Warne v Murali

(This is an edited - and more precisely calculated - version of the posting below which was published as a letter in The Wisden Cricketer January 2008, page 10.)

Murali is the better bowler, just look at the statistics.

Warne never bowled against the best batting side in the world - Australia - so the two bowlers can be compared only in terms of their perfomances against the second ranked Test sides.

These have, in recent years, been England and South Africa, followed by India and Pakistan. If you look at average and wickets per match, Murali's perfomances against England, South Africa and India are significantly better than Warne's. Warne edges it against Pakistan. Here are the numbers from before the Sri Lanka-England series.

v England: Murali 7.15 wickets per match @ 19.74; Warne 5.41 wickets per match @ 23.25; v South Africa: Murali 6.93 wickets per match @ 22.22; Warne 5.42 wickets per match @ 24.16; v India Murali 4.47 wickets per match @ 32.47; Warne 3.07 wickets per match @ 47.18; v Pakistan: Murali 5.64 wickets per match @ 23.31; Warne 6.00 wickets per match @ 20.17.

Bruce G Charlton

Newcastle upon Tyne

Murali is better than Warne - of course!

Congratulations to Murali for getting the highest ever number of test wickets (709) and passing Shane Warne.

Pundits have been comparing Warne and Murali, and most seem to think Warne is better.

But they are wrong: the numbers are clear - Murali is the better bowler.

Warne never bowled against the best batting side in the world - ie. Australia - so the two bowlers can only be compared in terms of their performances against the second rank of test match sides. These have, in recent years, been England and South Africa, followed by India and Pakistan.

Murali's performances against England, South Africa and India are significantly better than Warne's - against Pakistan Warne was slightly better than Murali. So Murali is the better bowler.

Stats from Statsguru at cricinfo.com - before the current Sri Lanka versus England Match.

South Africa: Murali 6.9 wickets per match av. 22; Warne 5.4 wickets per match av. 24

England: Murali 7.2 wickets per match av. 20; Warne 5.4 wickets per match av. 23.

India: Murali 4.5 wickets per match av. 32; Warne 3.1 wickets per match av. 47.

Pakistan: Murali 5.6 wickets per match av. 23; Warne 6 wickets per match av. 20.

PS. This analysis confirms that India have been the second-best batting side (after Australia) over the past 15 or so years.