Fast bowlers are one of the most enthralling sights in cricket. The last fifty years have been blessed with some of the best opening bowlers in cricket history. Who can forget the frightening pace of Lillee and Thomson, the West Indian battery of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Croft, Clarke, Marshall, Ambrose and Walsh, and our own quartet of Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib.

Fast bowlers are most effective when they hunt in pairs, creating relentless, continuous pressure from both ends, giving the batsman no respite against a ceaseless onslaught of pace. While we may all have our favourite fast bowling combos, today we have used statistics to identify the three most productive fast bowling pairs of the last half century.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad

Their figures, in the Tests that they have played together, are impressive. 116 Tests, 883 wickets, average 26.85, strike rate 7.61 wickets per match, 56.1 balls per wicket, 5 wickets in an innings 39 times, 10 wickets in a match 5 times. 472 wickets were bagged by Anderson and 411 by Broad.

A fine pair of right arm bowlers of contrasting styles. Anderson is a natural swing bowler who can swing the ball both ways. He has also mastered the art of reverse swing and has the ability to make the ball skid off the surface. He bowls an immaculate line and length with great consistency and can always be counted on for reliability.

Broad, on the other hand, relies more on seam movement off the wicket. His height of 6 feet 5 inches gives him extra bounce after pitching and makes him an ideal foil to Anderson. Both of them are fast medium in pace with regular speeds of around 130 - 135 kph and the occasional faster delivery in the 140 kph range.

Their 883 wickets are the highest by any fast bowling pair in Test history. However, they have played 116 tests and their strike rate of 7.61 wickets per match is the lowest of the three pairs. They are also the most expensive at almost 27 runs per wicket. Their penetrative ability at 55.7 balls per wicket is the same as that of Walsh and Ambrose. They have a haul of 5 wickets in an innings by one of them every 2.97 innings and 10 wickets in a match every 23 matches, in both instances the lowest figures from among the three pairs.

Courtney Walsh and Sir Curtly Ambrose

They have splendid figures for the tests they played together in. 95 Tests, 762 wickets, average 22.67, strike rate 8.05 wickets per match, 56,15 balls per wicket, 5 wickets in an innings 36 times, 10 wickets in a match 5 times. 373 wickets were taken by Walsh and 389 by Ambrose.

Statistically this is the most productive pair from the fearsome West Indies pace attacks of the past five decades. This pair of right arm pacemen are probably the tallest pair of fast bowlers in test history. Walsh at 6 feet 5.5 inches and Ambrose at 6 feet 7.5 inches had similar styles. They were aggressive and intimidating in their approach, extracting steep bounce from the wicket. Ambrose also had a great yorker while Walsh had great durability and stamina. Primarily in swing bowlers, their average speed was between 130 to 135 kph, with a faster delivery bowled at around 140-145 kph.

Second in the total tally of Test wickets with 762 wickets, Walsh and Ambrose were economical with each wicket costing 22.67 runs only. They played 95 Tests alongside each other taking 8.05 wickets per Test which is better than Anderson/Broad but behind Wasim and Waqar. At 56.15 balls per wicket their penetrative ability is comparable to Anderson/Broad. Their 5 wickets in an innings tally, by one of them, occurred every 2.64 innings with 10 wickets in a match every 19 Tests. Both these figures are better than those of Anderson and Broad but fall short of Wasim and Waqar.

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis

The figures for the tests that they have played in together are truly remarkable. 61 Tests, 559 wickets, average 22.12, strike rate 9.16 wickets per match, 45.65 balls per wicket, 5 wickets in an innings 37 times, 10 wickets in a match 7 times. 282 wickets were captured by Wasim and 277 by Waqar.

This was a partnership that was built in heaven. Wasim, arguably the best left arm fast bowler in history, bowled off a short run. He had a very fast whippy arm action hiding the ball from the batsman till the very last. He could swing the ball both ways with great ease, both from over and round the wicket. He was the guru of both conventional and reverse swing and produced innumerable variations through a mastery of wrist positions and use of the crease to supplement his natural swing. He was termed the Sultan of Swing. He could make the ball sing, sometimes, incredibly, moving it in two different directions in the same delivery. Waqar was both his partner and his nemesis. There was an intense rivalry as well as a camaraderie between them. Right arm and furiously fast he would sprint in off a long run and deliver with a slingy, slightly round arm action that was in total contrast to Wasim’s. Both could produce the yorker at will with Waqar being famous for his toe crushers. Primarily an out swing bowler with the new ball, Waqar became renowned and feared for his banana swing with the old ball. This pair could turn a game on its head in no time. The wicket did not matter, green top or barren, fast and bouncy or slow and dusty, the two Ws could produce their magic everywhere. Both bowled consistently in the 140-145 kph zones with top speeds of 150 plus for Wasim and 155 plus for Waqar.

Their 559 Test wickets in tandem were achieved in only 61 Tests played together. This gives them a strike rate of 9.16 wickets per match which is the best of the three pairs. Their average of 22.12 per wicket also makes them the most economical pair and they were by far the most penetrative with a wicket every 45.65 balls. The feat of 5 wickets in an innings by one of them, occurred every 1.64 innings and 10 wickets in a match once every 8.7 matches. These are remarkable figures and place them well ahead of their competitors.

Wasim and Waqar are third in the total Test wicket tally as they played only 61 Tests together. However, if we look at all internationals played by these three pairs, singly or in partnership, the picture changes dramatically.

When all three forms of the modern game are considered Wasim and Waqar become the most productive pair with 1705 wickets between them, well ahead of the other two partnerships.

Numbers do not lie. They clearly show that Wasim and Waqar were the most lethal pair of fast bowlers in test cricket in the last fifty years, and when viewed in the overall context of all forms of international cricket, the most productive as well. They were a complete pair, complementing each other, a left arm right arm combination, a fast explosive arm action and a low slinging one, a short, almost casual run up to the wicket and a muscular athletic sprint, complete command of all the intricacies of ball movement both in the air and off the wicket, unparalleled exponents of the yorker, they had it all. It is unlikely that the cricket world will ever see their like again.