Top 25 Fast Bowlers With Most Wickets In Tests

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.

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

History of Top Wicket Takers

Fred Trueman of England was the first bowler to cross 300 wickets in test cricket. He finished his career in 1965 with 307 wickets. His record was broken by Dennis Lillee of Australia, in December 1981. Dennis Lillee retired in 1984 with 355 wickets. Ian Botham of England crossed his tally at The Oval in 1986. Richard Hadlee of New Zealand equalled Ian Botham’s tally of 373 wickets against Australia in Melbourne in December 1987. He took the record to 431 wickets. Kapil Dev broke his record against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad in February 1994. Kapil’s record of 434 stood for around 6 years before it was broken by Courtney Walsh in March 2000. Walsh took the record past 500 wickets for the first time retiring in April 2001 with 519 wickets. Then there was a tussle between Muthiah Muralidaran and Shane Warne for the record which was won by Muralidaran, who has took the record to a mammoth 800 wickets by the time he retired from Tests in July 2010. Among fast bowlers, the record for most wickets is held by James Anderson, who is the only one with more than 600 wickets.

TOP 25 Pacers WITH MOST WICKETS IN TEST CRICKET


RANK BOWLER NAT FP LP INNS RUNS WKTS
1 JM Anderson ENG 2003 2022 329 17639 675
2 SCJ Broad ENG 2007 2022 293 15720 566
3 GD McGrath AUS 1993 2007 243 12186 563
4 CA Walsh WI 1984 2001 242 12688 519
5 DW Steyn SA 2004 2019 171 10077 439
6 N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 227 12867 434
7 RJ Hadlee NZ 1973 1990 150 9612 431
8 SM Pollock SA 1995 2008 202 9733 421
9 Wasim Akram PAK 1985 2002 181 9778 414
10 CEL Ambrose WI 1988 2000 179 8501 405
11 M Ntini SA 1998 2009 190 11242 390
12 IT Botham ENG 1977 1992 168 10878 383
13 MD Marshall WI 1978 1991 151 7876 376
14 Waqar Younis PAK 1989 2003 154 8788 373
15 Imran Khan PAK 1971 1991 142 8258 362
16 WPUJC Vaas SL 1994 2009 194 10501 355
16 DK Lillee AUS 1971 1984 132 8493 355
18 TG Southee NZ 2008 2023 170 10274 353
19 AA Donald SA 1992 2002 129 7344 330
20 RGD Willis ENG 1971 1984 165 8190 325
21 TA Boult NZ 2011 2022 149 8717 317
22 MG Johnson AUS 2007 2015 140 8891 313
23 Zaheer Khan IND 2000 2014 165 10247 311
23 I Sharma IND 2007 2021 188 10078 311
25 B Lee AUS 1999 2008 150 9554 310


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