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England has produced numerous outstanding bowlers. Their pace bowlers have terrorised batting attacks and wreaked havoc at home and abroad.
However, who are their most successful bowlers? Below, we list England’s top seven wicket-takers across all formats:
1. James Anderson
- 991 wickets
- 704 in Tests
- 269 in ODIs
- 18 in T20Is
Adam Gilchrist was Jimmy Anderson’s first victim in international cricket. The pacer dismissed the Australian star after he had plundered 124 off 104 balls in an ODI between England and Australia in Melbourne in December 2002.
Twenty-two years later, Anderson walked out to bowl in the final Test when England faced the West Indies at Lord’s. The then 42-year-old showed that “age ain’t nothing but a number” when he dismissed Joshua da Silva with a brilliant delivery to close out a storied career that featured three 10-wicket hauls, 34 five-wicket hauls, and 34 four-wicket hauls.
No other bowler has enjoyed a career as long as Anderson’s. The pacer boasts the second-most Test matches, behind Sachin Tendulkar, who featured in 200 Tests. Anderson played in 188 Tests. He also featured in 194 ODIs and 19 T20Is.
2. Stuart Broad
- 847 wickets
- 604 in Tests
- 178 in ODIs
- 65 in T20Is
Like Anderson, Broad enjoyed greater success with the red ball than the white one. The England pacer bagged 604 Test wickets at an average of 27.68 in 167 Tests. He also took 178 wickets in 121 ODIs and 65 wickets in 56 T20Is.
Also like Anderson, Broad had one of the longest careers for England in modern times, spanning 17 years.
Broad shared the new ball with Darren Gough in his maiden international match, a T20 encounter against Pakistan. He bagged his first wicket with his 10th delivery — a ball that nipped back and sent the stumps flying.
His closing act was a wobble-ball delivery that pitched on the line of the fourth stump and moved back enough to catch the edge of Alex Carey’s bat.
The wicket was the perfect way for Broad to end his career; it secured victory for England over Australia and left the series tied 2–2 after five Tests, helping England retain the 2023 Ashes.
3. Ian Botham
- 528 wickets
- 383 in Tests
- 145 in ODIs
Botham was one of the best all-rounders to represent England. He amassed more than 7,000 runs in Tests and ODIs and claimed an impressive 528 wickets. He was one of only three bowlers to take more than 500 wickets for England, after Anderson and Broad.
Unlike Anderson and Broad, who finished their international careers in whites, Botham bookended his with ODIs. He made his debut against the West Indies in August 1976, in a match where Viv Richards dominated with the bat.
Botham’s efforts weren’t enough to help England win; he took a single wicket for 26 runs in three overs.
Unlike some bowlers who are fortunate enough to sign off with wickets, Botham was among those who went wicketless in their final international appearance. He toiled without reward for 11 overs (back when ODIs were 55 overs a side), conceding 43 runs against Pakistan in August 1992.
Read more: Who has the most Test hundreds? Joe Root in hot pursuit of No.1 spot
4. Darren Gough
466 wickets
229 in Tests, 235 in ODIs, 3 in T20Is
Gough had an abundance of natural talent; however, his success was the result of a strong work ethic. He observed what the best bowlers of his era did, experimented with the ball, and treated failures as learning opportunities.
His dedication helped him become England’s foremost exponent of reverse swing and one of the best changers of pace.
Gough announced himself in international cricket by clean-bowling Martin Crowe for a three-ball duck when England played New Zealand in an ODI in Birmingham in 1994.
His final appearance for England was an ODI against Pakistan in September 2006, and as in his last Test in 2003 and final T20 in August 2006, he went wicketless.
5. Adil Rashid
- 419 wickets
- 60 in Tests
- 224 in ODIs
- 135 in T20Is
Rashid was one of the bowlers Eoin Morgan relied on during England’s most successful era as a white-ball side. The leg-spinner vindicated Morgan’s unwavering belief in him by playing a key role in England’s 2019 ODI World Cup-winning campaign. He is England’s most successful spinner in terms of total wickets across formats.
Rashid made his debut in England’s four-wicket loss to the Netherlands at the 2009 T20 World Cup. His consolation was the wicket of Bas Zuiderent.
He made his ODI debut two months later in a contest against Ireland in Belfast. However, he had to wait six years before making his Test debut.
Unfortunately, his Test career was not as successful as his ODI and T20I careers. He only featured in 19 Tests before England decided he was not the spinner they needed in whites.
6. Graeme Swann
- 410 wickets
- 225 in Tests
- 104 in ODIs
- 81 in T20Is
England tried out Swann in a single ODI in 2000 and decided he wasn’t the right fit. The off-spinner went back to domestic cricket and worked his way from the bottom of the pile to make a return to international cricket seven years later — again in an ODI.
However, his real success came in Test cricket. Swann made his Test debut in December 2008. He took two wickets in his maiden Test match, kicking off one of the most successful runs by an England spinner.
Swann bagged 225 wickets in 60 Tests in just under five years, at an average of 29.96. He outperformed James Anderson (232 wickets), Stuart Broad (207), and Dale Steyn (205) in that period.
Swann retired as England’s sixth-highest wicket-taker and the country’s leading off-spinner in Tests. He is England’s second-best spinner in Test cricket, behind Derek Underwood (297 wickets).
7. Bob Willis
- 405 wickets
- 325 in Tests
- 80 in ODIs
Willis signed off from international cricket with a brace of wickets — the scalps of Gordon Greenidge and Michael Holding — in July 1984 at Leeds. It was the end of one of the most courageous careers ever.
Willis underwent operations on both knees in 1975, barely four years after his debut. According to legend, when he was 26, he couldn’t bowl without pain. At one stage, the pacer ran five miles a day to build the strength required to continue playing.
Despite his injuries, Willis was one of England’s fastest bowlers of his era. He claimed 16 five-wicket hauls and 12 four-wicket hauls in 90 Tests for his 325 wickets.
While he never bagged a five-wicket haul in ODIs, he did record four four-wicket hauls in white-ball cricket.
Willis remains the last England bowler to have taken 400 or more wickets in international cricket.
Read next: Who has the most Test tons for England? Root, Cook and Boycott all ranked
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