Responding To The Telegraph's 30 Greatest Fast Bowlers In Test History
Plus, my take on the 30 greatest seamers to ever do it!
They got me. That damned, dirty ragebait got me—hook, line, and sinker. Mission accomplished.
If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, you may have seen this article, from The Telegraph’s Chief Cricket Writer, Scyld Berry, ranking the 30 Greatest Fast Bowlers in Test History, doing the rounds in cricketing circles over the past couple of days. As much as I disagree with the list, if you haven’t already, I would still highly recommend reading it before reading this article, as:
A) I’m about to criticise it, and it’s only fair that you make up your own mind; and
B) The stats and discussion about most of the bowlers are still very insightful and worthwhile, even if the actual list order is, well…questionable.
To summarise, the list is as follows:
30. Jack Gregory (Aus)
29. Mike Procter (SA)
28. Wes Hall (WI)
27. Joel Garner (WI) [Big Bird’s 27th? Come on now…]
26. Mitchell Starc (Aus)
25. Courtney Walsh (WI)
24. Andy Roberts (WI)
23. Fred Trueman (Eng)
22. James Anderson (Eng)
21. Kagiso Rabada (SA)
20. John Snow (Eng)
19. Frank Tyson (Eng)
18. Michael Holding (WI)
17. Harold Larwood (Eng)
16. Richard Hadlee (NZ) [Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]
15. Ray Lindwall (Aus)
14. Alan Davidson (Aus)
13. DK Lillie (Aus)
12. Allan Donald (SA)
11. Pat Cummins (Aus)
10. Waqar Younis (Pak)
9. Dale Steyn (SA)
8. Shaun Pollock (SA)
7. Mitchell Johnson (Aus) [No, really.]
6. Wasim Akram (Pak)
5. Glenn McGrath (Aus)
4. Imran Khan (Pak)
3. Curtley Ambrose (WI)
2. Malcolm Marshall (WI)
1. Jasprit Bumrah (Ind)
Although the article fails dismally in its secondary objective—ranking the 30 Greatest Test Fast Bowlers—it is a runaway success in its primary objective, namely, casting the net as wide as possible to piss off as many fan bases as humanly posible to generate clicks, discussion, and engagement. It’s classic ragebait. And I’m actively falling for it!
Anyway, let’s take a whistle-stop tour through what each country’s fans might feel aggrieved about:
Sri Lanka: Many Sri Lankan fans might be wondering, not unreasonably, if they missed Chaminda Vaas’ name upon first read through? Nope, he’s just one of many notable omissions.
One might think that taking 355 Test wickets at 29.85 while playing exactly two-thirds of your tests in Asia (74/111), averaging 27.88 in Asia, and bowling in one of the most batting-friendly eras ever would be good enough to crack the Top 30, but apparently not. Tough luck, Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas. I bet all those names counted against him.
New Zealand: Imagine my surprise when I learned that Sir Richard Hadlee, proud owner of the 7th most Test wickets of all time at the 11th best average of any seamer to take at least 150 Test wickets, is actually only the 16th best fast bowler of all time. Of the 10 seamers to take 400+ Test wickets, only Ambrose and McGrath have better bowling averages.
Sorry, Paddles, you’re not even Top 15, mate. Turns out we’re gonna have to look into getting that knighthood revoked and rerouted to Sir Mitchell Johnson instead.
Inquiring minds might also wonder whose cereal Tim Sothee, who has taken the 11th most Test wickets of all time among seamers, and Trent Boult, who has taken the 23rd most, shit in.
West Indies: Although West Indian bowlers comprised seven of the top 30, fans from the Caribbean still have plenty to be riled up about.
Firstly, more Australians (8) made the list, and what the fuck is that all about?
Secondly, one of Ambrose or Marshall has a very strong claim to be first.
Thirdly, it’s worth at least asking whether Kemar Roach, who has the 33rd most Test wickets of all time among seamers at 27.18, should have made the list. That’s more wickets than Holding, Roberts, or Hall, who all made it.
Finally, and most egregiously, what on earth are Walsh and Garner doing at 25th and 27th? I don’t think I need to say much more than Walsh has 519 Test wickets, the 4th most of all time among seamers, while Garner’s average of 20.98 is the 5th best of all time among seamers to take at least 150 Test wickets. They are, quite demonstrably, not the 25th and 27th best pace bowlers of all time.
England: Berry may have saved his pièce de résistance for his home fans, leaving Stuart Broad, who I’m sure everyone reading this knows has taken the second most wickets of all time among seamers, out of the Top 30 entirely.
There’s also this obscure bowler named Syd Barnes, proud owner of the best bowling average of all time (16.43, min. 150 Test wickets), who couldn’t make the cut. I’ll give Berry the benefit of the doubt that he’s counting him as a spinner…
Elsewhere, there’s not a single English bowler in the top 15, Jimmy Anderson, who has taken more wickets than any seamer ever, is 22nd, and the likes of Ian Botham (13th most seam wickets ever), Bob Willis (22nd most seam wickets ever), and John Statham (38th most seam wickets ever) also don’t get a look in.
Is John Snow better than Bob Willis? According to the number of Tests played, wickets taken, and their respective bowling averages and strike rates, no. According to Scyld Berry? Yes.
When it comes to trolling the Poms, it’s a masterful bit of work all round. I doff my cap, Mr Berry.
Pakistan: Pakistan are perhaps the only country that gets off relatively scot free, with Imran Khan (4th), Wasim Akram (6th), and Waqar Younis (10th) all quite reasonably making the top 10, and no other major notable omissions (Shoaib would be the closest). Imran and Waqar are maybe marginally too high for my taste, but nothing crazy.
It’s an incredible piece of 4D chess to troll India.
Australia: Despite having more entrants on the list than any other nation (8), there are still plenty of puzzling calls when it comes to the Aussies. To deal with the obvious first, McGrath is simply too low at 5th. I think he should probably be first, but I struggle with any list where he’s not at least in the top three.
Then there is Mitchell Johnson, the glowing neon OUTRAGE sign carefully spliced in at 7th. Maybe, maybe if you’re being uber generous, Johnson has the 7th best peak for a pace bowler of all time. He is not the 7th best pace bowler full stop. I’m pretty sure if you asked Mitch, even he’d admit he’s not a better bowler than Cummins or Lille, who likely round out an all-time Australian attack alongside Warne and McGrath.
Similarly, Mitchell Starc makes the list at 26th, but Josh Hazlewood misses out. Are we sure about that?
More to the point, the likes of Hazlewood, Lee, Gillespie, Miller et al miss out, but Jack Gregory and his 85 Test wickets at 31 from back in the 1920s make it. Ok.
South Africa: I’m actually not entirely sure how to rank the four main South African quicks from over the years: Pollock, Steyn, Donald, and Rabada, but my gut tells me the order in this list is wrong. For my money, Steyn should be first.
I don’t think it’s that controversial, but it’s also worth mentioning that Ntini, who has taken the 12th most seam wickets of all time, and Morne Morkel, who has taken the 28th most, both miss out. Vernon Philander, who has the 12th-best average among pace bowlers to take 150+ Test wickets, is another notable omission.
India: At first glance, with Jasprit Bumrah coming in at number one, it may seem as though this article is perfectly calibrated to annoy every fanbase except the largest one, India.
However, look again. Who’s missing? Only Kapil Dev, owner of the 6th most seam wickets ever. Like Vaas, Dev played two-thirds of his Tests in Asia (86/130), averaged under 30 (29.01) on the subcontinent, and still missed out. Smashed it, Scyld, no survivors!
Beyond that, Jasprit Bumrah is not the greatest Test bowler of all time. At least, not yet. He simply isn’t. Do not misconstrue me, Bumrah is exceptional, an utter force of nature, and the best I’ve seen in the last decade. He is not, still mid-way through his career, the greatest ever. Can we all just take a collective breath and wait until he retires, so we can evaluate his career in full before making this claim? It’s the same sort of shiny, adrenaline-filled recency bias that has seen some rugby pundits incorrectly dub Antoine Dupont the GOAT lately, also midway through his career, and without ever really travelling to play in the Southern Hemisphere or winning a World Cup (I’m willing to bet this is the only blog where you’re getting a comparative analysis of Jasprit Bumrah and Antoine Dupont).
It would be great if we could all try to remember further back than the last bowler we saw before making these lists.
Bangladesh: Who’s that?
Afghanistan: Who’s that?
Ireland: Who’s that?
Zimbabwe: Who’s that?
It’s easy to criticise others (fun, too). However, it’s cowardly to do so without also sticking your neck out on the line. With that in mind, I’ll end this article with my attempt at ranking the 30 best Test seamers of all time. Rather than agonising over the stats for days and days, I have tried to put approximately the same level of care and effort into my attempt as I presume Berry did. I found this difficult.
The primary qualifying criteria is to be a seam bowler who has taken at least 150 Test wickets. The secondary qualifying criteria are pure, raw vibes. The line breaks indicate that I think those bowlers are on roughly the same tier.
Here goes nothing. I look forward to someone else writing a similar response piece to my list, tearing it to shreds.
30. Vernon Philander (SA, Previously Unranked)
29. Chaminda Vaas (SL, Previously Unranked)
28. Ian Botham (Eng, Previously Unranked)
27. Mitchell Starc (Aus ↑ 26)
26. Keith Miller (Aus, Previously Unranked)
25. Ray Lindwall (Aus ↑ 15)
24. Josh Hazlewood (Aus, Previously Unranked)
23. Michael Holding (WI ↑ 18)
22. Kapil Dev (Ind, Previously Unranked)
21. Alan Davidson (Aus ↑ 14)
20. Stuart Broad (Eng, Previously Unranked)
19. Kagiso Rabada (SA, ↓ 21)
18. Waqar Younis (Pak ↑ 10)
17. Dennis Lillie (Aus ↑ 14)
16. Shaun Pollock (SA ↑ 8)
15. Allan Donald (SA ↑ 12)
14. Pat Cummins (Aus ↑ 11)
13. Courtney Walsh (WI ↓ 25)
12. Wasim Akram (Pak ↑ 6)
11. Fred Trueman (Eng ↓ 23)
10. James Anderson (Eng ↓ 22)
9. Imran Khan (Pak ↑ 4)
8. Jasprit Bumrah (Ind ↑ 1)
7. Syd Barnes (Eng, Previously Unranked)
6. Joel Garner (WI ↓ 27)
5. Dale Steyn (SA ↓ 9)
4. Richard Hadlee (NZ ↓ 16)
3. Curtley Ambrose (=)
2. Malcolm Marshall (=)
1. Glenn McGrath (Aus ↓ 5)
I am certain that everyone up until number 21 belongs on the list in some capacity. From 22 to 30, I found it very difficult, and would probably order it completely differently tomorrow.
Hon Mentions: Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Bob Willis, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Bill Johnston, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, and those listed below.
Exclusions from the Original List:
Jack Gregory: Perhaps one of the 30 most influential Test bowlers, but not one of the 30 greatest.
Mike Procter: Unlucky, with his Test average of 15.02, but he took only 41 Test wickets, and the criteria is the greatest Test bowlers. If we were looking at the greatest first-class seamers, I would find room for Procter.
Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson: Number one on the list of the greatest cricketing nicknames, but with just 71 Test wickets, it’s a similar story to Procter.
Harold Larwood: Another who could very easily make a list of either the most influential Test bowlers of all time or the greatest first-class bowlers of all time, but with 78 Test wickets, not the greatest Test bowlers of all time.
Wes Hall: I am a big fan of Hall’s, and his numbers popped when I wrote my article on Cricket's Consistency Kings. However, I think Top 30 is a slight reach.
Andy Roberts: I don’t feel at all good or confident leaving Roberts out, and this was the exclusion I agonised over the most.
John Snow: Remember how Snow made the original list, but Broad and Botham didn’t? There’s my justification.
Mitchell Johnson: Over the first 47 Tests of his career, Johnson took 190 wickets at 31.29. In the following 23, he took 123 wickets at 23.94. If we saw that version of Johnson over his first 47 Tests, he would have made the list, but we didn’t, so he didn’t.
Additions Compared to the Original List: Syd Barnes, Chaminda Vaas, Vernon Philander, Ian Botham, Keith Miller, Josh Hazlewood, Kapil Dev, and Stuart Broad.
What did I get wrong? I’d love to see your thoughts and lists in the comments!
Thanks for reading! Like my work? Please consider supporting me via a paid subscription or Buy Me A Coffee. For more info on how your support helps me produce this work and what your contributions go towards, see my About Page!
Like my work, but not that much? Fair enough! If you still want to support me, the best thing you can do is share this article far and wide: whether that’s with friends and family, teammates at your local club, on Reddit, or in your obscure cricketing discord server, I cannot emphasise enough how helpful every single share is.
Just keen to continue reading about cricket? No worries! If you liked this article, I think you might also enjoy:
Wrt the recency bias about Bumrah, my instinct would be to compare Bumrah to Waqar, who has very similar numbers in the first half of his career but my very uneducated guess (I was too young to actually see Waqar bowl other than YouTube highlights) is that Bumrah is just a more well-rounded bowler? We also have the good fortune of having Bumrah in this era of sports science, where his injuries and workload are being managed much better than someone like Waqar, whose career was probably never the same after he came back from his injuries.
Not in the top 30 mate. You’re about as crook as that Pommie barstard Berry. Why don’t you have a go in the nets and see if I can change your mind. Even at 74, I reckon I’ll have you jumping around like a kangaroo on hot coals. Cricinfo says I’m ‘possibly the fastest bowler ever’.
Jeffrey Robert Thomson