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 2026-02-05

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

3.4. 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)	30
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	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	A Flintoff	ENG	128	220	115.79
8	JN Gillespie	AUS	113	209	110.00
9	DW Steyn	SA	63	172	90.53
10	Shoaib Akhtar	PAK	57	144	75.79

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	18.63	200.00
1	GD McGrath	131	6100	297	20.54	18.63	200.00
2	Shoaib Akhtar	57	3199	144	22.22	19.68	189.27
3	DW Steyn	63	4123	172	23.97	21.70	171.66
4	SM Pollock	135	6439	260	24.77	22.55	165.23
5	JN Gillespie	113	5662	209	27.09	24.68	150.96
6	M Ntini	182	10884	380	28.64	26.11	142.71
7	WPUJC Vaas	141	7335	247	29.70	26.31	141.59
8	MJ Hoggard	122	7564	248	30.50	27.24	136.77
9	A Flintoff	128	7124	220	32.38	27.55	135.22
10	B Lee	148	9476	303	31.27	28.11	132.54

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	GD McGrath	95	4701	224	20.99	18.46	200.00
1	GD McGrath	95	4701	224	20.99	18.46	200.00
2	Shoaib Akhtar	42	2534	101	25.09	20.43	180.76
3	DW Steyn	47	3276	126	26.00	21.96	168.17
4	SM Pollock	84	4310	165	26.12	22.08	167.25
5	MJ Hoggard	72	4675	143	32.69	26.49	139.41
6	JN Gillespie	77	4155	134	31.01	27.06	136.47
7	A Flintoff	92	5492	162	33.90	27.11	136.20
8	M Ntini	114	7292	222	32.85	27.50	134.25
9	WPUJC Vaas	97	5311	153	34.71	28.61	129.06
10	B Lee	107	7029	207	33.96	29.48	125.26

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	38.84	300.00
1	Shoaib Akhtar	57	5714	144	39.68	38.84	300.00
2	DW Steyn	63	6880	172	40.00	40.53	287.45
3	GD McGrath	131	15292	297	51.49	50.88	228.98
4	B Lee	148	16309	303	53.83	52.53	221.81
5	M Ntini	182	20082	380	52.85	53.33	218.48
6	MJ Hoggard	122	13909	248	56.08	55.61	209.52
7	JN Gillespie	113	12008	209	57.45	56.59	205.91
8	SM Pollock	135	15883	260	61.09	60.99	191.06
9	A Flintoff	128	14364	220	65.29	61.86	188.36
10	WPUJC Vaas	141	16087	247	65.13	62.79	185.57

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	SM Pollock	6/30	6/39	6/56	6/78	5/28	5/40	4/24	5.43	88.37
5	Shoaib Akhtar	6/11	6/30	6/50	5/21	5/24	5/48	5/60	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
9	JN Gillespie	6/40	5/39	5/53	5/56	5/89	4/24	4/25	4.86	79.07
10	A Flintoff	5/58	5/78	5/92	4/44	4/50	4/59	4/68	4.43	72.09

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 40%.

RANK	BOWLER	PRO	CON	ATT	BBW	RAT	PRI PTS
1	GD McGrath	156.32	400.00	228.98	100.00	885.30	354.12
2	Shoaib Akhtar	75.79	370.03	300.00	88.37	834.19	333.68
3	DW Steyn	90.53	339.83	287.45	86.05	803.85	321.54
4	M Ntini	200.00	276.97	218.48	95.35	790.79	316.32
5	SM Pollock	136.84	332.48	191.06	88.37	748.75	299.50
6	B Lee	159.47	257.80	221.81	81.40	720.48	288.19
7	MJ Hoggard	130.53	276.19	209.52	97.67	713.91	285.56
8	WPUJC Vaas	130.00	270.65	185.57	100.00	686.22	274.49
9	JN Gillespie	110.00	287.43	205.91	79.07	682.41	272.96
10	A Flintoff	115.79	271.42	188.36	72.09	647.67	259.07

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: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	M Ntini	99	245	23.83	44.90	900.58	27.02
2	GD McGrath	73	156	21.87	55.29	831.14	24.93
3	Shoaib Akhtar	34	86	23.67	41.94	818.39	24.55
4	DW Steyn	38	100	23.69	40.13	814.10	24.42
5	SM Pollock	68	138	21.59	54.80	803.76	24.11
6	WPUJC Vaas	82	148	24.84	57.68	794.63	23.84
7	B Lee	78	179	29.41	52.13	764.82	22.94
8	JN Gillespie	51	101	24.85	56.13	699.59	20.99
9	MJ Hoggard	60	122	30.74	54.86	661.98	19.86
10	A Flintoff	68	108	35.41	68.99	595.78	17.87

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	GD McGrath	58	141	19.06	47.28	910.61	109.27
2	Shoaib Akhtar	23	58	20.05	36.33	856.11	102.73
3	DW Steyn	25	72	24.36	39.82	782.11	93.85
4	MJ Hoggard	62	126	30.27	57.27	721.15	86.54
5	A Flintoff	60	112	29.46	61.72	684.78	82.17
6	SM Pollock	67	122	28.36	68.20	680.68	81.68
7	B Lee	70	124	33.96	56.27	653.46	78.41
8	JN Gillespie	62	108	29.19	58.69	651.51	78.18
9	M Ntini	83	135	37.38	67.27	641.80	77.02
10	WPUJC Vaas	59	99	36.96	76.26	550.27	66.03

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: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	GD McGrath	111	252	21.15	52.29	826.16	24.78
2	M Ntini	150	332	27.79	50.82	788.91	23.67
3	B Lee	130	288	29.73	51.17	744.08	22.32
4	DW Steyn	47	126	24.84	41.98	740.34	22.21
5	SM Pollock	109	210	25.14	61.76	694.14	20.82
6	MJ Hoggard	97	198	31.08	55.29	673.03	20.19
7	JN Gillespie	87	155	28.53	60.14	610.47	18.31
8	A Flintoff	104	174	33.12	64.68	606.38	18.19

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	Shoaib Akhtar	13	37	19.73	33.62	838.94	25.17
2	WPUJC Vaas	39	60	41.08	82.95	566.50	17.00

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	DW Steyn	16	46	21.59	34.57	894.44	107.33
2	GD McGrath	20	45	17.09	47.02	862.37	103.48
3	JN Gillespie	26	54	22.96	49.76	821.18	98.54
4	SM Pollock	26	50	23.18	58.26	784.36	94.12
5	MJ Hoggard	25	50	28.22	59.24	743.57	89.23
6	A Flintoff	24	46	29.59	67.59	705.78	84.69
7	M Ntini	32	48	34.52	66.90	652.53	78.30
8	B Lee	18	15	60.87	104.73	302.45	36.29

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	Shoaib Akhtar	44	107	23.07	41.78	906.94	108.83
2	WPUJC Vaas	102	187	26.04	59.41	873.19	104.78

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	GD McGrath	910.61	207.78	862.37	206.54	262.48
2	Shoaib Akhtar	856.11	204.60	906.94	209.74	261.29
3	DW Steyn	782.11	203.52	894.44	185.08	247.82
4	SM Pollock	680.68	200.94	784.36	173.54	220.74
5	JN Gillespie	651.51	174.90	821.18	152.62	216.02
6	MJ Hoggard	721.15	165.49	743.57	168.26	215.82
7	WPUJC Vaas	550.27	198.66	873.19	141.63	211.65
8	M Ntini	641.80	225.15	652.53	197.23	206.00
9	A Flintoff	684.78	148.94	705.78	151.60	202.93
10	B Lee	653.46	191.20	302.45	186.02	159.98

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 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 Vs All Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	DW Steyn	30	88	20.05	35.17	922.08	27.66
2	M Ntini	30	96	20.86	38.63	910.81	27.32
3	Shoaib Akhtar	30	82	21.74	39.21	898.36	26.95
4	GD McGrath	30	68	17.63	45.59	861.01	25.83
5	SM Pollock	30	70	17.54	47.87	834.40	25.03
6	WPUJC Vaas	30	67	20.39	49.13	834.05	25.02
7	B Lee	30	82	24.35	45.89	805.27	24.16
8	JN Gillespie	30	69	21.41	49.19	767.74	23.03
9	A Flintoff	30	67	24.93	48.19	736.67	22.10
10	MJ Hoggard	30	67	25.37	43.01	733.65	22.01

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	GD McGrath	30	81	15.93	41.36	953.90	114.47
2	Shoaib Akhtar	23	58	20.05	36.33	853.13	102.38
3	DW Steyn	25	72	24.36	39.82	841.47	100.98
4	MJ Hoggard	30	69	26.23	51.25	784.58	94.15
5	A Flintoff	30	69	24.32	51.64	756.74	90.81
6	SM Pollock	30	63	22.98	54.27	742.91	89.15
7	B Lee	30	67	29.66	50.70	698.10	83.77
8	M Ntini	30	59	29.24	54.36	696.29	83.55
9	JN Gillespie	30	58	23.91	55.45	696.18	83.54
10	WPUJC Vaas	30	58	30.83	63.50	637.65	76.52

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: 30

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	II	II Perc	RAT	WTG
1	GD McGrath	131	72	54.96	935.93	140.39
2	DW Steyn	63	37	58.73	885.88	132.88
3	Shoaib Akhtar	57	32	56.14	820.66	123.10
4	B Lee	148	68	45.95	774.24	116.14
5	SM Pollock	135	61	45.19	760.26	114.04
6	M Ntini	182	72	39.56	701.86	105.28
7	JN Gillespie	113	48	42.48	642.66	96.40
8	A Flintoff	128	47	36.72	621.32	93.20
9	MJ Hoggard	122	47	38.52	613.69	92.05
10	WPUJC Vaas	141	47	33.33	529.97	79.50

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	GD McGrath	25.83	114.47	140.39	280.69
2	DW Steyn	27.66	100.98	132.88	261.52
3	Shoaib Akhtar	26.95	102.38	123.10	252.43
4	SM Pollock	25.03	89.15	114.04	228.22
5	B Lee	24.16	83.77	116.14	224.07
6	M Ntini	27.32	83.55	105.28	216.16
7	MJ Hoggard	22.01	94.15	92.05	208.21
8	A Flintoff	22.10	90.81	93.20	206.11
9	JN Gillespie	23.03	83.54	96.40	202.97
10	WPUJC Vaas	25.02	76.52	79.50	181.04

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	GD McGrath	AUS	354.12	262.48	280.69	897.28
2	Shoaib Akhtar	PAK	333.68	261.29	252.43	847.39
3	DW Steyn	SA	321.54	247.82	261.52	830.88
4	SM Pollock	SA	299.50	220.74	228.22	748.46
5	M Ntini	SA	316.32	206.00	216.16	738.48
6	MJ Hoggard	ENG	285.56	215.82	208.21	709.59
7	JN Gillespie	AUS	272.96	216.02	202.97	691.96
8	B Lee	AUS	288.19	159.98	224.07	672.23
9	A Flintoff	ENG	259.07	202.93	206.11	668.11
10	WPUJC Vaas	SL	274.49	211.65	181.04	667.17

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