Best away stretch of pacers with 25+ away tests or 125 wickets

[Randomfan]

While reading best peak for various bowlers, I thought it will be interesting to see the best stretch of usuaal suspects lasting 25 tests or longer. It could be 125-150 test wickets.


Last 100 years, the best away stretch of pacers with 25+ tests or 125+ test wickets - non-minnow oppositions

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Top 5:

5 with sub 20 Avg.

1. Malcom Marshall ( 8 Dec 1980 and 21 Jul 1988 ) : 28 tests - 151 wickets - Avg 17.84 - SR 41
2. Jasprit Bumrah ( 18 Aug 2018 - 15 Jan 2025 ) : 29 tests - 144 wickets - Avg 18.91 - SR 42
3. Glen McGrath ( 5 Mar 1999 - 21 Jul 2005 ) : 31 tests - 153 wickets - Avg 18.95 - SR 47
4. Curtly Ambrose (21 Jul 1988 - 6 Jul 1995) : 25 tests - 129 wickets - Avg 19.06 - SR 49
5. Joel Garner ( 18 Feb 1977 - 12 Mar 1987 ) : 29 tests - 136 wickets - Avg 19.74 - SR 50

One sub 21 Avg

6. Richard Hadlee ( 10 Nov 1976 - 12 Nov 1988 ) : 27 tests - 156 wickets - Avg 20.82 - SR 49​

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Two more with sub 22 Avg

Donald (1 jan 1993 and 19 apr 2001) - 29 tests - 130 test wickets - Avg 22.94 - SR 49
IK ( 15 Apr 1977 and 14 apr 1988 ) - 30 tests - 130 test wickets - Avg 22.27 - SR 53


I did not look for all pacers. I looked at usual suspects showing up in good away records.

Any candidates to replace the top 5 above?

Some pacers may have good 25 test stretch despite not having that great away record. I think it's far easier to have it for home so not sure if we have too many with great away stretch.

 

[Swamp Witch Hattie]

While reading best peak for various bowlers, I thought it will be interesting to see the best stretch of usuaal suspects lasting 25 tests or longer. It could be 125-150 test wickets.


Last 100 years, the best away stretch of pacers with 25+ tests or 125+ test wickets - non-minnow oppositions

------------------------------------------------

Top 5:

5 with sub 20 Avg.

1. Malcom Marshall ( 8 Dec 1980 and 21 Jul 1988 ) : 28 tests - 151 wickets - Avg 17.84 - SR 41
2. Jasprit Bumrah ( 18 Aug 2018 - 15 Jan 2025 ) : 29 tests - 144 wickets - Avg 18.91 - SR 42
3. Glen McGrath ( 5 Mar 1999 - 21 Jul 2005 ) : 31 tests - 153 wickets - Avg 18.95 - SR 47
4. Curtly Ambrose (21 Jul 1988 - 6 Jul 1995) : 25 tests - 129 wickets - Avg 19.06 - SR 49
5. Joel Garner ( 18 Feb 1977 - 12 Mar 1987 ) : 29 tests - 136 wickets - Avg 19.74 - SR 50

One sub 21 Avg

6. Richard Hadlee ( 10 Nov 1976 - 12 Nov 1988 ) : 27 tests - 156 wickets - Avg 20.82 - SR 49​

​

------------------------------------------------------------​

​

​

Two more with sub 22 Avg

Donald (1 jan 1993 and 19 apr 2001) - 29 tests - 130 test wickets - Avg 22.94 - SR 49
IK ( 15 Apr 1977 and 14 apr 1988 ) - 30 tests - 130 test wickets - Avg 22.27 - SR 53


I did not look for all pacers. I looked at usual suspects showing up in good away records.

Any candidates to replace the top 5 above?

Some pacers may have good 25 test stretch despite not having that great away record. I think it's far easier to have it for home so not sure if we have too many with great away stretch.

This is a better away run for Hadlee: 10 Nov 1976 - 5 Jul 1990:

Most matches: 32

Most wickets: 185

Greatest longevity: 13 years 8 months

Most fifers: 18

Most tenfers: 5

Highest WPM: 5.78

Highest WPI: 3.25

Best BBM: 15/123

Best BBI: 9/52

Most Player of the Series awards: 6



or you can further restrict the time frame to improve certain stats while diminishing others:

27 Jul 1978 - 5 Jul 1990 (11 years 11 months):



27 Jul 1978 - 2 Dec 1988 (10 years 4 months):



28 Nov 1980 - 5 Jul 1990 (9 years 7 months):

 

[Coronis]

Well for Davidson I wouldn’t call India minnows… (he didn’t play the minnow of his era) if you do he doesn’t make 25 tests.

Anyway.. (11 Jun 1953 - 6 Jul 1961)

25 tests 93 wickets @ 19.15 SR 65.0

Economy rate is a crazy 1.76

 

[Randomfan]

@Swamp Witch Hattie & @Coronis Thanks for identifying two sub 20 cases. One is less wickets but still it's a 25 tests run. I was trying to look for Hadlee but did not identity his best 25 test runs. Davidson SR is high but he made it up with very low ER to get his Avg down. It did not occur to me to look for Davidson's record.


Total 7 bowlers with sub 20 away avg with 25 tests.

1. Malcom Marshall ( 8 Dec 1980 and 21 Jul 1988 ) : 28 tests - 151 wickets - Avg 17.84 - SR 41
2. Jasprit Bumrah ( 18 Aug 2018 - 15 Jan 2025 ) : 29 tests - 144 wickets - Avg 18.91 - SR 42
3. Glen McGrath ( 5 Mar 1999 - 21 Jul 2005 ) : 31 tests - 153 wickets - Avg 18.95 - SR 47
4. Curtly Ambrose (21 Jul 1988 - 6 Jul 1995) : 25 tests - 129 wickets - Avg 19.06 - SR 49
5. Alan Davidson (11 Jun 1953 - 6 Jul 1961) : 25 tests - 93 wickets - Avg 19.15 - SR 65
6. Richard Hadlee ( 27 Jul 1978 - 2 Dec 1988 ) : 26 tests - 156 wickets - Avg 19.21 - SR 49
7. Joel Garner ( 18 Feb 1977 - 12 Mar 1987 ) : 29 tests - 136 wickets - Avg 19.74 - SR 50

I think if you had maintained this kind of stretch away then it's very likely that you belong among the best. No surprise to see usual suspects showing up in this list.

Marshall, McGrath, Ambrose and Hadlee comes up in top 5 for most fans. All 4 are present in this list. A good short cut for quality.

Garner had a shorter career but a high qaulity bowler. Bumrah is still playing so we will see where he ends up. Davisdson was an all rounder and one of the best one.

Are we missing any other names or we have only 7 bowlers with this kind of stretch? I doubt that spinners will have this kind of stretch but I have not tried to look.

 

[Coronis]

Are we missing any other names or we have only 7 bowlers with this kind of stretch? I doubt that spinners will have this kind of stretch but I have not tried to look.

I’d be surprised at any others tbh. From remembering the 5 year/40 innings peak overall thread, there were only 28 players with an average of under 20 and a lot of them have vastly superior home records to away records, or wouldn’t have played 25 away matches in their careers.

 

[Randomfan]

I’d be surprised at any others tbh. From remembering the 5 year/40 innings peak overall thread, there were only 28 players with an average of under 20 and a lot of them have vastly superior home records to away records, or wouldn’t have played 25 away matches in their careers.

Yah, it will be hard to have too many names due to it mostly being clustered around home dominations and 25 tests may make it harder. I was wondering if we go down 20 tests stretch then we may find some names. Any ususal suspects you have, I will try to check. But as you said, it may be hard for away tests.

 

[Blenkinsop]

Michael Holding played 34 away Tests between 1976 and 1985, and took 159 wickets at 21.93 with a strike rate of 48. Had very good series at either end of that period so I can't see a way to improve the average by cutting it down.

 

[Blenkinsop]

If you trim off either end of Wasim Akram's career you can isolate a stretch from 1990-97 where he played 27 away Tests, and took 140 wickets at an average of 21.72.

 

[Randomfan]

@Blenkinsop , Thanks for looking for more examples.

As you said you are not able to bring it below 21.7-21.9 for both then it is much higher than sub 20 avg stretch.

Also, in your example, Wasim had a great series in SL with avg of 13 in 1994. SL had won less than 5 tests till end of 1994 so I consider SL a minnow till mid 90s. In above examples, I took out all minnows away series for all players.

I looked at Davidson's situation due to mention of India and minnow during that time. By the time he played in India India had won 5 tests. I don't know when we should consider a test nation not a minnow, but less than 5 tests win in their entire history seems like a low enough threash hold.

I had tried with Wasim, Holding and Donald earlier, but same as you I couldn't find sub 20 stretch. I think we may not find many other examples of sub 20 stretch. Looking without minnows makes it harder but I tried to first see if they come somewhere close including all. For example, Wasim with minnows comes in 21-22 range so I discarded that example when looking but I did remove minnow series from the stretch by all names mentioned above.

 

[Mike5181]

@Swamp Witch Hattie & @Coronis Thanks for identifying two sub 20 cases. One is less wickets but still it's a 25 tests run. I was trying to look for Hadlee but did not identity his best 25 test runs. Davidson SR is high but he made it up with very low ER to get his Avg down. It did not occur to me to look for Davidson's record.


Total 7 bowlers with sub 20 away avg with 25 tests.

1. Malcom Marshall ( 8 Dec 1980 and 21 Jul 1988 ) : 28 tests - 151 wickets - Avg 17.84 - SR 41
2. Jasprit Bumrah ( 18 Aug 2018 - 15 Jan 2025 ) : 29 tests - 144 wickets - Avg 18.91 - SR 42
3. Glen McGrath ( 5 Mar 1999 - 21 Jul 2005 ) : 31 tests - 153 wickets - Avg 18.95 - SR 47
4. Curtly Ambrose (21 Jul 1988 - 6 Jul 1995) : 25 tests - 129 wickets - Avg 19.06 - SR 49
5. Alan Davidson (11 Jun 1953 - 6 Jul 1961) : 25 tests - 93 wickets - Avg 19.15 - SR 65
6. Richard Hadlee ( 27 Jul 1978 - 2 Dec 1988 ) : 26 tests - 156 wickets - Avg 19.21 - SR 49
7. Joel Garner ( 18 Feb 1977 - 12 Mar 1987 ) : 29 tests - 136 wickets - Avg 19.74 - SR 50

I think if you had maintained this kind of stretch away then it's very likely that you belong among the best. No surprise to see usual suspects showing up in this list.

Marshall, McGrath, Ambrose and Hadlee comes up in top 5 for most fans. All 4 are present in this list. A good short cut for quality.

Garner had a shorter career but a high qaulity bowler. Bumrah is still playing so we will see where he ends up. Davisdson was an all rounder and one of the best one.

Are we missing any other names or we have only 7 bowlers with this kind of stretch? I doubt that spinners will have this kind of stretch but I have not tried to look.

WPM:

Hadlee: 6.00
Marshall: 5.39
Ambrose: 5.16
Bumrah: 4.96
Mcgrath: 4.93
Garner: 4.68
Davidson: 3.72

 

[kevinw]

You could make a very good case imo for Marshall, McGrath, Ambrose and Hadlee as the four best seamers of all time.

 

[ma1978]

You could make a very good case imo for Marshall, McGrath, Ambrose and Hadlee as the four best seamers of all time.

Marshall
Mcgrath
Hadlee

stand alone in my view

there’s a second tier of

Steyn
Ambrose
Akram
Lillee
Bumrah
Donald
Imran

that come down to what you personally rate but even amongst this group I think the first three stand out

 

[Randomfan]

WPM:

Hadlee: 6.00
Marshall: 5.39
Ambrose: 5.16
Bumrah: 4.96
Mcgrath: 4.93
Garner: 4.68
Davidson: 3.72

A good break up of wickets per match. Davidson stands out but he was an all rounder.

I won't necessarily rank these outputs based on number of wickets because all non-minnows are also not same. Bulk of wickets in these tours may have come for some against bottom teams and for some against top teams of their eras. It's too much to analyze, but simply picking 5 to 6 wickets per test away against non-minnows at sub 20 avg, it's as good as it can get.

 

[Swamp Witch Hattie]

@Swamp Witch Hattie & @Coronis Thanks for identifying two sub 20 cases. One is less wickets but still it's a 25 tests run. I was trying to look for Hadlee but did not identity his best 25 test runs. Davidson SR is high but he made it up with very low ER to get his Avg down. It did not occur to me to look for Davidson's record.


Total 7 bowlers with sub 20 away avg with 25 tests.

1. Malcom Marshall ( 8 Dec 1980 and 21 Jul 1988 ) : 28 tests - 151 wickets - Avg 17.84 - SR 41
2. Jasprit Bumrah ( 18 Aug 2018 - 15 Jan 2025 ) : 29 tests - 144 wickets - Avg 18.91 - SR 42
3. Glen McGrath ( 5 Mar 1999 - 21 Jul 2005 ) : 31 tests - 153 wickets - Avg 18.95 - SR 47
4. Curtly Ambrose (21 Jul 1988 - 6 Jul 1995) : 25 tests - 129 wickets - Avg 19.06 - SR 49
5. Alan Davidson (11 Jun 1953 - 6 Jul 1961) : 25 tests - 93 wickets - Avg 19.15 - SR 65
6. Richard Hadlee ( 27 Jul 1978 - 2 Dec 1988 ) : 26 tests - 156 wickets - Avg 19.21 - SR 49
7. Joel Garner ( 18 Feb 1977 - 12 Mar 1987 ) : 29 tests - 136 wickets - Avg 19.74 - SR 50

I think if you had maintained this kind of stretch away then it's very likely that you belong among the best. No surprise to see usual suspects showing up in this list.

Marshall, McGrath, Ambrose and Hadlee comes up in top 5 for most fans. All 4 are present in this list. A good short cut for quality.

Garner had a shorter career but a high qaulity bowler. Bumrah is still playing so we will see where he ends up. Davisdson was an all rounder and one of the best one.

Are we missing any other names or we have only 7 bowlers with this kind of stretch? I doubt that spinners will have this kind of stretch but I have not tried to look.

Just a small correction: in your latest list, Hadlee's SR should be 47, not 49 (you might want to edit that so the Hadlee groupie in me is satisfied!).

Some outstanding numbers are Marshall's low average of < 18 (17.84) and high WPM of > 5 (5.39). Hadlee's WPM of 6 for > 10 years (10 years 4 months) is also notable. Relatively speaking, I suspect Hadlee's WPI would be even better as he had a low # bowling innings to # Test matches ratio. And his % of team wickets or bowling wickets taken would be even better still, reflecting his carrying his team's bowling in a way no other pacer (to my knowledge) has done.

Your list does not take batting era vs. bowling era or quality of wickets taken into account. This is not a harsh criticism: it is just about impossible to take everything into account!

Even though it can be questioned, to get the overall picture, home performance needs to be factored in. Exactly how, who knows.

Based on the following graphic (limiting to at least 100 wickets, average no more than 25, ordered by bowling average), I also don't think there are going to be too many further suspects for your list:

 

[Randomfan]

Just a small correction: in your latest list, Hadlee's SR should be 47, not 49 (you might want to edit that so the Hadlee groupie in me is satisfied!).

Done,

------------------------------

Here is updated list:

Total 7 bowlers with sub 20 away avg with 25 tests.

1. Malcom Marshall ( 8 Dec 1980 and 21 Jul 1988 ) : 28 tests - 151 wickets - Avg 17.84 - SR 41
2. Jasprit Bumrah ( 18 Aug 2018 - 15 Jan 2025 ) : 29 tests - 144 wickets - Avg 18.91 - SR 42
3. Glen McGrath ( 5 Mar 1999 - 21 Jul 2005 ) : 31 tests - 153 wickets - Avg 18.95 - SR 47
4. Curtly Ambrose (21 Jul 1988 - 6 Jul 1995) : 25 tests - 129 wickets - Avg 19.06 - SR 49
5. Alan Davidson (11 Jun 1953 - 6 Jul 1961) : 25 tests - 93 wickets - Avg 19.15 - SR 65
6. Richard Hadlee ( 27 Jul 1978 - 2 Dec 1988 ) : 26 tests - 156 wickets - Avg 19.21 - SR 47
7. Joel Garner ( 18 Feb 1977 - 12 Mar 1987 ) : 29 tests - 136 wickets - Avg 19.74 - SR 50

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[Randomfan]

Your list does not take batting era vs. bowling era or quality of wickets taken into account. This is not a harsh criticism: it is just about impossible to take everything into account!

Even though it can be questioned, to get the overall picture, home performance needs to be factored in. Exactly how, who knows.

Based on the following graphic (limiting to at least 100 wickets, average no more than 25, ordered by bowling average), I also don't think there are going to be too many further suspects for your list:

View attachment 44576

I think taking account of batting era, bowling era, team strength, quality of wickets etc at the same time will be too much and hard to do May be just limit it to top 5 test nations of player's career and see if they have a great stretch in tests involving top 5 teams to accomodate relative standing of teams.

You are right that we may not have many more who are missed here becasue graphic posted by you has home+ away and normally most players do better at home than away.

I was doing this just for away stretch. To see home and away stretch combined equivalent can be higher number of tests and/or wickets. Like 35 tests stretch and 125 plus test wickets. For including quality, we can limit it to performance in matches involving top 5 test teams. Normally, after top 5 the standards decline in most eras. Given we had just 7-8 non-minnow test team, top 5 should capture the quality of wickets and strength of teams to some extent.

I have a feeling that list for that may have the same usual suspects with some new names.

I think easier will be easier to just do non-minnows - 35 tests and 125 plus wickets for home and away combined best stretch. Since we are doing home and away both, 10 tests and 25 wickets extra is justified to do an equivalent list. In list, we can make observation about relative standing of oppositions and bulk of wickets but I don't want to do that for each player individually. That gets hard. Keeping only non-minnows is simpler.

 

[Swamp Witch Hattie]

I think taking account of batting era, bowling era, team strength, quality of wickets etc at the same time will be too much and hard to do May be just limit it to top 5 test nations of player's career and see if they have a great stretch in tests involving top 5 teams to accomodate relative standing of teams.

You are right that we may not have many more who are missed here becasue graphic posted by you has home+ away and normally most players do better at home than away.

I was doing this just for away stretch. To see home and away stretch combined equivalent can be higher number of tests and/or wickets. Like 35 tests stretch and 125 plus test wickets. For including quality, we can limit it to performance in matches involving top 5 test teams. Normally, after top 5 the standards decline in most eras. Given we had just 7-8 non-minnow test team, top 5 should capture the quality of wickets and strength of teams to some extent.

I have a feeling that list for that may have the same usual suspects with some new names.

I think easier will be easier to just do non-minnows - 35 tests and 125 plus wickets for home and away combined best stretch. Since we are doing home and away both, 10 tests and 25 wickets extra is justified to do an equivalent list. In list, we can make observation about relative standing of oppositions and bulk of wickets but I don't want to do that for each player individually. That gets hard. Keeping only non-minnows is simpler.

Thanks for making the change!

"You are right that we may not have many more who are missed here becasue graphic posted by you has home+ away and normally most players do better at home than away."

I might be misreading you here but the graphic I posted was just for away! I might have confused you by mentioning home performance in the preceding paragraph.

 

[Coronis]

A good break up of wickets per match. Davidson stands out but he was an all rounder.

I won't necessarily rank these outputs based on number of wickets because all non-minnows are also not same. Bulk of wickets in these tours may have come for some against bottom teams and for some against top teams of their eras. It's too much to analyze, but simply picking 5 to 6 wickets per test away against non-minnows at sub 20 avg, it's as good as it can get.

re: Davidson, he played in a slower scoring era than the others, which likely made a lower SR more difficult than a lower economy.