Top 100 test bowlers countdown

[Coronis]

Thankyou again for running this @Days of Grace . I think you may have guessed.. but my request would be the same thing as in the batsman thread… how would the list look minus career points?

 

[Two short legs]

The reweightings have been kind to post-WWII greats, against the general trend.

Big improvers included Bedser (from 31st to 25th), Lindwall (from 41st to 31st), Miller (from 77th to 52nd) and Johnston (from 89th to 58th).

And noting also that new entrants included the 19th-century left-arm finger-spinners Blythe, Briggs and Peel (at the expense of 2018 inclusions including Lock, Wardle, Prasanna, Saqlain and Kaneira).

 

[Fuller Pilch]

CHUCKing

Really? I thought you liked him?

Joke - I'm a Murali fan

 

[h_hurricane]

Poor Scotty. It is like a citizen getting randomly invited to take oath as president, then showing up on the D-day, encounters the real president and getting taken off the premises by the guards.

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Poor Scotty. It is like a citizen getting randomly invited to take oath as president, then showing up on the D-day, encounters the real president and getting taken off the premises by the guards.

Did the guards check his pockets ?
Might have found Virat Kohli in there.

 

[Patience and Accuracy+Gut]

It has been a pleasure presenting this countdown. Your top 2:


No.2

Sydney Barnes (England) 901

2018 edition: rank 2

Career: 1901-1914, 189 wickets (rank 50)

Overall average / Wickets per innings / Strike-rate (50 inns): 19.92 (16.43) / 3.78 / 51.06 (41.66) (rank 1)
Peak average / Wickets per innings / Strike-rate (1908-1914; 40 inns): 19.23 / 4.00 / 50.24 (rank 4)
Non-home average / Wickets per innings / Strike-rate (33 inns): 21.19 / 3.82 / 53.12 (rank 1)
Top opposition average / Wickets per innings / Strike-rate (36 inns): 24.02 / 2.94 / 62.40 (rank 18)

1st in 2 metric for Barnes. Guy was such a character and rightfully so, still the best bowler there has ever been.

 

[DrWolverine]

Excluding career points

Not a single bowler ranked less than 10 in all categories(overall, peak, non-home and top opposition)

Only 3 bowlers ranked less than 15 in all categories - Dale Steyn, Malcom Marshall and Allan Donald.

 

[DrWolverine]

Bowlers with rank less than 20 in all 4 categories
Dale Steyn
Malcom Marshall
Allan Donald
Jasprit Bumrah
Dennis Lillee
Sydney Barnes
Bill O Reilly
Muttaih Muralitharan

 

[StephenZA]

SA's had a pretty good run of top class fast bowlers since readmission, to go from Donald, to Steyn, to Rabada and now Jansen amongst others coming along.

 

[Days of Grace]

Apologies if I haven't provided much, if any, commentary. I'm now right in the middle of the university semester so I've only had time at night to post each player. But I'm glad I finished it before test cricket kicks off again. As an aside, Mohammad Abbas has climbed to no.90 and Taijul Islam is not too far away from becoming to first Bangladesh bowler to crack the top 100.

		Career points	Overall points	Peak points	Non-home points	Top opposition points	Total points
1​	M Muralitharan	130​	485​	129​	105​	114​	964​
2​	SF Barnes	55​	494​	121​	125​	106​	901​
3​	Sir RJ Hadlee	90​	462​	124​	119​	99​	894​
4​	Imran Khan	93​	444​	136​	100​	110​	882​
5​	DW Steyn	86​	454​	112​	108​	115​	875​
6​	MD Marshall	74​	456​	114​	109​	110​	863​
7​	GD McGrath	96​	428​	104​	112​	104​	845​
8​	CEL Ambrose	75​	436​	111​	111​	104​	836​
9​	SK Warne	113​	407​	101​	106​	106​	832​
10​	DK Lillee	72​	435​	104​	104​	109​	824​
11​	K Rabada	63​	443​	103​	98​	116​	823​
12​	JJ Bumrah	44​	450​	104​	113​	108​	820​
13​	AA Donald	62​	439​	105​	106​	107​	820​
14​	WJ O'Reilly	53​	431​	105​	117​	111​	816​
15​	J Garner	54​	438​	98​	113​	106​	810​
16​	Waqar Younis	76​	415​	121​	96​	99​	807​
17​	PJ Cummins	70​	427​	104​	98​	105​	804​
18​	CV Grimmett	53​	438​	103​	113​	96​	804​
19​	R Ashwin	91​	425​	101​	84​	93​	795​
20​	Wasim Akram	88​	402​	107​	99​	95​	791​
21​	AK Davidson	47​	429​	106​	100​	108​	790​
22​	FS Trueman	67​	420​	100​	93​	105​	785​
23​	CA Walsh	99​	392​	94​	96​	104​	784​
24​	JM Anderson	128​	382​	98​	86​	89​	783​
25​	AV Bedser	50​	426​	109​	86​	107​	778​
26​	JC Laker	50​	425​	111​	81​	106​	773​
27​	A Kumble	112​	385​	96​	82​	93​	769​
28​	SM Pollock	79​	403​	100​	94​	92​	768​
29​	Shoaib Akhtar	46​	406​	110​	102​	92​	756​
30​	HMRKB Herath	95​	389​	97​	77​	98​	755​
31​	RR Lindwall	61​	391​	102​	96​	104​	753​
32​	MA Holding	58​	405​	101​	102​	86​	752​
33​	VD Philander	48​	412​	97​	84​	107​	748​
34​	JA Snow	51​	385​	93​	114​	104​	748​
35​	IR Bishop	42​	390​	105​	103​	100​	739​
36​	GA Lohmann	39​	388​	96​	123​	92​	739​
37​	JR Hazlewood	61​	392​	97​	89​	99​	737​
38​	Mohammad Asif	26​	404​	103​	117​	81​	731​
39​	SCJ Broad	105​	365​	90​	81​	88​	730​
40​	MA Starc	85​	377​	93​	89​	84​	728​
41​	MG Johnson	55​	391​	94​	86​	94​	720​
42​	DL Underwood	73​	367​	107​	87​	85​	719​
43​	HJ Tayfield	48​	380​	99​	94​	99​	719​
44​	IT Botham	80​	370​	94​	87​	87​	719​
45​	ARC Fraser	43​	388​	89​	99​	99​	718​
46​	RA Jadeja	71​	380​	98​	67​	102​	718​
47​	Fazal Mahmood	42​	382​	101​	86​	106​	717​
48​	BS Chandrasekhar	65​	375​	93​	88​	94​	716​
49​	RGD Willis	69​	380​	88​	84​	91​	713​
50​	M Jansen	22​	393​	96​	91​	110​	712​
51​	D Gough	49​	383​	88​	98​	92​	710​
52​	KR Miller	45​	381​	91​	92​	99​	709​
53​	AME Roberts	46​	388​	92​	101​	81​	708​
54​	Saeed Ajmal	34​	386​	89​	100​	100​	708​
55​	PM Pollock	37​	375​	90​	106​	100​	708​
56​	LR Gibbs	80​	352​	100​	87​	88​	707​
57​	WW Hall	50​	384​	95​	93​	85​	707​
58​	WA Johnston	39​	382​	99​	87​	100​	706​
59​	N Wagner	60​	366​	93​	87​	100​	706​
60​	JR Thomson	56​	377​	94​	78​	100​	705​
61​	NM Lyon	97​	347​	85​	91​	84​	703​
62​	N Kapil Dev	88​	346​	92​	83​	95​	703​
63​	RJ Harris	27​	397​	93​	104​	80​	701​
64​	CJ McDermott	63​	370​	97​	83​	85​	698​
65​	MW Tate	46​	373​	92​	91​	94​	697​
66​	M Morkel	65​	368​	85​	89​	89​	696​
67​	TA Boult	63​	373​	86​	86​	89​	696​
68​	H Trumble	52​	362​	93​	86​	100​	693​
69​	TM Alderman	45​	368​	92​	99​	88​	692​
70​	CEH Croft	28​	383​	90​	80​	112​	692​
71​	CTB Turner	33​	376​	97​	75​	112​	692​
72​	Harbhajan Singh	88​	348​	90​	71​	93​	691​
73​	GD McKenzie	53​	365​	92​	91​	88​	689​
74​	M Ntini	71​	364​	93​	72​	90​	689​
75​	AR Caddick	52​	366​	88​	91​	86​	683​
76​	SR Clark	20​	385​	91​	90​	94​	680​
77​	CL Cairns	63​	355​	86​	89​	85​	678​
78​	FH Tyson	23​	360​	94​	101​	100​	678​
79​	HH Streak	55​	356​	96​	84​	87​	677​
80​	JN Gillespie	54​	362​	84​	87​	89​	677​
81​	GP Swann	42​	374​	82​	95​	84​	677​
82​	MJ Hoggard	48​	357​	82​	91​	99​	676​
83​	MG Hughes	47​	361​	86​	83​	98​	675​
84​	JB Statham	64​	356​	90​	84​	81​	674​
85​	C Blythe	35​	380​	94​	79​	84​	673​
86​	BS Bedi	63​	356​	92​	80​	82​	673​
87​	R Benaud	58​	352​	92​	92​	78​	672​
88​	Yasir Shah	48​	370​	88​	95​	72​	672​
89​	KAJ Roach	73​	356​	89​	69​	84​	672​
90​	Mohammad Abbas	36​	359​	87​	97​	91​	671​
91​	J Briggs	52​	356​	91​	82​	89​	670​
92​	TG Southee	83​	336​	96​	79​	74​	669​
93​	MJ Henry	42​	356​	98​	81​	91​	668​
94​	NAT Adcock	36​	363​	91​	81​	96​	667​
95​	BA Reid	32​	396​	95​	60​	82​	665​
96​	BR Taylor	34​	364​	91​	105​	69​	664​
97​	H Verity	38​	363​	90​	86​	87​	663​
98​	R Peel	43​	348​	87​	85​	100​	663​
99​	SCG MacGill	48​	355​	86​	80​	93​	663​
100​	GF Lawson	44​	358​	82​	82​	96​	662​

 

[Randomfan]

Thank you for doing the list @Days of Grace

I has been lots of fun to follow your both threads.

If your time allows, you should do this more frequently ( perhaps every 3-4 years) with whatever fine tunings you think is appropriate.

 

[Randomfan]

Excluding career points

Not a single bowler ranked less than 10 in all categories(overall, peak, non-home and top opposition)

Only 3 bowlers ranked less than 15 in all categories - Dale Steyn, Malcom Marshall and Allan Donald.

It will be very hard to come in the top 10 in each categories unless you are a big outlier in history. Top 10-20 will start having players who clear this bar.

 

[Coronis]

So from those just looking at overall quality without career points the top 20 would look like..

Barnes 846
Muralitharan 834
Hadlee 804
Imran 789
Steyn 789
Marshall 789
Bumrah 776
O’Reilly 763
Ambrose 761
Rabada 760
Donald 758
Garner 754
Lillee 752
Grimmett 751
McGrath 749
Davidson 743
Cummins 734
Waqar 731
Bedser 728
Laker 723

Davidson, Bedser and Laker jump into the 20, whilst Warne, Ashwin and Wasim would drop out, Warne dropping a whole 12 spots.

As expected, Murali and Barnes do a swap. Imran, Steyn and Marshall all squeeze together. Bumrah, O’Reilly and Rabada come into the 10 for McGrath, Warne and Lillee.

 

[DrWolverine]

It will be very hard to come in the top 10 in each categories unless you are a big outlier in history. Top 10-20 will start having players who clear this bar.

Richard Hadlee came close. Rank 3 in overall, peak and non-home. If it was not for his early Pak tours, he would have been top 10 in top opposition as well.

 

[shortpitched713]

Lol Murali so far ahead of the rest. Really is OP statistically.

WPI is super important, and in many poeople's stats or metrics they underrate this and that's the only way Murali falls behind fast bowlers.

Once I took it properly into consideration as well, Murali became number 1 in my rankings quite comfortably also (although not quite as overwhelmingly as here).

 

[ankitj]

Top 20 in each category

#	Career length	Overall	Peak	Non-home	Top-opposition
1	M Muralitharan	SF Barnes	Imran Khan	SF Barnes	K Rabada
2	JM Anderson	M Muralitharan	M Muralitharan	GA Lohmann	DW Steyn
3	SK Warne	Sir RJ Hadlee	Sir RJ Hadlee	Sir RJ Hadlee	M Muralitharan
4	A Kumble	MD Marshall	SF Barnes	WJ O'Reilly	CEH Croft
5	SCJ Broad	DW Steyn	Waqar Younis	Mohammad Asif	CTB Turner
6	CA Walsh	JJ Bumrah	MD Marshall	JA Snow	WJ O'Reilly
7	NM Lyon	Imran Khan	DW Steyn	JJ Bumrah	Imran Khan
8	GD McGrath	K Rabada	CEL Ambrose	J Garner	MD Marshall
9	HMRKB Herath	AA Donald	JC Laker	CV Grimmett	M Jansen
10	Imran Khan	J Garner	Shoaib Akhtar	GD McGrath	DK Lillee
11	R Ashwin	CV Grimmett	AV Bedser	CEL Ambrose	JJ Bumrah
12	Sir RJ Hadlee	CEL Ambrose	Wasim Akram	MD Marshall	AK Davidson
13	Wasim Akram	DK Lillee	DL Underwood	DW Steyn	AA Donald
14	N Kapil Dev	WJ O'Reilly	AK Davidson	SK Warne	AV Bedser
15	Harbhajan Singh	AK Davidson	AA Donald	AA Donald	VD Philander
16	DW Steyn	GD McGrath	WJ O'Reilly	PM Pollock	SF Barnes
17	MA Starc	PJ Cummins	IR Bishop	M Muralitharan	SK Warne
18	TG Southee	AV Bedser	GD McGrath	BR Taylor	J Garner
19	IT Botham	R Ashwin	DK Lillee	DK Lillee	JC Laker
20	LR Gibbs	JC Laker	JJ Bumrah	RJ Harris	Fazal Mahmood

 

[h_hurricane]

Did the guards check his pockets ?
Might have found Virat Kohli in there.

Virat means humongous. But he will do everything in his powers to get into those pockets, as you said.

 

[Ali TT]

Great stuff @Days of Grace . Thanks again

Interesting to see a few more modern players with quite prolonged and at times very successful careers not make it - Vettori, Vaas, Lee, Zaheer, Ishant.

Unless I just can't read and they are there

 

[honestbharani]

Haha great job running this DoG. Just like the batters' list, there are some I agree with and some I dont but you have done a heck of a job first of all coming up with the formulae and your explaining-without-revealing of your methods, and then, just as important, a wonderful way of presenting your rankings. It has kept the forum alive and I would strongly suggest you and @James to work together to see if this can be published on the main page. Crappy crapinfo as usual lifting ideas from us and using it for themselves.

 

[shortpitched713]

Thanks for putting this together @Days of Grace . Truly a great effort!