Players who have taken over 200 wickets 1995-2011

In the last article I did, I focused on the runs scored in the period being covered, 1995 to 2011.  I concentrated in that on the batsmen who during this period scored at least 2000 runs.

Now it is time to look at the bowlers and the criterion is those who took at least 200 wickets in that time. The first point to make is that as 5,000 runs marks the figure at which a batsman makes the overall career figures and will continue to feature in those lists long after he has ceased to play, the figure for bowlers is 500 wickets. Also as batsmen once they reach 2,000 figures appear in the lists for current players, 200 wickets is the figure at which bowlers enter those lists.

The bowlers who achieved 200 wickets in the period being covered are set out below. They are in order of the aggregate number of wickets taken though other relevant figures are also shown. Again the clubs I have included for each player I believe are right but apologies if I have left any out.

The recent changes in Leinster Cricket as outlined in the first article I wrote means that many more batsmen will achieve 5,000 runs in their career than bowlers will achieve 500 wickets. Indeed it is very unlikely that many, if any, bowlers will reach the magic figure of 500 wickets as long as the present structure of cricket in Leinster continues.

Only 1 bowler reached 500 wickets over this period and only one other reached 400 wickets, though there is another who is only 1 wicket short of that. In all 24 bowlers have reached 200 wickets. This compares with 80 batsmen who have reached 2,000 runs

I thought it might be worthwhile to compare the numbers of batsmen and bowlers who have reached various levels of runs and wickets in the period under review

Runs levels                            Number reached       Wickets          Number reached

5000 runs +                                         13                    500 wickets plus           1

4000-4999 runs                                   12                    400-499 wickets           1

3000-3999 runs                                   21                    300-399 wickets           5

2000-2999 runs                                   33                    200-299 wickets         17

It is only as one goes down the figures to the 2,000 runs/200 wickets level that the bowlers show up proportionately with the batsmen.  This proportionality reflects perhaps the average side where there may be 6/7 batsmen who might reasonably be expected to get to 2,000 runs as compared to maybe 3/4 bowlers who might reasonably be expected to get to 200 wickets. However these figures do tend to show the truth of the well known phrase, it is a batsmen’s game.