The sheer dominance of the Australian bowling attack in test cricket is known to all. Australia has some of the greatest pace bowlers who have taken wickets on every soil. The Aussies have produced many bowlers to go past 100+ test wickets. From Macgrath to Warne, they are all known to have destroyed the opposition batting lineup. Some of them have taken their best bowling figures in a match to achieve greatness. The bowlers have both pace and spin attacks. The article talks about the top 10 bowling figures in the Australian team.
1. Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie
Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie is a former right-arm fast-medium bowler. He made his debut against England at Lord's on 22 June 1972, and in his debut game, he took 16 wickets by giving 137 runs in 60.1 over with an economy of 2.27 and is still the best bowling figure for Australia in a test. He played his last match on 6 January 1973 against Pakistan in Sydney.
2. Frederick Robert Spofforth
Frederick Robert Spofforth was a former right-arm fast-medium bowler. He was known as "The Demon" and was considered Australia's first truest fast bowler. Spofforth made his first appearance on 31 March 1877 against England at Melbourne and took 94 wickets in 18 matches. On 28 August 1882 against England at The Oval, he took his best figure by taking 14 wickets in 64.3×4 overs by giving 90 runs with an economy of 2.08. He played his last match on 28 January 1887 against England in Sydney.
3. Clarence Victor Grimmett
Clarence Victor Grimmett was a former Leg-break googly bowler who made his debut on 24 February 1925 against England in Sydney. Victor played a total of 37 matches and took 216 wickets. On 29 January 1932, he took 14 wickets by giving 199 runs in 96.2 overs against South Africa at Adelaide. He played his last match on 28 February 1936 against South Africa at Durban.
4. Montague Alfred Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was a former right-arm medium and right-arm off-break bowler. He made his test debut at Melbourne against England on 1 January 1898. Noble played 42 matches and took 121 wickets. His best bowling figure was 13 wickets, in which he gave 77 runs in 33.4 overs against England at Melbourne on 1 January 1902. On 9 August 1909, he played his last match against England at The Oval.
5. Bruce Anthony Reid
Bruce Anthony Reid is a former left-arm fast-medium bowler and made his test debut against India at Adelaide on 13 December 1985. He played a total of 27 matches and took 113 wickets. On 26 December 1990 at Melbourne against England, Reid took 13 wickets by giving 148 runs in 61 overs with an economy of 2.42. He retired from test cricket after playing against West Indies at Brisbane on 27 November 1992.
6. Nathan Michael Lyon
Nathan Michael Lyon is a right-arm off-break bowler in the current squad. He played his first test match against Sri Lanka at Galle on 31 August 2011. Lyon has now played 100 test matches and taken 399 wickets. The bowler took his best bowling figures against Bangladesh when he took 13 wickets from 69.2 overs and gave 154 runs with an economy of 2.22 on 4 September 2017.
7. Mervyn Gregory Hughes
Mervyn Gregory Hughes is a former right-arm fast bowler who made his test debut on 13 December 1985 against India at Adelaide. Hughes played 53 test matches and took 212 wickets in his Test career. He took 13 wickets against West Indies at Perth by giving 217 runs in 73.1 overs with an economy of 2.96, which is his best bowling figure. He played his last match on 17 March 1994 against Australia at Cape Town.
8. Arthur Alfred Mailey
Arthur Alfred Mailey was a former Leg-break googly bowler who made his test debut against England at Sydney on 17 December 1920. He took 99 wickets in his career by playing 21 matches. On 11 February 1921, he took his career-best bowling figure by taking 13 wickets by giving 236 runs in 76.2 overs with an economy of 3.09 at Melbourne. The opponent was England. He took his retirement after playing against England at The Oval on 14 August 1926.
9. Stephen Norman John O'Keefe
Stephen Norman John O'Keefe is a former slow left-arm orthodox bowler who made his test debut against Pakistan in Dubai on 22 October 2014. He took 35 wickets in his short career of nine matches. Stephen took his career-best bowling figures against India, where John took 12 wickets in 28.1 overs by giving 70 runs with an economy of 2.48. He played his last game against Bangladesh at Chattogram on 4 September 2017.
10. Stuart Charles Glyndwr Macgill
Stuart Charles Glyndwr Macgill is a former Leg-break googly bowler from Australia. He played his first test match on 30 January 1998 against South Africa at Adelaide and his last game against West Indies at North Sound on 30 May 2008. He played 44 games and took 208 wickets in his career. Stuart took his career-best bowling figures of 12 wickets against England by bowling 40.2 overs giving 107 runs with an economy of 2.65.
