Teja.
Global Moderator
Most people like me who grew up on test cricket in the 00s remember the time when there were 2-3 fast bowlers across the world who could be expected to average under 25 in the long term. A few more who could be expected to average in the 25-27 range and the vast majority of long term test campaigners who would average in the 28-32 range with quite a few worse than that who would still play quite a few games due to their teams not having anyone better. The average long term test class bowler of the time was someone who'd average in the 31-32 range while someone who takes their wickets at an average of 26-27 was considered excellent and just below the level of greatness.
The thesis of this thread is that times have changed and in the current timeline, averaging 27 over the last five years is just being a middle of the road long term pacer and we are now living in one of the historically great eras of fast bowling.
For illustration, in the 5 year period from 2001-2005, looking at pacers who have taken at least 50 wickets, we have the following figures:
Period: 2001-2005
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 32
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 5 (15.6%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 11 (34.4%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 16 (50%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 29.8-31.7
2006-2010 which seemingly was a graveyard time for pacers with the vast majority of pacers averaging 30+ and 33 being well within median range. Steyn's dominance in this timeline is amazing.
Period: 2006-2010
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 31
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 3 (9.7%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 8 (25.8%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 20 (64.5%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 31.7-33.8
2011-2015 (Nothing much has changed actually - things have improved from the late 00s but are very similar to the early 00s)
Period: 2011-2015
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 26
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 4 (15.4%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 9 (34.6%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 13 (50%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 29.03-30.7
Now we come to the last five years from 2016 to 2020 which has some absolutely astounding results considering the context of the above data:
Period: 2016-2020
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 24
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 12 (50%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 9 (37.5%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 3 (12.5%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 24.5-25.6
For the last five years, we are in an era of fast bowling where the number of pacers with 50+ wickets averaging under 25 has gone from 10-15% in the previous three periods to 50%. Further, the number of pacers averaging 30+ has gone from 50-65% to 12.5%. Basically, the 'middle of the road' test class long term bowler in the last five years has a bowling average between 24-26 for the period and only the absolute worst 3/24 have a bowling average of 30+. 24 of 28 bowlers have a bowling average under 28. Only one bowler has a bowling average worse than 31.5 which would be middle of the road in the previous three periods.
We are now officially living in a golden era of fast bowling.
The thesis of this thread is that times have changed and in the current timeline, averaging 27 over the last five years is just being a middle of the road long term pacer and we are now living in one of the historically great eras of fast bowling.
For illustration, in the 5 year period from 2001-2005, looking at pacers who have taken at least 50 wickets, we have the following figures:
Period: 2001-2005
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 32
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 5 (15.6%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 11 (34.4%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 16 (50%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 29.8-31.7
2006-2010 which seemingly was a graveyard time for pacers with the vast majority of pacers averaging 30+ and 33 being well within median range. Steyn's dominance in this timeline is amazing.
Period: 2006-2010
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 31
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 3 (9.7%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 8 (25.8%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 20 (64.5%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 31.7-33.8
2011-2015 (Nothing much has changed actually - things have improved from the late 00s but are very similar to the early 00s)
Period: 2011-2015
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 26
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 4 (15.4%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 9 (34.6%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 13 (50%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 29.03-30.7
Now we come to the last five years from 2016 to 2020 which has some absolutely astounding results considering the context of the above data:
Period: 2016-2020
Total pacers who have taken 50+ wickets: 24
Number of pacers with bowling average under 25: 12 (50%)
Number of pacers with bowling average between 25-30: 9 (37.5%)
Number of pacers with bowling average higher than 30: 3 (12.5%)
Average range of the median long term pacers in the above set: 24.5-25.6
For the last five years, we are in an era of fast bowling where the number of pacers with 50+ wickets averaging under 25 has gone from 10-15% in the previous three periods to 50%. Further, the number of pacers averaging 30+ has gone from 50-65% to 12.5%. Basically, the 'middle of the road' test class long term bowler in the last five years has a bowling average between 24-26 for the period and only the absolute worst 3/24 have a bowling average of 30+. 24 of 28 bowlers have a bowling average under 28. Only one bowler has a bowling average worse than 31.5 which would be middle of the road in the previous three periods.
We are now officially living in a golden era of fast bowling.
Last edited:
