Tests - Best Fast Bowlers Present Era Featured

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 2024-06-09

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. WKTS/INN
5.4. IMPACT INNINGS
5.5. 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, 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

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK BOWLER NAT INNS WKTS RAT
TS JM Anderson ENG 348 700 200.00
1 JM Anderson ENG 348 700 200.00
2 SCJ Broad ENG 309 604 172.57
3 TG Southee NZ 190 380 108.57
4 MA Starc AUS 170 358 102.29
5 K Rabada SA 112 291 83.14
6 JR Hazlewood AUS 132 273 78.00
7 PJ Cummins AUS 115 269 76.86
8 N Wagner NZ 122 260 74.29
9 Mohammed Shami IND 122 229 65.43
10 JJ Bumrah IND 69 159 45.43

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 69 3291 159 20.70 20.25 200.00
1 JJ Bumrah 69 3291 159 20.70 20.25 200.00
2 K Rabada 112 6419 291 22.06 22.47 180.17
3 PJ Cummins 115 6063 269 22.54 22.56 179.46
4 JR Hazlewood 132 6778 273 24.83 24.44 165.71
5 JM Anderson 348 18569 700 26.53 24.93 162.42
6 Mohammed Shami 122 6346 229 27.71 25.83 156.79
7 SCJ Broad 309 16719 604 27.68 26.59 152.27
8 MA Starc 170 9932 358 27.74 27.27 148.50
9 N Wagner 122 7169 260 27.57 27.45 147.51
10 TG Southee 190 11255 380 29.62 28.66 141.30

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 61 3081 136 22.65 22.16 200.00
1 JJ Bumrah 61 3081 136 22.65 22.16 200.00
2 PJ Cummins 90 4960 212 23.40 23.42 189.22
3 K Rabada 82 5077 206 24.65 25.11 176.50
4 JR Hazlewood 99 5435 201 27.04 26.61 166.53
5 JM Anderson 262 14445 495 29.18 27.43 161.60
6 SCJ Broad 223 12376 433 28.58 27.46 161.41
7 Mohammed Shami 91 5189 174 29.82 27.79 159.47
8 MA Starc 129 7659 262 29.23 28.73 154.25
9 N Wagner 66 4089 139 29.42 29.29 151.33
10 TG Southee 116 7349 218 33.71 32.62 135.88

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 112 11416 291 39.23 43.86 300.00
1 K Rabada 112 11416 291 39.23 43.86 300.00
2 JJ Bumrah 69 7182 159 45.17 49.96 263.39
3 PJ Cummins 115 12614 269 46.89 51.06 257.71
4 Mohammed Shami 122 11515 229 50.28 51.55 255.27
5 MA Starc 170 17417 358 48.65 51.61 254.97
6 N Wagner 122 13725 260 52.79 56.47 233.02
7 JR Hazlewood 132 14577 273 53.40 57.13 230.34
8 SCJ Broad 309 33698 604 55.79 58.30 225.71
9 JM Anderson 348 39877 700 56.97 58.52 224.86
10 TG Southee 190 22614 380 59.51 62.05 212.06

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
3 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 6/50 6/54 6/55 5/30 5/33 5.86 89.13
5 JJ Bumrah 6/27 6/33 6/45 6/61 5/7 5/24 5/42 5.57 84.78
5 PJ Cummins 6/23 6/27 6/79 6/91 5/28 5/38 5/42 5.57 84.78
5 MA Starc 6/50 6/66 6/111 6/154 5/34 5/44 5/46 5.57 84.78
5 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 half of the PRESENT ERA Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 JM Anderson 200.00 324.01 224.86 93.48 842.35 421.17
2 K Rabada 83.14 356.67 300.00 89.13 828.95 414.47
3 SCJ Broad 172.57 313.68 225.71 100.00 811.96 405.98
4 JJ Bumrah 45.43 400.00 263.39 84.78 793.60 396.80
5 PJ Cummins 76.86 368.68 257.71 84.78 788.03 394.01
6 MA Starc 102.29 302.75 254.97 84.78 744.80 372.40
7 JR Hazlewood 78.00 332.24 230.34 82.61 723.18 361.59
8 Mohammed Shami 65.43 316.26 255.27 76.09 713.05 356.53
9 N Wagner 74.29 298.85 233.02 84.78 690.94 345.47
10 TG Southee 108.57 277.19 212.06 91.30 689.13 344.56

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 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: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 63 184 19.07 33.20 844.16 211.04
2 JM Anderson 200 434 24.50 52.46 821.74 205.44
3 SCJ Broad 188 398 25.93 50.20 811.17 202.79
4 Mohammed Shami 42 76 22.11 42.62 799.73 199.93
5 PJ Cummins 63 152 19.69 44.11 768.56 192.14
6 MA Starc 97 217 26.28 47.65 702.31 175.58
7 JR Hazlewood 73 162 23.06 52.54 698.50 174.63
8 N Wagner 79 178 27.19 48.95 681.74 170.43
9 TG Southee 108 228 28.13 56.82 641.83 160.46
10 JJ Bumrah 15 33 16.36 34.33 500.00 125.00

Away From Home

Min Innings: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 148 266 29.83 64.33 877.47 877.47
2 JJ Bumrah 54 126 21.83 48.01 870.99 870.99
3 PJ Cummins 52 117 26.24 50.51 841.23 841.23
4 MA Starc 73 141 29.99 50.18 822.57 822.57
5 K Rabada 49 107 27.20 49.61 815.06 815.06
6 SCJ Broad 121 206 31.06 66.60 814.92 814.92
7 JR Hazlewood 59 111 27.41 54.65 780.02 780.02
8 TG Southee 82 152 31.86 63.55 760.59 760.59
9 Mohammed Shami 80 153 30.50 54.09 754.75 754.75
10 N Wagner 43 82 28.41 61.12 704.22 704.22

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 Outside Asia

Min Innings: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 95 269 20.95 36.57 840.92 210.23
2 JM Anderson 290 608 26.38 55.95 825.28 206.32
3 SCJ Broad 272 560 26.86 53.64 822.31 205.58
4 PJ Cummins 98 238 21.59 44.79 790.36 197.59
5 JR Hazlewood 115 257 23.93 50.79 733.73 183.43
6 MA Starc 139 306 27.29 47.50 722.81 180.70
7 N Wagner 111 244 27.31 51.45 694.20 173.55
8 TG Southee 158 322 30.18 59.35 652.07 163.02

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 54 126 21.83 48.01 964.34 241.08
2 Mohammed Shami 74 143 31.39 55.32 867.54 216.88

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 58 92 27.51 63.67 956.36 956.36
2 TG Southee 32 58 26.50 60.41 870.64 870.64
3 MA Starc 31 52 30.42 55.44 819.63 819.63
4 PJ Cummins 17 31 29.84 63.03 671.38 671.38
5 SCJ Broad 37 44 38.09 83.14 646.82 646.82
6 K Rabada 17 22 35.64 71.73 578.59 578.59
7 N Wagner 11 16 31.56 73.13 569.28 569.28
8 JR Hazlewood 17 16 39.19 95.19 462.32 462.32

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mohammed Shami 48 86 21.59 41.91 940.19 940.19
2 JJ Bumrah 15 33 16.36 34.33 500.00 500.00

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 PRESENT ERA Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 JM Anderson 877.47 205.44 956.36 206.32 2,245.59 224.56
2 Mohammed Shami 754.75 199.93 940.19 216.88 2,111.75 211.18
3 MA Starc 822.57 175.58 819.63 180.70 1,998.49 199.85
4 TG Southee 760.59 160.46 870.64 163.02 1,954.71 195.47
5 PJ Cummins 841.23 192.14 671.38 197.59 1,902.34 190.23
6 SCJ Broad 814.92 202.79 646.82 205.58 1,870.11 187.01
7 K Rabada 815.06 211.04 578.59 210.23 1,814.92 181.49
8 JJ Bumrah 870.99 125.00 500.00 241.08 1,737.08 173.71
9 N Wagner 704.22 170.43 569.28 173.55 1,617.49 161.75
10 JR Hazlewood 780.02 174.63 462.32 183.43 1,600.39 160.04

SECONDARY CRITERIA

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

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 PRESENT ERA Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 30 83 14.54 36.18 908.57 181.71
2 K Rabada 30 95 16.57 29.91 907.14 181.43
3 PJ Cummins 30 80 16.33 37.59 815.93 163.19
4 SCJ Broad 30 80 22.03 45.43 778.78 155.76
5 TG Southee 30 83 22.75 44.64 765.50 153.10
6 MA Starc 30 80 21.54 40.90 757.55 151.51
7 Mohammed Shami 30 60 20.48 42.02 745.44 149.09
8 N Wagner 30 78 22.91 43.69 743.36 148.67
9 JJ Bumrah 15 33 16.36 34.33 709.08 141.82
10 JR Hazlewood 30 65 19.23 46.55 701.14 140.23

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 MA Starc 30 71 22.83 38.79 911.53 729.23
2 JJ Bumrah 30 73 19.79 44.26 887.57 710.06
3 JM Anderson 30 62 18.50 50.84 881.31 705.05
4 PJ Cummins 30 76 23.05 46.99 861.89 689.51
5 K Rabada 30 73 23.51 43.03 861.11 688.89
6 N Wagner 30 68 23.15 54.65 803.17 642.53
7 SCJ Broad 30 61 25.69 53.05 794.69 635.76
8 TG Southee 30 62 26.35 54.74 781.46 625.17
9 Mohammed Shami 30 62 24.71 43.21 772.67 618.14
10 JR Hazlewood 30 58 28.53 54.67 716.83 573.47

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 K Rabada 112 291 2.60 1,000.00 500.00
2 PJ Cummins 115 269 2.34 935.94 467.97
3 JJ Bumrah 69 159 2.30 896.01 448.00
4 N Wagner 122 260 2.13 837.95 418.97
5 JR Hazlewood 132 273 2.07 832.51 416.25
6 MA Starc 170 358 2.11 829.04 414.52
7 JM Anderson 348 700 2.01 790.81 395.41
8 SCJ Broad 309 604 1.95 789.27 394.63
9 TG Southee 190 380 2.00 788.75 394.37
10 Mohammed Shami 122 229 1.88 741.74 370.87

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 3 at a good AVE or SR.
  • 1st and 2nd; and 3rd and 4th inns are clubbed together.
  • The AVE should be less than 80% of the AVE of the better innings or
  • The SR should be less than 80% of the SR of the better innings.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 PJ Cummins 115 36 31.30 872.59 872.59
2 MA Starc 170 50 29.41 871.12 871.12
3 JM Anderson 348 88 25.29 841.63 841.63
4 JJ Bumrah 69 20 28.99 803.92 803.92
5 TG Southee 190 47 24.74 742.87 742.87
6 JR Hazlewood 132 36 27.27 729.90 729.90
7 SCJ Broad 309 71 22.98 695.68 695.68
8 K Rabada 112 30 26.79 680.04 680.04
9 Mohammed Shami 122 26 21.31 639.47 639.47
10 N Wagner 122 28 22.95 541.85 541.85

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 PRESENT ERA Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW WPI II TOT SEC RAT
1 PJ Cummins 163.19 689.51 467.97 872.59 2,193.26 219.33
2 MA Starc 151.51 729.23 414.52 871.12 2,166.38 216.64
3 JM Anderson 181.71 705.05 395.41 841.63 2,123.80 212.38
4 JJ Bumrah 141.82 710.06 448.00 803.92 2,103.80 210.38
5 K Rabada 181.43 688.89 500.00 680.04 2,050.36 205.04
6 TG Southee 153.10 625.17 394.37 742.87 1,915.51 191.55
7 SCJ Broad 155.76 635.76 394.63 695.68 1,881.82 188.18
8 JR Hazlewood 140.23 573.47 416.25 729.90 1,859.85 185.98
9 Mohammed Shami 149.09 618.14 370.87 639.47 1,777.57 177.76
10 N Wagner 148.67 642.53 418.97 541.85 1,752.03 175.20

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. Half the points are for Primary Criteria; one-fourth for Conditions; and one-fourth for Secondary Criteria.

RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 JM Anderson ENG 421.17 224.56 212.38 858.11
2 PJ Cummins AUS 394.01 190.23 219.33 803.57
3 K Rabada SA 414.47 181.49 205.04 801.00
4 MA Starc AUS 372.40 199.85 216.64 788.88
5 SCJ Broad ENG 405.98 187.01 188.18 781.18
6 JJ Bumrah IND 396.80 173.71 210.38 780.89
7 Mohammed Shami IND 356.53 211.18 177.76 745.46
8 TG Southee NZ 344.56 195.47 191.55 731.59
9 JR Hazlewood AUS 361.59 160.04 185.98 707.62
10 N Wagner NZ 345.47 161.75 175.20 682.42

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 SL IND PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG SA AUS
2020s IND PAK AUS ENG NZ

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 SA ENG IND NZ
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND
2020s AUS NZ ENG SA IND

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