Top 10 bowlers with highest percentage of 'bowled' dismissals (Tests and ODIs)

In cricket, the sight of the stumps being disturbed is probably the best sight for a bowler and the most embarrassing one for a batsman. The bowler is rightly given full credit whenever he gets the batsman out in this manner as he has to get through the batsman’s defence for him to achieve this mode of dismissal.Also read: Who has highest T20I wickets?Here are the 10 bowlers with the maximum percentage of ‘bowled’ dismissals in their international career:(Note: This list does not include bowlers with less than 150 wickets and T20 internationals have also not been considered)

#10 Lasith Malinga - 30.38%

Lasith Malinga, also called “Slinga Malinga” because of his unique round-arm action, is a Sri Lankan cricketer who is known for his ability to bowl yorkers and slower ones at will, thereby outfoxing many a batsman. He burst onto the scene in July 2004 and was a part of the squad that finished runners-up at the World Cup in 2007 as well as 2011, and led Sri Lanka to glory in the World T20 in 2014.

He has achieved the unique feat of taking 4 wickets from 4 consecutive balls, against South Africa during the 2007 World Cup which almost won Sri Lanka the match from an unwinnable position. He has 113 ‘bowled’ victims out of his 372 wickets in Test and ODI cricket combined. He edges out Pakistan’s Wasim Akram by a whisker to complete the list.

#9 Michael Holding - 31.46%

Michael Holding is a former West Indian cricketer who is considered to be among the fastest bowlers the world has ever seen. He was nicknamed “Whispering Death” because of his quiet approach to the crease before hurling the ball at ferocious speed. Standing at approximately 6ft 3in, he used his height to great effect to generate bounce and movement off the pitch, which was a huge strength.

Out of his 391 wickets in international cricket, he bowled batsmen out on 123 occasions. He was a part of the fearsome West Indies fast bowling quartet, along with Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner, who dominated world cricket throughout the late 1970s and ‘80s.

#8 Waqar Younis - 32.06%

Waqar Younis, who is currently working as the coach of the Pakistan team, was a highly-skilled paceman who formed a lethal partnership with Wasim Akram during the 1990s and early 2000s. His major strength was his ability to generate late reverse swing at a high speed, thereby making him as deadly with the old ball as the new one.

He could swing the ball both ways, although it was his prodigious inswing that caught the eye, and struck the fear of terror in the minds of many batsmen. Out of an amazing 789 wickets in total, 253 were courtesy of dislodging the bails.

#7 Fred Trueman - 33.55%

Fred Trueman was an English cricketer who played Test cricket for his country for 13 years, from 1952 to 1965. A fast bowler with the ability to rattle even the best of batsmen with genuine pace and skill, he was nicknamed “Fiery Fred”. He was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in Test cricket; 103 were bowled. He was also an athletic fielder and a decent lower-order batsman.

The then British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, once exclaimed that he was the greatest living Yorkshireman. Despite all his accolades, Trueman was often omitted from England squads because of his clashes with the cricket establishment which he criticized. After retirement, he became a media personality and was a radio commentator for the BBC.

#6 Wes Hall - 33.85%

Wes Hall was a tall, fearsome fast bowler who was a mainstay of the West Indies team in the 1960s. He was a very popular cricketer during his time, and in his 46 Tests, he prised out 192 batsmen, of which 65 were bowled. He was known for bowling long spells despite his very long run-up.

He was the first West Indian cricketer to take a hat-trick in Test cricket, against Pakistan in 1959. He also holds the distinction of having bowled the final over in the famous tied Test against Australia in 1960. After retiring from cricket, he joined politics, and in 2012, he was knighted for his services to cricket and the general community.

#5 Shoaib Akhtar - 35.30%

Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar is considered to be one of the fastest bowlers to have ever played the game of cricket, with his fastest delivery having been recorded at a blistering 161 km/h. He is also called ‘Rawalpindi Express’ because of the place he comes from. He is well known for wreaking havoc among batsmen with his brutal pace, and it’s no surprise that he makes it into this list. Out of his 425 international wickets, 160 came by way of shattering the stumps. Though his career was full of inconsistency and controversies, he was a real menace even to the best batsmen in the world on his day.

#4 Sydney Barnes - 35.97%

Sydney Barnes was widely considered to be the first truly great bowler to play Test cricket. By all accounts, he wasn’t very quick, but he could swing the ball both ways and also had the unique ability of cutting the ball either way. It’s absolutely amazing that one bowler could be this versatile. So, it comes as no surprise that he was considered one of the best fast bowlers of all-time.

He castled 68 batsmen out of his 189 Test scalps in total. He had the highest rating among bowlers in ICC’s best-ever Test championship ratings in 2008 and was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2009. He also holds the record for taking the most wickets in a single Test series, having taken a colossal 49 wickets in a single series against South Africa in 1913.

#3 Sonny Ramadhin - 39.24%

Sonny Ramadhin, of Indian origin, was one of the first “mystery” spinners to grace the international game, having played for West Indies in the 1950s predominantly. He is the lone spinner in this list. He took 158 wickets from his 43 Tests; 62 were ‘bowled’, which is quite high for a spinner.

He was one of the 5 Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951. Unlike traditional spinners, he was able to turn the ball both ways without a significant change in his action. In a Test innings against England, he bowled a mammoth 98 overs, which is the largest by any bowler in a first-class game, and he never returned back to his best again.

#2 Brian Statham - 40.47%

Brian Statham was initially a bowler of just medium pace, but he later modified his action to become a genuine fast bowler. He played for England from 1951 to 1965 and was one of their best bowlers in that period. Forming a lethal combination with Fred Trueman, he took a total of 252 wickets of which 102 were by disturbing the stumps. He broke the record for the most number of Test wickets (236) in 1962 but held the record for merely 2 months.

One unique quality of his was that he wasn’t very aggressive for a fast bowler and would rarely bowl a bouncer, that too only after warning the batsman beforehand. He was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2009.

#1 Ray Lindwall - 42.54%

Ray Lindwall was a right-arm fast bowler who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960. He made it his hobby to trouble batsmen and was considered the best bowler of his time. He was mainly an outswing bowler and used variations in pace, in addition to a sharp bouncer, to good effect. He was a part of the famous 1948 Australian team which acquired the sobriquet ‘The Invincibles’.

It was considered to be among the strongest teams to have played the sport. He scalped a total of 228 wickets in his Test career, out of which 97 were ‘bowled’. He was inducted into Australia’s Hall of Fame and was named in the “Team of the Century” in the year 2000.