Best test bowler who average >=30

[Manee]

Brett Lee

It is a shame he didn't make it to the 2009 Ashes - he looked absolute fire in that tour game. Very much someone who appeared to get better with age - like a lot on this list!

 

[TheJediBrah]

Flintoff averaged over 36 in England, and 29 away from England. Interesting stat you'd usually expect the opposite from an English quick bowler.

wonder if some of that is he just played a higher proportion of away games when he was in form

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Flintoff averaged over 36 in England, and 29 away from England. Interesting stat you'd usually expect the opposite from an English quick bowler.

wonder if some of that is he just played a higher proportion of away games when he was in form

He wasn't really a typical English quick though. Smashed the deck and used bounce and seam a lot more than typical.

 

[Bolo.]

The answer to this is surely whoever played mostly in the conditions least suited to them and who did the most donkey work?

No idea who that is though.

 

[TheJediBrah]

He wasn't really a typical English quick though. Smashed the deck and used bounce and seam a lot more than typical.

You would still expect such a bowler to have much more success in England than outside of England though

 

[Fuller Pilch]

The answer to this is surely whoever played mostly in the conditions least suited to them and who did the most donkey work?

No idea who that is though.

Vettori in that case

 

[Bolo.]

Vettori in that case

His name was one of the first that jumped out at me when reading the list... ticks my boxes, plus the era thing, and I would expect spinners from unfavourable home countries to dominate the best list.

But even his away average is still well above 32, and he only takes 2 and a bit wickets per match, as a frontline bowler so lacks a kallis type excuse.

 

[sunilz]

@Bolo.
Zaheer Khan.
Graeme Smith, Sangakkara to agree ?

 

[Senile Sentry]

Javagal Srinath.

 

[Bolo.]

I always rated Srinath above Khan, and he was actually the only name in my mind before I even looked at the list, but thats largely a function of me only having watched him bowl against RSA, who he was magnificent against, with Khan being a bit of a dud (Smith notwithstanding).

 

[Senile Sentry]

Zaheer was a better bowler than Flintoff imo. People are over rating Flintoff because of 2005 Ashes performance.
During 2007-11 , so many left handed batsmen became Zaheer's bunny.

Yep, the reverse he used to bowl was an absolute.tihng of beauty.

 

[sunilz]

I always rated Srinath above Khan, and he was actually the only name in my mind before I even looked at the list, but thats largely a function of me only having watched him bowl against RSA, who he was magnificent against, with Khan being a bit of a dud (Smith notwithstanding).

Srinath was better in Asian conditions while Zaheer was better in SENA conditions.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Srinath was a gun, slick action. Was a big fan.

 

[Bolo.]

Far leftfield pick... Shane Watson.

Not capable of bowling enough to actually be a serious pick, but I rate him a much better bowler than pretty everyone on this list. Bowling average of 35 is a disgrace to his talent.

 

[the big bambino]

Really? I reckon he squeezed every bit of bowling talent he had.

 

[Bolo.]

Really? I reckon he squeezed every bit of bowling talent he had.

He was really good at bowling in the channel. Got beautiful shape. Was actually pretty quick before his body packed in and he started bowling club cricket medium pace. Was unlucky to come from Aus. If he had been from a country where the ball swung, he would have done a lot better for himself.

I'm definitely overating him though. Just want to give him some props as a really under appreciated cricketer. The odd person recognizes how good he was in ODIs, but it is rare. And nobody recognises that he was really good in tests, simply cos Aus were used to demanding nothing short of spectacular, and nobody appreciates the value of a (more than) bits and pieces player.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Vettori in that case

When Vettori first came into the side wickets in NZ were generally quite low and slow and spin was a big part of Tests over there. When Aus toured in 2000 they even played 2 spinners. Probably became less so during his career though.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Far leftfield pick... Shane Watson.

Not capable of bowling enough to actually be a serious pick, but I rate him a much better bowler than pretty everyone on this list. Bowling average of 35 is a disgrace to his talent.

He played a fair chunk (maybe even most) of his Tests as a specialist batsman, and when he did bowl it was generally very gingerly. If he didn't have such an injury-prone **** set-up he could have been anything.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

A few more contenders who haven't been mentioned yet:

Learie Constantine(one of the first great West Indians), Kenny Benjamin, Eric Hollies (amazing fc career and got Bradman for 'that' duck), Hoggard (was so so important for that 2005 English team), Mohammed Amir (pre-ban looked like a guaranteed ATG), and Pattrick Patterson (perhaps the fastest and scariest West Indian).

 

[_00_deathscar]

I always rated Srinath above Khan, and he was actually the only name in my mind before I even looked at the list, but thats largely a function of me only having watched him bowl against RSA, who he was magnificent against, with Khan being a bit of a dud (Smith notwithstanding).

He was pretty devastating when he got going. Injuries, overworking our bowlers, and lack of proper support screwed him. He had a bit of fire about him too - pretty sure he's bowled some absolute snorters around 145-150kph. Was a very handy bowler in his middle years before injuries/form/age took their toll at the end.