Present Era Rating - Best Test Fast Bowlers

Top Test Fast Bowlers of The Present Era

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the last 30 years. Only bowlers active till at least 2023 are considered in this rating. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 10 Fast bowlers in Test Cricket in the last 30 years.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2026-02-05

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 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. TOP FORM AT HOME
5.2. TOP FORM AWAY
5.3. IMPACT INNINGS
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. PRESENT ERA RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia

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, 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 (TT) 30
Min Career Wkts 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

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK BOWLER NAT INNS WKTS RAT
TS JM Anderson ENG 350 704 200.00
1 JM Anderson ENG 350 704 200.00
2 SCJ Broad ENG 309 604 171.59
3 MA Starc AUS 202 433 123.01
4 TG Southee NZ 203 391 111.08
5 K Rabada SA 134 340 96.59
6 PJ Cummins AUS 134 315 89.49
7 JR Hazlewood AUS 143 295 83.81
8 N Wagner NZ 122 260 73.86
9 JJ Bumrah IND 99 234 66.48
10 Mohammed Shami IND 122 229 65.06

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 JJ Bumrah 99 4631 234 19.79 19.61 200.00
1 JJ Bumrah 99 4631 234 19.79 19.61 200.00
2 K Rabada 134 7493 340 22.04 22.56 173.86
3 PJ Cummins 134 6946 315 22.05 22.61 173.47
4 JR Hazlewood 143 7144 295 24.22 24.51 160.04
5 JM Anderson 350 18627 704 26.46 24.83 157.95
6 Mohammed Shami 122 6346 229 27.71 26.02 150.75
7 SCJ Broad 309 16719 604 27.68 26.59 147.49
8 MA Starc 202 11481 433 26.52 26.68 147.01
9 N Wagner 122 7169 260 27.57 27.85 140.81
10 TG Southee 203 11832 391 30.26 29.37 133.52

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 83 4138 193 21.44 20.49 200.00
1 JJ Bumrah 83 4138 193 21.44 20.49 200.00
2 PJ Cummins 104 5698 250 22.79 22.71 180.43
3 K Rabada 88 5374 219 24.54 23.13 177.16
4 JR Hazlewood 104 5599 209 26.79 25.68 159.55
5 JM Anderson 262 14445 495 29.18 25.96 157.83
6 SCJ Broad 223 12376 433 28.58 26.05 157.31
7 MA Starc 151 8900 316 28.16 27.30 150.11
8 Mohammed Shami 91 5189 174 29.82 27.40 149.52
9 N Wagner 66 4089 139 29.42 27.49 149.07
10 TG Southee 126 7769 227 34.22 30.80 133.04

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 K Rabada 134 13436 340 39.52 44.51 300.00
1 K Rabada 134 13436 340 39.52 44.51 300.00
2 JJ Bumrah 99 10031 234 42.87 49.03 272.30
3 MA Starc 202 20013 433 46.22 51.01 261.73
4 PJ Cummins 134 14391 315 45.69 51.84 257.57
5 Mohammed Shami 122 11515 229 50.28 52.11 256.24
6 N Wagner 122 13725 260 52.79 57.62 231.72
7 JR Hazlewood 143 15423 295 52.28 57.85 230.79
8 JM Anderson 350 40037 704 56.87 58.39 228.65
9 SCJ Broad 309 33698 604 55.79 58.40 228.62
10 TG Southee 203 23490 391 60.08 63.28 210.98

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 SCJ Broad 8/15 7/44 7/72 6/17 6/25 6/31 6/46 6.57 100.00
1 SCJ Broad 8/15 7/44 7/72 6/17 6/25 6/31 6/46 6.57 100.00
2 JM Anderson 7/42 7/43 6/17 6/40 6/42 6/47 5/16 6.14 93.48
2 MA Starc 7/58 6/9 6/48 6/50 6/66 6/75 6/111 6.14 93.48
4 TG Southee 7/64 6/43 6/50 6/62 6/68 6/80 5/32 6.00 91.30
4 K Rabada 7/112 6/32 6/46 6/50 6/54 6/55 5/30 6.00 91.30
6 PJ Cummins 6/23 6/27 6/28 6/79 6/91 5/28 5/38 5.71 86.96
6 JJ Bumrah 6/27 6/33 6/45 6/61 6/76 5/7 5/24 5.71 86.96
8 N Wagner 7/39 6/41 6/106 5/44 5/45 5/47 5/64 5.57 84.78
9 JR Hazlewood 6/67 6/70 6/89 5/8 5/30 5/31 5/35 5.43 82.61
10 Mohammed Shami 6/56 5/28 5/35 5/44 5/47 5/112 4/31 5.00 76.09

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 40%.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 K Rabada 96.59 351.02 300.00 91.30 838.91 335.57
2 JM Anderson 200.00 315.78 228.65 93.48 837.91 335.16
3 JJ Bumrah 66.48 400.00 272.30 86.96 825.73 330.29
4 SCJ Broad 171.59 304.79 228.62 100.00 805.01 322.00
5 PJ Cummins 89.49 353.90 257.57 86.96 787.91 315.16
6 MA Starc 123.01 297.12 261.73 93.48 775.34 310.14
7 JR Hazlewood 83.81 319.59 230.79 82.61 716.80 286.72
8 Mohammed Shami 65.06 300.27 256.24 76.09 697.65 279.06
9 N Wagner 73.86 289.88 231.72 84.78 680.24 272.10
10 TG Southee 111.08 266.56 210.98 91.30 679.93 271.97

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.

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

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 30.00
Away 120.00
Favourable Conditions 30.00
Unfavourable Conditions 120.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW 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 Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 202 438 24.41 52.34 787.16 23.61
2 K Rabada 71 198 20.08 35.10 783.30 23.50
3 SCJ Broad 188 398 25.93 50.20 778.38 23.35
4 JJ Bumrah 31 62 17.71 38.00 745.47 22.36
5 Mohammed Shami 42 76 22.11 42.62 743.80 22.31
6 PJ Cummins 75 183 19.91 43.22 721.61 21.65
7 MA Starc 117 266 25.70 45.79 703.60 21.11
8 JR Hazlewood 76 168 22.70 52.09 656.70 19.70
9 N Wagner 79 178 27.19 48.95 640.68 19.22
10 TG Southee 114 234 28.80 57.10 604.29 18.13

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 68 172 20.54 44.62 908.18 108.98
2 K Rabada 63 142 24.77 45.68 843.29 101.19
3 JM Anderson 148 266 29.83 64.33 841.67 101.00
4 MA Starc 85 167 27.81 46.90 820.70 98.48
5 PJ Cummins 59 132 25.02 49.10 815.78 97.89
6 SCJ Broad 121 206 31.06 66.60 773.05 92.77
7 JR Hazlewood 67 127 26.22 52.54 750.30 90.04
8 TG Southee 89 157 32.44 64.51 725.22 87.03
9 Mohammed Shami 80 153 30.50 54.09 719.80 86.38
10 N Wagner 43 82 28.41 61.12 664.16 79.70

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: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 109 300 21.32 37.51 827.69 24.83
2 JM Anderson 292 612 26.30 55.85 811.00 24.33
3 SCJ Broad 272 560 26.86 53.64 808.54 24.26
4 PJ Cummins 117 284 21.20 43.79 781.81 23.45
5 MA Starc 167 375 26.17 45.15 748.25 22.45
6 JR Hazlewood 126 279 23.36 49.82 718.37 21.55
7 N Wagner 111 244 27.31 51.45 675.78 20.27
8 TG Southee 164 328 30.62 59.51 634.78 19.04

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 68 172 20.54 44.62 1,000.00 30.00
2 Mohammed Shami 74 143 31.39 55.32 790.45 23.71

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 58 92 27.51 63.67 950.80 114.10
2 MA Starc 35 58 28.76 53.12 876.24 105.15
3 TG Southee 39 63 28.38 63.05 859.15 103.10
4 K Rabada 25 40 27.43 54.58 785.84 94.30
5 PJ Cummins 17 31 29.84 63.03 699.08 83.89
6 SCJ Broad 37 44 38.09 83.14 651.28 78.15
7 N Wagner 11 16 31.56 73.13 582.80 69.94
8 JR Hazlewood 17 16 39.19 95.19 482.76 57.93

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mohammed Shami 48 86 21.59 41.91 928.02 111.36
2 JJ Bumrah 31 62 17.71 38.00 878.96 105.48

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC CON PTS
1 JJ Bumrah 908.18 186.37 878.96 250.00 266.82
2 JM Anderson 841.67 196.79 950.80 202.75 263.04
3 MA Starc 820.70 175.90 876.24 187.06 247.19
4 K Rabada 843.29 195.82 785.84 206.92 243.83
5 Mohammed Shami 719.80 185.95 928.02 197.61 243.77
6 TG Southee 725.22 151.07 859.15 158.70 227.30
7 PJ Cummins 815.78 180.40 699.08 195.45 226.89
8 SCJ Broad 773.05 194.59 651.28 202.14 218.53
9 JR Hazlewood 750.30 164.17 482.76 179.59 189.22
10 N Wagner 664.16 160.17 582.80 168.95 189.13

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
Top Form Home 30.00
Top Form Away 120.00
Impact Innings 150.00
TF RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

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

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 30 83 14.54 36.18 915.13 27.45
2 K Rabada 30 95 16.57 29.91 908.92 27.27
3 PJ Cummins 30 80 16.33 37.59 804.45 24.13
4 SCJ Broad 30 80 22.03 45.43 777.25 23.32
5 JJ Bumrah 30 59 17.19 36.27 758.56 22.76
6 TG Southee 30 83 22.75 44.64 755.74 22.67
7 MA Starc 30 80 21.54 40.90 747.71 22.43
8 Mohammed Shami 30 60 20.48 42.02 745.08 22.35
9 N Wagner 30 78 22.91 43.69 735.87 22.08
10 JR Hazlewood 30 67 17.52 43.19 733.13 21.99

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 30 82 19.84 34.98 933.92 112.07
2 JJ Bumrah 30 89 17.81 37.91 933.66 112.04
3 MA Starc 30 71 22.83 38.79 850.36 102.04
4 JM Anderson 30 62 18.50 50.84 838.68 100.64
5 PJ Cummins 30 76 23.05 46.99 792.17 95.06
6 SCJ Broad 30 61 25.69 53.05 748.80 89.86
7 N Wagner 30 68 23.15 54.65 746.64 89.60
8 TG Southee 30 62 26.35 54.74 736.76 88.41
9 JR Hazlewood 30 62 24.34 47.06 735.30 88.24
10 Mohammed Shami 30 62 24.71 43.21 732.21 87.87

IMPACT INNINGS

II RATING

Impact Innings (II) 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 required AVE or SR is calculated by the number of wickets taken.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 30

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 134 70 52.24 817.34 122.60
2 JM Anderson 350 152 43.43 799.08 119.86
3 PJ Cummins 134 65 48.51 786.22 117.93
4 JJ Bumrah 99 49 49.49 783.07 117.46
5 SCJ Broad 309 128 41.42 751.73 112.76
6 JR Hazlewood 143 65 45.45 718.79 107.82
7 Mohammed Shami 122 53 43.44 693.76 104.06
8 N Wagner 122 54 44.26 688.52 103.28
9 MA Starc 202 80 39.60 664.55 99.68
10 TG Southee 203 75 36.95 596.45 89.47

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW II SEC RAT
1 K Rabada 27.27 112.07 122.60 261.94
2 JJ Bumrah 22.76 112.04 117.46 252.26
3 JM Anderson 27.45 100.64 119.86 247.96
4 PJ Cummins 24.13 95.06 117.93 237.13
5 SCJ Broad 23.32 89.86 112.76 225.93
6 MA Starc 22.43 102.04 99.68 224.16
7 JR Hazlewood 21.99 88.24 107.82 218.05
8 N Wagner 22.08 89.60 103.28 214.95
9 Mohammed Shami 22.35 87.87 104.06 214.28
10 TG Southee 22.67 88.41 89.47 200.55

PRESENT ERA RATING

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

RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 JJ Bumrah IND 330.29 266.82 252.26 849.37
2 JM Anderson ENG 335.16 263.04 247.96 846.16
3 K Rabada SA 335.57 243.83 261.94 841.33
4 MA Starc AUS 310.14 247.19 224.16 781.48
5 PJ Cummins AUS 315.16 226.89 237.13 779.18
6 SCJ Broad ENG 322.00 218.53 225.93 766.46
7 Mohammed Shami IND 279.06 243.77 214.28 737.11
8 TG Southee NZ 271.97 227.30 200.55 699.82
9 JR Hazlewood AUS 286.72 189.22 218.05 693.99
10 N Wagner NZ 272.10 189.13 214.95 676.18

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 ENG SA
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA AUS
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ AUS
1990s IND PAK SA AUS WI
2000s AUS IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG SA AUS
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ SA ENG

Top Teams Outside Asia

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

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