This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 1980s. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation) and at the end. So, here are the Top 10 Fast bowlers in Test Cricket in the 1980s.

CONTENTS

3. PRIMARY CRITERIA

3.1. PROLIFIC

3.2. CONSISTENT

3.2.1. Against All Teams

3.2.2. Against Top Teams

3.3. ATTACKING

3.3.1. Against All Teams

3.3.2. Against Top Teams

3.4. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

3.4.1. Against All Teams

3.4.2. Against Top Teams

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. WKTS/INN

5.2. TOP FORM

5.3. IMPACT INNINGS

5.4. SECONDARY RATING

6. DECADES RATING

6.1. BRIEF EXPLANATION

6.1.1. Dynamic Nature

6.1.2. Trend Setter (TS)

6.1.3. Top Teams (TT)

6.1.4. Abbreviations

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA	CONSTITUENTS
Primary	Wickets, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions	Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary	Wkts Per Inn, Top Form, Impact Inns

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT)	20
Min Wkts	30

PRIMARY CRITERIA

CRITERIA	STAT	POINTS
Prolific	Wickets Taken	250.00
Consistent	Average	300.00
Attacking	Strike Rate	300.00
Best Bowling	Top Bowling Performances	150.00

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK	BOWLER	NAT	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	MD Marshall	WI	120	323	250.00
1	MD Marshall	WI	120	323	250.00
2	RJ Hadlee	NZ	91	289	223.68
3	N Kapil Dev	IND	134	272	210.53
4	IT Botham	ENG	120	258	199.69
5	Imran Khan	PAK	90	256	198.14
6	J Garner	WI	93	210	162.54
7	MA Holding	WI	84	184	142.41
8	GF Lawson	AUS	78	180	139.32
9	DK Lillee	AUS	64	171	132.35
10	CEH Croft	WI	34	73	56.50

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	50
Min Wickets (TT)	40

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	Imran Khan	90	4896	256	19.13	18.92	120.00
1	Imran Khan	90	4896	256	19.13	18.92	120.00
2	RJ Hadlee	91	5574	289	19.29	20.25	112.12
3	MD Marshall	120	6434	323	19.92	20.75	109.40
4	J Garner	93	4331	210	20.62	22.12	102.60
5	CEH Croft	34	1793	73	24.56	24.43	92.92
6	MA Holding	84	4302	184	23.38	25.16	90.24
7	DK Lillee	64	4117	171	24.08	25.53	88.92
8	N Kapil Dev	134	8036	272	29.54	28.51	79.62
9	GF Lawson	78	5501	180	30.56	30.82	73.64
10	IT Botham	120	8359	258	32.40	33.07	68.63

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	Imran Khan	43	2306	129	17.88	17.47	180.00
1	Imran Khan	43	2306	129	17.88	17.47	180.00
2	RJ Hadlee	65	4124	208	19.83	20.15	156.09
3	MD Marshall	70	3752	183	20.50	20.88	150.62
4	J Garner	64	2970	148	20.07	21.17	148.58
5	MA Holding	60	3101	143	21.69	23.06	136.37
6	CEH Croft	29	1528	63	24.25	23.79	132.23
7	DK Lillee	41	2798	109	25.67	26.41	119.08
8	N Kapil Dev	111	6847	236	29.01	27.53	114.24
9	GF Lawson	61	4384	142	30.87	30.56	102.91
10	IT Botham	92	6575	198	33.21	32.96	95.41

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	50
Min Wickets (TT)	40

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	WKTS	SR	R SR	RAT
TS	MD Marshall	120	14399	323	44.58	44.10	120.00
1	MD Marshall	120	14399	323	44.58	44.10	120.00
2	Imran Khan	90	12040	256	47.03	45.58	116.09
3	RJ Hadlee	91	13856	289	47.94	47.55	111.30
4	CEH Croft	34	3996	73	54.74	48.96	108.09
5	MA Holding	84	9272	184	50.39	49.42	107.07
6	J Garner	93	10887	210	51.84	50.61	104.57
7	DK Lillee	64	8957	171	52.38	51.22	103.31
8	N Kapil Dev	134	16895	272	62.11	58.93	89.80
9	GF Lawson	78	11118	180	61.77	60.64	87.27
10	IT Botham	120	15900	258	61.63	61.12	86.58

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	WKTS	SR	R SR	RAT
TS	Imran Khan	43	5841	129	45.28	43.38	180.00
1	Imran Khan	43	5841	129	45.28	43.38	180.00
2	MD Marshall	70	8341	183	45.58	44.16	176.81
3	MA Holding	60	6633	143	46.38	45.00	173.49
4	RJ Hadlee	65	10074	208	48.43	46.96	166.27
5	CEH Croft	29	3378	63	53.62	47.98	162.73
6	J Garner	64	7405	148	50.03	47.99	162.70
7	DK Lillee	41	6149	109	56.41	54.50	143.25
8	N Kapil Dev	111	14399	236	61.01	57.48	135.83
9	GF Lawson	61	8508	142	59.92	58.15	134.27
10	IT Botham	92	12667	198	63.97	62.56	124.81

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

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	BBW	RAT
TS	N Kapil Dev	9/83	8/85	8/106	7/56	7/220	6/77	6/84	7.29	50.00
1	N Kapil Dev	9/83	8/85	8/106	7/56	7/220	6/77	6/84	7.29	50.00
2	Imran Khan	8/58	8/60	7/40	7/52	7/80	6/35	6/46	7.00	48.04
3	RJ Hadlee	9/52	7/116	6/49	6/50	6/51	6/53	6/57	6.57	45.10
4	MD Marshall	7/22	7/53	7/80	6/32	6/37	6/55	6/69	6.43	44.12
5	IT Botham	8/103	7/48	6/58	6/90	6/95	6/125	5/11	6.29	43.14
6	DK Lillee	7/83	7/89	6/53	6/60	6/171	5/18	5/46	6.00	41.18
6	GF Lawson	8/112	7/81	6/47	6/72	5/49	5/59	5/66	6.00	41.18
8	MA Holding	6/21	6/62	6/67	5/43	5/45	5/56	5/64	5.43	37.25
8	J Garner	6/56	6/60	6/75	5/51	5/55	5/56	5/63	5.43	37.25
10	CEH Croft	6/74	5/40	4/39	4/57	4/64	3/27	3/29	4.14	28.43

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	BBW	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	RJ Hadlee	9/52	6/50	6/51	6/53	6/57	6/68	6/71	6.43	88.24
3	Imran Khan	8/60	7/52	7/80	6/46	5/49	5/59	5/62	6.14	84.31
3	IT Botham	8/103	7/48	6/58	6/95	6/125	5/11	5/41	6.14	84.31
5	DK Lillee	7/83	7/89	6/60	6/171	5/46	5/78	5/78	5.86	80.39
5	GF Lawson	8/112	7/81	6/47	5/49	5/59	5/66	5/87	5.86	80.39
7	MD Marshall	7/53	6/37	6/85	5/33	5/35	5/38	5/65	5.57	76.47
8	MA Holding	6/21	6/62	6/67	5/43	5/45	5/56	5/64	5.43	74.51
9	J Garner	5/51	5/55	5/56	4/30	4/36	4/38	4/43	4.43	60.78
10	CEH Croft	6/74	5/40	4/39	4/57	3/27	3/29	3/35	4.00	54.90

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	MD Marshall	250.00	260.02	120.00	120.59	927.42	370.97
2	Imran Khan	198.14	300.00	116.09	132.35	926.59	370.64
3	RJ Hadlee	223.68	268.20	111.30	133.33	902.79	361.12
4	N Kapil Dev	210.53	193.86	89.80	150.00	780.02	312.01
5	J Garner	162.54	251.17	104.57	98.04	779.02	311.61
6	MA Holding	142.41	226.60	107.07	111.76	761.34	304.54
7	DK Lillee	132.35	208.00	103.31	121.57	708.49	283.40
8	IT Botham	199.69	164.05	86.58	127.45	702.57	281.03
9	GF Lawson	139.32	176.55	87.27	121.57	658.97	263.59
10	CEH Croft	56.50	225.15	108.09	83.33	635.80	254.32

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: 7

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Khan	44	131	16.79	42.93	937.78	28.13
2	MD Marshall	46	133	19.41	40.45	808.96	24.27
3	RJ Hadlee	43	119	21.13	52.94	769.06	23.07
4	N Kapil Dev	74	135	28.97	60.91	725.28	21.76
5	IT Botham	68	155	31.21	58.20	711.04	21.33
6	DK Lillee	40	114	22.44	49.27	698.93	20.97
7	CEH Croft	8	24	18.96	39.46	648.01	19.44
8	GF Lawson	41	96	27.66	58.73	639.69	19.19
9	J Garner	42	85	21.94	54.05	635.85	19.08
10	MA Holding	35	67	24.85	52.01	606.98	18.21

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 7

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	RJ Hadlee	48	170	18.00	44.45	963.19	115.58
2	MD Marshall	74	190	20.28	47.47	961.53	115.38
3	Imran Khan	46	125	21.58	51.33	860.91	103.31
4	J Garner	51	125	19.73	50.34	839.34	100.72
5	MA Holding	49	117	22.54	49.46	822.73	98.73
6	N Kapil Dev	60	137	30.11	63.30	766.91	92.03
7	DK Lillee	24	57	27.35	58.60	657.59	78.91
8	IT Botham	52	103	34.19	66.79	643.60	77.23
9	GF Lawson	37	84	33.88	65.24	605.71	72.68
10	CEH Croft	26	49	27.31	62.22	601.64	72.20

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	RJ Hadlee	80	244	20.45	50.45	967.63	29.03
2	MD Marshall	96	261	20.03	45.20	951.97	28.56
3	J Garner	88	200	20.70	51.72	855.47	25.66
4	MA Holding	73	154	23.63	51.49	816.37	24.49
5	DK Lillee	58	165	22.47	49.48	808.89	24.27
6	IT Botham	106	223	33.35	62.04	742.97	22.29
7	GF Lawson	74	171	30.40	61.02	724.74	21.74
8	CEH Croft	27	56	26.63	57.43	628.31	18.85

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	974.15	29.22
2	N Kapil Dev	40	89	27.17	61.13	852.66	25.58

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	MD Marshall	24	62	19.45	41.95	932.23	111.87
2	RJ Hadlee	11	45	12.98	34.33	885.64	106.28
3	CEH Croft	7	17	17.76	45.88	685.21	82.23
4	IT Botham	14	35	26.31	59.00	672.21	80.67
5	MA Holding	11	30	22.10	44.73	664.77	79.77
6	J Garner	5	10	19.20	54.30	562.86	67.54
7	GF Lawson	4	9	33.56	76.00	500.00	60.00
8	DK Lillee	6	6	68.33	132.00	224.73	26.97

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	955.55	114.67
2	N Kapil Dev	94	183	30.70	62.59	782.29	93.88

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	MD Marshall	961.53	202.24	932.23	237.99	280.08
2	Imran Khan	860.91	234.45	955.55	243.54	275.33
3	RJ Hadlee	963.19	192.27	885.64	241.91	273.96
4	N Kapil Dev	766.91	181.32	782.29	213.17	233.24
5	MA Holding	822.73	151.75	664.77	204.09	221.20
6	J Garner	839.34	158.96	562.86	213.87	213.00
7	IT Botham	643.60	177.76	672.21	185.74	201.52
8	CEH Croft	601.64	162.00	685.21	157.08	192.71
9	GF Lawson	605.71	159.92	500.00	181.19	173.62
10	DK Lillee	657.59	174.73	224.73	202.22	151.11

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
Wickets Per Inn	50.00
Top Form	100.00
Impact Innings	150.00

WKTS/INN

WPI RATING

Points to note about WPI Rating:-

It gives points for three criteria.
The number of wkts per inn overall and aganst Top Teams.
The number of bowled victims per inn.
The number of top 7 batsmen dismissed per inn.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	W/I	RAT	WTG
1	RJ Hadlee	91	289	3.18	954.91	47.75
2	Imran Khan	90	256	2.84	928.52	46.43
3	MD Marshall	120	323	2.69	804.20	40.21
4	MA Holding	84	184	2.19	733.22	36.66
5	DK Lillee	64	171	2.67	729.62	36.48
6	GF Lawson	78	180	2.31	726.07	36.30
7	J Garner	93	210	2.26	710.90	35.55
8	CEH Croft	34	73	2.15	644.17	32.21
9	N Kapil Dev	134	272	2.03	604.72	30.24
10	IT Botham	120	258	2.15	589.77	29.49

TOP FORM

TF RATING

Points to note about TF Rating:-

TF is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a bowler.
The inns are taken such that his points are maximum.
Only innings against Top Teams are considered.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Khan	30	96	15.34	40.63	962.59	96.26
2	RJ Hadlee	30	104	18.06	42.48	928.73	92.87
3	MD Marshall	30	93	17.53	38.94	899.42	89.94
4	MA Holding	30	84	18.42	39.98	843.82	84.38
5	N Kapil Dev	30	84	24.35	48.92	806.83	80.68
6	IT Botham	30	86	22.86	48.24	785.23	78.52
7	J Garner	30	80	19.91	43.40	769.00	76.90
8	GF Lawson	30	83	23.52	49.01	768.37	76.84
9	DK Lillee	30	85	23.29	51.06	765.00	76.50
10	CEH Croft	29	63	24.25	53.62	664.24	66.42

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 equal to or more wickets than 2 at a good AVE or SR.
The required AVE or SR increases as the number of wickets taken increases.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	II	II Perc	RAT	WTG
1	RJ Hadlee	91	58	63.74	941.36	141.20
2	Imran Khan	90	56	62.22	901.59	135.24
3	MD Marshall	120	68	56.67	879.09	131.86
4	J Garner	93	47	50.54	747.01	112.05
5	DK Lillee	64	35	54.69	718.87	107.83
6	MA Holding	84	36	42.86	655.66	98.35
7	GF Lawson	78	33	42.31	589.52	88.43
8	CEH Croft	34	15	44.12	566.54	84.98
9	N Kapil Dev	134	44	32.84	546.72	82.01
10	IT Botham	120	41	34.17	501.62	75.24

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	WPI	II	SEC RAT
1	RJ Hadlee	92.87	47.75	141.20	281.82
2	Imran Khan	96.26	46.43	135.24	277.92
3	MD Marshall	89.94	40.21	131.86	262.02
4	J Garner	76.90	35.55	112.05	224.50
5	DK Lillee	76.50	36.48	107.83	220.81
6	MA Holding	84.38	36.66	98.35	219.39
7	GF Lawson	76.84	36.30	88.43	201.57
8	N Kapil Dev	80.68	30.24	82.01	192.93
9	CEH Croft	66.42	32.21	84.98	183.61
10	IT Botham	78.52	29.49	75.24	183.26

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	Imran Khan	PAK	370.64	275.33	277.92	923.89
2	RJ Hadlee	NZ	361.12	273.96	281.82	916.90
3	MD Marshall	WI	370.97	280.08	262.02	913.06
4	J Garner	WI	311.61	213.00	224.50	749.11
5	MA Holding	WI	304.54	221.20	219.39	745.13
6	N Kapil Dev	IND	312.01	233.24	192.93	738.18
7	IT Botham	ENG	281.03	201.52	183.26	665.80
8	DK Lillee	AUS	283.40	151.11	220.81	655.32
9	GF Lawson	AUS	263.59	173.62	201.57	638.78
10	CEH Croft	WI	254.32	192.71	183.61	630.65

BRIEF EXPLANATION

Dynamic Nature

Most of our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks.

Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player who does the best in a criteria.
The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Example:-
TS Bowling 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.
Know All About the Trend Setter

Top Teams (TT)

An opposition is counted as a TT considering its Win/Loss (WL) Ratios in last 7 years.
Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia and Overall WL Ratio is considered.
The WL Ratio should be more than a certain value overall or in specific conditions.