Top 10 reverse swing bowlers of all time

Reverse swing has probably been the biggest taboo in cricket ever since its secret was first developed and later perfected by the Pakistani pacers. It is also referred to as Irish swing in some parts of the world.In case of reverse swing, the ball moves in the air in the direction of the shiny side as opposed to conventional swing, where the ball swings in the air in the direction opposite to the shine. Another aspect of reverse swing, which makes it unique from conventional swing, is the fact that the ball tends to move much more prodigiously and a lot later, making it doubly difficult for batsmen to negotiate.The concept of reverse swing bowling came to prominence only during the late 1970s, and has been the cause of many controversies and batting collapses over the years.But it’s an incredibly difficult art to master. Though there is lesser secrecy shrouding it than at the time of its conception, it’s still not anyone’s cup of tea. Only very skilled bowlers have been able to exploit it. Here, we take a look at the 10 bowlers who mastered the art of reverse swing:

#10 Simon Jones

Its a travesty that Simon Jones played just 18 Tests for England because he was blessed with more than enough quality to play at least 50 Test matches for his country, if not more.

It was during the 2005 Ashes series on home soil that Jones came to the fore as he took 18 wickets from 4 Tests at an average of 21 and strike-rate of 34 and helped England achieve their first Ashes victory in approximately 2 decades.

His dismissal of Michael Clarke, who shouldered arms to a ball that tailed into him late and knocked his off stump out of the ground, in the Old Trafford Test remains one of the most memorable dismissals of that series to this day.

#9 Umar Gul

Umar Gul has been the torchbearer for reverse swing bowling in Pakistan over the last few years. While a slew of injuries have consigned his Test career to mediocrity, Gul has used reverse swing brilliantly in the shorter formats of the game.

He has been one of the best death bowlers in the game for many years because of his ability to bowl reverse swinging yorkers, and this skill of his was on view when he took 5/6 against New Zealand in the 2009 World T20.

#8 James Anderson

England’s James Anderson has taken 380 wickets from 99 Tests and will soon go past Ian Botham as England’s leading wicket-taker in Test history, and a huge reason for that is him having acquired the skill of reverse swing and learning to bowl on all sorts of pitches.

The 2010/11 Ashes series Down Under was probably the turning point of Anderson’s career. Prior to that series, there was a feeling that Anderson could do well only on bowling-friendly pitches, but his 24 wickets from the 5 Tests in that series on relatively flat tracks in Australia changed that notion. He consistently got the old ball to move and that too both ways, thereby providing no respite to the Australian batsmen. Later, he revealed how Zaheer’s performance in England in 2007 had inspired him to master reverse swing.

#7 Andrew Flintoff

Reverse swing turned out to be one of the key deciding factors during England’s Ashes series triumph in 2005, as Flintoff & co. were much more adept at using reverse swing as opposed to the Australians, who weren’t able to come to terms with it, in regards to both batting and bowling, right throughout the series.

Australian great Adam Gilchrist, in particular, suffered a horrid run against Flintoff, which is illustrated by the fact that his series average was 22.62 in contrast to his career average, till that point, of 55.65.

Flintoff finished that series with 24 wickets from 5 Tests at a strike-rate of 48.5 to not only establish himself as one of the most fearsome fast bowlers of the last decade but to also gain iconic status in English cricket history.

#6 Sarfraz Nawaz

Sarfraz Nawaz, who did the world of cricket a massive favour by discovering reverse swing during the late 1970s, took 177 wickets from 55 Test matches and remains one of the greatest bowlers to have ever played for Pakistan. While Sarfraz was never too quick, what he had in abundance was excellent control and mastery over reverse swing, enabling him to be as successful as he was.

Sarfraz’s career highlight was undoubtedly the Test match between Australia and Pakistan in Melbourne in 1979. Needing 382 for victory, Australia, at 305/3, seemed to be cruising to a comfortable victory. The Pakistan captain duly called Sarfraz into the attack, and he responded with figures of 9/86 in the innings to give Pakistan a miraculous victory.

#5 Dale Steyn

Dale Steyn + Reverse Swing = Every Batsman's Worst Nightmare

— Alternative Cricket (@AltCricket) September 6, 2014

There’s not much that Dale Steyn can’t do with a cricket ball on the field. He makes it talk, bite, smash and fly off his hand.

South Africa haven’t had the luxury of a great spinner in their ranks, and when the new-ball bowlers have done their bit, Steyn included, the speedster returns with the old ball, and at high pace, unleashes the havoc of reverse swing on batsmen.

His exploits in Nagpur against India in 2010 left everyone stunned. “Those 22 yards never mattered less,” wrote Sidharth Monga on Cricinfo in his analysis. Steyn’s spell of 3.4-2-3-5 blew everything away in its sight.

During the 2nd Test between South Africa and Australia in February this year, Steyn dismissed Michael Clarke, Steve Smith and Brad Haddin for 1, 0 and 1 in one of the great spells of reverse swing bowling seen in recent times before finishing with figures of 4/55.

Steyn has already taken a colossal 383 wickets from 75 Tests and, having added another bow to his repertoire, is poised to take a lot many more in the coming years.

#4 Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan has been one of the pioneers of reverse swing bowling over the last decade. Zaheer had fine-tuned his skills with the old ball during a county stint with Worcestershire a few years back, and that brought about a marked improvement in him as a bowler, which India have subsequently reaped the benefits of.

He used reverse swing to devastating effect, especially during India’s Test tour of England in 2007. He took 18 wickets in 3 Tests and helped India complete a 1-0 historic series win, with his match figures of 9/134 being the standout bowling performance of the series.

#3 Imran Khan

While it was Sarfraz Nawaz who had developed the concept of reverse swing bowling and passed on his knowledge to Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain was arguably more effective than the former in executing reverse swing. This was due to Imran’s much superior speed, thereby giving batsmen very little time to adjust to the enormous late swing that he used to generate.

Playing the majority of his cricket on placid batting tracks in Pakistan, Imran took 362 wickets from 88 Tests at a strike-rate of 53.7 over his 21-year long career.

#2 Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis, perhaps, had the most perfect attributes required for reverse swing, and boy, didn’t he make the most of it! Possessing a slingy round-arm action and bowling at 90mph+ in his pomp, Younis was absolutely unplayable once the ball started reversing.

There were many occasions when the batting team, while playing against Pakistan, would be cruising before Waqar, in collaboration with Akram, would come in and skittle the team out in a destructive burst of reverse swing bowling.

He took 373 wickets from 87 Tests at an average of 23.56 and an outstanding strike-rate of 43.4.

#1 Wasim Akram

Nobody, not Waqar, not Imran, not Sarfaraz, had the mastery of reverse swing as Wasim Akram. Undoubtedly the best left-arm bowler of all time, Akram had the ball on a string. It was a puppet show when he made the ball move, and he was a master puppeteer.

Akram made his debut for Pakistan at just the age of 18, took 414 wickets from 104 Tests and 502 wickets in 356 ODIs before retiring in 2003. He was unique in the sense that he had the ability to swing the old ball both ways, giving him an edge over his contemporaries.

The 1992 World Cup final between Pakistan and England in Melbourne quite aptly summed up the extraordinary skill Akram possessed with the old ball. In the 35th over of England’s run chase, Akram, bowling around the wicket, accounted for Allan Lamb with a ball that was coming in with the angle before leaving Lamb at the last moment, knocking Lamb’s off-stump out of the ground.

Just to show that he could bring the ball back in as well, he bowled England all-rounder Chris Lewis off the very next ball with a delivery that came back in sharply to the right-hander.

On countless occasions, he bowled deliveries which could leave everyone in awe. If Sarfaraz Nawaz and Imran Khan were the pioneers of reverse swing, Wasim Akram was the biggest master of this inexplicable art.