Best English Fast Bowlers In ODIs Featured

Top 10 English Fast Bowlers In ODIs

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Our One Day International (ODI) ratings take into account all matches from the first ODI match on January 5, 1971 till the below mentioned last update date. Our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 10 English Fast bowlers in ODI cricket in all matches.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2025-09-15

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. ECONOMIC
3.3.1. Against All Teams
3.3.2. Against Top Teams
3.4. BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)
3.5. BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)
3.6. 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
4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. WORLD CUP
5.2. IMPACT INNINGS
5.3. TOP FORM
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. NON WEAK TEAMS
8. TOP TEAMS
Nations Filter

The Nations Rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from England.

  • The Rating of the players from England remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from England.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Wickets, Average, Economy, BBI (Wkts & Eco)
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary World Cup, Top Form, 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.
TT and NWT

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams (TT) and non weak teams (NWT). Here is some information:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine TT and NWT.
  • They are calculated by decades.
  • A bowler's performace is counted in TT or NWT if it comes against that team in the specific decade.
  • Knock Out and Super Six matches of ODI World Cup are also counted.
  • TT & NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 25
Min Career Wkts 50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 200.00
Consistent Average 300.00
Economic Strike Rate 300.00
Best Bowling Top Inns (Wkts) 100.00
Economic Bowling Top Inns (Eco) 100.00

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period of ODI cricket 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 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2011
Era 3 MP greater than 2010

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 1986 221 253 150.00
1 IT Botham ENG 1976 1992 1984 115 145 85.97
2 RGD Willis ENG 1973 1984 1978.5 64 80 47.43
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS Wasim Akram PAK 1984 2003 1993.5 351 502 200.00
1 JM Anderson ENG 2002 2015 2008.5 191 269 107.17
2 D Gough ENG 1994 2006 2000 156 235 93.63
3 A Flintoff ENG 1999 2009 2004 119 169 67.33
4 PAJ DeFreitas ENG 1987 1997 1992 103 115 45.82
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS SL Malinga SL 2004 2019 2011.5 220 338 170.00
1 SCJ Broad ENG 2006 2016 2011 121 178 89.53
2 CR Woakes ENG 2011 2023 2017 118 173 87.01
3 ST Finn ENG 2011 2017 2014 67 102 51.30
4 JC Archer ENG 2019 2025 2022 34 62 31.18

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 bowler has played.
  • Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets 100
Min Wickets (TT) 60

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS SE Bond 80 3069 147 20.88 20.57 150.00
1 JC Archer 34 1509 62 24.34 23.30 132.42
2 A Flintoff 119 4121 169 24.38 23.68 130.28
3 D Gough 156 6209 235 26.42 26.10 118.21
4 RGD Willis 64 1968 80 24.60 26.71 115.52
5 ST Finn 67 2996 102 29.37 27.54 112.04
6 JM Anderson 191 7861 269 29.22 28.10 109.80
7 CR Woakes 118 5193 173 30.02 28.83 107.03
8 SCJ Broad 121 5364 178 30.13 29.19 105.72
9 IT Botham 115 4139 145 28.54 30.35 101.67
10 PAJ DeFreitas 103 3775 115 32.83 33.37 92.45

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS J Garner 91 2615 139 18.81 20.65 150.00
1 JC Archer 26 1179 48 24.56 23.11 134.04
2 A Flintoff 87 3191 120 26.59 24.42 126.84
3 D Gough 111 4564 168 27.17 25.80 120.07
4 CR Woakes 97 4313 152 28.38 26.69 116.04
5 RGD Willis 59 1847 73 25.30 27.06 114.47
6 ST Finn 58 2710 91 29.78 27.19 113.91
7 JM Anderson 146 6062 206 29.43 27.24 113.69
8 SCJ Broad 93 4142 140 29.59 27.90 111.01
9 IT Botham 106 3876 132 29.36 30.81 100.51
10 PAJ DeFreitas 87 3215 94 34.20 34.14 90.72

ECONOMIC

R ER

Relative Economy Rate (R ER) for bowlers is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with ER.

Criteria: Points For R ER

Min Qualification For TS
Min Balls 1500

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS J Garner 98 5330 2752 3.10 3.53 150.00
1 RGD Willis 64 3595 1968 3.28 3.81 139.20
2 A Flintoff 119 5624 4121 4.40 4.05 130.65
3 JC Archer 34 1775 1509 5.10 4.06 130.59
4 ST Finn 67 3550 2996 5.06 4.13 128.18
5 PAJ DeFreitas 103 5712 3775 3.97 4.20 126.19
6 D Gough 156 8470 6209 4.40 4.26 124.42
7 JM Anderson 191 9584 7861 4.92 4.34 122.20
8 CR Woakes 118 5737 5193 5.43 4.43 119.60
9 IT Botham 115 6271 4139 3.96 4.45 119.06
10 SCJ Broad 121 6109 5364 5.27 4.57 115.91

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS J Garner 91 4970 2615 3.16 3.58 150.00
1 RGD Willis 59 3304 1847 3.35 3.87 138.91
2 A Flintoff 87 4244 3191 4.51 4.04 132.82
3 JC Archer 26 1362 1179 5.19 4.07 131.81
4 ST Finn 58 3130 2710 5.19 4.20 127.99
5 PAJ DeFreitas 87 4783 3215 4.03 4.24 126.52
6 JM Anderson 146 7362 6062 4.94 4.26 125.93
7 D Gough 111 6085 4564 4.50 4.28 125.47
8 CR Woakes 97 4799 4313 5.39 4.35 123.36
9 IT Botham 106 5821 3876 4.00 4.47 120.07
10 SCJ Broad 93 4702 4142 5.29 4.54 118.16

BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler against Non Weak Teams in all matches. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 5 innings divided by 5.

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBW RAT
TS Waqar Younis 7/36 6/26 6/30 6/44 6/59 6.20 100.00
1 CR Woakes 6/45 6/47 5/54 4/18 4/33 5.00 80.65
2 D Gough 5/44 5/44 4/28 4/29 4/33 4.40 70.97
2 A Flintoff 5/19 5/56 4/14 4/17 4/21 4.40 70.97
2 JM Anderson 5/23 5/34 4/18 4/18 4/23 4.40 70.97
2 ST Finn 5/33 5/71 4/34 4/34 4/35 4.40 70.97
6 SCJ Broad 5/23 4/15 4/39 4/44 4/46 4.20 67.74
7 JC Archer 6/40 4/18 4/62 3/27 3/29 4.00 64.52
8 IT Botham 4/31 4/45 4/56 3/16 3/23 3.60 58.06
9 RGD Willis 4/15 4/23 4/42 2/9 2/14 3.20 51.61
9 PAJ DeFreitas 4/35 3/15 3/28 3/33 3/34 3.20 51.61

BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)

BBE

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Economy of a bowler against Non Weak Teams. Best Bowling By Economy (BBE) is the Relative Economy of the bowler in the 5 Inns. Only 30+ Balls performaces are counted in this criteria.

Criteria: Points For Economy In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBE RAT
TS CEL Ambrose 10.0/5 5.0/4 8.4/9 6.0/8 8.5/13 1.05 100.00
1 JM Anderson 10.0/12 7.0/10 10.0/17 8.0/14 9.3/20 1.45 72.80
2 RGD Willis 9.0/9 7.0/9 11.0/15 10.4/15 7.0/10 1.50 69.92
3 A Flintoff 9.4/14 10.0/15 10.0/17 7.0/12 5.0/10 1.51 69.89
4 D Gough 7.0/9 9.0/14 9.1/17 8.0/15 9.0/18 1.68 62.77
5 PAJ DeFreitas 11.0/12 10.0/15 8.0/14 11.0/20 9.0/17 1.69 62.42
6 SCJ Broad 10.0/14 8.0/16 9.0/20 6.4/15 10.0/23 1.75 60.17
7 IT Botham 6.0/7 10.0/12 9.0/12 10.0/20 8.0/17 1.78 59.21
8 CR Woakes 10.0/18 8.0/16 8.0/20 10.0/28 5.0/16 1.95 53.96
9 JC Archer 5.0/8 9.0/18 7.0/17 10.0/32 8.5/29 2.08 50.66
10 ST Finn 10.0/24 10.0/27 9.0/27 10.0/33 10.0/33 2.40 43.86

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above five criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the five criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ECO BBW BBE RAT PRI PTS
1 A Flintoff 67.33 257.11 263.47 70.97 69.89 728.77 291.51
2 JM Anderson 107.17 223.49 248.13 70.97 72.80 722.55 289.02
3 D Gough 93.63 238.29 249.89 70.97 62.77 715.54 286.22
4 CR Woakes 87.01 223.07 242.96 80.65 53.96 687.65 275.06
5 RGD Willis 47.43 229.99 278.11 51.61 69.92 677.06 270.82
6 JC Archer 31.18 266.46 262.40 64.52 50.66 675.22 270.09
7 SCJ Broad 89.53 216.73 234.07 67.74 60.17 668.25 267.30
8 ST Finn 51.30 225.95 256.16 70.97 43.86 648.24 259.30
9 IT Botham 85.97 202.18 239.13 58.06 59.21 644.55 257.82
10 PAJ DeFreitas 45.82 183.17 252.71 51.61 62.42 595.74 238.30

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions Rating is calculated by applying the five criteria of Primary Rating to various conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 20.00
Away 80.00
Favourable Conditions 20.00
Unfavourable Conditions 80.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

  • U.A.E. and India are considered as Home for Afghanistan.
  • U.A.E. is also considered as a second home for Pakistan.
  • 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 ECO RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 86 131 26.49 4.85 719.05 14.38
2 A Flintoff 45 71 21.32 4.33 690.91 13.82
3 RGD Willis 32 46 21.85 3.09 667.34 13.35
4 SCJ Broad 63 90 30.18 5.10 652.67 13.05
5 CR Woakes 46 69 27.91 5.21 650.13 13.00
6 JC Archer 22 41 22.46 4.83 648.95 12.98
7 D Gough 74 108 27.27 4.41 648.38 12.97
8 IT Botham 47 56 32.57 3.85 556.97 11.14
9 ST Finn 27 36 34.97 5.29 530.94 10.62
10 PAJ DeFreitas 27 25 43.36 3.88 499.70 9.99

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 D Gough 82 127 25.70 4.39 708.85 56.71
2 A Flintoff 74 98 26.60 4.43 684.46 54.76
3 ST Finn 40 66 26.32 4.91 670.73 53.66
4 JM Anderson 105 138 31.82 4.98 667.05 53.36
5 CR Woakes 72 104 31.41 5.57 654.10 52.33
6 IT Botham 68 89 26.01 4.05 649.48 51.96
7 SCJ Broad 58 88 30.09 5.45 623.30 49.86
8 PAJ DeFreitas 76 90 29.90 4.00 609.92 48.79
9 RGD Willis 32 34 28.32 3.51 598.42 47.87
10 JC Archer 12 21 28.00 5.60 500.00 40.00

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 ECO RAT WTG
1 JM Anderson 157 234 27.32 4.88 780.58 15.61
2 D Gough 134 211 24.79 4.32 777.07 15.54
3 A Flintoff 91 133 23.43 4.37 752.31 15.05
4 RGD Willis 58 76 23.66 3.26 720.87 14.42
5 CR Woakes 86 125 30.33 5.39 707.83 14.16
6 IT Botham 106 133 28.72 3.95 700.44 14.01
7 JC Archer 28 50 23.94 4.97 698.61 13.97
8 SCJ Broad 103 146 31.05 5.26 698.57 13.97
9 ST Finn 48 69 31.30 5.18 627.77 12.56
10 PAJ DeFreitas 74 80 33.91 3.84 606.85 12.14

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 7

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 CR Woakes 32 48 29.21 5.55 708.02 56.64
2 ST Finn 19 33 25.33 4.78 664.00 53.12
3 A Flintoff 28 36 27.92 4.50 646.78 51.74
4 SCJ Broad 18 32 25.94 5.32 622.48 49.80
5 JM Anderson 34 35 41.91 5.10 557.88 44.63
6 PAJ DeFreitas 29 35 30.34 4.33 544.95 43.60
7 RGD Willis 6 4 42.50 3.53 500.00 40.00
7 JC Archer 6 12 26.00 5.69 500.00 40.00
9 D Gough 22 24 40.75 4.90 487.71 39.02
10 IT Botham 9 12 26.58 4.10 476.92 38.15

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 20%.

RANK BOWLER AW HM UC FC CON PTS
1 CR Woakes 52.33 13.00 56.64 14.16 136.13
2 A Flintoff 54.76 13.82 51.74 15.05 135.36
3 ST Finn 53.66 10.62 53.12 12.56 129.95
4 JM Anderson 53.36 14.38 44.63 15.61 127.99
5 SCJ Broad 49.86 13.05 49.80 13.97 126.69
6 D Gough 56.71 12.97 39.02 15.54 124.23
7 RGD Willis 47.87 13.35 40.00 14.42 115.64
8 IT Botham 51.96 11.14 38.15 14.01 115.26
9 PAJ DeFreitas 48.79 9.99 43.60 12.14 114.52
10 JC Archer 40.00 12.98 40.00 13.97 106.95

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
World Cup 150.00
Impact Innings 150.00
Top Form 100.00

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 IT Botham 22 30 25.40 3.43 629.59 94.44
2 RGD Willis 11 18 17.50 2.67 601.33 90.20
3 CR Woakes 24 31 31.55 5.50 562.68 84.40
4 JC Archer 11 20 23.05 4.57 547.15 82.07
5 PAJ DeFreitas 22 29 25.59 3.95 542.46 81.37
6 A Flintoff 17 23 23.22 3.94 534.81 80.22
7 SCJ Broad 10 10 43.90 5.56 500.00 75.00
7 ST Finn 4 8 25.00 6.90 500.00 75.00
9 JM Anderson 25 27 40.04 5.17 454.63 68.19
10 D Gough 11 15 28.67 4.31 421.72 63.26
IMPACT INNINGS (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact either in terms of wickets or economy 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 4.
  • A Bowler bowls more than 30 balls and has a low ER.
  • The required ER is calculated by the number of wickets taken.

IMPACT INNINGS

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 RGD Willis 64 31 48.44 681.01 102.15
2 JC Archer 34 17 50.00 633.24 94.99
3 A Flintoff 119 51 42.86 598.18 89.73
4 ST Finn 67 25 37.31 552.83 82.92
5 CR Woakes 118 39 33.05 509.96 76.49
6 PAJ DeFreitas 103 37 35.92 487.30 73.10
7 JM Anderson 191 56 29.32 471.01 70.65
8 IT Botham 115 33 28.70 405.56 60.83
9 D Gough 156 47 30.13 403.48 60.52
10 SCJ Broad 121 27 22.31 384.89 57.73
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • Only Inns against Non Weak Teams are considered in the rating.
  • Non Weak Teams may be found in the last section.

TOP FORM

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 SCJ Broad 50 93 23.47 5.19 765.50 76.55
2 D Gough 50 88 23.09 4.30 749.46 74.95
3 CR Woakes 50 87 24.95 5.26 745.74 74.57
4 A Flintoff 50 72 23.96 4.16 736.81 73.68
5 JM Anderson 50 85 25.26 4.88 736.78 73.68
6 ST Finn 50 83 27.29 5.07 722.65 72.26
7 RGD Willis 50 62 25.08 3.31 698.23 69.82
8 JC Archer 32 58 24.43 5.10 677.58 67.76
9 IT Botham 50 73 25.16 4.09 659.66 65.97
10 PAJ DeFreitas 50 59 30.92 3.88 619.82 61.98

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK BOWLER WC II TF SEC RAT
1 RGD Willis 90.20 102.15 69.82 262.17
2 JC Archer 82.07 94.99 67.76 244.82
3 A Flintoff 80.22 89.73 73.68 243.63
4 CR Woakes 84.40 76.49 74.57 235.47
5 ST Finn 75.00 82.92 72.26 230.19
6 IT Botham 94.44 60.83 65.97 221.24
7 PAJ DeFreitas 81.37 73.10 61.98 216.45
8 JM Anderson 68.19 70.65 73.68 212.52
9 SCJ Broad 75.00 57.73 76.55 209.28
10 D Gough 63.26 60.52 74.95 198.73

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK OV RANK BOWLER NAT PRI PTS CON PTS SEC PTS FIN RAT
1 25 A Flintoff ENG 291.51 135.36 243.63 670.50
2 36 RGD Willis ENG 270.82 115.64 262.17 648.64
3 38 CR Woakes ENG 275.06 136.13 235.47 646.66
4 47 JM Anderson ENG 289.02 127.99 212.52 629.53
5 50 JC Archer ENG 270.09 106.95 244.82 621.86
6 52 ST Finn ENG 259.30 129.95 230.19 619.44
7 59 D Gough ENG 286.22 124.23 198.73 609.18
8 62 SCJ Broad ENG 267.30 126.69 209.28 603.27
9 66 IT Botham ENG 257.82 115.26 221.24 594.32
10 84 PAJ DeFreitas ENG 238.30 114.52 216.45 569.26

NON WEAK TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK SL IND
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK IND NZ SL ZIM
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND SL ENG NZ ZIM
2000s AUS SA SL PAK IND NZ ENG WI BAN
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ PAK SL BAN WI
2020s IND NZ SL AUS PAK SA BAN ENG WI AFG

TOP TEAMS

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

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