Top 10 bowlers of All Time In World Cricket 

Top 10 bowlers of All Time In World Cricket 

Spectators mostly love those batsmen who hit big scores and win matches. But, bowlers have taken responsibility many times to ensure a match win, whether it is ODI or Test cricket. 

The history of cricket has witnessed the journey of talented bowlers. There are a handful of bowlers, who managed to create an impact in minds of cricket lovers. We picked 10 such bowlers whose contribution to world cricket history is big. 

Wasim Akram – Pakistan

Wasim Akram, from Pakistan, is one of the finest bowlers to get a place in the top cricket bowlers of all time. His unmatched talent has helped Pakistan to win many matches. Wasim Akram is among those great cricketers who never played first-class cricket before their debut in the International Cricket. 

He played 104 test matches and 356 ODIs, and his first test debut was against New Zealand in 1985. He was in the squad of the World Cup Winning team Pakistan in 1992. His average economy rate is 3.9 in ODI and 2.59 in Test Cricket. 

Sydney Barnes – England

Sydney Barnes is a famed bowler in world cricket history. The English bowler started his career in 1888 when he was just 15 years. His Test debut was against Australia in 1901, and he played his last match against South Africa in 1914. 

He played a total of 27 matches, and he took 189 wickets. His bowling average was 16.43, which is unmatchable at present times too. Whenever cricket lovers remember top cricketers, they cannot ignore Sydney Barnes. 

Michael Holding – West Indies 

Jamaican Cricketer, Michael Holding played for the West Indies Cricket team from 1975 to 1987. He remained one of the top bowlers for his transcendent bowling approach. Holding made his test debut in 1975 against Australia and his ODI debut in 1976 against England. 

He played 60 test matches with an excellent bowling average of 23.68 and 102 One Day matches with an average of 21.36. He bagged 249 wickets in Test cricket and 142 wickets in One-Day Cricket. 

Curtly Ambrose – West Indies

Cricket fans still recall the most lethal bowler of the West Indies, Curly Ambrose. The Caribbean cricketer played for the West Indies team from 1988 to 2000. He made his Test and one-day debut in 1988 against Pakistan. 

He was a right-arm fast bowler. Ambrose had an impressive bowling record from 98 Test matches and 176 One-Day matches.

He took 4055 wickets in Test matches and 225 wickets in One-Day matches. Ambrose managed to bag ten wickets from 3 Test matches.  

Denis Lili – Australia

Australian first bowler Denis Lili is famous for his excellent bowling graph. At the early stage of his career, he suffered a lot from stress fractures in his back. Denis worked hard on his fitness and joined the Australian Cricket Squad. 

Denis Lili made his Test debut in 1970-71 against England in the Ashes Series. Lili debuted in One-day Cricket in 1972 against England. He played 70 test matches, and 63 one-day matches during his career, with an average of 23.92 and 20.82, respectively. 

Ewen Chatfield

Former New Zealand medium-pacer Bowler Ewen Chatfield is ranked among the top 10 bowlers in Cricket History. Ewen had a remarkable bowling average of 32.17 and 25.84 respectively, in his ODI and Test cricket career. Chatfield played 43 Test matches and 114 One Day matches and bagged 123 & 140 wickets, respectively. 

Glenn McGrath – Australia

Another great Australian pacer who made the Australian Cricket Team win many tricky matches is Glenn McGrath. He has reigned the Australian cricket team for almost 15 years since 1993. Glenn had his Test and ODI debut in 1993 against New Zealand and South Africa.

His successful career graph as a bowler is impressive. Glenn played 124 test matches and 250 ODIs. He bagged 10 wickets in 3 test matches. The bowling average remained at 21.64 and 22.02 in Test and One-day matches.  

Muttiah Muralitharan – Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, faced lots of controversies for his unique bowling action. Still, he overcame all those controversies and positioned himself among the top bowlers in world cricket. Muralitharan played for the Sri Lanka cricket team from 1992 to 2011, and during his long cricket career, he bagged 800 wickets in 133 Test matches & 534 wickets in 350 One-Day matches.

He holds the record of grabbing 10 wickets in 22 test matches. Muralitharan broke the record of Shane Warne and became the highest wicket-taker in Test Cricket.

Joel Garner – West Indies

Joel Garner, one of the deadliest bowlers, of his time, played for the West Indies Cricket team from 1977 to 1987. Garner had an exclusive bowling average of 18.84 in One-Day cricket and 20.97 in Test Cricket. He played 58 Test matches and 98 one-day matches. Joel’s test debut & one-day debut were against Pakistan in 1977.

Shane Warne – Australia

The World of Cricket got mourned with the sudden demise of all-time favorite cricketer Shane Warne. The list of top bowlers in cricket will remain incomplete without mentioning the bowling skill of Shane Warne. The right-arm leg-spin bowler bagged 708 wickets in 145 test matches and 293 wickets, in 194 test matches. The Cricket world lost this fantastic bowler in March 2022.

 They are the top 10 bowlers of all time in Cricket history.