Top 15 Non-Asian Spin Bowlers In Tests Outside Asia

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards. Our ratings are based on conditions and diverse oppositions. Before the above mentioned date, there were primarily only two teams which dominated cricket. Moreover, matches were of unequal length with some ending in 4 days and some being timeless. Post 1950, West Indies and South Africa grew as test teams. Moreover, Asian teams India and Pakistan started improving after 1950 and became compenent at home at least. Performance in Asia and outside Asia are integral to our overall rating. How the rating works is explained in highlighted sections. So, here are the Top 15 Non Asian Spin bowlers in matches Outside Asia

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2023-01-08

CONTENTS
1. QUALIFICATION
2. PROLIFIC
3. CONSISTENT
3.1. Against All Teams
3.2. Against Top Teams
4. ATTACKING
5. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)
6. BEST BOWLING (AVE)
7. RATING
8. TOP TEAMS IN ASIA
9. TOP TEAMS OUTSIDE ASIA
NA O A Rating

This rating only include stats of Non Asian Spin bowlers in matches Outside Asia. The rating is divided into sections to make it easy to understand how it is calculated. Before each section, its criteria is highlighted in bold. Our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks.

The Trend Setter

The Trend Setter (TS) is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated as percentage points of TS. Let’s taken an example to understand it:-

  • Let’s assume that Glenn McGrath has taken 500 wkts, which is the highest. This makes him the TS.
  • Another player, say Jason Gillespie, has taken 250 wkts.
  • If the rating is out of 250, McGrath will get the full points (pts), that is 250.
  • The points of Gillespie are calculated as His Wkts/McGrath’s Wkts*250. This comes out to be 125.
  • Thus the formula is (Wkts Taken/Wkts Taken By TS)*Max Points.
  • All ratings are calculated similarly with Wkts being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
  • Obviously, for average the formula is reverased as the lower average is better for a bowler.
  • For Average and Strike Rate, a bowler is eligible to be TS only if he has taken a minimum number of wickets, which are mentioned in the qualificaton.
  • Lastly, it is to be noted that it is not necessary for a TS to be part of the rating as he might have topped in a criteria but not done well in others.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings 20
Min Wickets (TS AVE SR) 50
Min Wickets v/s Top Teams (TS AVE) 25
The Eras

The first criteria Prolific gives points for wkts taken. We have divided cricket from 1950 onwards into 3 broad eras. This has been done to make it fair for players from earlier era, when less cricket was played, and also for current players, who are in the middle of their careers. Let’s take an example:-

  • Let’s assume Murlidharan has taken 500 wickets, which is the maximum and gives him 250 points.
  • Now, say Underwood in earlier times took 250 wkts, which was the max for his era.
  • If there are no eras, he would get 50% of the pts, that is 125.
  • Instead of that, we reduced 50 pts (according to %age) from the max to arrive at the figure of 200 pts for Underwood.
  • Now, everyone in his era is compared to Underwood and not Murlidharan.
  • So a player who has taken 50 Wkts in Underwood’s era will get (50/250)*200 pts or 40pts.
  • Eras are calculated by MP, which is the mean of the years a player: First Played (FP) and Last Played (LP).

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 and 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015
RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS LR Gibbs WI 1958 1976 1967 120 255 190.00
1 LR Gibbs WI 1958 1976 1967 120 255 190.00
2 DL Underwood ENG 1966 1982 1974 113 224 166.90
3 R Benaud AUS 1952 1964 1958 93 177 131.88
4 GAR Lock ENG 1952 1968 1960 76 142 105.80
5 B Yardley AUS 1978 1983 1980.5 48 107 79.73
6 AA Mallett AUS 1968 1980 1974 61 104 77.49
7 JD Higgs AUS 1978 1981 1979.5 28 52 38.75
8 RA Harper WI 1983 1993 1988 30 42 31.29
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS SK Warne AUS 1992 2007 1999.5 227 581 250.00
1 SK Warne AUS 1992 2007 1999.5 227 581 250.00
2 GP Swann ENG 2008 2013 2010.5 85 182 78.31
3 SCG MacGill AUS 1998 2008 2003 72 172 74.01
4 CR Miller AUS 1998 2001 1999.5 22 47 20.22
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS NM Lyon AUS 2011 2023 2017 171 342 210.00
1 NM Lyon AUS 2011 2023 2017 171 342 210.00
2 MM Ali ENG 2014 2021 2017.5 86 139 85.35
3 KA Maharaj SA 2016 2022 2019 70 123 75.53
C Ave

The Comparative Average (C Ave) for bowlers is calculated by taken into account two factors:-

  • First is the average of batsmen in the decades the bowler played.
  • Second is the average of the opposition batsmen at Home, in Asia or outside Asia; whichever is applicable.
  • The average of the opposing team’s batsmen is also calculated by decades.
  • Higher C Ave suggest that more runs were scored by the batsmen in the above mentioned factors.
  • Thus it was difficult to get Wkts and the bowler will benefit from this.
  • Lower C Ave means the opposite.
R Ave

The Relative Average (R Ave) is calculated using the C Ave. Its formula is (Bowler Ave/C Ave)*A Constant Factor. This constant doesn’t affect the rating as it is the same for everone. If your C Ave is comparatively high, your R Ave will be low; which is better for bowlers. Broadly speaking, the following bowlers will benefit from this system:-

  • Bowlers who have played more in unfavourable conditions.
  • Asian fast bowlers and Non-Asian spin bowlers whereever applicable.
  • Bowlers who have played in an era where the batsmen dominated, like the 2000s
  • Bowlers who have played more against top opposition than weaker teams.
Top Teams (TT)

The R Ave Rating is divided into two parts:-

  • One is Overall which gives points for the overall R Ave.
  • The second part is Against Top Teams, which gives points for R Ave against 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.
  • To be a top team, the team should be among the top teams in the specific condition (Asia or outside Asia) or among the top teams of the decade overall.
  • A bowler’s performace is counted in TT if he palyed against it in the specific condition and in the specific decade.
  • The Top Teams may be found in the last section of the rating.

CONSISTENT

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE C AVE R AVE RAT
TS JD Higgs 28 1355 52 26.06 38.78 23.52 150.00
1 RA Harper 30 1046 42 24.90 40.44 21.55 150.00
2 CR Miller 22 1082 47 23.02 36.00 22.38 150.00
3 JD Higgs 28 1355 52 26.06 38.78 23.52 150.00
4 SK Warne 227 14589 581 25.11 37.37 23.52 149.99
5 DL Underwood 113 5728 224 25.57 35.80 25.00 141.12
6 GAR Lock 76 3487 142 24.56 33.07 25.99 135.74
7 B Yardley 48 3230 107 30.19 39.94 26.45 133.36
8 KA Maharaj 70 3760 123 30.57 40.32 26.53 132.95
9 GP Swann 85 5746 182 31.57 40.31 27.41 128.69
10 NM Lyon 171 10741 342 31.41 39.78 27.64 127.65
11 SCG MacGill 72 5093 172 29.61 36.69 28.25 124.89
12 LR Gibbs 120 7687 255 30.15 35.64 29.61 119.16
13 AA Mallett 61 3405 104 32.74 37.09 30.90 114.18
14 R Benaud 93 5332 177 30.12 33.83 31.16 113.20
15 MM Ali 86 5143 139 37.00 40.19 32.22 109.47

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE C AVE R AVE RAT
TS RA Harper 30 1046 42 24.90 40.44 21.55 150.00
1 RA Harper 30 1046 42 24.90 40.44 21.55 150.00
2 JD Higgs 25 1204 48 25.08 38.78 22.64 142.80
3 SK Warne 177 11382 454 25.07 37.37 23.48 137.67
4 CR Miller 14 615 24 25.63 36.00 24.92 129.75
5 B Yardley 42 2911 99 29.40 39.94 25.77 125.47
6 DL Underwood 93 4913 175 28.07 35.80 27.44 117.80
7 NM Lyon 133 8432 267 31.58 39.78 27.79 116.34
8 SCG MacGill 34 2539 83 30.59 36.69 29.18 110.79
9 LR Gibbs 106 6930 228 30.39 35.64 29.85 108.30
10 MM Ali 53 3466 97 35.73 40.19 31.12 103.88
11 R Benaud 93 5332 177 30.12 33.83 31.16 103.74
12 KA Maharaj 45 2750 74 37.16 40.32 32.26 100.22
13 GP Swann 55 4126 110 37.51 40.31 32.57 99.27
14 AA Mallett 46 2589 72 35.96 37.09 33.93 95.27
15 GAR Lock 56 2842 85 33.44 33.07 35.39 91.36
C SR And R SR

The Comparative Strike Rate (C SR) and Relative Strike Rate (R SR) for bowlers is calculated using the same method as in C Ave and R Ave with average replaced with SR. Points to note are:-

  • Bowlers from the earlier era benefit from R SR.
  • This is because more balls were taken to get a Wkt back then as batsmen had better defensive technique.
  • Rest of the factors are the same as in R Ave

ATTACKING

Criteria: Points For R SR or Relative Balls/Wkt

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS WKTS SR C SR R SR RAT
TS JD Higgs 28 3387 52 65.13 97.53 53.43 250.00
1 JD Higgs 28 3387 52 65.13 97.53 53.43 250.00
2 RA Harper 30 2872 42 68.38 99.64 54.90 243.28
3 B Yardley 48 7331 107 68.51 97.56 56.18 237.74
4 SK Warne 227 34017 581 58.55 82.40 56.84 234.98
5 CR Miller 22 2672 47 56.85 79.88 56.94 234.59
6 SCG MacGill 72 9594 172 55.78 77.36 57.68 231.55
7 KA Maharaj 70 7258 123 59.01 77.20 61.15 218.42
8 DL Underwood 113 16100 224 71.88 91.78 62.65 213.20
9 MM Ali 86 8522 139 61.31 75.81 64.70 206.43
10 GAR Lock 76 10312 142 72.62 88.54 65.61 203.56
11 GP Swann 85 11347 182 62.35 75.75 65.84 202.85
12 AA Mallett 61 8198 104 78.83 94.79 66.53 200.76
13 NM Lyon 171 22252 342 65.06 76.52 68.02 196.35
14 R Benaud 93 14709 177 83.10 89.56 74.23 179.94
15 LR Gibbs 120 22869 255 89.68 93.58 76.67 174.21
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.

BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 7 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 BBW RAT
TS SK Warne 8/71 7/23 7/52 7/56 7/165 6/31 6/33 6.86 100.00
1 SK Warne 8/71 7/23 7/52 7/56 7/165 6/31 6/33 6.86 100.00
2 DL Underwood 8/51 7/32 7/50 7/113 6/12 6/41 6/45 6.71 97.92
3 LR Gibbs 8/38 6/29 6/39 6/60 6/98 6/108 5/37 6.14 89.58
4 GAR Lock 7/35 7/51 6/20 6/53 5/17 5/28 5/31 5.86 85.42
5 KA Maharaj 7/32 7/40 6/40 5/36 5/59 5/94 5/123 5.71 83.33
5 NM Lyon 7/152 6/49 6/122 6/128 5/50 5/50 5/67 5.71 83.33
7 SCG MacGill 7/50 7/104 5/43 5/56 5/57 5/65 5/75 5.57 81.25
8 GP Swann 6/65 6/90 6/106 5/44 5/54 5/57 5/62 5.43 79.17
8 B Yardley 7/98 7/187 6/84 5/107 5/132 4/35 4/38 5.43 79.17
10 R Benaud 6/70 6/115 5/49 5/68 5/82 5/83 5/84 5.29 77.08
11 AA Mallett 8/59 5/114 5/126 4/21 4/22 4/40 4/60 4.86 70.83
11 MM Ali 6/53 6/67 5/63 5/69 4/36 4/39 4/45 4.86 70.83
13 JD Higgs 5/148 4/25 4/45 4/59 4/69 4/91 3/42 4.00 58.33
13 CR Miller 5/32 5/55 5/81 4/102 3/40 3/57 3/66 4.00 58.33
15 RA Harper 6/57 4/43 4/56 3/10 3/47 3/50 2/9 3.57 52.08
BBA

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 bowling performances by Average of a bowler. Best Bowling By Average (BBA) is simply the average of the bowler in the 7 Inns. Only 3+ Wkt performaces are counted in this criteria.

BEST BOWLING (AVE)

Criteria: Points For Average In Top 7 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 BBA RAT
TS GAR Lock 4/12 6/20 5/17 4/14 7/35 5/28 5/31 4.36 100.00
1 GAR Lock 4/12 6/20 5/17 4/14 7/35 5/28 5/31 4.36 100.00
2 SK Warne 4/8 7/23 4/15 6/31 3/16 6/33 6/34 4.44 98.13
3 DL Underwood 6/12 5/20 7/32 3/16 8/51 6/41 7/50 5.29 82.51
4 LR Gibbs 3/11 8/38 6/29 6/39 5/37 3/26 6/60 6.49 67.23
5 GP Swann 4/12 4/16 3/13 3/16 5/44 4/38 4/42 6.70 65.06
6 KA Maharaj 7/32 7/40 4/25 6/40 3/21 5/36 5/59 6.84 63.78
7 NM Lyon 3/14 3/19 6/49 3/25 5/50 5/50 4/42 8.59 50.79
8 SCG MacGill 3/18 7/50 3/22 5/43 4/39 3/33 5/56 8.70 50.13
9 AA Mallett 3/14 4/21 4/22 8/59 4/40 4/60 4/63 9.00 48.46
10 R Benaud 4/15 3/15 5/49 4/43 6/70 5/68 3/43 10.10 43.18
11 MM Ali 6/53 4/36 4/39 6/67 4/45 5/63 5/69 10.94 39.86
12 B Yardley 4/35 4/38 4/40 3/41 6/84 7/98 3/49 12.42 35.12
13 RA Harper 3/10 6/57 4/43 4/56 3/47 3/50 13.34 32.69
14 JD Higgs 4/25 4/45 3/42 4/59 4/69 3/53 3/67 14.40 30.29
15 CR Miller 5/32 5/55 3/40 5/81 3/57 3/66 4/102 15.46 28.20
UC Rating

The NA O A (UC) Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000. Unfavourable Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Spinners and In Asia for Pacers. Favourable Conditions (FC) is the opposite.

RATING

RANK BOWLER PRO CON CON TT ATT BBW BBA UC RAT
1 SK Warne 250.00 149.99 137.67 234.98 100.00 98.13 970.77
2 DL Underwood 166.90 141.12 117.80 213.20 97.92 82.51 819.45
3 NM Lyon 210.00 127.65 116.34 196.35 83.33 50.79 784.47
4 LR Gibbs 190.00 119.16 108.30 174.21 89.58 67.23 748.49
5 GAR Lock 105.80 135.74 91.36 203.56 85.42 100.00 721.88
6 B Yardley 79.73 133.36 125.47 237.74 79.17 35.12 690.58
7 KA Maharaj 75.53 132.95 100.22 218.42 83.33 63.78 674.23
8 SCG MacGill 74.01 124.89 110.79 231.55 81.25 50.13 672.61
9 JD Higgs 38.75 150.00 142.80 250.00 58.33 30.29 670.17
10 RA Harper 31.29 150.00 150.00 243.28 52.08 32.69 659.35
11 GP Swann 78.31 128.69 99.27 202.85 79.17 65.06 653.35
12 R Benaud 131.88 113.20 103.74 179.94 77.08 43.18 649.02
13 CR Miller 20.22 150.00 129.75 234.59 58.33 28.20 621.10
14 MM Ali 85.35 109.47 103.88 206.43 70.83 39.86 615.83
15 AA Mallett 77.49 114.18 95.27 200.76 70.83 48.46 606.99

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 SL IND PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG SA AUS
2020s IND AUS ENG PAK NZ

TOP TEAMS OUTSIDE ASIA

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
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

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