Who is the greatest test fast bowler of all time?

[PlayerComparisons]

I think these are the main candidates. Who do you rate the highest?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

 

[Starfighter]

Manny Martindale

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Probably whoever has the most wickets.

 

[Aidan11]

James Anderson

 

[Coronis]

Well it all depends on the exact speeds of pre WWII bowlers.

 

[Migara]

Marshall is the usual choice.

But I think Glenn McGrath is not far behind, and may be even rated ahead on some metrics. As time passes my respect for Pigeon grows!

McGrath vs Marshall. Other than for 20 matches both of them took to hit 700 points, stayed 800+ for their entire career. McGrath doing it for 40 more test matches than Marshall is pretty impressive too.

 

[Line and Length]

Another pointless exercise as we have already covered this in previous threads.

 

[Migara]

McGrath vs Ambrose - once again identical. Extremely consistent too.

Hence Marshall, McGrath and Ambrose may occupy top 3 spots due to their consistency. However if you remove Imran's non bowling periods, he is also very impressive. Not as consistent, but hitting sustained higher peaks than any of above three. So it is not unfair to have above 4 in top 5 fast bowlers. Given the same can be observed for Steyn, he would be the fifth.

Top 5 fast bowlers would be Marshall, McGrath, Ambrose, Imran and Steyn.

 

[honestbharani]

Among the ones I have seen..


Ambrose

 

[Chin Music]

Marshall was the best I remember seeing. Lethal as a genuine fast bowler, little less good when he got older and his pace was on the wane as he was so skilful with seam, cut and swing.

 

[ankitj]

Top 5 fast bowlers would be Marshall, McGrath, Ambrose, Imran and Steyn.

Richard Hadlee bro

 

[HookShot]

Manny Martindale

An average of 18 then 13 a year later against a world class English line-up featuring the likes of Sutcliffe, Walters, Hammond, Leyland, Hendren and Jardine is pretty impressive.

Not sure what went wrong in 1939, injury perhaps?

Really nice bowling action, probably an under-rated fast bowler.

Series	Mat	O	M	R	W	5w	10w	Best	Avg	S/R	E/R
1933 England v. West Indies​	3​	72.3​	9​	251​	14​	2​	0​	5/73​	17.93​	31.07​	3.46​
1934-1935 West Indies v. England​	4​	100.3​	23​	239​	19​	1​	0​	5/22​	12.58​	31.74​	2.38​
1939 England v. West Indies​	3​	71.1​	8​	314​	4​	0​	0​	2/34​	78.50​	141.75​	3.32​
Overall (3)​	10​	244.1​	40​	804​	37​	3​	0​	5/22​	21.73​	43.38​	3.01​

 

[HookShot]

If you were playing a series that included a mixture of LO and Tests then it has to be Glenn McGrath. But for Tests matches only, I’d probably choose Malcolm Marshall.

Who would I like to watch live though? Dennis Lillee, followed by Andy Roberts and John Snow as they spent the day angry and bowled the best bouncers.

 

[Line and Length]

Members' voting established this order over a year ago. Has the order changed?
I notice @PlayerComparisons 10 options comprise the same 10 on this list. Coincidence or not?

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

 

[GoodAreasShane]

McGrath, but only because Mark Cameron never played Test cricket

 

[Molehill]

Members' voting established this order over a year ago. Has the order changed?
I notice @PlayerComparisons 10 options comprise the same 10 on this list. Coincidence or not?

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

You'd think the only way orders can change is from those currently playing.

Anderson took 45 wickets at a ridiculous 17.6 in the last 12 months and took his overall average below 26.
Cummins took 20 wickets at 23.8 so didn't improve on these figures.
Rabada took 37 wickets at 21.9, a slight improvement on his career average.
Broad took 39 wickets at 26.9, pretty much in line with his overall career.

So really the only change that may happen is the freak that is Anderson potentially moving up a couple of spots.

 

[Burgey]

That will have reversed itself by August, don't worry.

 

[Blenkinsop]

IDK whether Barnes was a spinner or a fast bowler but he should be on one of the lists surely.

 

[Zinzan]

It's Marshall followed by Hadlee, but since so many choose McGrath I voted Hadlee out of spite.