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 Kiwi Fast 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 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. 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 New Zealand.

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

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	FS Trueman	ENG	1952	1965	1958.5	127	307	220.00
1	RO Collinge	NZ	1965	1978	1971.5	62	116	83.13
2	BR Taylor	NZ	1965	1973	1969	53	111	79.54

RANK	ERA 2	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	CA Walsh	WI	1984	2001	1992.5	242	519	240.00
1	RJ Hadlee	NZ	1973	1990	1981.5	150	431	199.31

RANK	ERA 3	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	JM Anderson	ENG	2003	2024	2013.5	350	704	250.00
1	CS Martin	NZ	2000	2013	2006.5	126	233	82.74
2	CL Cairns	NZ	1989	2004	1996.5	104	218	77.41
3	SB Doull	NZ	1992	2000	1996	51	98	34.80

RANK	ERA 4	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	MA Starc	AUS	2011	2026	2018.5	202	433	230.00
1	TG Southee	NZ	2008	2024	2016	203	391	207.69
2	TA Boult	NZ	2011	2022	2016.5	149	317	168.38
3	N Wagner	NZ	2012	2024	2018	122	260	138.11
4	MJ Henry	NZ	2015	2025	2020	65	140	74.36

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	JJ Bumrah	99	4631	234	19.79	19.33	120.00
1	RJ Hadlee	150	9612	431	22.30	22.35	103.78
2	TA Boult	149	8717	317	27.50	25.53	90.83
3	BR Taylor	53	2953	111	26.60	25.93	89.44
4	MJ Henry	65	3799	140	27.14	26.20	88.50
5	N Wagner	122	7169	260	27.57	26.73	86.75
6	CL Cairns	104	6410	218	29.40	27.95	82.97
7	SB Doull	51	2872	98	29.31	28.04	82.70
8	TG Southee	203	11832	391	30.26	28.50	81.38
9	RO Collinge	62	3392	116	29.24	29.09	79.72
10	CS Martin	126	7878	233	33.81	30.26	76.64

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	JJ Bumrah	83	4138	193	21.44	20.10	180.00
1	RJ Hadlee	95	6048	279	21.68	21.78	166.08
2	TA Boult	87	5342	182	29.35	24.89	145.33
3	BR Taylor	34	1871	69	27.12	25.30	142.96
4	MJ Henry	47	2963	102	29.05	26.29	137.61
5	N Wagner	66	4089	139	29.42	26.46	136.73
6	RO Collinge	39	2131	77	27.68	27.53	131.40
7	SB Doull	33	2070	64	32.34	29.81	121.36
8	TG Southee	126	7769	227	34.22	30.18	119.87
9	CL Cairns	64	4206	126	33.38	30.28	119.45
10	CS Martin	82	5460	142	38.45	31.50	114.83

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	M Jansen	38	3408	89	38.29	42.71	120.00
1	RJ Hadlee	150	21918	431	50.85	47.42	108.08
2	BR Taylor	53	6334	111	57.06	48.72	105.20
3	CL Cairns	104	11698	218	53.66	50.30	101.90
4	N Wagner	122	13725	260	52.79	54.95	93.27
5	TA Boult	149	17416	317	54.94	55.08	93.05
6	MJ Henry	65	7299	140	52.14	55.61	92.16
7	SB Doull	51	6053	98	61.77	56.51	90.69
8	RO Collinge	62	7689	116	66.28	57.27	89.49
9	CS Martin	126	14026	233	60.20	58.93	86.97
10	TG Southee	203	23490	391	60.08	61.32	83.58

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	WKTS	SR	R SR	RAT
TS	M Jansen	28	2507	62	40.44	42.78	180.00
1	BR Taylor	34	4027	69	58.36	47.44	162.31
2	RJ Hadlee	95	14192	279	50.87	47.54	161.98
3	CL Cairns	64	7241	126	57.47	52.55	146.54
4	MJ Henry	47	5358	102	52.53	53.54	143.83
5	TA Boult	87	10580	182	58.13	53.89	142.90
6	N Wagner	66	7917	139	56.96	55.58	138.54
7	RO Collinge	39	5259	77	68.30	57.51	133.89
8	SB Doull	33	4262	64	66.59	58.87	130.80
9	CS Martin	82	9549	142	67.25	61.51	125.18
10	TG Southee	126	14819	227	65.28	63.29	121.66

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	N Kapil Dev	9/83	8/85	8/106	7/56	7/220	6/63	6/77	7.29	50.00
1	RJ Hadlee	9/52	7/23	7/116	6/26	6/49	6/50	6/51	6.71	46.08
2	TG Southee	7/64	6/43	6/50	6/62	6/68	6/80	5/32	6.00	41.18
3	CL Cairns	7/27	7/53	6/52	6/77	5/31	5/31	5/44	5.86	40.20
4	TA Boult	6/30	6/32	6/40	6/68	5/43	5/57	5/60	5.57	38.24
4	N Wagner	7/39	6/41	6/106	5/44	5/45	5/47	5/64	5.57	38.24
4	MJ Henry	7/23	7/67	6/39	5/15	5/40	5/70	4/48	5.57	38.24
7	CS Martin	6/26	6/54	6/76	5/37	5/55	5/63	5/65	5.43	37.25
8	SB Doull	7/65	5/46	5/58	5/66	5/73	5/75	4/33	5.14	35.29
9	BR Taylor	7/74	5/26	5/41	5/86	4/41	4/47	4/53	4.86	33.33
10	RO Collinge	6/63	5/74	5/82	4/41	4/84	4/85	4/89	4.57	31.37

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	BBW	RAT
TS	N Kapil Dev	9/83	8/85	8/106	7/56	7/220	6/63	6/77	7.29	100.00
1	RJ Hadlee	9/52	7/23	6/26	6/50	6/51	6/53	6/57	6.57	90.20
2	TG Southee	7/64	6/43	6/50	6/62	5/35	5/55	5/61	5.71	78.43
3	CL Cairns	7/27	6/52	5/44	5/79	5/137	5/146	4/44	5.29	72.55
4	TA Boult	6/32	6/68	5/57	5/60	5/85	5/106	4/28	5.14	70.59
4	MJ Henry	7/23	7/67	5/15	5/70	4/48	4/84	4/93	5.14	70.59
6	CS Martin	6/76	5/37	5/55	5/63	5/104	5/152	4/52	5.00	68.63
7	SB Doull	7/65	5/46	5/66	5/73	4/33	4/70	3/39	4.71	64.71
7	N Wagner	6/106	5/44	5/86	5/124	4/42	4/62	4/62	4.71	64.71
9	RO Collinge	6/63	5/74	5/82	4/41	4/84	4/85	4/98	4.57	62.75
10	BR Taylor	7/74	5/41	4/41	4/47	4/53	3/26	3/35	4.29	58.82

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	RJ Hadlee	199.31	269.85	108.08	136.27	875.50	350.20
2	TA Boult	168.38	236.16	93.05	108.82	749.31	299.72
3	TG Southee	207.69	201.24	83.58	119.61	733.79	293.52
4	N Wagner	138.11	223.48	93.27	102.94	696.33	278.53
5	BR Taylor	79.54	232.41	105.20	92.16	671.62	268.65
6	MJ Henry	74.36	226.11	92.16	108.82	645.29	258.12
7	CL Cairns	77.41	202.43	101.90	112.75	641.02	256.41
8	RO Collinge	83.13	211.12	89.49	94.12	611.75	244.70
9	CS Martin	82.74	191.47	86.97	105.88	592.25	236.90
10	SB Doull	34.80	204.06	90.69	100.00	560.35	224.14

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	RJ Hadlee	75	201	22.96	53.05	791.49	23.74
2	N Wagner	79	178	27.19	48.95	651.23	19.54
3	TA Boult	72	173	25.04	50.76	644.89	19.35
4	TG Southee	114	234	28.80	57.10	632.62	18.98
5	MJ Henry	39	86	25.16	50.65	607.84	18.24
6	RO Collinge	37	80	23.86	57.18	605.42	18.16
7	CL Cairns	52	109	28.36	52.83	558.65	16.76
8	CS Martin	73	146	30.99	54.60	539.09	16.17
9	BR Taylor	17	31	33.39	71.61	500.00	15.00
10	SB Doull	30	61	29.07	60.23	448.51	13.46

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	RJ Hadlee	75	230	21.73	48.93	812.77	97.53
2	TG Southee	89	157	32.44	64.51	713.09	85.57
3	TA Boult	77	144	30.45	59.96	710.06	85.21
4	BR Taylor	36	80	23.98	51.43	702.59	84.31
5	CL Cairns	52	109	30.45	54.50	598.64	71.84
6	N Wagner	43	82	28.41	61.12	588.14	70.58
7	SB Doull	21	37	29.70	64.30	548.73	65.85
8	MJ Henry	26	54	30.28	54.50	523.51	62.82
9	CS Martin	53	87	38.54	69.60	521.78	62.61
10	RO Collinge	25	36	41.19	86.53	427.23	51.27

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	RJ Hadlee	128	363	22.43	52.37	845.33	25.36
2	TA Boult	117	267	26.71	52.67	705.94	21.18
3	N Wagner	111	244	27.31	51.45	684.36	20.53
4	TG Southee	164	328	30.62	59.51	677.19	20.32
5	BR Taylor	37	81	28.67	60.53	618.55	18.56
6	CL Cairns	86	188	28.87	53.04	613.02	18.39
7	RO Collinge	50	103	25.84	62.47	605.48	18.16
8	MJ Henry	55	122	26.76	50.98	601.96	18.06
9	CS Martin	116	217	33.04	58.36	577.15	17.31
10	SB Doull	46	88	30.03	63.44	514.08	15.42

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 7

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	RJ Hadlee	22	68	21.60	42.78	843.74	101.25
2	TG Southee	39	63	28.38	63.05	803.53	96.42
3	BR Taylor	16	30	21.03	47.70	700.94	84.11
4	TA Boult	32	50	31.70	67.06	678.20	81.38
5	CL Cairns	18	30	32.73	57.57	578.47	69.42
6	MJ Henry	10	18	29.67	59.94	553.89	66.47
7	SB Doull	5	10	22.90	47.00	500.00	60.00
8	N Wagner	11	16	31.56	73.13	484.33	58.12
9	CS Martin	10	16	44.25	85.13	400.81	48.10
10	RO Collinge	12	13	56.15	96.54	343.60	41.23

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	RJ Hadlee	812.77	197.87	843.74	211.33	247.89
2	TG Southee	713.09	158.16	803.53	169.30	221.29
3	TA Boult	710.06	161.22	678.20	176.48	207.12
4	BR Taylor	702.59	125.00	700.94	154.64	201.98
5	CL Cairns	598.64	139.66	578.47	153.26	176.40
6	N Wagner	588.14	162.81	484.33	171.09	168.76
7	MJ Henry	523.51	151.96	553.89	150.49	165.58
8	SB Doull	548.73	112.13	500.00	128.52	154.73
9	CS Martin	521.78	134.77	400.81	144.29	144.20
10	RO Collinge	427.23	151.35	343.60	151.37	128.83

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	RJ Hadlee	150	431	2.87	924.32	46.22
2	TA Boult	149	317	2.13	687.45	34.37
3	RO Collinge	62	116	1.87	684.54	34.23
4	BR Taylor	53	111	2.09	680.73	34.04
5	MJ Henry	65	140	2.15	655.72	32.79
6	CL Cairns	104	218	2.10	631.20	31.56
7	N Wagner	122	260	2.13	598.48	29.92
8	SB Doull	51	98	1.92	596.85	29.84
9	CS Martin	126	233	1.85	563.58	28.18
10	TG Southee	203	391	1.93	562.18	28.11

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	RJ Hadlee	50	163	19.20	45.52	952.53	95.25
2	TG Southee	50	112	26.79	54.49	710.73	71.07
3	TA Boult	50	112	28.36	58.26	690.62	69.06
4	CL Cairns	50	103	31.19	53.69	683.72	68.37
5	N Wagner	50	110	26.40	56.06	683.67	68.37
6	MJ Henry	47	102	29.05	52.53	673.59	67.36
7	BR Taylor	34	69	27.12	58.36	620.73	62.07
8	RO Collinge	39	77	27.68	68.30	604.92	60.49
9	CS Martin	50	90	38.03	66.47	590.52	59.05
10	SB Doull	33	64	32.34	66.59	562.09	56.21

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 increases as the number of wickets taken increases.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 25

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	II	II Perc	RAT	WTG
1	RJ Hadlee	150	87	58.00	933.70	140.05
2	N Wagner	122	58	47.54	745.88	111.88
3	BR Taylor	53	26	49.06	712.50	106.88
4	TG Southee	203	80	39.41	672.78	100.92
5	TA Boult	149	60	40.27	650.05	97.51
6	MJ Henry	65	29	44.62	630.02	94.50
7	RO Collinge	62	29	46.77	619.65	92.95
8	CL Cairns	104	43	41.35	546.89	82.03
9	SB Doull	51	19	37.25	468.53	70.28
10	CS Martin	126	38	30.16	402.23	60.33

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	RJ Hadlee	95.25	46.22	140.05	281.52
2	N Wagner	68.37	29.92	111.88	210.17
3	BR Taylor	62.07	34.04	106.88	202.98
4	TA Boult	69.06	34.37	97.51	200.94
5	TG Southee	71.07	28.11	100.92	200.10
6	MJ Henry	67.36	32.79	94.50	194.65
7	RO Collinge	60.49	34.23	92.95	187.67
8	CL Cairns	68.37	31.56	82.03	181.97
9	SB Doull	56.21	29.84	70.28	156.33
10	CS Martin	59.05	28.18	60.33	147.56

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	1	RJ Hadlee	NZ	350.20	247.89	281.52	879.61
2	27	TG Southee	NZ	293.52	221.29	200.10	714.90
3	30	TA Boult	NZ	299.72	207.12	200.94	707.78
4	39	BR Taylor	NZ	268.65	201.98	202.98	673.61
5	48	N Wagner	NZ	278.53	168.76	210.17	657.47
6	65	MJ Henry	NZ	258.12	165.58	194.65	618.35
7	67	CL Cairns	NZ	256.41	176.40	181.97	614.78
8	94	RO Collinge	NZ	244.70	128.83	187.67	561.19
9	118	SB Doull	NZ	224.14	154.73	156.33	535.20
10	119	CS Martin	NZ	236.90	144.20	147.56	528.66

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.