For the performance related measures, the cut-off is 100 Test wickets. This ensures a substantial career with about 25 Tests. 180 bowlers qualify.
George Lohmann, with an unbelievable average of 10.76, is nearly as much ahead of Barnes as Bradman is of Pollock. Barnes is at 16.43 (65.5%). Needless to say that the division is the other way around for some of the bowling metrics. Tony Lock’s 50th place average of 25.58 (42.1%) will tell us how low the bowling average was in the days gone by. When I say that very few bowlers have had sub-10 averages at the end of their first Tests, leave alone end of their careers, that will tell the story. Lohmann and Barnes will never be overhauled.
The top of the wickets table, after Muralitharan tells the story. Shane Warne, with 708 wickets (88.5%), Anil Kumble, with 619 wickets (77.4%), and Glenn McGrath, with 563 wickets (70.4%) — who is going to overhaul these three great bowlers, leave alone Muralitharan? James Anderson needs to play in another 20 Tests to get past Kumble. Therefore, it is not rocket science to say that Muralitharan will stand supreme at the turn of the 22nd century.
Now things turn interesting. Lohmann’s strike rate was 34.1 balls per wicket. Whoever would have thought that Kagiso Rabada, with a magnificent BpW value of 39.8 (85.6%), and Dale Steyn, with 41.5 (82.3%), would do better than Barnes’ strike rate of 41.7 (81.9%). This is one of the most amazing bowling achievements, unfortunately pushed into the background with our batting-centric views. Let us salute Rabada. Whether he can maintain a 40-level BpW value is doubtful.
Nevertheless, let us enjoy this phenomenon while it is there. It is of interest to note that Rabada was not there in my first cut of the article since he crossed 100 wickets only in the last Test against Bangladesh.
Trevor Goddard conceded 1.65 runs per over in his career. What is more important is that he was better than India’s own bowling machine Bapu Nadkarni. The cut-off for this analysis is 500 overs (normalised to 6 balls). I had to go through the list with a fine tooth-comb to locate the most accurate modern bowler. That turned out to be Hansie Cronje, with an RpO value of 2.03 (81.1%). But he retired in 2000. What about modern active bowlers? I got Ravindra Jadeja, with an RpO value of 2.33 (70.6%). He is in the 99th position.
I have not provided the graph here. However, it is worth talking about Laker’s performance, which I have referred to earlier. Laker’s 19 wickets in the Manchester Test of 1956 is, in my opinion, the record, which will never ever be broken. I would say that Bradman’s 99.94 or Lohmann’s 10.76 have better chances of being overhauled than Laker’s 19-wicket haul. The reason is simple. The bowler has to achieve the 10-wickets in an innings twice in one Test, within five days. It is worthwhile remembering that the feat of 10 wickets in an innings itself has only been achieved twice in 140 years of Test cricket, that too, 43 years apart. Also, the pitch has to suit one particular bowler only. After the fall of the 18th wicket, the fellow bowlers have to co-operate. The batsmen of the other team have to co-operate. Finally, the umpires should co-operate. I would categorically say, absolutely zero chance. Incidentally, Barnes’ 17 wickets is at 89.4%, and the 50th best performance, 13-wicket captures by many bowlers are at 68.4%.