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A different way to rate bowlers

cover drive man

International Captain
When determining the top test wicket takers there's the argument of "Sos-and-so didn't play half as many games though" So let's average it out (this is purely statistical, a lot of merits like skill have been left out).

The top 57 test wicket takers ever played a total of 4505 games altogether. If we do 4505 divided by 57 we get about 79, so let's say if each player played 79 games with their average of wickets per match. We get this:




Total wickets/total players
4505/57=79
(Bowler) (Country) (Wickets) (Runs)

M. Muralitharan (SL) 475 10798
CV. Grimmet (Aus) 461 11169
DW. Steyn (SA) 407 9405
DK. Lillie (Aus) 401 9584
Sir. RJ. Hadlee (Nz) 396 8828
SK. Warne (Aus) 386 9804
SCG. MacGill (Aus) 373 10841
A. Kumble (Ind) 370 10985
MD. Marshall (WI) 367 7682
AV. Bedser (Eng) 366 9102
FS. Trueman (Eng) 362 7811
AA. Donald (SA) 362 8058
GD. McGrath (Aus) 359 7763
J. Garner (WI) 353 7400
AME. Roberts (WI) 340 8697
Waqir Younis (Pak) 339 7980
Danish Kaneria (Pak) 338 11762
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak) 335 10006
Harbhajan Singh (Ind) 332 10492
BS. Chandrasekhar (Ind) 330 9806
MA. Holding (WI) 328 7766
CEL. Ambrose (WI) 326 6853
JA. Snow (Eng) 326 8685
Imran Khan (Pak) 325 7413
CJ. McDermott (Aus) 324 9270
GD. McKenzie (Aus) 324 9649
B. Lee (Aus) 322 9931
MG. Hughes (Aus) 316 8969
Wasim Akram (Pak) 314 7428
BS. Bedi (Ind) 314 9005
D. Gough (Eng) 312 8858
CA. Walsh (WI) 311 7593
R. Benaud (Aus) 311 8407
JR. Thomson (Aus) 310 8676
LR. Gibbs (WI) 309 8989
SM. Pollock (SA) 308 7119
M. Ntini (SA) 305 8793
AR. Caddick (Eng) 298 8918
IT. Botham (Eng) 297 8425
RR. Lindwall (Aus) 295 6800
MJ. Hoggard (Eng) 292 8919
JN. Gillespie (Aus) 288 7533
RGD. Willis (Eng) 285 7189
JB. Statham (Eng) 284 7066
DL. Underwood (Eng) 273 7049
SJ. Harmison (Eng) 283 9019
CL. Cairns (NZ) 278 8168
J. Srinath (Ind) 278 8485
Abdul Qadir (Pak) 278 9129
Z. Khan (Ind) 266 8759
HH. Streak (Zim) 263 7388
N. Kapil Dev (Ind) 262 7759
DL. Vetorri (NZ) 257 8696
WPUJC. Vaas (SL) 253 7473
A. Flintoff (Eng) 226 7410
GS. Sobers (WI) 200 6795
JH. Kallis (SA) 150 4742
 
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BoyBrumby

Englishman
I don't necessarily think it proves anything (obvz the figures are mitigated by the balls bowled and the quality of the bowlers playing alongside one), but it is something I've never seen done before and is a conversation starter at least, so kudos CDM. :)

It does show that if Steyn maintains his form he'll be in the pantheon come the end of his career. Also MacGill being so high was a bit of a shock as is Deadly being so low.

I fully expect to see this on cricinfo shortly. :ph34r:
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Much more interesting than the First Chance Average I have to say

My initial reaction, being a bit of a know it all smartarse type was to scream that George Lohmann would, on that basis, be top of the tree by a huge distance

Now my arithmetic is not noted for its accuracy but I reckon good ole George comes out at 491 which, it seems to me, rather reinforces the point about how special Murali is (was)

I do hope the bloke plays some county cricket next summer - Lancs batting is so dire I doubt we can afford the luxury but perhaps one of those decent batting sides like Zummerset, the Clucking Martlets or Corky's lot could give us a last look at him
 

cover drive man

International Captain
Thanks guys, I agree, it's not the most convincing evidence for anything other than statistics. But I still think it's interesting.
 
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zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Really interesting work CDM. Grimmett the most striking for me - right up there with the wickets-per-match phenomenon that is Murali
 

Uppercut

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Interesting work indeed.

As I said not long ago, I don't think Murali's achievements have quite sunk in with people, and this rather reinforces the point. Not only has he taken more wickets than anyone else, but if every bowler in history had played as many matches as he had, he still would have taken more wickets than anyone else!
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Interesting work indeed.

As I said not long ago, I don't think Murali's achievements have quite sunk in with people, and this rather reinforces the point. Not only has he taken more wickets than anyone else, but if every bowler in history had played as many matches as he had, he still would have taken more wickets than anyone else!
By doing that, we're assuming that the likes of Grimmet and Lillee would have feasted on teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at the same rate that they feasted on good teams. ;)
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
By doing that, we're assuming that the likes of Grimmet and Lillee would have feasted on teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at the same rate that they feasted on good teams. ;)
Grimmett did feast on South Africa and the West Indies. His strike was 50 and 43 against them, compared to 86 against England. Murali's worst strike rate is 66 against Australia.

Lillee would have had to pick 10 wickets a match at a Strike Rate of 26.4 balls a wicket against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe over 15 games for him to equal Murali's 475 over 79 tests.
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Killer :cool:

And by killer, I mean Lillee.

Apt that the dictionary auto-corrected his name that way :)
 
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taipan1

U19 12th Man
Interesting work indeed.

As I said not long ago, I don't think Murali's achievements have quite sunk in with people, and this rather reinforces the point. Not only has he taken more wickets than anyone else, but if every bowler in history had played as many matches as he had, he still would have taken more wickets than anyone else!

And did any of the others have the rules changed for them?
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Lillee would have had to pick 10 wickets a match at a Strike Rate of 26.4 balls a wicket against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe over 15 games for him to equal Murali's 475 over 79 tests.
Perfectly possible (assuming Thommo wasn't at the other end to spoil the party)
 

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