The eighteen players who have taken over 300 Test wickets, comprise 13 Right Arm Fast/Fast Medium Bowlers, 1 Left Arm Fast Medium Bowler (Wasim Akram), 2 Right Arm Off Spin bowlers (L R Gibbs & M Muralitharan) and 2 Right Arm Leg Spin Bowlers (S K Warne & A Kumble)

From the "Career Table" the following statistics emerge:

The eighteen players comprise four from the West Indies, three from Australia, England, and Pakistan, two from India, and one each from Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and South Africa.

F S (Fred) Trueman had the earliest birthdate, and Muttiah Muralitharan is the youngest. Sadly Malcolm Marshall in now deceased.

Imran Khan had the longest career. (21 years.)

Courtenay Walsh played the most Tests and took the most wickets.

Kapil Dev was the youngest player (age 27) to take his 300^th Test wicket, and Lance Gibbs at age 41 was the oldest.

First & Second Innings Comparison Table (Best performance in each column highlighted in bold)

From the "First and Second Innings comparison Table" the following statistics emerge:

Kapil Dev took the most first innings wickets, (299) but had the second highest average. (31.20) While Courtenay Walsh took the most second innings wickets. (240)

Fred Trueman had the lowest first innings average, (21.34) while Malcolm Marshall had the lowest second innings average. (19.18)

Lance Gibbs had the highest first innings average (33.49), while Ian Botham had the highest second innings average. (28.75)

Lance Gibbs had the largest differential of 9.13 between his first (33.49) and second innings averages (24.36), and this perhaps emphasises his greater reliance on wearing second innings pitches to get his wickets. As a comparison the other off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan had a differential of only 2.93, and leg spinners Shane Warne (4.21), and Anil Kumble with 6.02.

Fourteen players had a lower bowling average in the second innings. However, IT Botham, G D McGrath, D K Lillee, and F S Trueman had higher averages in the second innings.

Four players Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Allan Donald, and Courtney Walsh (all fast bowlers) averaged less than 20 for their second innings wickets. The low second innings averages of Malcolm Marshall and Courtenay Walsh also reflect their efficiency at taking wickets in the second innings. Both Marshall and Walsh took only 53% of their total wickets in the first innings, compared to 68% for Botham, and Kapil Dev, and 66.5 % for Hadlee.

Dismissals Analysis Table (Best performance in each column highlighted in bold).

From the "Dismissal Analysis Table" the following statistics emerge:

Bob Willis has the highest percentage of top order (1 –3) dismissals (41.2%), while Lance Gibbs had the lowest at 20.1%, followed by Shane Warne at 23.5%.

However, Lance Gibbs has the highest percentage of middle order (4 –7) dismissals (44.0 %), while Kapil Dev had the lowest 31.3%.

L R Gibbs has the highest percentage of low order (8 – 11) dismissals (35.9 %), while Bob Willis had the lowest at 25.%, and closely followed by Glen McGrath at 25.7%

Courtney Walsh, Fred Trueman, and Wasim Akram had the most even spread of dismissals in the batting order, with each averaging close to 33% for each category.

F red Trueman has the highest percentage of "bowled" dismissals (33.3%), while G D McGrath has the lowest percentage of "bowled dismissals" (11.7%). Is this a reflection of his practice of bowling outside off stump on most occasions? He is also second to A A Donald in "caught behind" dismissals.

Anil Kumble has the highest percentage of "caught" dismissals with 55.7%, followed by Lance Gibbs with 52.8%). Waqar Younis has the lowest with 25.9%, followed by Wasim Akram with 29.5%.

Alan Donald has the highest percentage of "caught behind" dismissals (30.4%), closely followed by Dennis Lillee (27.3%), and Glenn McGrath with 27.1%. Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble had the lowest percentage with (5.0%). Note Shane Warne (10.7%), and Lance Gibbs (9.4%)

Waqar Younis has the highest percentage of LBW dismissals with 29.1%, closely followed by Wasim Akram with 29.0%. L R Gibbs had an incredibly low proportion of L B W dismissals (6.8%) for an off spinner. Was it due to the LBW rule prevailing at that time? Bob Willis also had a low percentage with 10.2%.

Average Variation Table (Lowest Average in each column highlighted in bold.)

From the "Average Variation" Table.

Ian Botham had the lowest average at 100 Wickets with 18.97, followed by Waqar Younis with 19.5. Muttiah Muralitharan had the highest average with 31.50 and closely followed by Imran Khan with 31.45.

Waqar Younis had the lowest average at 200 Wickets with 20.61, while Kapil Dev at 29.34 had the highest.

Malcolm Marshall had the lowest average at 300 Wickets with 20.89, closely followed by Fred Trueman with 21.22. Kapil Dev at 29.05 again had the highest.

Curtly Ambrose had the lowest average at 400 Wickets with 20.97, while Kapil Dev at 29.66 had the highest.

Waqar Younis recorded the lowest average of the group. His average was just 18.53 when he took his 157^th wicket. (Averages recorded prior to taking 100 wickets where not taken into consideration)

Kapil Dev was the only player in the group who did not reduce his average below 25.00 at some stage after taking his 100^th wicket.

Imran Khan had the largest drop in average, by reducing his average by 9.97 from 31.45 at 100 wickets to 21.48 when he took his 282nd wicket. However, Richard Hadlee and Muttiah Muralitharan also had averages of over 30 at 100 wickets, and have reduced them by 7.97, and 7.79 respectively.

An examination of the data quickly reveals that twelve players maintained their level of performance (and average) towards the end of their career, and as a result they had a differential of less than 2.00 between their lowest average (greater than 100 wickets) and current or final average.

A closer analysis reveals that 7 of those 12 had a differential of less than 1.00. This indicates that despite the inevitable injuries suffered from the wear and tear from bowling 2,000+ overs in over 60 Test matches, their pride in the level of their performance, has enabled them to overcome the effects of these injuries. The 12 players are

C A Walsh, R J Hadlee, Wasim Akram,C E L Ambrose, M D Marshall, G D McGrath, Imran Khan, D K Lillee, A A Donald, R G D Willis, F S Trueman, and M Muralitharan (whose average is still reducing).

Six players I T Botham (9.92), L R Gibbs (6.99), Waqar Younis (4.29), S K Warne (4.16), A Kumble (3.67), and Kapil Dev (3.55), had a differential of greater than 2 between their lowest average and their current or finishing average. Each of the 5 players has already demonstrated that they had an impressive array of deliveries, and the ability to use them at the appropriate time to take a wicket, so I believe that a variety of differing factors have contributed to the decline in the level of their performance.

In the case of Waqar Younis, it is perhaps fair to point out that his decline in average started from what was a record low of 18.33, a level which was realistically unsustainable, and has declined to its current level of 22.62 which is still incredibly good by any standard.

Tests played at Milestones Table (Best performance (fewest tests played) in each column highlighted in bold)

From the "Tests played at milestones Table"

Ian Botham was the fastest to 100 wickets, taking just 19 Tests, while Wasim Akram was the slowest taking 30 Tests.

Dennis Lillee and Waqar Younis were the fastest to 200 wickets taking 38 Tests. Bob Willis and Courtney Walsh were the slowest, and each took 58 Tests to reach 200 wickets.

Dennis Lillee was the fastest to 300 wickets taking 56 Tests, closely followed by Muttiah Muralitharan with 58 Tests. Kapil Dev was the slowest and took 83 Tests.

Muttiah Muralitharan after taking 27 Tests to reach 100 wickets, then took only another 15 Tests to reach 200 wickets, a further 16 Tests to reach 300 wickets, and only another 14 Tests to reach 400. He therefore took 45 Tests to take 300 wickets and progress from 100 to 400 wickets, and is by far the fastest of any in the group.

Courtney Walsh is the only player to take 500 wickets.

General Statistics Table (Best performances in each column highlighted in bold.)

+ 5 wickets in an innings on debut

* current players

From the "General Statistics Table" the following statistics emerge:

Shane Warne has taken 50 wickets in a calendar year on most occasions (5). However, Richard Hadlee, Curtly Ambrose, Wasim Akram and Lance Gibbs did not take 50 wickets in a calendar year.

Dennis Lillee’s record of 85 wickets in a calendar year was the only year that he achieved this mark.

Richard Hadlee has taken 5 wickets in an innings the most times with 36, which is the current Test record. Bob Willis has achieved this mark the least with 16 times.

Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 10 wickets in a match the most times with 10, which is the current Test record. Bob Willis was the only player in the group not to take 10 wickets in a match

Lance Gibbs had the best economy rate of 1.99 runs per over, but had the worst strike rate with a wicket every 87.85 balls, while Waqar Younis had the worst economy rate of 3.20 runs per over, and the best strike rate of a wicket every 42.46 balls. Is this just a coincidence, or is there a correlation between the two?

Other statistics from the group, (which are not shown on the table)

Anil Kumble has taken the most wickets in an innings. (10/74)

Muttiah Muralitharan has taken the most wickets in a match. (16/220)

Richard Hadlee has taken the most wickets in a 3 Test series.(33).

Malcolm Marshall has taken the most wickets in a 5 Test series. (35)

Imran Khan has taken the most wickets in a 6 Test series. (40).

Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, and Ian Botham each conceded over 200 runs in an innings.