CW's Top 40 Pace Bowlers: 2022 Results

[Line and Length]

Once again, thanks to all involved in the voting and comments on this thread. Here is the final 40 together with relevant figures such as bowling average, strike rate, economy rate and wickets per match. I included the last of these as it is an indication of how important a component of a team's attack the bowler was.
I look forward to comments and discussion on this list.

The List	Tests	Wickets	Average	S.R.	E.R.	WPM
1. Malcolm Marshall	81	376	20.95	46.77	2.69	4.64
2. Glenn Mcgrath	124	563	21.64	51.95	2.50	4.54
3. Richard Hadlee	86	431	22.30	50.85	2.63	5.01
4. Curtly Ambrose	98	405	20.99	54.85	2.31	4.13
5. Dale Steyn	93	439	22.95	42.39	3.25	4.72
6. Imran Khan	88	362	22.81	53.75	2.55	4.11
7. Dennis Lillee	70	355	23.92	52.02	2.76	5.07
8. Fred Trueman	67	307	21.58	49.44	2.62	4.58
9. Wasim Akram	104	414	23.62	54.65	2.59	3.98
10. Allan Donald	72	330	22.25	47.03	2.84	4.58
11. Joel Garner	58	259	20.98	50.85	2.48	4.47
12. Ray Lindwall	61	228	23.03	59.87	2.31	3.74
13. Michael Holding	60	249	23.69	50.92	2.79	4.15
14. Waqar Younis	87	373	23.56	43.50	3.25	4.29
15. Alan Davidson	44	186	20.53	62.30	1.98	4.23
16. Shaun Pollock	108	421	23.12	57.85	2.40	3.90
17. Courtney Walsh	132	519	24.44	57.84	2.54	3.93
18. Andy Roberts	47	202	25.61	55.12	2.79	4.30
19. James Anderson	169	640	26.58	56.87	2.80	3.79
20. Pat Cummins	41	197	21.27	46.47	2.75	4.80
21. Keith Miller	55	170	22.98	61.54	2.24	3.09
22. Brian Statham	70	252	24.85	63.71	2.34	3.60
23. Bob Willis	90	325	25.20	53.41	2.83	3.61
24. Shoaib Akhtar	46	178	25.70	45.75	3.37	3.87
25. Harold Larwood	21	78	28.36	63.71	2.67	3.71
26. Ian Bishop	43	161	24.29	52.59	2.77	3.74
27. Neil Adcock	26	104	21.11	61.45	2.06	4.00
28. Wes Hall	48	192	26.39	54.28	2.92	4.00
29. Kagiso Rabada	52	243	22.41	40.77	3.30	4.67
30. Frank Tyson	17	76	18.57	45.42	2.45	4.47
31. Kapil Dev	131	434	29.65	63.92	2.78	3.31
32. John Snow	49	202	26.67	59.51	2.68	4.12
33. Jasprit Bumrah	29	123	21.73	49.20	2.65	4.24
34. Ian Botham	102	383	28.40	56.96	2.99	3.75
35. Stuart Broad	142	537	27.81	56.94	2.93	3.53
36. Peter Pollock	28	116	24.19	56.22	2.58	4.14
37. Neil Wagner	58	244	26.49	52.64	3.02	4.21
38. Jason Gillespie	71	259	26.14	54.96	2.85	3.65
39. Jeff Thomson	51	200	28.01	52.68	3.19	3.92
40. Tim Southee	85	338	28.20	57.25	2.95	2.98

 

[Line and Length]

Looking at the list and the figures, it immediately becomes apparent that current-day players are disadvantaged as some voters have expressed a reluctance to vote for players whose careers are incomplete.

Another obvious talking point is the omission of players who were regarded as medium pacers. Bedser and Barnes are names one would normally expect to find on such a list.

Without wishing to take side, the Wagner v Thomson debate is worth a statistical look. Wagner has a superior average, strike rate (just), is more economical and has taken more WPM.

It is interesting looking at the various aspects these stats provide.
Based on averages alone the Top Ten are:
Tyson
Davidson
Marshall
Garner
Ambrose
Adcock
Cummins
Trueman
McGrath
Bumrah

Looking at Strike Rates the leading bowlers are:
Rabada
Steyn
Younis
Tyson
Akhtar
Cummins
Marshall
Donald
Bumrah
Trueman

On economy (the least important IMO):
Davidson
Adcock
Miller
Lindwall & Ambrose
Statham
S.Pollock
Tyson
Garner
McGrath

... and finally WPM
Lillee
Hadlee
Cummins
Steyn
Rabada
Marshall
Trueman & Donald
McGrath
Garner & Tyson

It is interesting to find Tyson on all of these lists. Had he had a more sustained career he would, no doubt, have ranked much higher in the list of 40.
The presence of Cummins, Rabada and Bumrah on more than one of these short lists illustrates how current players are often under-rated.

I look forward to your comments and opinions.

 

[Xix2565]

Think Larwood is a little too high and Rabada/Bumrah should've been higher up.

 

[PlayerComparisons]

Ambrose’s relatively low WPM is very surprising considering his career wasn’t very long. Maybe Steyn is better. I assume Imran’s and Wasim’s lower WPM is due to their very long careers.

I wonder where Cummins will end up when he’s finished. Average of 21 and WPM of 4.8 is very impressive so far.

 

[Prince EWS]

Ambrose’s relatively low WPM is very surprising considering his career wasn’t very long.

It's almost like he had other great bowlers in his team who also kept taking wickets before he could come on for third/fourth spells.

This is always such a weird stat to wheel out IMO. Surely it only matters if you're trying to argue someone was something less (or possible more in the case of some spinners) than a typical full timer in an attack, which obviously wasn't the case with Ambrose. Overs% percentage would probably do a better job of that anyway.

 

[PlayerComparisons]

It's almost like he had other great bowlers in his team who also kept taking wickets before he could come on for third/fourth spells.

So did Marshall, McGrath, and Steyn, who all probably had way more competition for wickets than Ambrose, but they managed WPMs of 4.6, 4.5, and 4.7 which is a massive difference from 4.1.

Just an interesting observation. Would have expected it to be the other way around.

 

[Line and Length]

It's almost like he had other great bowlers in his team who also kept taking wickets before he could come on for third/fourth spells.

This is always such a weird stat to wheel out IMO. Surely it only matters if you're trying to argue someone was something less (or possible more in the case of some spinners) than a typical full timer in an attack, which obviously wasn't the case with Ambrose. Overs% percentage would probably do a better job of that anyway.

You make a very good point. As I mentioned in the OP, I included WPM as an indicator of the importance of a player in terms of being a component of an attack. Ambrose was one of a very strong attack which shared the workload and the wickets. In contrast. Lillee and Hadlee were standout performers, had greater workloads and took more wickets.
When I post the final spinners list you will see some relatively high WPM figures because often an attack comprised 3 pacers and 1 spinner and that spinner was able to bowl far more overs than individual pacers whose work was more physically demanding.

 

[pardus]

Just curious, I wonder how many bowlers in the top-10 of this list saw opposing batsmen score 300+? I know multiple batsmen scored 300+ against SA with Steyn in the attack. Did it happen to anyone else in the top-10, Marshall or McGrath or Hadlee?

 

[Xix2565]

Just curious, I wonder how many bowlers in the top-10 of this list saw opposing batsmen score 300+? I know multiple batsmen scored 300+ against SA with Steyn in the attack. Did it happen to anyone else in the top-10, Marshall or McGrath or Hadlee?

Do you mean a team total or just an individual effort? And what would that show? You'll never make all the runs against one bowler, and the condition of a pitch is important since bowlers can get a lot of aid from it.

 

[pardus]

Do you mean a team total or just an individual effort? And what would that show? You'll never make all the runs against one bowler, and the condition of a pitch is important since bowlers can get a lot of aid from it.

Obviously as an individual effort. Not putting down the bowler involved. Just curious. Maybe increases the worth of the batsman’s 300. Just curious that’s all.

 

[Xix2565]

Obviously as an individual effort. Not putting down the bowler involved. Just curious. Maybe increases the worth of the batsman’s 300. Just curious that’s all.

I mean in that case you probably should go by attacks involved and playing conditions when players have scored 300+.

 

[Line and Length]

Obviously as an individual effort. Not putting down the bowler involved. Just curious. Maybe increases the worth of the batsman’s 300. Just curious that’s all.

A good point. It would be an interesting exercise to look at scorecards where batsmen made individual 300s and see what the attack they faced was like.

 

[pardus]

So did Marshall, McGrath, and Steyn, who all probably had way more competition for wickets than Ambrose, but they managed WPMs of 4.6, 4.5, and 4.7 which is a massive difference from 4.1.

Just an interesting observation. Would have expected it to be the other way around.

I always felt Ambrose was a different beast before his shoulder surgery in late 1994. His WPM at that point was 4.56 (interestingly up until then was when he had the most competition from his fellow bowlers, including from Marshall).

Average-wise he was still great after the surgery too because he always gave very few runs, but he just wasn’t the same in the sense of simply running through batting lineups like he used to earlier.

 

[PlayerComparisons]

I always felt Ambrose was a different beast before his shoulder surgery in late 1994. His WPM at that point was 4.56 (interestingly up until then was when he had the most competition from his fellow bowlers, including from Marshall).

Average-wise he was still great after the surgery too because he always gave very few runs, but he just wasn’t the same in the sense of simply running through batting lineups like he used to earlier.

That makes sense. Having a really strong bowling attack around you doesn’t really stop you from having a WPM of 4.5+ tbh. If it did Marshall wouldn’t have a WPM of 4.6 since he was competing with Garner/Holding/Roberts in the early phases of his career and Ambrose/Walsh/Bishop in the late phases of his career. As you stated Ambrose was operating around that level as well when he had the most competition during the first half of his career.

 

[Line and Length]

A good point. It would be an interesting exercise to look at scorecards where batsmen made individual 300s and see what the attack they faced was like.

A quick check of the 31 scorecards of Tests where batsmen made triple centuries reveals that 11 of these knocks were made against bowlers ranked in our list of 40 pace bowlers and 8 came against attacks that included bowlers on our list of 30 (currently 29 completed) bowlers.
While all-rounders may not have the same strike rate as the bowlers on our 2 bowling lists, 8 innings came against sides that included a player from our list of 25.
In all, 20 of the 31 batsmen with triple tons, faced bowlers on one or more of our 3 lists.

6 of the triple centuries were made against more than one bowler from our list. They were:
V.Sehwag (319) v D.Steyn & J.Kallis
C.Gayle (317) v S.Pollock & J.Kallis
H.Amla (311) v J.Anderson, S.Broad & G.Swann
V.Sehwag (309) v Shoaib Akhtar & Saqlain Mustaq
K.Nair (303) v S.Broad & B.Stokes
L.Rowe (302) v B.Willis & T.Greig

Bowlers on the lists who came up against more than one triple centurion, apart from Broad, are:
Steyn, Akhtar and Kallis

An interesting side fact is the observation that over half (16 out of 31) of the triple centuries have been made in this century.

 

[pardus]

A quick check of the 31 scorecards of Tests where batsmen made triple centuries reveals that 11 of these knocks were made against bowlers ranked in our list of 40 pace bowlers and 8 came against attacks that included bowlers on our list of 30 (currently 29 completed) bowlers.
While all-rounders may not have the same strike rate as the bowlers on our 2 bowling lists, 8 innings came against sides that included a player from our list of 25.
In all, 20 of the 31 batsmen with triple tons, faced bowlers on one or more of our 3 lists.

6 of the triple centuries were made against more than one bowler from our list. They were:
V.Sehwag (319) v D.Steyn & J.Kallis
C.Gayle (317) v S.Pollock & J.Kallis
H.Amla (311) v J.Anderson, S.Broad & G.Swann
V.Sehwag (309) v Shoaib Akhtar & Saqlain Mustaq
K.Nair (303) v S.Broad & B.Stokes
L.Rowe (302) v B.Willis & T.Greig

Bowlers on the lists who came up against more than one triple centurion, apart from Broad, are:
Steyn, Akhtar and Kallis

An interesting side fact is the observation that over half (16 out of 31) of the triple centuries have been made in this century.

So Steyn is the only one from the top-10 of our list? One Srilankan batsman (Mahela or Sanga) also scored a 300 against Steyn-led-attack, right?

 

[Line and Length]

So Steyn is the only one from the top-10 of our list? One Srilankan batsman (Mahela or Sanga) also scored a 300 against Steyn-led-attack, right?

Right. It was Mahela.

In the Top 10 Spinners list, Murali, O'Reilly, Verity and Kumble have all bowled against triple centurions.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Good work. Must've taken a while. I think you've shortchanged Southee. By my calculations his WPM should be 3.98, not 2.98 (simple typo).

 

[Line and Length]

Good work. Must've taken a while. I think you've shortchanged Southee. By my calculations his WPM should be 3.98, not 2.98 (simple typo).

You are quite right, My notes have 3.98 but sadly I am too late to edit my typo.

 

[Starfighter]

I always felt Ambrose was a different beast before his shoulder surgery in late 1994. His WPM at that point was 4.56 (interestingly up until then was when he had the most competition from his fellow bowlers, including from Marshall).

Average-wise he was still great after the surgery too because he always gave very few runs, but he just wasn’t the same in the sense of simply running through batting lineups like he used to earlier.

Interestingly there were a few grumblings by writers (perhaps a bit over-critical) about him being inconsistent and only really turning up on favourable surfaces in the mid-late nineties.

I never knew he had issues and and operation on his shoulder but it could explain it, probably lost a yard of pace.