Scyld Berry 30 greatest test fast bowlers

[Johan]

It's not Top 10 cricketers though, it's Top 10 in the last 4 decades. Also, having Warne at 3 and Murali not in Top 10 is everything wrong with a certain kind of Cricket journalists.

guys I think are better than him and played in last 40 years would be

Sachin
Hadlee
Kallis
Steyn
Ambrose
McGrath
Marshall
Imran
Viv
Warne
arguably, Smith

 

[OverratedSanity]

It's not unusual that Hadlee isn't rated as highly by historians as he is here.

It's actually quite common.

Well yes of course, but they're wrong.

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Here are the 30 greatest Test fast bowlers from The Telegraph article by @scyldberry, published June 28, 2025:

1. Jasprit Bumrah (India)
2. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)
3. Curtly Ambrose (West Indies)
4. Imran Khan (Pakistan)
5. Glenn McGrath (Australia)
6. Wasim Akram (Pakistan)
7. Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
8. Shaun Pollock (South Africa)
9. Dale Steyn (South Africa)
10. Waqar Younis (Pakistan)
11. Pat Cummins (Australia)
12. Allan Donald (South Africa)
13. Dennis Lillee (Australia)
14. Alan Davidson (Australia)
15. Ray Lindwall (Australia)
16. Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)
17. Harold Larwood (England)
18. Michael Holding (West Indies)
19. Frank Tyson (England)
20. John Snow (England)
21. Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
22. James Anderson (England)
23. Fred Trueman (England)
24. Andy Roberts (West Indies)
25. Courtney Walsh (West Indies)
26. Mitchell Starc (Australia)
27. Joel Garner (West Indies)
28. Wes Hall (West Indies)
29. Mike Procter (South Africa)
30. Jack Gregory (Australia)

Ranked: The 30 greatest fast bowlers in Test history

After attending more than 500 Tests, Telegraph Sport’s sage runs the rule on the best of the quicks

www.telegraph.co.uk

Yeah this is a joke list

 

[capt_Luffy]

guys I think are better than him and played in last 40 years would be

Sachin
Hadlee
Kallis
Steyn
Ambrose
McGrath
Marshall
Imran
Viv
Warne
arguably, Smith

Doesn't change its stupid to have Warne at 3 and Murali not there. Also will have him over Steyn, Ambrose Defo, especially on counting ODIs.

 

[Johan]

Doesn't change its stupid to have Warne at 3 and Murali not there. Also will have him over Steyn, Ambrose Defo, especially on counting ODIs.

who cares about ODIs, definitely not the ICC

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Two points.

He actually wrote an article last week calling Bumrah the greatest bowler to have drawn breath, extolling his virtues.

And

It's not unusual that Hadlee isn't rated as highly by historians as he is here.

It's actually quite common.

But yeah, it's not a god list.

There are not 15 better test seamers than Hadlee no matter how you spin it.

 

[capt_Luffy]

who cares about ODIs, definitely not the ICC

Murali still over them and then over Viv as well. Actually on including ODIs he is a fair bit ahead of Warne too.

 

[OverratedSanity]

There aren't 15 better test seamers than Hadlee no matter how you spin it.

There's barely 1

 

[Johan]

Murali still over them and then over Viv as well. Actually on including ODIs he is a fair bit ahead of Warne too.

I'd take Steyn and Ambrose over the spinners, Viv too, talking just tests ofc, I don't actually watch (or know stats of) ODIs.

 

[capt_Luffy]

I'd take Steyn and Ambrose over the spinners, Viv too, talking just tests ofc, I don't actually watch (or know stats of) ODIs.

I will have the spinners over that pace duo honestly.

 

[Johan]

I will have the spinners over that pace duo honestly.

lame

 

[sayon basak]

who cares about ODIs, definitely not the ICC

Why do you need ODIs tho? Murali and Warne should be together in Tests alone, don't care who you put ahead.

 

[Johan]

Why do you need ODIs tho? Murali and Warne should be together in Tests alone, don't care who you put ahead.

Yeah but Luffy was saying Murali is a fair bit ahead of Warne with ODIs, I don't think ODIs should be brought up here personally.

 

[sayon basak]

Well yes of course, but they're wrong.

I'll never understand why he's underrated among historians.

 

[sayon basak]

Yeah but Luffy was saying Murali is a fair bit ahead of Warne with ODIs, I don't think ODIs should be brought up here personally.

What's your point? Luffy is arguing that Murali is in no way that much below Warne, with or without ODIs. Do you not agree?

 

[honestbharani]

Murali is > Warne just as a test match bowler alone. Both in the same tier though.


Anyways, there is a reason we dont do Warne V Murali in other threads.

 

[Johan]

Scyld Berry's 40 best cricketers of last 40 years - find out who is number one here

This summer marks 40 years since the Telegraph's cricket correspondent Scyld Berry started covering the sport.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Sycld Berry's top 40 Cricketers of last 40 years

1. Viv Richards
2. Imran Khan
3. Shane Warne
4. Malcolm Marshall
5. Ian Botham
6. Sachin Tendulkar
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Jacques Kallis
9. Brian Lara
10. Wasim Akram
11. Ricky Ponting
12. Virender Sehwag
13. Muttiah Muralitharan
14. Curtly Ambrose
15. Dale Steyn
16. Dennis Lillee
17. Allan Border
18. Kapil Dev
19. Glenn McGrath
20. Kumar Sangakkara
21. Richard Hadlee
22. Waqar Younis
23. Graham Gooch
24. Sunil Gavaskar
25. Allan Donald
26. Rahul Dravid
27. Shaun Pollock
28. Kevin Peitersen
29. Mitchell Johnson
30. Graeme Smith
31. Geoffrey Boycott
32. Sanath Jayasuriya
33. Younus Khan (I'm not joking, that's how it's written on Telegraph)
34. Anil Kumble
35. Courtney Walsh
36. Martin Crowe
37. Steve Waugh
38. Andrew Flintoff
39. Andy Flower
40. Abdul Qadir

 

[sayon basak]

33. Younus Khan (I'm not joking, that's how it's written on Telegraph)

Pretty sure Younus is a more common name than Younis.

 

[DrWolverine]

Sehwag at 12?

 

[Jumno]

Marshall
Hadlee
McGrath
Sydney Barnes
Lillee
Imran
Lindwall
Ambrose
Donald
Trueman
Steyn
Davidson
Wasim