Decades Rating - Best Test Fast Bowlers In 1980s

Top Test Fast Bowler of the Decade (1980 – 1989)

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 1980s. 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 1980s.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2025-09-10

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 MD Marshall WI 120 323 200.00
1 MD Marshall WI 120 323 200.00
2 RJ Hadlee NZ 91 289 178.95
3 N Kapil Dev IND 134 272 168.42
4 IT Botham ENG 120 258 159.75
5 Imran Khan PAK 90 256 158.51
6 J Garner WI 93 210 130.03
7 MA Holding WI 84 184 113.93
8 DK Lillee AUS 64 171 105.88
9 RGD Willis ENG 70 143 88.54
10 CA Walsh WI 63 122 75.54

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 Imran Khan 90 4896 256 19.13 18.63 200.00
1 Imran Khan 90 4896 256 19.13 18.63 200.00
2 RJ Hadlee 91 5574 289 19.29 19.56 190.48
3 MD Marshall 120 6434 323 19.92 20.57 181.13
4 J Garner 93 4331 210 20.62 21.71 171.55
5 MA Holding 84 4302 184 23.38 24.35 153.01
6 CA Walsh 63 2958 122 24.25 24.49 152.08
7 DK Lillee 64 4117 171 24.08 24.70 150.84
8 RGD Willis 70 3679 143 25.73 24.83 150.02
9 N Kapil Dev 134 8036 272 29.54 26.84 138.77
10 IT Botham 120 8359 258 32.40 31.30 119.02

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS Imran Khan 49 2521 135 18.67 18.36 200.00
1 Imran Khan 49 2521 135 18.67 18.36 200.00
2 RJ Hadlee 71 4561 224 20.36 20.18 182.01
3 J Garner 86 4030 203 19.85 20.84 176.22
4 MD Marshall 94 5028 250 20.11 20.85 176.13
5 MA Holding 65 3137 142 22.09 23.32 157.51
6 DK Lillee 56 3558 147 24.20 24.75 148.42
7 RGD Willis 55 2898 113 25.65 24.92 147.36
8 N Kapil Dev 121 7226 244 29.61 26.59 138.11
9 CA Walsh 49 2253 78 28.88 29.24 125.62
10 IT Botham 100 7004 209 33.51 32.43 113.24

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 MD Marshall 120 14399 323 44.58 44.77 300.00
1 MD Marshall 120 14399 323 44.58 44.77 300.00
2 Imran Khan 90 12040 256 47.03 45.31 296.43
3 RJ Hadlee 91 13856 289 47.94 46.85 286.69
4 RGD Willis 70 7441 143 52.03 49.38 272.00
5 MA Holding 84 9272 184 50.39 50.67 265.08
6 DK Lillee 64 8957 171 52.38 51.90 258.79
7 J Garner 93 10887 210 51.84 51.95 258.52
8 CA Walsh 63 6617 122 54.24 53.13 252.82
9 N Kapil Dev 134 16895 272 62.11 57.41 233.97
10 IT Botham 120 15900 258 61.63 59.14 227.11

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 N Kapil Dev 9/83 8/85 8/106 7/56 7/220 6/77 6/84 7.29 100.00
1 N Kapil Dev 9/83 8/85 8/106 7/56 7/220 6/77 6/84 7.29 100.00
2 Imran Khan 8/58 8/60 7/40 7/52 7/80 6/35 6/46 7.00 96.08
3 RJ Hadlee 9/52 7/116 6/49 6/50 6/51 6/53 6/57 6.57 90.20
4 MD Marshall 7/22 7/53 7/80 6/32 6/37 6/55 6/69 6.43 88.24
5 IT Botham 8/103 7/48 6/58 6/90 6/95 6/125 5/11 6.29 86.27
6 DK Lillee 7/83 7/89 6/53 6/60 6/171 5/18 5/46 6.00 82.35
7 MA Holding 6/21 6/62 6/67 5/43 5/45 5/56 5/64 5.43 74.51
7 J Garner 6/56 6/60 6/75 5/51 5/55 5/56 5/63 5.43 74.51
9 RGD Willis 8/43 6/101 5/35 5/65 5/66 4/43 4/51 5.29 72.55
10 CA Walsh 6/62 5/54 5/54 5/73 4/21 4/37 4/39 4.71 64.71

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 Imran Khan 158.51 400.00 296.43 96.08 951.02 380.41
2 MD Marshall 200.00 357.26 300.00 88.24 945.50 378.20
3 RJ Hadlee 178.95 372.49 286.69 90.20 928.33 371.33
4 J Garner 130.03 347.77 258.52 74.51 810.84 324.33
5 N Kapil Dev 168.42 276.88 233.97 100.00 779.28 311.71
6 MA Holding 113.93 310.52 265.08 74.51 764.04 305.62
7 DK Lillee 105.88 299.26 258.79 82.35 746.29 298.52
8 RGD Willis 88.54 297.39 272.00 72.55 730.48 292.19
9 IT Botham 159.75 232.26 227.11 86.27 705.39 282.16
10 CA Walsh 75.54 277.70 252.82 64.71 670.77 268.31

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 Imran Khan 44 131 16.79 42.93 936.15 28.08
2 MD Marshall 46 133 19.41 40.45 819.45 24.58
3 RJ Hadlee 43 119 21.13 52.94 767.24 23.02
4 DK Lillee 40 114 22.44 49.27 730.75 21.92
5 N Kapil Dev 74 135 28.97 60.91 721.42 21.64
6 RGD Willis 39 94 24.10 46.81 707.29 21.22
7 IT Botham 68 155 31.21 58.20 694.90 20.85
8 J Garner 42 85 21.94 54.05 655.70 19.67
9 MA Holding 35 67 24.85 52.01 599.72 17.99
10 CA Walsh 16 30 22.53 53.47 500.00 15.00

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RJ Hadlee 48 170 18.00 44.45 978.95 117.47
2 MD Marshall 74 190 20.28 47.47 952.24 114.27
3 Imran Khan 46 125 21.58 51.33 865.66 103.88
4 J Garner 51 125 19.73 50.34 853.26 102.39
5 MA Holding 49 117 22.54 49.46 812.72 97.53
6 N Kapil Dev 60 137 30.11 63.30 729.16 87.50
7 CA Walsh 47 92 24.80 54.49 712.71 85.53
8 DK Lillee 24 57 27.35 58.60 641.85 77.02
9 IT Botham 52 103 34.19 66.79 621.89 74.63
10 RGD Willis 31 49 28.86 62.06 620.76 74.49

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 MD Marshall 96 261 20.03 45.20 978.78 29.36
2 RJ Hadlee 80 244 20.45 50.45 969.84 29.10
3 J Garner 88 200 20.70 51.72 879.22 26.38
4 DK Lillee 58 165 22.47 49.48 843.15 25.29
5 MA Holding 73 154 23.63 51.49 802.94 24.09
6 RGD Willis 58 126 25.25 50.67 786.91 23.61
7 IT Botham 106 223 33.35 62.04 741.22 22.24
8 CA Walsh 50 85 27.36 61.28 630.11 18.90

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Imran Khan 29 88 20.13 49.77 997.19 29.92
2 N Kapil Dev 40 89 27.17 61.13 865.24 25.96

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RJ Hadlee 11 45 12.98 34.33 924.21 110.90
2 MD Marshall 24 62 19.45 41.95 911.78 109.41
3 CA Walsh 13 37 17.08 38.05 861.30 103.36
4 IT Botham 14 35 26.31 59.00 687.64 82.52
5 MA Holding 11 30 22.10 44.73 685.91 82.31
6 J Garner 5 10 19.20 54.30 534.05 64.09
7 RGD Willis 12 17 29.24 62.18 484.45 58.13
8 DK Lillee 6 6 68.33 132.00 217.30 26.08

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Imran Khan 61 168 18.60 45.60 977.36 117.28
2 N Kapil Dev 94 183 30.70 62.59 775.45 93.05

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 RJ Hadlee 978.95 191.81 924.21 242.46 280.49
2 Imran Khan 865.66 234.04 977.36 249.30 279.16
3 MD Marshall 952.24 204.86 911.78 244.70 277.63
4 N Kapil Dev 729.16 180.35 775.45 216.31 228.15
5 CA Walsh 712.71 125.00 861.30 157.53 222.78
6 MA Holding 812.72 149.93 685.91 200.73 221.92
7 J Garner 853.26 163.92 534.05 219.81 212.52
8 IT Botham 621.89 173.72 687.64 185.31 200.23
9 RGD Willis 620.76 176.82 484.45 196.73 177.45
10 DK Lillee 641.85 182.69 217.30 210.79 150.31

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 Imran Khan 20 71 12.68 33.37 1,000.00 30.00
2 DK Lillee 20 70 17.86 38.71 825.78 24.77
3 MD Marshall 20 66 16.80 36.12 803.87 24.12
4 RGD Willis 20 61 18.80 36.54 799.44 23.98
5 RJ Hadlee 20 65 18.32 46.97 782.26 23.47
6 N Kapil Dev 20 60 22.75 44.80 781.66 23.45
7 IT Botham 20 59 23.92 48.00 698.40 20.95
8 J Garner 20 49 19.39 46.98 649.93 19.50
9 MA Holding 20 40 23.48 46.73 552.16 16.56
10 CA Walsh 16 30 22.53 53.47 527.96 15.84

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RJ Hadlee 20 77 14.55 36.48 999.27 119.91
2 MD Marshall 20 70 16.47 37.20 928.49 111.42
3 MA Holding 20 64 18.19 40.14 844.70 101.36
4 Imran Khan 20 61 18.07 49.31 801.62 96.19
5 J Garner 20 51 15.80 49.35 767.40 92.09
6 CA Walsh 20 50 19.54 45.00 748.26 89.79
7 N Kapil Dev 20 59 28.53 52.34 735.96 88.32
8 DK Lillee 20 54 23.26 50.52 700.56 84.07
9 IT Botham 20 53 27.42 59.66 667.43 80.09
10 RGD Willis 20 39 25.26 54.87 608.79 73.05

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 RJ Hadlee 91 56 61.54 935.38 140.31
2 MD Marshall 120 67 55.83 888.75 133.31
3 Imran Khan 90 54 60.00 879.15 131.87
4 J Garner 93 46 49.46 759.55 113.93
5 DK Lillee 64 34 53.13 749.79 112.47
6 RGD Willis 70 35 50.00 708.69 106.30
7 MA Holding 84 37 44.05 663.81 99.57
8 N Kapil Dev 134 50 37.31 610.81 91.62
9 IT Botham 120 42 35.00 542.17 81.33
10 CA Walsh 63 24 38.10 531.16 79.67

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 RJ Hadlee 23.47 119.91 140.31 283.69
2 MD Marshall 24.12 111.42 133.31 268.85
3 Imran Khan 30.00 96.19 131.87 258.07
4 J Garner 19.50 92.09 113.93 225.52
5 DK Lillee 24.77 84.07 112.47 221.31
6 MA Holding 16.56 101.36 99.57 217.50
7 N Kapil Dev 23.45 88.32 91.62 203.39
8 RGD Willis 23.98 73.05 106.30 203.34
9 CA Walsh 15.84 89.79 79.67 185.30
10 IT Botham 20.95 80.09 81.33 182.37

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 RJ Hadlee NZ 371.33 280.49 283.69 935.51
2 MD Marshall WI 378.20 277.63 268.85 924.67
3 Imran Khan PAK 380.41 279.16 258.07 917.64
4 J Garner WI 324.33 212.52 225.52 762.38
5 MA Holding WI 305.62 221.92 217.50 745.03
6 N Kapil Dev IND 311.71 228.15 203.39 743.25
7 CA Walsh WI 268.31 222.78 185.30 676.40
8 RGD Willis ENG 292.19 177.45 203.34 672.98
9 DK Lillee AUS 298.52 150.31 221.31 670.14
10 IT Botham ENG 282.16 200.23 182.37 664.75

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 ENG SA

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 ENG SA IND

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