Top 10 South African Fast Bowlers In Tests Since 1950

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Nations Rating

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

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

THE CRITERIA


CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Wickets, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Top Form Home, Top Form Away, Wkts/Inn, 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.
Top Teams (TT)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams. Here is some information about the 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.
  • A bowler’s performace is counted in TT if it comes in the specific condition and in the specific decade.

QUALIFICATION


Min Innings 50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 200.00
Consistent Average 400.00
Attacking Strike Rate 300.00
Best Bowling Top Bowling Performances 100.00

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 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 1986 227 434 160.00
1 TL Goddard SA 1955 1970 1962.5 75 123 45.35
2 PM Pollock SA 1961 1970 1965.5 52 116 42.76
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS JM Anderson ENG 2003 2024 2013.5 350 704 200.00
1 DW Steyn SA 2004 2019 2011.5 171 439 124.72
2 SM Pollock SA 1995 2008 2001.5 202 421 119.60
3 M Ntini SA 1998 2009 2003.5 190 390 110.80
4 AA Donald SA 1992 2002 1997 129 330 93.75
5 M Morkel SA 2006 2018 2012 160 309 87.78
6 A Nel SA 2001 2008 2004.5 69 123 34.94
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS TG Southee NZ 2008 2024 2016 193 382 150.00
1 K Rabada SA 2015 2024 2019.5 116 299 117.41
2 VD Philander SA 2011 2020 2015.5 119 224 87.96

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 100

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 73 3432 170 20.19 19.97 200.00
1 DW Steyn 171 10077 439 22.95 21.95 181.98
2 SM Pollock 202 9733 421 23.12 22.04 181.25
3 VD Philander 119 5000 224 22.32 22.14 180.41
4 AA Donald 129 7344 330 22.25 22.34 178.77
5 K Rabada 116 6603 299 22.08 22.60 176.76
6 PM Pollock 52 2806 116 24.19 23.76 168.13
7 TL Goddard 75 3226 123 26.23 26.03 153.45
8 M Morkel 160 8550 309 27.67 26.27 152.05
9 M Ntini 190 11242 390 28.83 26.36 151.51
10 A Nel 69 3919 123 31.86 29.11 137.23

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS J Garner 94 4444 227 19.58 20.16 200.00
1 SM Pollock 132 6832 283 24.14 23.01 175.23
2 DW Steyn 119 7374 299 24.66 23.58 171.00
3 AA Donald 87 5243 223 23.51 23.61 170.84
4 PM Pollock 52 2806 116 24.19 23.76 169.74
5 VD Philander 86 3749 156 24.03 23.84 169.18
6 K Rabada 82 5077 206 24.65 25.22 159.90
7 TL Goddard 75 3226 123 26.23 26.03 154.92
8 M Morkel 124 6893 243 28.37 26.93 149.74
9 M Ntini 118 7502 228 32.90 30.09 134.00
10 A Nel 40 2247 58 38.74 35.39 113.94

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 100
RANK BOWLER INNS BALLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS Waqar Younis 154 16224 373 43.50 43.78 300.00
1 DW Steyn 171 18608 439 42.39 44.21 297.08
2 K Rabada 116 11788 299 39.42 44.35 296.11
3 AA Donald 129 15519 330 47.03 46.32 283.50
4 PM Pollock 52 6522 116 56.22 47.83 274.55
5 M Ntini 190 20834 390 53.42 53.87 243.80
6 VD Philander 119 11391 224 50.85 55.14 238.16
7 M Morkel 160 16498 309 53.39 55.49 236.65
8 SM Pollock 202 24353 421 57.85 57.93 226.70
9 A Nel 69 7630 123 62.03 62.76 209.26
10 TL Goddard 75 11736 123 95.41 77.52 169.41

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

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE WT RAT
TS N Kapil Dev 9/83 8/85 8/106 7/56 7/220 6/63 6/77 7.29 100.00
1 DW Steyn 7/51 6/8 6/34 6/49 6/50 6/72 6/100 6.14 84.31
1 AA Donald 8/71 7/84 6/53 6/59 6/88 5/32 5/36 6.14 84.31
3 SM Pollock 7/87 6/30 6/39 6/50 6/56 6/78 5/28 6.00 82.35
4 K Rabada 7/112 6/32 6/50 6/54 6/55 5/30 5/33 5.86 80.39
4 M Ntini 7/37 6/59 6/66 6/95 6/100 5/19 5/35 5.86 80.39
6 VD Philander 6/21 6/42 6/44 6/81 5/7 5/15 5/21 5.57 76.47
7 PM Pollock 6/38 6/47 6/95 5/34 5/39 5/43 5/53 5.43 74.51
8 M Morkel 6/23 5/20 5/21 5/23 5/50 5/54 5/75 5.14 70.59
9 TL Goddard 6/53 5/31 5/60 5/69 5/80 4/18 4/59 4.86 66.67
10 A Nel 6/32 6/81 5/87 4/53 4/56 4/81 4/84 4.71 64.71

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 half of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 DW Steyn 124.72 352.98 297.08 84.31 859.09 429.54
2 K Rabada 117.41 336.67 296.11 80.39 830.57 415.29
3 AA Donald 93.75 349.61 283.50 84.31 811.17 405.59
4 SM Pollock 119.60 356.48 226.70 82.35 785.13 392.57
5 VD Philander 87.96 349.59 238.16 76.47 752.18 376.09
6 PM Pollock 42.76 337.86 274.55 74.51 729.69 364.84
7 M Ntini 110.80 285.52 243.80 80.39 720.51 360.25
8 M Morkel 87.78 301.80 236.65 70.59 696.82 348.41
9 TL Goddard 45.35 308.38 169.41 66.67 589.80 294.90
10 A Nel 34.94 251.18 209.26 64.71 560.08 280.04

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 250.00
Away 1,000.00
Favourable Conditions 250.00
Unfavourable Conditions 1,000.00

HOME/AWAY


HOME/AWAY 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: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 63 184 19.07 33.20 825.08 206.27
2 DW Steyn 99 261 21.62 40.21 785.51 196.38
3 SM Pollock 109 235 21.09 52.57 739.46 184.87
4 VD Philander 69 146 19.09 43.89 738.46 184.61
5 AA Donald 68 177 21.64 45.02 729.64 182.41
6 M Ntini 103 249 24.04 45.24 729.56 182.39
7 M Morkel 80 155 26.19 50.51 608.02 152.01
8 PM Pollock 31 56 26.29 62.14 605.31 151.33
9 TL Goddard 41 63 27.33 103.25 504.09 126.02
10 A Nel 39 70 31.03 59.70 503.49 125.87

Away From Home

Min Innings: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DW Steyn 72 178 24.91 45.57 823.67 823.67
2 AA Donald 61 153 22.96 49.35 792.37 792.37
3 SM Pollock 93 186 25.69 64.52 734.72 734.72
4 K Rabada 53 115 26.90 49.39 719.93 719.93
5 M Morkel 80 154 29.16 56.29 703.78 703.78
6 VD Philander 50 78 28.37 63.88 654.02 654.02
7 M Ntini 87 141 37.28 67.86 603.37 603.37
8 TL Goddard 34 60 25.07 87.18 588.37 588.37
9 A Nel 30 53 32.96 65.11 541.72 541.72
10 PM Pollock 21 60 22.23 50.70 500.00 500.00

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 Outside Asia

Min Innings: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 99 277 21.01 36.86 805.29 201.32
2 DW Steyn 133 347 22.65 42.23 776.72 194.18
3 AA Donald 113 294 22.49 46.85 763.73 190.93
4 VD Philander 102 208 21.11 47.76 736.47 184.12
5 SM Pollock 171 361 23.11 58.01 735.93 183.98
6 PM Pollock 52 116 24.19 56.22 693.29 173.32
7 M Ntini 158 342 28.03 51.53 691.89 172.97
8 M Morkel 129 261 27.08 51.74 645.44 161.36
9 TL Goddard 75 123 26.23 95.41 569.80 142.45
10 A Nel 62 115 30.37 59.45 543.19 135.80

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DW Steyn 38 92 24.12 42.99 946.80 946.80
2 SM Pollock 31 60 23.18 56.85 760.13 760.13
3 AA Donald 16 36 20.33 48.50 680.00 680.00
4 M Morkel 31 48 30.85 62.38 646.55 646.55
5 M Ntini 32 48 34.52 66.90 587.88 587.88
6 K Rabada 17 22 35.64 71.73 510.67 510.67
7 A Nel 7 8 53.25 99.13 500.00 500.00
7 PM Pollock 0 0 NA NA 500.00 500.00
7 TL Goddard 0 0 NA NA 500.00 500.00
10 VD Philander 17 16 38.06 91.00 404.55 404.55

CONDITIONS RATING


The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 DW Steyn 823.67 196.38 946.80 194.18 2,161.03 216.10
2 SM Pollock 734.72 184.87 760.13 183.98 1,863.69 186.37
3 AA Donald 792.37 182.41 680.00 190.93 1,845.71 184.57
4 M Morkel 703.78 152.01 646.55 161.36 1,663.69 166.37
5 K Rabada 719.93 206.27 510.67 201.32 1,638.19 163.82
6 M Ntini 603.37 182.39 587.88 172.97 1,546.61 154.66
7 VD Philander 654.02 184.61 404.55 184.12 1,427.31 142.73
8 TL Goddard 588.37 126.02 500.00 142.45 1,356.84 135.68
9 PM Pollock 500.00 151.33 500.00 173.32 1,324.65 132.47
10 A Nel 541.72 125.87 500.00 135.80 1,303.39 130.34

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four 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 four secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Top Form Home 200.00
Top Form Away 800.00
Wkts Per Inn 500.00
Impact Innings 1,000.00
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our OVERALL Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME


Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 K Rabada 30 95 16.57 29.91 814.23 162.85
2 DW Steyn 30 92 17.17 36.51 776.29 155.26
3 AA Donald 30 87 18.21 36.07 762.57 152.51
4 M Ntini 30 96 20.86 38.63 758.63 151.73
5 SM Pollock 30 79 17.16 46.19 716.12 143.22
6 VD Philander 30 65 16.18 40.40 672.63 134.53
7 M Morkel 30 66 21.79 43.03 605.98 121.20
8 PM Pollock 30 56 26.25 62.02 555.09 111.02
9 A Nel 30 52 31.00 60.10 484.74 96.95
10 TL Goddard 30 48 26.98 96.94 461.23 92.25

TOP FORM AWAY


Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DW Steyn 30 90 21.74 37.56 830.52 664.42
2 AA Donald 30 85 18.51 44.33 817.22 653.78
3 SM Pollock 30 78 19.10 54.04 754.96 603.97
4 K Rabada 30 73 23.51 43.03 689.94 551.95
5 PM Pollock 21 60 22.23 50.70 684.81 547.85
6 VD Philander 30 56 23.77 54.70 642.03 513.62
7 M Morkel 30 60 24.98 54.32 632.35 505.88
8 M Ntini 30 59 29.24 54.36 622.29 497.83
9 TL Goddard 30 53 25.74 86.74 549.92 439.93
10 A Nel 30 53 32.96 65.11 541.90 433.52

WKTS/INN


WKTS/INN RATING

Points to note:-

  • This rating gives points for wkts taken per inn.
  • All Teams, Top Teams and Top 7 Batsmen are the criteria used.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS WKTS/INN RAT WTG
1 AA Donald 129 330 2.56 920.91 460.45
2 K Rabada 116 299 2.58 878.23 439.11
3 DW Steyn 171 439 2.57 873.42 436.71
4 PM Pollock 52 116 2.23 789.96 394.98
5 SM Pollock 202 421 2.08 741.99 371.00
6 M Ntini 190 390 2.05 729.25 364.63
7 M Morkel 160 309 1.93 684.39 342.19
8 VD Philander 119 224 1.88 668.79 334.40
9 TL Goddard 75 123 1.64 580.53 290.26
10 A Nel 69 123 1.78 568.09 284.05

IMPACT INNINGS


Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings 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 takes equal to or more wickets than 5.
  • A Bowler equal to or more wickets than 3 at a good AVE or SR.
  • 1st and 2nd; and 3rd and 4th inns are clubbed together.
  • The AVE should be less than 80% of the AVE of the better innings or
  • The SR should be less than 80% of the SR of the better innings.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 DW Steyn 171 64 37.43 855.87 855.87
2 AA Donald 129 43 33.33 724.88 724.88
3 SM Pollock 202 54 26.73 643.98 643.98
4 M Morkel 160 42 26.25 643.19 643.19
5 PM Pollock 52 13 25.00 622.76 622.76
6 M Ntini 190 53 27.89 610.42 610.42
7 K Rabada 116 32 27.59 577.11 577.11
8 VD Philander 119 33 27.73 567.37 567.37
9 A Nel 69 17 24.64 459.95 459.95
10 TL Goddard 75 13 17.33 403.56 403.56

SECONDARY RATING


The total of the above three criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW WPI II TOT SEC RAT
1 DW Steyn 155.26 664.42 436.71 855.87 2,112.26 211.23
2 AA Donald 152.51 653.78 460.45 724.88 1,991.62 199.16
3 SM Pollock 143.22 603.97 371.00 643.98 1,762.17 176.22
4 K Rabada 162.85 551.95 439.11 577.11 1,731.03 173.10
5 PM Pollock 111.02 547.85 394.98 622.76 1,676.61 167.66
6 M Ntini 151.73 497.83 364.63 610.42 1,624.60 162.46
7 M Morkel 121.20 505.88 342.19 643.19 1,612.46 161.25
8 VD Philander 134.53 513.62 334.40 567.37 1,549.92 154.99
9 A Nel 96.95 433.52 284.05 459.95 1,274.47 127.45
10 TL Goddard 92.25 439.93 290.26 403.56 1,226.00 122.60

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts. Half the points are for Primary Criteria; one-fourth for Conditions; and one-fourth for Secondary Criteria.

RANK OV RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 4 DW Steyn SA 429.54 216.10 211.23 856.87
2 7 AA Donald SA 405.59 184.57 199.16 789.32
3 17 SM Pollock SA 392.57 186.37 176.22 755.15
4 18 K Rabada SA 415.29 163.82 173.10 752.21
5 37 M Ntini SA 360.25 154.66 162.46 677.37
6 38 M Morkel SA 348.41 166.37 161.25 676.02
7 39 VD Philander SA 376.09 142.73 154.99 673.81
8 42 PM Pollock SA 364.84 132.47 167.66 664.97
9 91 TL Goddard SA 294.90 135.68 122.60 553.18
10 98 A Nel SA 280.04 130.34 127.45 537.83

TOP TEAMS

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 SL PAK AUS ENG NZ

Top Teams Outside Asia


DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5
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
FULL RATING WITH ALL NATIONS


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