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 (Detailed Explanation) and at the end. So, here are the Top 10 English Spin bowlers in Test Cricket since 1950.

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

3.3.1. Against All Teams

3.3.2. Against Top Teams

3.4. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

3.4.1. Against All Teams

3.4.2. Against Top Teams

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 In Asia

4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating

4.2.2.1. Non Asians Outside Asia

4.3. CONDITIONS RATING

5. SECONDARY CRITERIA

5.1. WKTS/INN

5.2. TOP FORM

5.3. IMPACT INNINGS

5.4. SECONDARY RATING

6. OVERALL RATING

6.1. BRIEF EXPLANATION

6.1.1. Dynamic Nature

6.1.2. Trend Setter (TS)

6.1.3. Top Teams (TT)

6.1.4. Abbreviations

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, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions	Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary	Wkts Per Inn, Top Form, Impact Inns

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT)	25
Min Career Wkts	50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

CRITERIA	STAT	POINTS
Prolific	Wickets Taken	250.00
Consistent	Average	300.00
Attacking	Strike Rate	300.00
Best Bowling	Top Bowling Performances	150.00

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 Wickets Taken

RANK	ERA 1	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	LR Gibbs	WI	1958	1976	1967	148	309	220.00
1	DL Underwood	ENG	1966	1982	1974	151	297	211.46
2	GAR Lock	ENG	1952	1968	1960	88	174	123.88
3	FJ Titmus	ENG	1955	1975	1965	90	153	108.93

RANK	ERA 2	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	Abdul Qadir	PAK	1977	1990	1983.5	111	236	210.00
1	JE Emburey	ENG	1978	1995	1986.5	103	147	130.81
2	PH Edmonds	ENG	1975	1987	1981	84	125	111.23
3	G Miller	ENG	1976	1984	1980	50	60	53.39

RANK	ERA 3	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	M Muralitharan	SL	1992	2010	2001	230	800	250.00
1	GP Swann	ENG	2008	2013	2010.5	109	255	79.69
2	MS Panesar	ENG	2006	2013	2009.5	85	167	52.19

RANK	ERA 4	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	NM Lyon	AUS	2011	2025	2018	262	567	240.00
1	MM Ali	ENG	2014	2023	2018.5	119	204	86.35
2	MJ Leach	ENG	2018	2024	2021	67	142	60.11

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	75
Min Wickets (TT)	60

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	M Muralitharan	230	18180	800	22.73	23.67	120.00
1	GAR Lock	88	4451	174	25.58	25.91	109.63
2	DL Underwood	151	7674	297	25.84	26.12	108.73
3	GP Swann	109	7642	255	29.97	27.03	105.08
4	MS Panesar	85	5797	167	34.71	29.88	95.06
5	G Miller	50	1859	60	30.98	30.12	94.30
6	MJ Leach	67	4838	142	34.07	30.36	93.54
7	PH Edmonds	84	4273	125	34.18	31.20	91.02
8	FJ Titmus	90	4931	153	32.23	32.48	87.44
9	MM Ali	119	7612	204	37.31	32.90	86.33
10	JE Emburey	103	5646	147	38.41	34.99	81.18

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	SK Warne	168	11491	451	25.48	23.55	180.00
1	GP Swann	72	5467	157	34.82	28.37	149.41
2	G Miller	34	1309	45	29.09	28.52	148.63
3	DL Underwood	96	5049	164	30.79	29.04	145.96
4	MJ Leach	49	3490	101	34.55	29.39	144.25
5	MS Panesar	48	3557	96	37.05	30.16	140.56
6	MM Ali	78	5433	146	37.21	31.02	136.66
7	PH Edmonds	41	2300	60	38.33	33.64	126.01
8	GAR Lock	48	2641	68	38.84	33.87	125.15
9	FJ Titmus	50	2822	71	39.75	35.61	119.06
10	JE Emburey	77	4475	110	40.68	36.07	117.52

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	75
Min Wickets (TT)	60

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	WKTS	SR	R SR	RAT
TS	SK Warne	273	40704	708	57.49	54.86	120.00
1	GP Swann	109	15349	255	60.19	64.50	102.06
2	GAR Lock	88	13147	174	75.56	64.79	101.59
3	DL Underwood	151	21862	297	73.61	65.65	100.27
4	MM Ali	119	12610	204	61.81	66.95	98.31
5	MJ Leach	67	9402	142	66.21	72.88	90.32
6	MS Panesar	85	12475	167	74.70	73.18	89.95
7	G Miller	50	5149	60	85.82	75.98	86.63
8	PH Edmonds	84	12028	125	96.22	79.16	83.15
9	FJ Titmus	90	15118	153	98.81	83.43	78.90
10	JE Emburey	103	15391	147	104.70	88.98	73.97

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	WKTS	SR	R SR	RAT
TS	SK Warne	168	25511	451	56.57	53.94	180.00
1	MM Ali	78	9157	146	62.72	65.37	148.52
2	GP Swann	72	10671	157	67.97	67.37	144.11
3	MJ Leach	49	6566	101	65.01	69.65	139.40
4	G Miller	34	3409	45	75.76	69.68	139.34
5	DL Underwood	96	13876	164	84.61	72.36	134.18
6	MS Panesar	48	7546	96	78.60	75.37	128.82
7	GAR Lock	48	7232	68	106.35	82.14	118.20
8	PH Edmonds	41	6230	60	103.83	85.01	114.21
9	FJ Titmus	50	8361	71	117.76	91.45	106.17
10	JE Emburey	77	12183	110	110.75	92.63	104.81

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

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	BBW	RAT
TS	M Muralitharan	9/51	9/65	8/46	8/70	8/87	7/46	7/84	8.00	50.00
1	DL Underwood	8/51	7/32	7/50	7/113	6/12	6/41	6/45	6.71	41.96
2	GAR Lock	7/35	7/51	6/20	6/53	6/65	5/17	5/28	6.00	37.50
3	MS Panesar	6/37	6/62	6/81	6/126	6/129	6/137	5/46	5.86	36.61
4	GP Swann	6/65	6/82	6/90	6/106	6/106	5/44	5/54	5.71	35.71
5	FJ Titmus	7/79	6/73	5/19	5/66	5/83	5/103	5/116	5.43	33.93
6	JE Emburey	7/78	6/33	5/78	5/80	5/82	5/124	4/43	5.29	33.04
7	MM Ali	6/53	6/67	5/57	5/63	5/69	4/36	4/39	5.00	31.25
8	MJ Leach	5/66	5/83	5/100	5/122	5/157	4/30	4/49	4.71	29.46
9	PH Edmonds	7/66	5/28	4/6	4/20	4/31	4/38	4/40	4.57	28.57
10	G Miller	5/44	4/70	3/21	3/35	3/38	3/44	3/99	3.43	21.43

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	BBW	RAT
TS	A Kumble	10/74	8/141	7/48	7/63	7/115	6/53	6/70	7.29	100.00
1	DL Underwood	7/50	7/113	6/45	6/66	5/39	5/94	4/37	5.71	78.43
2	GP Swann	6/82	6/106	6/106	5/44	5/54	5/91	5/110	5.43	74.51
3	MS Panesar	6/62	6/81	5/72	5/92	5/124	5/129	4/74	5.14	70.59
4	JE Emburey	7/78	5/78	5/80	5/124	4/43	4/46	4/52	4.86	66.67
4	MM Ali	6/53	6/67	5/63	5/69	4/39	4/45	4/59	4.86	66.67
6	FJ Titmus	7/79	5/83	5/103	4/40	4/43	4/44	4/69	4.71	64.71
7	MJ Leach	5/66	5/83	5/100	5/157	4/49	4/54	4/72	4.57	62.75
8	PH Edmonds	7/66	5/28	4/60	4/97	3/45	3/72	3/75	4.14	56.86
9	GAR Lock	5/45	4/39	4/41	4/62	4/130	3/40	3/54	3.86	52.94
10	G Miller	5/44	4/70	3/21	3/35	3/38	3/44	3/133	3.43	47.06

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	DL Underwood	211.46	254.69	100.27	120.40	820.99	328.39
2	GP Swann	79.69	254.49	102.06	110.22	690.57	276.23
3	GAR Lock	123.88	234.78	101.59	90.44	668.90	267.56
4	MM Ali	86.35	222.99	98.31	97.92	654.09	261.64
5	MJ Leach	60.11	237.79	90.32	92.21	619.82	247.93
6	MS Panesar	52.19	235.62	89.95	107.20	613.78	245.51
7	PH Edmonds	111.23	217.02	83.15	85.43	611.05	244.42
8	JE Emburey	130.81	198.70	73.97	99.70	607.99	243.20
9	FJ Titmus	108.93	206.49	78.90	98.63	599.12	239.65
10	G Miller	53.39	242.94	86.63	68.49	590.79	236.31

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. Click on the Ratings to see how they were calculated.

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: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	DL Underwood	73	145	24.24	68.78	737.62	22.13
2	GAR Lock	50	104	19.52	62.02	677.50	20.32
3	MM Ali	69	113	34.91	55.52	611.51	18.35
4	GP Swann	57	120	28.94	56.97	549.91	16.50
5	MS Panesar	38	81	28.77	63.20	533.76	16.01
6	G Miller	21	16	40.44	103.00	500.00	15.00
7	PH Edmonds	51	74	32.80	89.92	495.56	14.87
8	FJ Titmus	38	54	29.72	94.87	480.76	14.42
9	MJ Leach	20	32	32.53	62.78	471.01	14.13
10	JE Emburey	54	63	40.46	108.84	419.54	12.59

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	DL Underwood	78	152	27.36	78.22	723.53	86.82
2	JE Emburey	49	84	36.87	101.60	696.98	83.64
3	GP Swann	52	135	30.88	63.06	673.40	80.81
4	G Miller	29	44	27.55	79.57	642.49	77.10
5	MJ Leach	47	110	34.52	67.21	617.02	74.04
6	PH Edmonds	33	51	36.20	105.37	589.85	70.78
7	FJ Titmus	52	99	33.60	100.96	576.51	69.18
8	MS Panesar	47	86	40.31	85.53	558.85	67.06
9	MM Ali	50	91	40.30	69.63	530.78	63.69
10	GAR Lock	38	70	34.59	95.67	492.49	59.10

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 In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 7

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	GP Swann	24	73	25.97	54.82	749.01	22.47
2	DL Underwood	38	73	26.66	78.93	747.78	22.43
3	MJ Leach	31	79	31.96	57.97	637.21	19.12
4	PH Edmonds	12	24	34.17	98.04	620.50	18.61
5	MS Panesar	25	52	36.13	81.12	584.59	17.54
6	JE Emburey	13	25	34.80	89.76	577.70	17.33
7	MM Ali	26	56	35.82	59.50	572.91	17.19
8	FJ Titmus	10	27	27.67	88.63	567.70	17.03
9	GAR Lock	12	32	30.13	88.59	562.06	16.86
10	G Miller	5	4	65.50	144.00	500.00	15.00

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	DL Underwood	113	224	25.57	71.88	835.35	100.24
2	JE Emburey	90	122	39.15	107.76	699.05	83.89
3	GAR Lock	76	142	24.56	72.62	693.17	83.18
4	MM Ali	93	148	37.88	62.69	678.03	81.36
5	G Miller	45	56	28.52	81.66	671.61	80.59
6	GP Swann	85	182	31.57	62.35	659.50	79.14
7	PH Edmonds	72	101	34.19	95.79	648.29	77.79
8	MS Panesar	60	115	34.07	71.80	621.04	74.53
9	FJ Titmus	80	126	33.21	100.99	608.41	73.01
10	MJ Leach	36	63	36.71	76.54	569.14	68.30

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	DL Underwood	723.53	184.40	835.35	186.95	231.63
2	GP Swann	673.40	137.48	659.50	187.25	198.92
3	JE Emburey	696.98	104.88	699.05	144.43	197.44
4	G Miller	642.49	125.00	671.61	125.00	187.69
5	PH Edmonds	589.85	123.89	648.29	155.12	182.06
6	MM Ali	530.78	152.88	678.03	143.23	180.59
7	GAR Lock	492.49	169.37	693.17	140.51	179.46
8	MJ Leach	617.02	117.75	569.14	159.30	175.58
9	MS Panesar	558.85	133.44	621.04	146.15	175.14
10	FJ Titmus	576.51	120.19	608.41	141.93	173.64

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
Wickets Per Inn	50.00
Top Form	100.00
Impact Innings	150.00

WKTS/INN

WPI RATING

Points to note about WPI Rating:-

It gives points for three criteria.
The number of wkts per inn overall and aganst Top Teams.
The number of bowled victims per inn.
The number of top 7 batsmen dismissed per inn.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 25

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	W/I	RAT	WTG
1	GP Swann	109	255	2.34	677.26	33.86
2	DL Underwood	151	297	1.97	589.89	29.49
3	MJ Leach	67	142	2.12	566.70	28.34
4	MS Panesar	85	167	1.96	555.78	27.79
5	GAR Lock	88	174	1.98	532.39	26.62
6	FJ Titmus	90	153	1.70	511.63	25.58
7	MM Ali	119	204	1.71	471.30	23.57
8	PH Edmonds	84	125	1.49	459.90	23.00
9	JE Emburey	103	147	1.43	440.31	22.02
10	G Miller	50	60	1.20	330.31	16.52

TOP FORM

TF RATING

Points to note about TF Rating:-

TF is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a bowler.
The inns are taken such that his points are maximum.
Only innings against Top Teams are considered.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	GP Swann	50	123	30.20	62.73	692.03	69.20
2	DL Underwood	50	100	25.95	76.21	655.70	65.57
3	MM Ali	50	100	35.67	62.21	605.06	60.51
4	MJ Leach	49	101	34.55	65.01	601.22	60.12
5	MS Panesar	48	96	37.05	78.60	593.24	59.32
6	JE Emburey	50	84	33.90	94.40	565.35	56.54
7	G Miller	34	45	29.09	75.76	501.64	50.16
8	PH Edmonds	41	60	38.33	103.83	479.03	47.90
9	FJ Titmus	50	71	39.75	117.76	477.85	47.79
10	GAR Lock	48	68	38.84	106.35	460.58	46.06

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 equal to or more wickets than 2 at a good AVE or SR.
The required AVE or SR is increases as the number of wickets taken increases.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 25

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	II	II Perc	RAT	WTG
1	DL Underwood	151	58	38.41	679.53	101.93
2	MM Ali	119	45	37.82	584.70	87.71
3	GP Swann	109	46	42.20	569.70	85.46
4	MS Panesar	85	29	34.12	489.57	73.44
5	JE Emburey	103	27	26.21	484.32	72.65
6	PH Edmonds	84	24	28.57	478.12	71.72
7	MJ Leach	67	24	35.82	474.93	71.24
8	FJ Titmus	90	28	31.11	465.58	69.84
9	GAR Lock	88	29	32.95	421.47	63.22
10	G Miller	50	12	24.00	380.90	57.14

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	WPI	II	SEC RAT
1	DL Underwood	65.57	29.49	101.93	196.99
2	GP Swann	69.20	33.86	85.46	188.52
3	MM Ali	60.51	23.57	87.71	171.78
4	MS Panesar	59.32	27.79	73.44	160.55
5	MJ Leach	60.12	28.34	71.24	159.70
6	JE Emburey	56.54	22.02	72.65	151.20
7	FJ Titmus	47.79	25.58	69.84	143.20
8	PH Edmonds	47.90	23.00	71.72	142.62
9	GAR Lock	46.06	26.62	63.22	135.90
10	G Miller	50.16	16.52	57.14	123.81

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 RAT	CON RAT	SEC RAT	FIN RAT
1	8	DL Underwood	ENG	328.39	231.63	196.99	757.01
2	17	GP Swann	ENG	276.23	198.92	188.52	663.67
3	31	MM Ali	ENG	261.64	180.59	171.78	614.00
4	35	JE Emburey	ENG	243.20	197.44	151.20	591.84
5	39	MJ Leach	ENG	247.93	175.58	159.70	583.21
6	40	GAR Lock	ENG	267.56	179.46	135.90	582.92
7	41	MS Panesar	ENG	245.51	175.14	160.55	581.20
8	42	PH Edmonds	ENG	244.42	182.06	142.62	569.09
9	49	FJ Titmus	ENG	239.65	173.64	143.20	556.50
10	52	G Miller	ENG	236.31	187.69	123.81	547.82

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)

TS is the player who does the best in a criteria.
The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Example:-
TS Bowling 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.
Know All About the Trend Setter

Top Teams (TT)

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