In cricket, you may find a lot of seam bowlers but if you go to find swing bowlers the number is minimum. This is because swing bowling is an art that is difficult to master. Cricket has generated a lot of prominent swing bowlers, not only, from the English countries where the condition suits swing, but also, swing bowlers have evolved in subcontinents. Presenting you the Top 10 Swing Bowlers in the world:
1. Wasim Akram
He is considered to be the best swing bowler of all time. He is the second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs, with 502 wickets from 356 matches at an average of 23.52. He has taken four hat-tricks in international cricket. He invented the art of the reverse swing. His highest score on the test is 256.
2. Dale Steyn
He is a former South African fast bowler who played in 93 tests and 125 ODIs and picked up a total of 439 and 196 wickets, respectively. He was also included in the ICC Test Team of the Decade at the end of 2020. He won the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Award in 2008 for taking 78 wickets. He used to frequently hit speeds of 150 kmph.
3. Waqar Younis
He was considered to be the deadliest swing bowler in the 90s. He could reverse the ball at a great pace. He was the youngest bowler to take 400 wickets in ODIs. He was banned for ball tampering in 2000. He had one of the best strike rates in one-day cricket. He formed a deadly new ball pair with Wasim Akram.
4. James Anderson
He plays for the England Test cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest swing bowlers in the history of cricket. He took 685 test wickets in 179 matches. Currently, he is ranked as the number one Test bowler in the world. He is the only fast bowler to take 600 or more test wickets.
5. Allan Donald
He is considered to be the best bowler in South Africa to date. He was the quickest bowler during the 90s. He was described as ‘White Lightning’. He formed a potent pace attack with Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusner. He is the current bowling coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team.
6. Glenn Mcgrath
He was a disciplined bowler who was too accurate with his line and length. He was a part of four Australian World Cup squads from 1996 to 2007. He has taken 563 test wickets from 124 matches at an average of 21.64. He was the highest wicket-taker in the 2007 ODI World Cup.
7. Richard Hadlee
He is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was known to be a deadly swing bowler. His name was also included in the 2009 ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was also appointed chairman of the New Zealand Board of Selectors. He played in 86 tests and took over 400 wickets.
8. Chaminda Vaas
He is a former international Sri Lankan cricketer who bowled Right arm fast. He is the only bowler to take an eight-wicket haul in ODIs. He is the youngest bowler to take 300 wickets in ODIs. Vaas has one of the longest names among international cricketers. He took 355 wickets from 111 test matches at an average of 29.58.
9. Stuart Broad
He is an English cricketer who plays Test cricket for the England cricket team and is a former ODI and T20 player. He has taken 576 wickets in the 161 test matches he has played. His career-best figures in test cricket are 8-15. His performance against Australia in the 2015 Ashes series was named Wisden’s Men’s Decade.
10. Javagal Srinath
He is a former Indian cricketer who bowled Right arm fast medium and is currently an ICC match referee. Srinath was the first Indian fast bowler to take more than 300 wickets in an ODI. He took 315 ODI wickets and represented India in four World Cups. Srinath was the second bowler after Kapil Dev to take 200 test wickets.
