There’s no better sight than a bowler uprooting the stumps from the wicket. The thumping sound when the ball hits the timber and the ‘Bowled Him!’ that follows from the commentary box makes it even more pleasing.
However, it’s not all that easy to aim for the stumps and castle the batter. Bowlers need to work their way up to set up the batters for the bowled dismissal.
Many notable bowlers have excelled at this with the red cherry in their hands. Here are the top 10 bowlers with the most bowled dismissals in Test cricket.
Bowlers with Most Bowled Dismissals in Test Cricket
| Player | Matches | Bowled Dismissals | Total Wickets | Bowled Wickets % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muthiah Muralidaran (SL) | 133 | 167 | 800 | 20.87 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 188 | 137 | 704 | 19.46 |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 145 | 116 | 708 | 16.38 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 104 | 108 | 533 | 20.26 |
| Fred Trueman (ENG) | 67 | 103 | 307 | 33.55 |
| Brian Statham (ENG) | 70 | 102 | 252 | 40.47 |
| Waqar Younis (PAK) | 87 | 102 | 373 | 27.34 |
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 104 | 102 | 414 | 24.63 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 167 | 101 | 604 | 16.72 |
| Ray Lindwall (AUS) | 61 | 97 | 228 | 42.54 |
Key Insights
167: Muthiah Muralidaran has affected the most bowled dismissals in Test cricket. The Sri Lankan spin maestro fetched 167 wickets by rattling the stumps with the red ball. He is the only bowler with 150+ such dismissals.
61.36: There’s no other bowler than Tom Richardson, who has the highest percentage of bowled dismissals among the bowlers with 50+ wickets. The English pacer bagged 54 of his 88 Test wickets by hitting the stumps, which converts to 61.36%.
50: Apart from Richardson, Frederick Spofforth is the only other bowler who has 50 bowled dismissals with less than 100 Test wickets. The Australian fast bowler picked up 94 wickets in 18 Test matches.
60: There are 42 bowlers with 60 or more bowled-out dismissals, with only 12 spinners featuring in them. Among the spinners, only 3 have crossed the 100 dismissal mark. Apart from Muralidaran, Australia’s spin magician Shane Warne and India’s ace off-spinner Ravi Ashwin have scattered stumps 100+ times each.
