Days of Grace
International Captain
Hey guys.
Now that the World Cup's over, I thought I'd get back into posting some of my ratings for discussion/debate. This is the top 100 test bowling performances. I've actually been working on innings ratings for test battling and bowling over the past couple of months, trying to get them in sync as much as possible, yet also realizing that batting and bowling performances need different criteria. What has changed is that I now rate the opposition by the official ICC player ratings that were current at the end of the series in which the performance occurred. This is coupled with the series performance of the opposition team in general. I feel this gives a very good indicator of the worthiness of each opponent.
The bowling performances are rated by wickets taken, top 7 wickets taken, strike-rate, economy-rate (the latter two in comparison with the s/r and e/r of other bowlers in the same match), together with match result, series result, opposition, and match situation. Happy reading.
If you have any questions regarding other performances that may not have made the cut (and I obviously haven't checked all performances since I don't have the software) then let me know.
A performance with a rating above 10.00 is considered a great spell.
Dubious and surprising rankings are in bold.
1 RGD Willis 8 43 Australia Leeds 1981 Won 19.58
2 RJ Hadlee 9 52 Australia Brisbane 1985 Won 18.88
3 JC Laker 9 37 Australia Manchester 1956 Won 18.84
4 CEL Croft 8 29 Pakistan Port of Spain 1977 Won 18.37
5 JC Laker 10 53 Australia Manchester 1956 Won 18.09
6 HJ Tayfield 9 113 England Johannesburg 1957 Won 18.01
7 TE Bailey 7 34 West Indies Kingston 1954 Won 17.97
8 WJ Whitty 6 17 South Africa Melbourne 1911 Won 17.96
9 JJC Lawson 6 3 Bangladesh Dhaka 2002 Won 17.92
10 DW Steyn 6 8 Pakistan Johannesburg 2013 Won 17.81
11 AER Gilligan 6 7 South Africa Birmingham 1924 Won 17.75
12 SJ Harmison 7 12 West Indies Kingston 2004 Won 17.71
13 Abdur Rehman 6 25 England Abu Dubai 2012 Won 17.51
14 N. Kapil Dev 8 85 Pakistan Lahore 1983 Draw 17.50
15 DE Malcolm 9 57 South Africa The Oval 1994 Won 17.39
16 H Trumble 6 53 England Manchester 1902 Won 17.18
17 DW Steyn 7 51 India Nagpur 2010 Won 16.96
18 GD McGrath 8 24 Pakistan Perth 2004 Won 16.96
19 IT Botham 5 11 Australia Birmingham 1981 Won 16.95
20 A Kumble 10 74 Pakistan Delhi 1999 Won 16.91
21 PS de Villiers 6 43 Australia Sydney 1994 Won 16.78
22 Harbhajan Singh 8 84 Australia Chennai 2001 Won 16.75
23 MA Noble 7 17 England Melbourne 1902 Won 16.74
24 R Peel 6 67 Australia Sydney 1894 Won 16.71
25 W Barnes 6 28 Australia Sydney 1887 Won 16.69
26 Fazal Mahmood 6 46 England The Oval 1954 Won 16.50
27 JE Taylor 5 11 England Kingston 2009 Won 16.49
28 JB Statham 7 39 South Africa Lord's 1955 Won 16.47
29 D Gough 6 42 South Africa Leeds 1998 Won 16.46
30 J Srinath 6 21 South Africa Ahmedabad 1996 Won 16.44
31 FR Spofforth 7 44 England The Oval 1882 Won 16.44
32 SJ Harmison 6 19 Pakistan Manchester 2006 Won 16.40
33 M Muralitharan 6 26 India Colombo (SSC) 2008 Won 16.36
34 Shoaib Akhtar 6 11 New Zealand Lahore 2002 Won 16.35
35 Harbhajan Singh 5 29 Australia Mumbai 2004 Won 16.32
36 MHN Walker 6 15 Pakistan Sydney 1973 Won 16.32
37 SK Warne 7 23 Pakistan Brisbane 1995 Won 16.29
38 JN Gillespie 7 37 England Leeds 1997 Won 16.22
39 LR Gibbs 8 38 India Bridgetown 1962 Won 16.18
40 JA Snow 7 40 Australia Sydney 1971 Won 16.15
41 JM Patel 9 69 Australia Kanpur 1959 Won 16.14
42 RJ Hadlee 7 23 India Wellington 1976 Won 16.13
43 DW Headley 6 60 Australia Melbourne 1998 Won 16.11
44 H Verity 8 43 Australia Lord's 1934 Won 16.07
45 AW Greig 8 86 West Indies Port of Spain 1974 Won 16.03
46 FS Trueman 8 31 India Manchester 1952 Won 15.98
47 M Muralitharan 9 51 Zimbabwe Kandy 2002 Won 15.98
48 MJ Hoggard 7 61 South Africa Johannesburg 2005 Won 15.96
49 AB Agarkar 6 41 Australia Adelaide 2003 Won 15.83
50 SK Warne 8 71 England Brisbane 1994 Won 15.83
51 CEL Ambrose 7 25 Australia Perth 1993 Won 15.82
52 DG Cork 7 43 West Indies Lord's 1995 Won 15.82
53 GA Lohmann 9 28 South Africa Johannesburg 1896 Won 15.81
54 GD McKenzie 8 71 West Indies Melbourne 1968 Won 15.81
55 AME Roberts 7 54 Australia Perth 1975 Won 15.80
56 RJ Kirtley 6 34 South Africa Nottingham 2003 Won 15.78
57 Imran Khan 6 35 India Hyderabad (Sind) 1983 Won 15.75
58 M Muralitharan 9 65 England The Oval 1998 Won 15.74
59 Abdul Qadir 6 16 West Indies Faisalabad 1986 Won 15.74
60 AEE Vogler 7 94 England Johannesburg 1910 Won 15.73
61 VD Philander 5 15 Australia Cape Town 2011 Won 15.72
62 ND Hirwani 8 75 West Indies Chennai 1988 Won 15.72
63 KJ Abbott 7 29 Pakistan Centurion 2013 Won 15.71
64 ND Hirwani 8 61 West Indies Chennai 1988 Won 15.71
65 MG Johnson 7 68 South Africa Centurion 2014 Won 15.69
66 MA Holding 8 92 England The Oval 1976 Won 15.67
67 N Kapil Dev 5 28 Australia Melbourne 1981 Won 15.61
68 W Rhodes 8 68 Australia Melbourne 1904 Won 15.60
69 Imran Khan 8 60 India Karachi 1982 Won 15.59
70 M Muralitharan 8 70 England Nottingham 2006 Won 15.59
71 IWG Johnson 7 44 West Indies Georgetown 1955 Won 15.55
72 BA Reid 7 51 England Melbourne 1990 Won 15.55
73 Abdul Qadir 9 56 England Lahore 1987 Won 15.54
74 RG Barlow 7 40 Australia Sydney 1883 Won 15.53
75 Shoaib Akhtar 6 30 New Zealand Wellington 2003 Won 15.51
76 GF Bissett 7 29 England Durban 1928 Won 15.48
77 AR Caddick 5 16 West Indies Lord's 2000 Won 15.47
78 DAJ Bracewell 6 40 Australia Hobart 2011 Won 15.46
79 M Muralitharan 6 39 South Africa Durban 2000 Draw 15.45
80 ARC Fraser 8 75 West Indies Bridgetown 1994 Won 15.45
81 CA Walsh 5 39 Australia Bridgetown 1999 Won 15.45
82 HMRKB Herath 9 127 Pakistan Colombo (SSC) 2014 Won 15.45
83 SB Doull 7 65 India Wellington 1998 Won 15.41
84 H Trumble 7 28 England Melbourne 1904 Won 15.41
85 AR Border 7 46 West Indies Sydney 1989 Won 15.40
86 R Peel 6 23 Australia The Oval 1896 Won 15.38
87 FH Tyson 7 27 Australia Melbourne 1955 Won 15.37
88 M Marshall 7 22 England Manchester 1988 Won 15.34
89 AR Caddick 5 42 Australia The Oval 1997 Won 15.33
90 MA Holding 6 21 Australia Perth 1984 Won 15.29
91 PM Hornibrook 7 92 England The Oval 1930 Won 15.26
92 MG Johnson 7 40 England Adelaide 2013 Won 15.26
93 SF Barnes 8 56 South Africa Johannesburg 1913 Won 15.25
94 CEL Ambrose 8 45 England Bridgetown 1990 Won 15.24
95 A. Kumble 7 63 Pakistan Kolkata 2005 Won 15.22
96 CEL Ambrose 6 24 England Port of Spain 1994 Won 15.20
97 WPUJC Vass 6 29 South Africa Colombo (SSC) 2004 Won 15.19
98 CL Cairns 7 27 West Indies Hamilton 1999 Won 15.18
99 SF Barnes 9 103 South Africa Johannesburg 1913 Won 15.17
100 MR Whitney 7 27 India Perth 1992 Won 15.16
Now that the World Cup's over, I thought I'd get back into posting some of my ratings for discussion/debate. This is the top 100 test bowling performances. I've actually been working on innings ratings for test battling and bowling over the past couple of months, trying to get them in sync as much as possible, yet also realizing that batting and bowling performances need different criteria. What has changed is that I now rate the opposition by the official ICC player ratings that were current at the end of the series in which the performance occurred. This is coupled with the series performance of the opposition team in general. I feel this gives a very good indicator of the worthiness of each opponent.
The bowling performances are rated by wickets taken, top 7 wickets taken, strike-rate, economy-rate (the latter two in comparison with the s/r and e/r of other bowlers in the same match), together with match result, series result, opposition, and match situation. Happy reading.
If you have any questions regarding other performances that may not have made the cut (and I obviously haven't checked all performances since I don't have the software) then let me know.
A performance with a rating above 10.00 is considered a great spell.
Dubious and surprising rankings are in bold.
1 RGD Willis 8 43 Australia Leeds 1981 Won 19.58
2 RJ Hadlee 9 52 Australia Brisbane 1985 Won 18.88
3 JC Laker 9 37 Australia Manchester 1956 Won 18.84
4 CEL Croft 8 29 Pakistan Port of Spain 1977 Won 18.37
5 JC Laker 10 53 Australia Manchester 1956 Won 18.09
6 HJ Tayfield 9 113 England Johannesburg 1957 Won 18.01
7 TE Bailey 7 34 West Indies Kingston 1954 Won 17.97
8 WJ Whitty 6 17 South Africa Melbourne 1911 Won 17.96
9 JJC Lawson 6 3 Bangladesh Dhaka 2002 Won 17.92
10 DW Steyn 6 8 Pakistan Johannesburg 2013 Won 17.81
11 AER Gilligan 6 7 South Africa Birmingham 1924 Won 17.75
12 SJ Harmison 7 12 West Indies Kingston 2004 Won 17.71
13 Abdur Rehman 6 25 England Abu Dubai 2012 Won 17.51
14 N. Kapil Dev 8 85 Pakistan Lahore 1983 Draw 17.50
15 DE Malcolm 9 57 South Africa The Oval 1994 Won 17.39
16 H Trumble 6 53 England Manchester 1902 Won 17.18
17 DW Steyn 7 51 India Nagpur 2010 Won 16.96
18 GD McGrath 8 24 Pakistan Perth 2004 Won 16.96
19 IT Botham 5 11 Australia Birmingham 1981 Won 16.95
20 A Kumble 10 74 Pakistan Delhi 1999 Won 16.91
21 PS de Villiers 6 43 Australia Sydney 1994 Won 16.78
22 Harbhajan Singh 8 84 Australia Chennai 2001 Won 16.75
23 MA Noble 7 17 England Melbourne 1902 Won 16.74
24 R Peel 6 67 Australia Sydney 1894 Won 16.71
25 W Barnes 6 28 Australia Sydney 1887 Won 16.69
26 Fazal Mahmood 6 46 England The Oval 1954 Won 16.50
27 JE Taylor 5 11 England Kingston 2009 Won 16.49
28 JB Statham 7 39 South Africa Lord's 1955 Won 16.47
29 D Gough 6 42 South Africa Leeds 1998 Won 16.46
30 J Srinath 6 21 South Africa Ahmedabad 1996 Won 16.44
31 FR Spofforth 7 44 England The Oval 1882 Won 16.44
32 SJ Harmison 6 19 Pakistan Manchester 2006 Won 16.40
33 M Muralitharan 6 26 India Colombo (SSC) 2008 Won 16.36
34 Shoaib Akhtar 6 11 New Zealand Lahore 2002 Won 16.35
35 Harbhajan Singh 5 29 Australia Mumbai 2004 Won 16.32
36 MHN Walker 6 15 Pakistan Sydney 1973 Won 16.32
37 SK Warne 7 23 Pakistan Brisbane 1995 Won 16.29
38 JN Gillespie 7 37 England Leeds 1997 Won 16.22
39 LR Gibbs 8 38 India Bridgetown 1962 Won 16.18
40 JA Snow 7 40 Australia Sydney 1971 Won 16.15
41 JM Patel 9 69 Australia Kanpur 1959 Won 16.14
42 RJ Hadlee 7 23 India Wellington 1976 Won 16.13
43 DW Headley 6 60 Australia Melbourne 1998 Won 16.11
44 H Verity 8 43 Australia Lord's 1934 Won 16.07
45 AW Greig 8 86 West Indies Port of Spain 1974 Won 16.03
46 FS Trueman 8 31 India Manchester 1952 Won 15.98
47 M Muralitharan 9 51 Zimbabwe Kandy 2002 Won 15.98
48 MJ Hoggard 7 61 South Africa Johannesburg 2005 Won 15.96
49 AB Agarkar 6 41 Australia Adelaide 2003 Won 15.83
50 SK Warne 8 71 England Brisbane 1994 Won 15.83
51 CEL Ambrose 7 25 Australia Perth 1993 Won 15.82
52 DG Cork 7 43 West Indies Lord's 1995 Won 15.82
53 GA Lohmann 9 28 South Africa Johannesburg 1896 Won 15.81
54 GD McKenzie 8 71 West Indies Melbourne 1968 Won 15.81
55 AME Roberts 7 54 Australia Perth 1975 Won 15.80
56 RJ Kirtley 6 34 South Africa Nottingham 2003 Won 15.78
57 Imran Khan 6 35 India Hyderabad (Sind) 1983 Won 15.75
58 M Muralitharan 9 65 England The Oval 1998 Won 15.74
59 Abdul Qadir 6 16 West Indies Faisalabad 1986 Won 15.74
60 AEE Vogler 7 94 England Johannesburg 1910 Won 15.73
61 VD Philander 5 15 Australia Cape Town 2011 Won 15.72
62 ND Hirwani 8 75 West Indies Chennai 1988 Won 15.72
63 KJ Abbott 7 29 Pakistan Centurion 2013 Won 15.71
64 ND Hirwani 8 61 West Indies Chennai 1988 Won 15.71
65 MG Johnson 7 68 South Africa Centurion 2014 Won 15.69
66 MA Holding 8 92 England The Oval 1976 Won 15.67
67 N Kapil Dev 5 28 Australia Melbourne 1981 Won 15.61
68 W Rhodes 8 68 Australia Melbourne 1904 Won 15.60
69 Imran Khan 8 60 India Karachi 1982 Won 15.59
70 M Muralitharan 8 70 England Nottingham 2006 Won 15.59
71 IWG Johnson 7 44 West Indies Georgetown 1955 Won 15.55
72 BA Reid 7 51 England Melbourne 1990 Won 15.55
73 Abdul Qadir 9 56 England Lahore 1987 Won 15.54
74 RG Barlow 7 40 Australia Sydney 1883 Won 15.53
75 Shoaib Akhtar 6 30 New Zealand Wellington 2003 Won 15.51
76 GF Bissett 7 29 England Durban 1928 Won 15.48
77 AR Caddick 5 16 West Indies Lord's 2000 Won 15.47
78 DAJ Bracewell 6 40 Australia Hobart 2011 Won 15.46
79 M Muralitharan 6 39 South Africa Durban 2000 Draw 15.45
80 ARC Fraser 8 75 West Indies Bridgetown 1994 Won 15.45
81 CA Walsh 5 39 Australia Bridgetown 1999 Won 15.45
82 HMRKB Herath 9 127 Pakistan Colombo (SSC) 2014 Won 15.45
83 SB Doull 7 65 India Wellington 1998 Won 15.41
84 H Trumble 7 28 England Melbourne 1904 Won 15.41
85 AR Border 7 46 West Indies Sydney 1989 Won 15.40
86 R Peel 6 23 Australia The Oval 1896 Won 15.38
87 FH Tyson 7 27 Australia Melbourne 1955 Won 15.37
88 M Marshall 7 22 England Manchester 1988 Won 15.34
89 AR Caddick 5 42 Australia The Oval 1997 Won 15.33
90 MA Holding 6 21 Australia Perth 1984 Won 15.29
91 PM Hornibrook 7 92 England The Oval 1930 Won 15.26
92 MG Johnson 7 40 England Adelaide 2013 Won 15.26
93 SF Barnes 8 56 South Africa Johannesburg 1913 Won 15.25
94 CEL Ambrose 8 45 England Bridgetown 1990 Won 15.24
95 A. Kumble 7 63 Pakistan Kolkata 2005 Won 15.22
96 CEL Ambrose 6 24 England Port of Spain 1994 Won 15.20
97 WPUJC Vass 6 29 South Africa Colombo (SSC) 2004 Won 15.19
98 CL Cairns 7 27 West Indies Hamilton 1999 Won 15.18
99 SF Barnes 9 103 South Africa Johannesburg 1913 Won 15.17
100 MR Whitney 7 27 India Perth 1992 Won 15.16
