The age of bowling

Stunning strike rates, incredible depth in attacks, battered batters: a deep dive into an unparalleled era of bowler domination in Test cricket

S RAJESH (WITH INPUTS FROM SHIVA JAYARAMAN) | FEBRUARY 21, 2022

W hat is common to Pat Cummins, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Tim Southee, Jasprit Bumrah, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Mohammed Shami? They are all terrific bowlers, of course, but here is something a little more specific: they have all taken 100-plus Test wickets at sub-25 averages in the four-year period since the start of 2018. Read on to find out how rare this is in Test history.

One of the (several) fascinating aspects of cricket - Test cricket, especially - is the enduring tussle for supremacy between bat and ball. Over the last few decades there has tended to be a cyclical pattern to which skill holds the upper hand. Through much of the 1990s bowlers held sway. There was quality and depth in bowling talent in most teams: Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Darren Gough and Heath Streak were all in their pomp, and batting against them wasn't much fun.

Then came the decade of the 2000s, when the tables turned and batters got an opportunity to make up for lost time. The pitches generally became flatter the world over, many of the bowlers mentioned above either retired or were past their prime, and their replacements weren't as experienced or as good. The batters weren't complaining, of course: between 2003 and 2010 the bowling average soared to 35.20 runs per wicket, compared to 30.71 between 1995 and 2000, an increase of nearly 15%.