Decades Rating - Best Test Fast Bowlers In 1970s

Top Test Fast Bowler of the Decade (1970 – 1979)

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 1970s. 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 1970s.

*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. DECADES 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) 20
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 DK Lillee AUS 68 184 200.00
1 DK Lillee AUS 68 184 200.00
2 RGD Willis ENG 95 182 197.83
3 JR Thomson AUS 61 152 165.22
4 AME Roberts WI 57 140 152.17
5 Sarfraz Nawaz PAK 59 120 130.43
6 IT Botham ENG 40 118 128.26
7 RJ Hadlee NZ 47 107 116.30
8 N Kapil Dev IND 40 87 94.57
9 Sikander Bakht PAK 28 57 61.96
10 JK Lever ENG 28 51 55.43

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 20

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS IT Botham 40 2274 118 19.27 20.01 200.00
1 IT Botham 40 2274 118 19.27 20.01 200.00
2 JK Lever 28 1204 51 23.61 22.11 181.05
3 DK Lillee 68 4376 184 23.78 24.12 165.95
4 RGD Willis 95 4511 182 24.79 24.42 163.87
5 N Kapil Dev 40 2413 87 27.74 24.50 163.38
6 AME Roberts 57 3521 140 25.15 24.94 160.46
7 JR Thomson 61 3893 152 25.61 25.78 155.27
8 Sikander Bakht 28 1631 57 28.61 26.28 152.30
9 Sarfraz Nawaz 59 3591 120 29.93 27.68 144.60
10 RJ Hadlee 47 3226 107 30.15 28.05 142.69

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS M Hendrick 35 1333 65 20.51 21.01 200.00
1 JK Lever 26 1049 46 22.80 21.12 198.96
2 IT Botham 23 1417 64 22.14 22.59 186.01
3 AME Roberts 47 2758 121 22.79 22.64 185.61
4 DK Lillee 52 3171 136 23.32 23.50 178.82
5 N Kapil Dev 40 2413 87 27.74 24.50 171.52
6 RGD Willis 74 3596 139 25.87 25.11 167.33
7 JR Thomson 58 3749 150 24.99 25.16 167.02
8 Sikander Bakht 21 1224 42 29.14 25.97 161.77
9 Sarfraz Nawaz 43 2736 94 29.11 26.02 161.49
10 RJ Hadlee 39 2700 87 31.03 29.35 143.17

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 20
RANK BOWLER INNS BALLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS IT Botham 40 5381 118 45.60 42.30 300.00
1 IT Botham 40 5381 118 45.60 42.30 300.00
2 JR Thomson 61 7512 152 49.42 45.49 279.00
3 DK Lillee 68 9510 184 51.68 46.83 270.98
4 AME Roberts 57 7340 140 52.43 47.96 264.61
5 N Kapil Dev 40 4757 87 54.68 49.06 258.68
6 Sikander Bakht 28 3400 57 59.65 49.18 258.07
7 RGD Willis 95 9916 182 54.48 50.09 253.38
8 RJ Hadlee 47 6376 107 59.59 50.36 252.01
9 JK Lever 28 2886 51 56.59 50.72 250.21
10 Sarfraz Nawaz 59 8582 120 71.52 59.74 212.45

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 IT Botham 8/34 6/34 6/78 6/101 5/21 5/35 5/39 5.86 100.00
1 IT Botham 8/34 6/34 6/78 6/101 5/21 5/35 5/39 5.86 100.00
2 AME Roberts 7/54 7/64 6/37 5/50 5/56 5/57 5/60 5.71 97.56
3 DK Lillee 6/26 6/66 6/72 6/82 5/15 5/51 5/58 5.57 95.12
4 RGD Willis 7/78 6/53 5/27 5/32 5/42 5/42 5/44 5.43 92.68
5 Sarfraz Nawaz 9/86 6/89 5/39 5/70 4/46 4/53 4/56 5.29 90.24
5 JR Thomson 6/46 6/50 6/77 5/38 5/62 5/93 4/41 5.29 90.24
5 RJ Hadlee 7/23 6/26 5/62 5/84 5/104 5/121 4/33 5.29 90.24
8 N Kapil Dev 6/63 5/58 5/74 5/82 5/146 4/30 4/38 4.86 82.93
9 Sikander Bakht 8/69 5/55 5/56 4/67 4/132 3/55 3/68 4.57 78.05
10 JK Lever 7/46 5/59 4/28 3/24 3/42 3/60 3/96 4.00 68.29

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 IT Botham 128.26 386.01 300.00 100.00 914.27 365.71
2 DK Lillee 200.00 344.77 270.98 95.12 910.88 364.35
3 RGD Willis 197.83 331.20 253.38 92.68 875.09 350.04
4 AME Roberts 152.17 346.08 264.61 97.56 860.42 344.17
5 JR Thomson 165.22 322.29 279.00 90.24 856.75 342.70
6 N Kapil Dev 94.57 334.90 258.68 82.93 771.07 308.43
7 JK Lever 55.43 380.01 250.21 68.29 753.96 301.58
8 RJ Hadlee 116.30 285.86 252.01 90.24 744.42 297.77
9 Sarfraz Nawaz 130.43 306.08 212.45 90.24 739.21 295.69
10 Sikander Bakht 61.96 314.06 258.07 78.05 712.14 284.85

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: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 IT Botham 22 67 18.21 42.09 824.72 24.74
2 DK Lillee 44 117 24.99 50.57 815.68 24.47
3 JR Thomson 35 93 24.47 46.75 789.24 23.68
4 RGD Willis 34 82 22.83 45.38 786.17 23.58
5 N Kapil Dev 29 64 23.31 47.06 767.76 23.03
6 RJ Hadlee 25 63 26.56 55.24 704.42 21.13
7 Sarfraz Nawaz 21 44 29.16 71.11 624.97 18.75
8 AME Roberts 19 40 31.85 60.60 500.00 15.00
8 Sikander Bakht 9 9 49.56 110.22 500.00 15.00
8 JK Lever 7 7 42.14 93.29 500.00 15.00

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AME Roberts 38 100 22.47 49.16 929.05 111.49
2 JK Lever 21 44 20.66 50.75 852.62 102.31
3 DK Lillee 24 67 21.67 53.63 828.50 99.42
4 IT Botham 18 51 20.67 50.22 818.88 98.27
5 RGD Willis 61 100 26.39 61.95 805.35 96.64
6 Sikander Bakht 19 48 24.69 50.17 773.41 92.81
7 JR Thomson 26 59 27.41 53.63 736.88 88.43
8 Sarfraz Nawaz 38 76 30.37 71.75 710.90 85.31
9 RJ Hadlee 22 44 35.30 65.82 627.60 75.31
10 N Kapil Dev 11 23 40.04 75.87 546.03 65.52

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 SR RAT WTG
1 DK Lillee 68 184 23.78 51.68 843.67 25.31
2 IT Botham 40 118 19.27 45.60 840.93 25.23
3 JR Thomson 61 152 25.61 49.42 793.94 23.82
4 RGD Willis 80 155 25.72 55.70 753.57 22.61
5 AME Roberts 43 96 27.23 55.93 689.56 20.69
6 RJ Hadlee 36 84 27.87 59.67 666.41 19.99
7 JK Lever 13 21 29.95 68.86 487.55 14.63

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Sarfraz Nawaz 38 76 30.37 71.75 949.48 28.48
2 Sikander Bakht 13 25 31.64 61.40 736.00 22.08
3 N Kapil Dev 5 16 30.94 65.19 687.66 20.63

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AME Roberts 14 44 20.61 44.80 971.66 116.60
2 JK Lever 15 30 19.17 48.00 862.75 103.53
3 RGD Willis 15 27 19.44 47.48 828.64 99.44
4 RJ Hadlee 11 23 38.48 59.30 637.33 76.48
5 DK Lillee 0 0 NA NA 500.00 60.00
5 JR Thomson 0 0 NA NA 500.00 60.00
5 IT Botham 0 0 NA NA 500.00 60.00

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 N Kapil Dev 35 71 27.01 52.31 969.62 116.35
2 Sikander Bakht 15 32 26.25 58.28 871.96 104.64
3 Sarfraz Nawaz 21 44 29.16 71.11 809.84 97.18

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 AME Roberts 929.05 125.00 971.66 172.39 263.77
2 RGD Willis 805.35 196.54 828.64 188.39 242.27
3 JK Lever 852.62 125.00 862.75 121.89 235.47
4 Sikander Bakht 773.41 125.00 871.96 184.00 234.52
5 Sarfraz Nawaz 710.90 156.24 809.84 237.37 229.72
6 N Kapil Dev 546.03 191.94 969.62 171.92 225.54
7 DK Lillee 828.50 203.92 500.00 210.92 209.20
8 IT Botham 818.88 206.18 500.00 210.23 208.23
9 JR Thomson 736.88 197.31 500.00 198.49 195.92
10 RJ Hadlee 627.60 176.10 637.33 166.60 192.92

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 20 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our DECADES Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 IT Botham 20 62 17.52 41.13 941.39 28.24
2 DK Lillee 20 68 22.82 40.01 904.06 27.12
3 RGD Willis 20 55 19.67 37.76 892.04 26.76
4 JR Thomson 20 61 22.92 41.10 857.84 25.74
5 N Kapil Dev 20 48 21.44 45.79 816.54 24.50
6 RJ Hadlee 20 55 25.33 53.56 791.23 23.74
7 Sarfraz Nawaz 20 43 28.65 68.44 698.50 20.95
8 AME Roberts 19 40 31.85 60.60 595.37 17.86
9 Sikander Bakht 9 9 49.56 110.22 500.00 15.00
9 JK Lever 7 7 42.14 93.29 500.00 15.00

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AME Roberts 20 62 21.02 44.82 967.39 116.09
2 IT Botham 18 51 20.67 50.22 864.94 103.79
3 DK Lillee 20 55 21.93 53.55 858.28 102.99
4 RGD Willis 20 41 19.12 49.17 852.26 102.27
5 JR Thomson 20 52 24.21 48.73 827.38 99.29
6 Sikander Bakht 19 48 24.69 50.17 823.29 98.79
7 JK Lever 20 40 22.03 54.20 791.26 94.95
8 Sarfraz Nawaz 20 47 25.40 62.15 771.00 92.52
9 RJ Hadlee 20 43 32.79 61.07 707.43 84.89
10 N Kapil Dev 11 23 40.04 75.87 551.97 66.24

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: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 IT Botham 40 25 62.50 904.68 135.70
2 AME Roberts 57 28 49.12 759.65 113.95
3 DK Lillee 68 32 47.06 739.63 110.94
4 RGD Willis 95 41 43.16 736.67 110.50
5 JR Thomson 61 29 47.54 713.75 107.06
6 RJ Hadlee 47 21 44.68 660.65 99.10
7 N Kapil Dev 40 18 45.00 606.86 91.03
8 Sikander Bakht 28 12 42.86 575.20 86.28
9 Sarfraz Nawaz 59 22 37.29 571.93 85.79
10 JK Lever 28 11 39.29 515.83 77.37

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 IT Botham 28.24 103.79 135.70 267.74
2 AME Roberts 17.86 116.09 113.95 247.89
3 DK Lillee 27.12 102.99 110.94 241.06
4 RGD Willis 26.76 102.27 110.50 239.53
5 JR Thomson 25.74 99.29 107.06 232.08
6 RJ Hadlee 23.74 84.89 99.10 207.73
7 Sikander Bakht 15.00 98.79 86.28 200.07
8 Sarfraz Nawaz 20.95 92.52 85.79 199.26
9 JK Lever 15.00 94.95 77.37 187.33
10 N Kapil Dev 24.50 66.24 91.03 181.76

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 RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 AME Roberts WI 344.17 263.77 247.89 855.84
2 IT Botham ENG 365.71 208.23 267.74 841.68
3 RGD Willis ENG 350.04 242.27 239.53 831.84
4 DK Lillee AUS 364.35 209.20 241.06 814.61
5 JR Thomson AUS 342.70 195.92 232.08 770.70
6 Sarfraz Nawaz PAK 295.69 229.72 199.26 724.67
7 JK Lever ENG 301.58 235.47 187.33 724.38
8 Sikander Bakht PAK 284.85 234.52 200.07 719.45
9 N Kapil Dev IND 308.43 225.54 181.76 715.73
10 RJ Hadlee NZ 297.77 192.92 207.73 698.41

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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