Tests Decades - Best Fast Bowlers In 2000s Featured

Top Test Fast Bowler of the Decade (2000 – 2009)

by

Kindly switch to Landscape Mode for better viewing experience

This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 2000s. 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 2000s.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2024-11-11

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. 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, 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 M Ntini SA 182 380 200.00
1 M Ntini SA 182 380 200.00
2 B Lee AUS 148 303 159.47
3 GD McGrath AUS 131 297 156.32
4 SM Pollock SA 135 260 136.84
5 MJ Hoggard ENG 122 248 130.53
6 WPUJC Vaas SL 141 247 130.00
7 JN Gillespie AUS 113 209 110.00
8 DW Steyn SA 63 172 90.53
9 Shoaib Akhtar PAK 57 144 75.79
10 MG Johnson AUS 58 137 72.11

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 GD McGrath 131 6100 297 20.54 18.26 200.00
1 GD McGrath 131 6100 297 20.54 18.26 200.00
2 Shoaib Akhtar 57 3199 144 22.22 19.41 188.16
3 DW Steyn 63 4123 172 23.97 21.60 169.12
4 SM Pollock 135 6439 260 24.77 22.64 161.35
5 JN Gillespie 113 5662 209 27.09 24.06 151.81
6 MG Johnson 58 3843 137 28.05 24.17 151.13
7 M Ntini 182 10884 380 28.64 26.08 140.04
8 WPUJC Vaas 141 7335 247 29.70 26.12 139.84
9 MJ Hoggard 122 7564 248 30.50 27.34 133.63
10 B Lee 148 9476 303 31.27 27.57 132.47

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GD McGrath 95 4701 224 20.99 18.66 200.00
1 GD McGrath 95 4701 224 20.99 18.66 200.00
2 Shoaib Akhtar 42 2534 101 25.09 21.92 170.24
3 DW Steyn 47 3276 126 26.00 23.43 159.33
4 SM Pollock 84 4310 165 26.12 23.88 156.31
5 MG Johnson 40 2696 96 28.08 24.20 154.25
6 JN Gillespie 77 4155 134 31.01 27.54 135.52
7 MJ Hoggard 72 4675 143 32.69 29.30 127.39
8 M Ntini 114 7292 222 32.85 29.91 124.77
9 B Lee 107 7029 207 33.96 29.94 124.67
10 WPUJC Vaas 97 5311 153 34.71 30.53 122.24

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 100
RANK BOWLER INNS BALLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS Shoaib Akhtar 57 5714 144 39.68 38.15 300.00
1 Shoaib Akhtar 57 5714 144 39.68 38.15 300.00
2 DW Steyn 63 6880 172 40.00 40.32 283.85
3 MG Johnson 58 7187 137 52.46 49.55 230.99
4 GD McGrath 131 15292 297 51.49 50.28 227.62
5 B Lee 148 16309 303 53.83 52.12 219.59
6 M Ntini 182 20082 380 52.85 53.33 214.58
7 JN Gillespie 113 12008 209 57.45 55.74 205.31
8 MJ Hoggard 122 13909 248 56.08 55.94 204.58
9 SM Pollock 135 15883 260 61.09 61.29 186.71
10 WPUJC Vaas 141 16087 247 65.13 62.58 182.88

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 GD McGrath 8/24 7/76 6/17 6/50 6/115 5/21 5/37 6.14 100.00
1 GD McGrath 8/24 7/76 6/17 6/50 6/115 5/21 5/37 6.14 100.00
1 WPUJC Vaas 7/71 7/120 6/22 6/29 6/73 6/108 5/31 6.14 100.00
3 MJ Hoggard 7/61 7/63 7/109 6/57 5/73 5/92 5/144 6.00 97.67
4 M Ntini 7/37 6/59 6/66 6/95 6/100 5/19 5/35 5.86 95.35
5 Shoaib Akhtar 6/11 6/30 6/50 5/21 5/24 5/48 5/60 5.43 88.37
5 SM Pollock 6/30 6/39 6/56 6/78 5/28 5/40 4/24 5.43 88.37
7 DW Steyn 6/49 6/72 5/23 5/34 5/47 5/56 5/59 5.29 86.05
8 B Lee 5/30 5/59 5/61 5/67 5/69 5/77 5/93 5.00 81.40
8 MG Johnson 8/61 5/39 5/69 5/103 4/25 4/30 4/41 5.00 81.40
10 JN Gillespie 6/40 5/39 5/53 5/56 5/89 4/24 4/25 4.86 79.07

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 GD McGrath 156.32 400.00 227.62 100.00 883.93 441.97
2 Shoaib Akhtar 75.79 358.39 300.00 88.37 822.55 411.28
3 DW Steyn 90.53 328.45 283.85 86.05 788.88 394.44
4 M Ntini 200.00 264.81 214.58 95.35 774.74 387.37
5 SM Pollock 136.84 317.66 186.71 88.37 729.58 364.79
6 B Lee 159.47 257.14 219.59 81.40 717.60 358.80
7 MJ Hoggard 130.53 261.01 204.58 97.67 693.80 346.90
8 MG Johnson 72.11 305.38 230.99 81.40 689.86 344.93
9 JN Gillespie 110.00 287.33 205.31 79.07 681.71 340.85
10 WPUJC Vaas 130.00 262.08 182.88 100.00 674.96 337.48

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: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 M Ntini 99 245 23.83 44.90 848.27 212.07
2 GD McGrath 73 156 21.87 55.29 802.74 200.68
3 Shoaib Akhtar 34 86 23.67 41.94 779.44 194.86
4 DW Steyn 38 100 23.69 40.13 771.31 192.83
5 WPUJC Vaas 82 148 24.84 57.68 758.33 189.58
6 SM Pollock 68 138 21.59 54.80 753.12 188.28
7 MG Johnson 30 78 24.67 48.14 751.84 187.96
8 B Lee 78 179 29.41 52.13 740.10 185.03
9 JN Gillespie 51 101 24.85 56.13 681.11 170.28
10 MJ Hoggard 60 122 30.74 54.86 620.72 155.18

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GD McGrath 58 141 19.06 47.28 902.23 902.23
2 Shoaib Akhtar 23 58 20.05 36.33 842.97 842.97
3 DW Steyn 25 72 24.36 39.82 766.61 766.61
4 MJ Hoggard 62 126 30.27 57.27 707.02 707.02
5 SM Pollock 67 122 28.36 68.20 664.88 664.88
6 JN Gillespie 62 108 29.19 58.69 648.02 648.02
7 B Lee 70 124 33.96 56.27 642.73 642.73
8 M Ntini 83 135 37.38 67.27 629.76 629.76
9 MG Johnson 28 59 32.53 58.17 583.20 583.20
10 WPUJC Vaas 59 99 36.96 76.26 542.04 542.04

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: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GD McGrath 111 252 21.15 52.29 824.38 206.09
2 M Ntini 150 332 27.79 50.82 762.07 190.52
3 B Lee 130 288 29.73 51.17 726.85 181.71
4 DW Steyn 47 126 24.84 41.98 710.61 177.65
5 MG Johnson 50 124 26.79 49.93 685.07 171.27
6 SM Pollock 109 210 25.14 61.76 677.20 169.30
7 MJ Hoggard 97 198 31.08 55.29 647.17 161.79
8 JN Gillespie 87 155 28.53 60.14 603.65 150.91

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Shoaib Akhtar 13 37 19.73 33.62 806.73 201.68
2 WPUJC Vaas 39 60 41.08 82.95 572.52 143.13

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DW Steyn 16 46 21.59 34.57 893.73 893.73
2 GD McGrath 20 45 17.09 47.02 861.47 861.47
3 JN Gillespie 26 54 22.96 49.76 840.95 840.95
4 SM Pollock 26 50 23.18 58.26 797.06 797.06
5 MJ Hoggard 25 50 28.22 59.24 760.04 760.04
6 M Ntini 32 48 34.52 66.90 675.06 675.06
7 MG Johnson 8 13 40.08 76.62 500.00 500.00
8 B Lee 18 15 60.87 104.73 296.63 296.63

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Shoaib Akhtar 44 107 23.07 41.78 898.81 898.81
2 WPUJC Vaas 102 187 26.04 59.41 869.54 869.54

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 GD McGrath 902.23 200.68 861.47 206.09 2,170.48 217.05
2 Shoaib Akhtar 842.97 194.86 898.81 201.68 2,138.33 213.83
3 DW Steyn 766.61 192.83 893.73 177.65 2,030.82 203.08
4 SM Pollock 664.88 188.28 797.06 169.30 1,819.53 181.95
5 JN Gillespie 648.02 170.28 840.95 150.91 1,810.16 181.02
6 MJ Hoggard 707.02 155.18 760.04 161.79 1,784.03 178.40
7 WPUJC Vaas 542.04 189.58 869.54 143.13 1,744.29 174.43
8 M Ntini 629.76 212.07 675.06 190.52 1,707.41 170.74
9 MG Johnson 583.20 187.96 500.00 171.27 1,442.43 144.24
10 B Lee 642.73 185.03 296.63 181.71 1,306.10 130.61

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 DECADES Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DW Steyn 30 88 20.05 35.17 911.79 182.36
2 M Ntini 30 96 20.86 38.63 904.16 180.83
3 Shoaib Akhtar 30 82 21.74 39.21 891.19 178.24
4 GD McGrath 30 68 17.63 45.59 857.36 171.47
5 WPUJC Vaas 30 67 20.39 49.13 823.90 164.78
6 SM Pollock 30 70 17.54 47.87 821.14 164.23
7 B Lee 30 82 24.35 45.89 808.52 161.70
8 MG Johnson 30 78 24.67 48.14 804.03 160.81
9 JN Gillespie 30 69 21.41 49.19 773.33 154.67
10 MJ Hoggard 30 67 25.37 43.01 722.24 144.45

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GD McGrath 30 81 15.93 41.36 958.06 766.45
2 Shoaib Akhtar 23 58 20.05 36.33 839.30 671.44
3 DW Steyn 25 72 24.36 39.82 835.74 668.59
4 MJ Hoggard 30 69 26.23 51.25 783.62 626.90
5 SM Pollock 30 63 22.98 54.27 744.39 595.51
6 B Lee 30 67 29.66 50.70 701.17 560.94
7 JN Gillespie 30 58 23.91 55.45 699.54 559.63
8 M Ntini 30 59 29.24 54.36 698.00 558.40
9 MG Johnson 28 59 32.53 58.17 647.73 518.18
10 WPUJC Vaas 30 58 30.83 63.50 641.95 513.56

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 DW Steyn 63 172 2.73 973.99 487.00
2 Shoaib Akhtar 57 144 2.53 949.85 474.92
3 GD McGrath 131 297 2.27 913.00 456.50
4 MG Johnson 58 137 2.36 910.39 455.19
5 M Ntini 182 380 2.09 808.49 404.25
6 MJ Hoggard 122 248 2.03 791.13 395.56
7 B Lee 148 303 2.05 781.23 390.61
8 SM Pollock 135 260 1.93 745.14 372.57
9 JN Gillespie 113 209 1.85 722.25 361.13
10 WPUJC Vaas 141 247 1.75 672.13 336.07

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 GD McGrath 131 46 35.11 936.48 936.48
2 Shoaib Akhtar 57 23 40.35 880.81 880.81
3 DW Steyn 63 24 38.10 863.75 863.75
4 M Ntini 182 52 28.57 708.86 708.86
5 B Lee 148 42 28.38 689.77 689.77
6 JN Gillespie 113 31 27.43 645.17 645.17
7 MG Johnson 58 16 27.59 578.96 578.96
8 SM Pollock 135 31 22.96 559.20 559.20
9 MJ Hoggard 122 27 22.13 534.30 534.30
10 WPUJC Vaas 141 27 19.15 412.54 412.54

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW WPI II TOT SEC RAT
1 GD McGrath 171.47 766.45 456.50 936.48 2,330.90 233.09
2 Shoaib Akhtar 178.24 671.44 474.92 880.81 2,205.41 220.54
3 DW Steyn 182.36 668.59 487.00 863.75 2,201.69 220.17
4 M Ntini 180.83 558.40 404.25 708.86 1,852.34 185.23
5 B Lee 161.70 560.94 390.61 689.77 1,803.02 180.30
6 JN Gillespie 154.67 559.63 361.13 645.17 1,720.59 172.06
7 MG Johnson 160.81 518.18 455.19 578.96 1,713.14 171.31
8 MJ Hoggard 144.45 626.90 395.56 534.30 1,701.21 170.12
9 SM Pollock 164.23 595.51 372.57 559.20 1,691.50 169.15
10 WPUJC Vaas 164.78 513.56 336.07 412.54 1,426.94 142.69

DECADES RATING

DECADES 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 GD McGrath AUS 441.97 217.05 233.09 892.10
2 Shoaib Akhtar PAK 411.28 213.83 220.54 845.65
3 DW Steyn SA 394.44 203.08 220.17 817.69
4 M Ntini SA 387.37 170.74 185.23 743.34
5 SM Pollock SA 364.79 181.95 169.15 715.89
6 MJ Hoggard ENG 346.90 178.40 170.12 695.42
7 JN Gillespie AUS 340.85 181.02 172.06 693.93
8 B Lee AUS 358.80 130.61 180.30 669.71
9 MG Johnson AUS 344.93 144.24 171.31 660.49
10 WPUJC Vaas SL 337.48 174.43 142.69 654.61

TOP TEAMS

Top Teams In Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1950s AUS WI PAK IND ENG
1960s WI AUS PAK IND NZ ENG SA
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA AUS
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ IND AUS
1990s IND PAK SA AUS SL WI
2000s AUS SL IND PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG NZ SA AUS
2020s IND SL PAK AUS NZ 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 SA ENG IND NZ
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND
2020s AUS NZ ENG SA IND

Leave a Comment