Best West Indian Fast Bowlers In Tests Featured

Top 10 West Indian Fast Bowlers In Tests Since 1950

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). 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. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 10 West Indian Fast bowlers in Test Cricket since 1950.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2025-09-10

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. ATTACKING
3.4. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)
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. TOP FORM AT HOME
5.2. TOP FORM AWAY
5.3. IMPACT INNINGS
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
Nations Filter

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

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

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, 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 (TT) 30
Min Career Wkts 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 MD Marshall WI 1978 1991 1984.5 151 376 138.62
2 J Garner WI 1977 1987 1982 111 259 95.48
3 MA Holding WI 1975 1987 1981 113 249 91.80
4 AME Roberts WI 1974 1983 1978.5 90 202 74.47
5 WW Hall WI 1958 1969 1963.5 92 192 70.78
6 CEH Croft WI 1977 1982 1979.5 52 125 46.08
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS JM Anderson ENG 2003 2024 2013.5 350 704 200.00
1 CA Walsh WI 1984 2001 1992.5 242 519 147.44
2 CEL Ambrose WI 1988 2000 1994 179 405 115.06
3 IR Bishop WI 1989 1998 1993.5 76 161 45.74
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS MA Starc AUS 2011 2025 2018 192 402 160.00
1 KAJ Roach WI 2009 2025 2017 154 284 113.03

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 91 4341 219 19.82 19.26 200.00
1 CEL Ambrose 179 8501 405 20.99 20.92 184.07
2 MD Marshall 151 7876 376 20.95 21.56 178.66
3 J Garner 111 5433 259 20.98 21.84 176.31
4 CEH Croft 52 2913 125 23.30 23.39 164.68
5 CA Walsh 242 12688 519 24.45 23.77 162.00
6 IR Bishop 76 3909 161 24.28 24.49 157.24
7 MA Holding 113 5898 249 23.69 24.55 156.89
8 WW Hall 92 5066 192 26.39 24.88 154.80
9 AME Roberts 90 5174 202 25.61 25.64 150.19
10 KAJ Roach 154 7729 284 27.21 27.16 141.82

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 79 3990 185 21.57 20.39 200.00
1 J Garner 94 4444 227 19.58 20.44 199.54
2 CEL Ambrose 142 7141 344 20.76 20.51 198.90
3 MD Marshall 125 6470 303 21.35 22.03 185.13
4 IR Bishop 56 2874 121 23.75 23.66 172.40
5 MA Holding 94 4733 207 22.86 23.90 170.68
6 AME Roberts 68 3718 154 24.14 24.22 168.37
7 CA Walsh 197 10467 413 25.34 24.42 167.01
8 CEH Croft 42 2237 92 24.32 24.51 166.41
9 WW Hall 82 4641 165 28.13 26.06 156.53
10 KAJ Roach 98 5504 187 29.43 27.34 149.15

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 DW Steyn 171 18608 439 42.39 44.21 300.00
1 WW Hall 92 10421 192 54.28 44.23 299.89
2 MD Marshall 151 17584 376 46.77 46.88 282.94
3 CEH Croft 52 6165 125 49.32 47.29 280.47
4 MA Holding 113 12680 249 50.92 49.95 265.57
5 J Garner 111 13175 259 50.87 50.39 263.24
6 AME Roberts 90 11135 202 55.12 51.82 255.97
7 IR Bishop 76 8413 161 52.25 51.83 255.93
8 CEL Ambrose 179 22103 405 54.58 53.78 246.62
9 CA Walsh 242 30019 519 57.84 56.11 236.42
10 KAJ Roach 154 14944 284 52.62 57.35 231.29

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 MD Marshall 7/22 7/53 7/80 6/32 6/37 6/55 6/69 6.43 88.24
1 CEL Ambrose 8/45 7/25 6/24 6/34 6/51 6/52 6/74 6.43 88.24
3 MA Holding 8/92 6/21 6/57 6/62 6/65 6/67 5/17 6.14 84.31
3 CA Walsh 7/37 6/18 6/54 6/61 6/62 6/74 6/79 6.14 84.31
5 WW Hall 7/69 6/49 6/50 6/90 5/20 5/60 5/63 5.71 78.43
5 AME Roberts 7/54 7/64 6/37 5/39 5/50 5/56 5/57 5.71 78.43
7 J Garner 6/56 6/60 6/75 5/51 5/55 5/56 5/63 5.43 74.51
8 IR Bishop 6/40 6/87 5/32 5/41 5/43 5/84 4/22 5.14 70.59
8 KAJ Roach 6/48 5/8 5/17 5/41 5/42 5/47 5/53 5.14 70.59
10 CEH Croft 8/29 6/74 5/40 4/15 4/39 4/47 4/47 5.00 68.63

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 MD Marshall 138.62 363.79 282.94 88.24 873.59 349.44
2 CEL Ambrose 115.06 382.96 246.62 88.24 832.88 333.15
3 J Garner 95.48 375.86 263.24 74.51 809.09 323.64
4 CA Walsh 147.44 329.01 236.42 84.31 797.18 318.87
5 MA Holding 91.80 327.58 265.57 84.31 769.25 307.70
6 WW Hall 70.78 311.33 299.89 78.43 760.44 304.17
7 AME Roberts 74.47 318.56 255.97 78.43 727.43 290.97
8 CEH Croft 46.08 331.09 280.47 68.63 726.27 290.51
9 KAJ Roach 113.03 290.97 231.29 70.59 705.89 282.35
10 IR Bishop 45.74 329.64 255.93 70.59 701.90 280.76

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: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 MD Marshall 58 157 20.06 42.50 813.38 24.40
2 KAJ Roach 89 196 22.30 46.19 760.96 22.83
3 CEL Ambrose 93 203 21.19 55.79 748.56 22.46
4 J Garner 56 123 22.34 51.14 726.06 21.78
5 CA Walsh 105 229 23.70 58.95 705.48 21.16
6 WW Hall 35 74 25.82 54.49 686.09 20.58
7 MA Holding 42 86 23.76 50.15 673.23 20.20
8 IR Bishop 36 71 24.56 51.82 626.93 18.81
9 AME Roberts 34 72 28.75 57.97 588.78 17.66
10 CEH Croft 22 66 19.71 39.17 500.00 15.00

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 MD Marshall 93 219 21.58 49.83 849.29 101.91
2 CEL Ambrose 86 202 20.79 53.36 830.83 99.70
3 CA Walsh 137 290 25.03 56.96 822.02 98.64
4 J Garner 55 136 19.74 50.63 793.02 95.16
5 MA Holding 71 163 23.65 51.33 769.90 92.39
6 AME Roberts 56 130 23.88 53.55 753.13 90.38
7 WW Hall 57 118 26.74 54.14 736.43 88.37
8 IR Bishop 40 90 24.06 52.60 686.95 82.43
9 CEH Croft 30 59 27.32 60.68 584.85 70.18
10 KAJ Roach 65 88 38.17 66.94 531.84 63.82

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 MD Marshall 117 305 20.46 46.30 809.74 24.29
2 CEL Ambrose 169 387 20.92 54.49 787.61 23.63
3 J Garner 106 249 21.05 50.73 760.21 22.81
4 CA Walsh 211 442 25.13 60.03 722.61 21.68
5 MA Holding 102 219 23.90 51.77 711.38 21.34
6 KAJ Roach 134 263 26.13 50.97 672.24 20.17
7 CEH Croft 45 108 24.18 49.86 648.57 19.46
8 WW Hall 70 138 28.86 58.32 648.17 19.45
9 IR Bishop 67 141 23.99 52.26 646.03 19.38
10 AME Roberts 73 153 26.92 57.71 626.48 18.79

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 CA Walsh 31 77 20.53 45.26 907.55 108.91
2 WW Hall 22 54 20.06 43.94 863.68 103.64
3 MD Marshall 34 71 23.06 48.75 849.93 101.99
4 AME Roberts 17 49 21.53 47.04 846.10 101.53
5 MA Holding 11 30 22.10 44.73 699.22 83.91
6 CEL Ambrose 10 18 22.50 56.33 581.74 69.81
7 CEH Croft 7 17 17.76 45.88 500.00 60.00
7 J Garner 5 10 19.20 54.30 500.00 60.00
7 IR Bishop 9 20 26.30 52.20 500.00 60.00
10 KAJ Roach 20 21 40.86 73.33 442.37 53.08

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 MD Marshall 849.29 203.34 849.93 202.43 252.60
2 CA Walsh 822.02 176.37 907.55 180.65 250.39
3 WW Hall 736.43 171.52 863.68 162.04 232.04
4 AME Roberts 753.13 147.19 846.10 156.62 228.37
5 MA Holding 769.90 168.31 699.22 177.84 217.83
6 CEL Ambrose 830.83 187.14 581.74 196.90 215.59
7 J Garner 793.02 181.52 500.00 190.05 199.75
8 IR Bishop 686.95 156.73 500.00 161.51 180.62
9 CEH Croft 584.85 125.00 500.00 162.14 164.64
10 KAJ Roach 531.84 190.24 442.37 168.06 159.90

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
Top Form Home 30.00
Top Form Away 120.00
Impact Innings 150.00
TF RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form (TF) 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 Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 MD Marshall 30 103 16.58 35.42 851.31 25.54
2 CEL Ambrose 30 80 18.59 49.70 725.95 21.78
3 CEH Croft 22 66 19.71 39.17 718.20 21.55
4 WW Hall 30 69 23.32 48.87 711.16 21.33
5 KAJ Roach 30 76 17.76 40.63 700.90 21.03
6 J Garner 30 72 19.54 45.47 682.29 20.47
7 CA Walsh 30 80 20.41 55.84 669.20 20.08
8 IR Bishop 30 67 21.93 48.55 629.90 18.90
9 MA Holding 30 65 23.37 51.98 598.28 17.95
10 AME Roberts 30 67 26.72 53.88 582.88 17.49

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 MD Marshall 30 95 16.29 41.11 876.54 105.19
2 AME Roberts 30 87 20.02 44.56 807.29 96.87
3 MA Holding 30 85 18.98 41.35 795.38 95.45
4 CEL Ambrose 30 85 18.38 49.88 787.71 94.52
5 CA Walsh 30 87 20.51 49.66 763.93 91.67
6 WW Hall 30 75 22.41 48.36 746.94 89.63
7 J Garner 30 74 17.07 49.84 737.44 88.49
8 IR Bishop 30 74 21.51 48.74 703.47 84.42
9 CEH Croft 30 59 27.32 60.68 547.28 65.67
10 KAJ Roach 30 50 34.72 58.30 508.54 61.02

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 takes equal to or more wickets than 5.
  • A Bowler equal to or more wickets than 2 at a good AVE or SR.
  • 1st and 2nd; and 3rd and 4th inns are clubbed together.
  • The required AVE or SR is calculated by the number of wickets taken.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 30

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 MD Marshall 151 80 52.98 836.03 125.41
2 CEH Croft 52 31 59.62 822.59 123.39
3 J Garner 111 57 51.35 780.79 117.12
4 CEL Ambrose 179 84 46.93 740.28 111.04
5 WW Hall 92 43 46.74 683.91 102.59
6 AME Roberts 90 41 45.56 683.75 102.56
7 MA Holding 113 50 44.25 676.36 101.45
8 IR Bishop 76 34 44.74 616.29 92.44
9 CA Walsh 242 91 37.60 610.80 91.62
10 KAJ Roach 154 59 38.31 604.91 90.74

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 HM TF AW II SEC RAT
1 MD Marshall 25.54 105.19 125.41 256.13
2 CEL Ambrose 21.78 94.52 111.04 227.34
3 J Garner 20.47 88.49 117.12 226.08
4 AME Roberts 17.49 96.87 102.56 216.92
5 MA Holding 17.95 95.45 101.45 214.85
6 WW Hall 21.33 89.63 102.59 213.55
7 CEH Croft 21.55 65.67 123.39 210.61
8 CA Walsh 20.08 91.67 91.62 203.37
9 IR Bishop 18.90 84.42 92.44 195.76
10 KAJ Roach 21.03 61.02 90.74 172.79

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 3 MD Marshall WI 349.44 252.60 256.13 858.17
2 11 CEL Ambrose WI 333.15 215.59 227.34 776.09
3 12 CA Walsh WI 318.87 250.39 203.37 772.63
4 17 WW Hall WI 304.17 232.04 213.55 749.77
5 19 J Garner WI 323.64 199.75 226.08 749.47
6 24 MA Holding WI 307.70 217.83 214.85 740.38
7 26 AME Roberts WI 290.97 228.37 216.92 736.26
8 47 CEH Croft WI 290.51 164.64 210.61 665.75
9 53 IR Bishop WI 280.76 180.62 195.76 657.14
10 68 KAJ Roach WI 282.35 159.90 172.79 615.04

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 IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG SA AUS
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ ENG SA

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 ENG SA IND NZ
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND
2020s AUS NZ ENG SA IND

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