.04
2 Waqar Younis 82 141 22.52 4.65 862.87 69.03
3 J Srinath 108 143 29.57 4.47 810.29 64.82

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 20%.

RANK BOWLER AW HM UC FC CON PTS
1 Wasim Akram 67.16 15.72 72.04 19.08 174.00
2 Waqar Younis 60.17 15.85 69.03 18.00 163.06
3 AA Donald 66.22 13.22 63.57 16.61 159.61
4 CEL Ambrose 66.79 13.00 61.46 16.63 157.88
5 J Srinath 57.30 13.42 64.82 14.96 150.50
6 DW Fleming 56.03 10.00 65.93 12.41 144.37
7 CA Walsh 57.65 10.20 57.81 13.62 139.28
8 GD McGrath 53.42 14.19 56.49 15.16 139.26
9 SM Pollock 52.98 14.58 44.47 15.99 128.03
10 CJ McDermott 52.80 15.01 40.73 16.09 124.63

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points.

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

CRITERIA POINTS
World Cup 150.00
Impact Innings 150.00
Top Form 100.00

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 3

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 AA Donald 22 37 21.08 4.02 839.36 125.90
2 Wasim Akram 24 36 22.64 3.81 803.47 120.52
3 CEL Ambrose 17 24 20.79 3.03 778.07 116.71
4 GD McGrath 17 24 26.04 3.96 735.23 110.28
5 DW Fleming 16 26 22.42 4.37 705.06 105.76
6 CA Walsh 11 18 17.67 3.10 681.81 102.27
7 J Srinath 22 28 30.54 4.45 678.52 101.78
8 SM Pollock 15 15 33.47 3.66 608.00 91.20
9 CJ McDermott 9 9 28.67 3.39 522.94 78.44
10 Waqar Younis 7 15 19.27 4.59 500.00 75.00
IMPACT INNINGS (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact either in terms of wickets or economy 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 4.
  • A Bowler bowls more than 30 balls and has a low ER.
  • The required ER is calculated by the number of wickets taken.

IMPACT INNINGS

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 CEL Ambrose 134 67 50.00 859.24 128.89
2 Wasim Akram 194 76 39.18 762.66 114.40
3 SM Pollock 82 41 50.00 703.52 105.53
4 CA Walsh 118 44 37.29 689.34 103.40
5 GD McGrath 101 44 43.56 675.33 101.30
6 AA Donald 120 46 38.33 621.19 93.18
7 DW Fleming 66 29 43.94 599.35 89.90
8 CJ McDermott 74 29 39.19 576.71 86.51
9 J Srinath 174 54 31.03 540.79 81.12
10 Waqar Younis 162 41 25.31 502.76 75.41
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • Only Inns against Non Weak Teams are considered in the rating.
  • Non Weak Teams may be found in the last section.

TOP FORM

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Waqar Younis 50 102 17.14 4.14 945.87 94.59
2 Wasim Akram 50 86 18.49 3.57 859.32 85.93
3 CEL Ambrose 50 75 19.83 3.25 855.63 85.56
4 AA Donald 50 99 19.14 4.26 836.73 83.67
5 SM Pollock 50 76 21.61 3.78 833.31 83.33
6 CJ McDermott 50 79 20.29 3.57 807.56 80.76
7 GD McGrath 50 78 24.09 4.13 784.21 78.42
8 J Srinath 50 82 22.28 4.28 760.68 76.07
9 DW Fleming 50 85 22.91 4.43 749.41 74.94
10 CA Walsh 50 55 27.85 3.58 682.82 68.28

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK BOWLER WC II TF SEC RAT
1 CEL Ambrose 116.71 128.89 85.56 331.16
2 Wasim Akram 120.52 114.40 85.93 320.85
3 AA Donald 125.90 93.18 83.67 302.76
4 GD McGrath 110.28 101.30 78.42 290.00
5 SM Pollock 91.20 105.53 83.33 280.06
6 CA Walsh 102.27 103.40 68.28 273.95
7 DW Fleming 105.76 89.90 74.94 270.60
8 J Srinath 101.78 81.12 76.07 258.96
9 CJ McDermott 78.44 86.51 80.76 245.70
10 Waqar Younis 75.00 75.41 94.59 245.00

DECADES RATING

DECADES Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK BOWLER NAT PRI PTS CON PTS SEC PTS FIN RAT
1 Wasim Akram PAK 353.99 174.00 320.85 848.85
2 CEL Ambrose WI 340.38 157.88 331.16 829.42
3 AA Donald SA 331.32 159.61 302.76 793.69
4 Waqar Younis PAK 335.65 163.06 245.00 743.71
5 GD McGrath AUS 300.08 139.26 290.00 729.34
6 J Srinath IND 304.34 150.50 258.96 713.80
7 SM Pollock SA 305.34 128.03 280.06 713.42
8 DW Fleming AUS 280.57 144.37 270.60 695.54
9 CA Walsh WI 280.24 139.28 273.95 693.47
10 CJ McDermott AUS 310.05 124.63 245.70 680.39

NON WEAK TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK SL IND
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK IND NZ SL ZIM
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND SL ENG NZ ZIM
2000s AUS SA SL PAK IND NZ ENG WI BAN
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ PAK SL BAN WI
2020s IND NZ SL AUS PAK SA BAN ENG WI AFG

TOP TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK IND NZ
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND SL
2000s AUS SA SL PAK IND NZ ENG
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ PAK SL
2020s IND NZ SL AUS PAK SA BAN

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