Tests - Best Fast Bowlers Five Wicket Hauls

Top 25 Test Fast Bowlers 5 Wicket Hauls Rating

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). They are updated till 2026-02-05. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section and at the end (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 25 Fast bowlers in FF Rating in Test cricket.

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PROLIFIC
4. CONSISTENT
4.1. Against All Teams
4.2. Against Top Teams
4.3. In Home Matches
4.4. In Away Matches
5. 5 WKT HAULS RATING
6. BRIEF EXPLANATION
6.1. Dynamic Nature
6.2. Trend Setter (TS)
6.3. Top Teams (TT)
6.4. Abbreviations
5WH RATING

Points to note about 5 WKT HAULS Rating:-

  • It gives points for two criteria.
  • The total number of Five Wicket Hauls.
  • Number of Inns per 5WH in various scenarios.

THE CRITERIA

The 5WH Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Total Five Fors 250.00
Consistent Inns/FF 200.00
Top Teams Inns/FF (TT) 300.00
At Home Inns/FF (HM) 50.00
Away From Home Inns/FF (AW) 200.00

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 25
Min Innings At Home 10
Min Innings Away 10
Min Career Wkts 50

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period from 1950 to present is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1 MP before 1976
Era 2 MP between 1975 And 1996
Era 3 MP between 1995 And 2016
Era 4 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Total 5 Fors

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS 5WH RAT
TS FS Trueman ENG 1952 1965 1958.5 127 17 220.00
1 FS Trueman ENG 1952 1965 1958.5 127 17 220.00
2 GD McKenzie AUS 1961 1971 1966 113 16 207.06
3 AK Davidson AUS 1953 1963 1958 82 14 181.18
4 Fazal Mahmood PAK 1952 1962 1957 53 13 168.24
5 PM Pollock SA 1961 1970 1965.5 52 9 116.47
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS 5WH RAT
TS RJ Hadlee NZ 1973 1990 1981.5 150 36 250.00
1 RJ Hadlee NZ 1973 1990 1981.5 150 36 250.00
2 IT Botham ENG 1977 1992 1984.5 168 27 187.50
3 Wasim Akram PAK 1985 2002 1993.5 181 25 173.61
4 DK Lillee AUS 1971 1984 1977.5 132 23 159.72
4 Imran Khan PAK 1971 1991 1981 142 23 159.72
4 N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 1986 227 23 159.72
7 MD Marshall WI 1978 1991 1984.5 151 22 152.78
7 CEL Ambrose WI 1988 2000 1994 179 22 152.78
9 TM Alderman AUS 1981 1991 1986 73 14 97.22
10 MA Holding WI 1975 1987 1981 113 13 90.28
10 ARC Fraser ENG 1989 1998 1993.5 79 13 90.28
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS 5WH RAT
TS JM Anderson ENG 2003 2024 2013.5 350 32 240.00
1 GD McGrath AUS 1993 2007 2000 243 29 217.50
2 DW Steyn SA 2004 2019 2011.5 171 26 195.00
3 Waqar Younis PAK 1989 2003 1996 154 22 165.00
4 AA Donald SA 1992 2002 1997 129 20 150.00
5 AR Caddick ENG 1993 2003 1998 105 13 97.50
6 Shoaib Akhtar PAK 1997 2007 2002 82 12 90.00
RANK ERA 4 NAT FP LP MP INNS 5WH RAT
TS MA Starc AUS 2011 2026 2018.5 202 18 230.00
1 MA Starc AUS 2011 2026 2018.5 202 18 230.00
2 K Rabada SA 2015 2025 2020 134 17 217.22
3 JJ Bumrah IND 2018 2025 2021.5 99 16 204.44

CONSISTENT

Criteria: Points For Inns Per 5 Wkt Hauls

Min Qualification For TS
Min FF 10
Min FF (TT) 5
Min FF (HM) 5
Min FF (AW) 5

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS 5WH Inns/5WH RAT
TS Fazal Mahmood 53 13 4.08 200.00
1 Fazal Mahmood 53 13 4.08 200.00
2 RJ Hadlee 150 36 4.17 195.69
3 TM Alderman 73 14 5.21 156.38
4 DK Lillee 132 23 5.74 142.07
5 PM Pollock 52 9 5.78 141.12
6 AK Davidson 82 14 5.86 139.21
7 ARC Fraser 79 13 6.08 134.18
8 Imran Khan 142 23 6.17 132.07
9 JJ Bumrah 99 16 6.19 131.78
10 IT Botham 168 27 6.22 131.04
11 AA Donald 129 20 6.45 126.42
12 DW Steyn 171 26 6.58 123.98
13 Shoaib Akhtar 82 12 6.83 119.32
14 MD Marshall 151 22 6.86 118.80
15 Waqar Younis 154 22 7.00 116.48
16 GD McKenzie 113 16 7.06 115.45
17 Wasim Akram 181 25 7.24 112.62
18 FS Trueman 127 17 7.47 109.15
19 K Rabada 134 17 7.88 103.44
20 AR Caddick 105 13 8.08 100.95
21 CEL Ambrose 179 22 8.14 100.21
22 GD McGrath 243 29 8.38 97.31
23 MA Holding 113 13 8.69 93.81
24 N Kapil Dev 227 23 9.87 82.62
25 MA Starc 202 18 11.22 72.66

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS 5WH Inns/5WH RAT
TS RJ Hadlee 95 26 3.65 300.00
1 RJ Hadlee 95 26 3.65 300.00
2 Fazal Mahmood 44 12 3.67 298.95
3 PM Pollock 40 7 5.71 191.83
4 TM Alderman 41 7 5.86 187.15
5 FS Trueman 53 9 5.89 186.14
6 ARC Fraser 66 11 6.00 182.69
7 DK Lillee 91 15 6.07 180.68
8 Imran Khan 85 14 6.07 180.54
9 AK Davidson 61 10 6.10 179.70
10 JJ Bumrah 83 13 6.38 171.69
11 Wasim Akram 71 11 6.45 169.83
12 MA Holding 89 13 6.85 160.11
13 Shoaib Akhtar 56 8 7.00 156.59
14 CEL Ambrose 92 13 7.08 154.89
15 IT Botham 114 16 7.13 153.85
16 AR Caddick 72 10 7.20 152.24
17 MD Marshall 86 11 7.82 140.21
18 N Kapil Dev 173 22 7.86 139.40
19 DW Steyn 97 12 8.08 135.61
20 GD McGrath 163 20 8.15 134.50
21 GD McKenzie 76 9 8.44 129.81
22 K Rabada 88 10 8.80 124.56
23 MA Starc 142 13 10.92 100.35
24 AA Donald 66 6 11.00 99.65
25 Waqar Younis 58 5 11.60 94.50

In Home Matches

RANK BOWLER INNS 5WH Inns/5WH RAT
TS Fazal Mahmood 23 7 3.29 50.00
1 Fazal Mahmood 23 7 3.29 50.00
2 AK Davidson 32 8 4.00 41.07
3 RJ Hadlee 75 15 5.00 32.86
4 DK Lillee 84 15 5.60 29.34
5 IT Botham 96 17 5.65 29.09
6 AA Donald 68 12 5.67 28.99
7 ARC Fraser 40 7 5.71 28.75
8 Imran Khan 59 10 5.90 27.85
9 Waqar Younis 66 11 6.00 27.38
10 DW Steyn 99 16 6.19 26.55
11 FS Trueman 90 14 6.43 25.56
12 Shoaib Akhtar 42 6 7.00 23.47
13 K Rabada 71 10 7.10 23.14
14 MD Marshall 58 8 7.25 22.66
15 CEL Ambrose 93 11 8.45 19.43
16 TM Alderman 34 4 8.50 19.33
17 Wasim Akram 70 8 8.75 18.78
18 AR Caddick 56 6 9.33 17.60
19 GD McKenzie 49 5 9.80 16.76
20 PM Pollock 31 3 10.33 15.90
20 JJ Bumrah 31 3 10.33 15.90
22 N Kapil Dev 119 11 10.82 15.19
23 MA Starc 117 10 11.70 14.04
24 GD McGrath 131 11 11.91 13.79
25 MA Holding 42 2 21.00 7.82

In Away Matches

RANK BOWLER INNS 5WH Inns/5WH RAT
TS PM Pollock 21 6 3.50 200.00
1 PM Pollock 21 6 3.50 200.00
2 RJ Hadlee 75 21 3.57 196.00
3 TM Alderman 39 10 3.90 179.49
4 Fazal Mahmood 30 6 5.00 140.00
5 JJ Bumrah 68 13 5.23 133.82
6 GD McKenzie 64 11 5.82 120.31
7 DK Lillee 48 8 6.00 116.67
8 GD McGrath 112 18 6.22 112.50
9 Imran Khan 83 13 6.38 109.64
10 MA Holding 71 11 6.45 108.45
11 ARC Fraser 39 6 6.50 107.69
12 Wasim Akram 111 17 6.53 107.21
13 MD Marshall 93 14 6.64 105.38
14 Shoaib Akhtar 40 6 6.67 105.00
15 AR Caddick 49 7 7.00 100.00
16 IT Botham 72 10 7.20 97.22
16 DW Steyn 72 10 7.20 97.22
18 AA Donald 61 8 7.63 91.80
19 CEL Ambrose 86 11 7.82 89.53
20 Waqar Younis 88 11 8.00 87.50
21 AK Davidson 50 6 8.33 84.00
22 N Kapil Dev 108 12 9.00 77.78
22 K Rabada 63 7 9.00 77.78
24 MA Starc 85 8 10.63 65.88
25 FS Trueman 37 3 12.33 56.76

5 WKT HAULS RATING

The 5 WKT HAULS (5WH) Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON C TT C HM C AW 5WH RAT
1 RJ Hadlee 250.00 195.69 300.00 32.86 196.00 974.55
2 Fazal Mahmood 168.24 200.00 298.95 50.00 140.00 857.19
3 PM Pollock 116.47 141.12 191.83 15.90 200.00 665.32
4 JJ Bumrah 204.44 131.78 171.69 15.90 133.82 657.63
5 TM Alderman 97.22 156.38 187.15 19.33 179.49 639.56
6 DK Lillee 159.72 142.07 180.68 29.34 116.67 628.48
7 AK Davidson 181.18 139.21 179.70 41.07 84.00 625.16
8 Imran Khan 159.72 132.07 180.54 27.85 109.64 609.82
9 IT Botham 187.50 131.04 153.85 29.09 97.22 598.70
10 FS Trueman 220.00 109.15 186.14 25.56 56.76 597.60
11 GD McKenzie 207.06 115.45 129.81 16.76 120.31 589.40
12 Wasim Akram 173.61 112.62 169.83 18.78 107.21 582.04
13 DW Steyn 195.00 123.98 135.61 26.55 97.22 578.36
14 GD McGrath 217.50 97.31 134.50 13.79 112.50 575.60
15 K Rabada 217.22 103.44 124.56 23.14 77.78 546.15
16 ARC Fraser 90.28 134.18 182.69 28.75 107.69 543.59
17 MD Marshall 152.78 118.80 140.21 22.66 105.38 539.82
18 CEL Ambrose 152.78 100.21 154.89 19.43 89.53 516.85
19 AA Donald 150.00 126.42 99.65 28.99 91.80 496.86
20 Shoaib Akhtar 90.00 119.32 156.59 23.47 105.00 494.39
21 Waqar Younis 165.00 116.48 94.50 27.38 87.50 490.86
22 MA Starc 230.00 72.66 100.35 14.04 65.88 482.93
23 N Kapil Dev 159.72 82.62 139.40 15.19 77.78 474.70
24 AR Caddick 97.50 100.95 152.24 17.60 100.00 468.30
25 MA Holding 90.28 93.81 160.11 7.82 108.45 460.47

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)

  1. TS is the player who does the best in a criteria.
  2. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Example:-
  3. TS Bowling Ave: 25.00; Player X Ave: 30.00; Section Points: 300.00
  4. TS Points: 300.00 (Max)
  5. Player X Points: TS Ave/Ave X 300 = 25.00/30.00 X 300 = 250.00.
  6. Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Ave being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
  7. Know All About the Trend Setter
    8. .

Top Teams (TT)

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

Abbreviations

  1. AVE - Average or Runs/Wkt
  2. BLS - Balls
  3. ER - Economy Rate or Runs/Over
  4. FF, 5WH - Five Fors or 5 Wkt Hauls
  5. FP - First Played by Year
  6. INF - Infinite
  7. INNS - Innings
  8. LP - Last Played by Year
  9. MDNS - Maidens
  10. MP - Middle Played or (FP+LP)/2
  11. NA - Not Applicable
  12. NI - Not In Top
  13. NK - Not Known
  14. NO, * - Not Out
  15. NQ - Not Qualified
  16. OPP - Opposition
  17. OVRS - Overs
  18. SR - Strike Rate or Balls/Wkts
  19. TS - Trend Setter
  20. TT - Top Teams
  21. WKTS - Wickets Taken

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