5 Greatest England Fast Bowlers In The History Of Test Cricket: Over the rich history of 145 years of Test cricket, from when England played the first-ever Test against Australia in 1877, they have had some great bowlers, not least the leading wicket-taking pacer, James Anderson.
However, it wasn’t until 2011 that England, the founders of the game, attained the number 1 ICC Test rankings after the ranking system was introduced in 2003.
The conditions in England mean that pacers get more swing and seam compared to the bowlers who rely on the spin for their primary job.
Here we look at the 5 greatest England Test pacers:
James Anderson is inarguably England’s greatest bowler and is among the greatest all-time pacers. Anderson, who has bowled at his best in the past two years, is the leading Test wicket-taker among fast bowlers – with 640 scalps to his name, and is England’s highest Test capped player with 169 caps.
The 39-year-old is likely to end his career in the home English summer this year. Anderson has 31 Test five-wicket haul – second-most by a seamer after Sir Richard Hadlee.
Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad is England’s second-leading Test wicket-taker having accounted for 537 dismissals in 152 Tests. His best bowling spell of 8/15 came in the 2015 Ashes series in Nottingham when he downed Australia single-handedly in one session.
The 35-year-old still has some gas left in the tank, however, both Broad and Anderson have recently been dropped for the West Indies tour.
Ian Botham
Ian Botham is probably England’s greatest all-rounder, and is famously known for his individual heroics in the 1981 Ashes series when he dragged England from 1-0 down after two matches to win the series 3-1 by scoring 399 runs and picking up 34 wickets in that series.
Overall, Botham nipped out the third-most number of Test wickets by an England bowler: 383 wickets at 28.
Bob Willis
“Right-arm fast” is how Bob Willis’ bowling introduction used to be. Despite having operation on both knees at age 26, Willis sent down thunderbolts at the batters. He finished with 325 wickets – an English record at the time – in 90 Tests between 1971 and 1984 at a brilliant average of 25. Sadly Bob Willis passed away in 2019, aged 70.
Fred Trueman
Fred Trueman made his Test debut in 1952 and was the first fast bowler from any country to take 300 Test wickets, a landmark he reached at The Oval in 1964. He retired with 307 wickets, and although many pacers have surpassed his wickets tally, his terrific bowling average of 21.57 remains the third-best for any bowler with over 300 Test victims.
