Most Test Wickets All-Time: The Top 20 Bowlers Ranked

Test cricket is the format that most rewards bowlers — long spells, deteriorating pitches, the freedom to attack the same batter for an entire session. Across 150 years, only a handful of bowlers have reached the elite tier of 500+ Test wickets, and four legendary names have crossed 700. This guide ranks the top 20 wicket-takers in Test history, with the era, conditions, and tactical context that shaped each career.

The headline names are familiar — Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, James Anderson, Anil Kumble. The deeper list reveals careers built across radically different cricketing worlds: 1970s English seam, 1990s Australian dominance, the modern Indian spin era, the West Indies pace battery of the 1980s. Each came at the wicket-taking question differently. Each found their own answer.

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The top 20 Test wicket-takers all-time

#	Bowler	Country	Tests	Wickets	Avg	SR	5w
1	Muttiah Muralitharan	Sri Lanka	133	800	22.72	55.0	67
2	Shane Warne	Australia	145	708	25.42	57.4	37
3	James Anderson	England	188+	704	26.45	56.7	32
4	Anil Kumble	India	132	619	29.65	65.9	35
5	Stuart Broad	England	167	604	27.68	57.6	20
6	Glenn McGrath	Australia	124	563	21.64	51.9	29
7	Courtney Walsh	West Indies	132	519	24.44	57.8	22
8	Ravi Ashwin	India	105+	530+	23.71	51.1	36
9	Dale Steyn	South Africa	93	439	22.95	42.4	26
10	Kapil Dev	India	131	434	29.64	63.9	23
11	Rangana Herath	Sri Lanka	93	433	28.07	60.4	34
12	Richard Hadlee	New Zealand	86	431	22.29	50.8	36
13	Shaun Pollock	South Africa	108	421	23.11	57.8	16
14	Harbhajan Singh	India	103	417	32.46	68.5	25
15	Wasim Akram	Pakistan	104	414	23.62	54.6	25
16	Curtly Ambrose	West Indies	98	405	20.99	54.6	22
17	Makhaya Ntini	South Africa	101	390	28.82	53.4	18
18	Ian Botham	England	102	383	28.40	56.9	27
19	Malcolm Marshall	West Indies	81	376	20.94	46.7	22
20	Waqar Younis	Pakistan	87	373	23.56	43.4	22

Numbers approximate to mid-2026; James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Ravi Ashwin records continue to evolve.

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1. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka, 1992-2010)

800 Test wickets at 22.72 average, in 133 Tests.

Muralitharan is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets. The next-highest is 708 — a margin so large that no active bowler in 2026 has any realistic chance of getting close.

His method: off-spin with a bent-arm action that allowed extreme over-spin and side-spin, supplemented by the doosra (the off-spinner's wrong'un, turning the other way). His action was investigated multiple times by the ICC and cleared every time.

Murali bowled at an average pace of 88-92 km/h — faster than typical finger-spinners — which gave him bounce alongside the turn. His best figures: 9/51 vs Zimbabwe (2002) and the famous 800th wicket vs India in his final Test.

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2. Shane Warne (Australia, 1992-2007)

708 Test wickets at 25.42 average, in 145 Tests.

The most charismatic spinner in Test history, and one of two leg-spinners (the other Anil Kumble) to crack the all-time top 10. Warne's leg-break-googly-flipper-zooter mix dominated the 1990s and 2000s.

His "ball of the century" — Mike Gatting bowled around his legs at Old Trafford in 1993 — is the most famous single delivery in cricket history. He was the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets, and held the world record until Murali surpassed him.

Warne's career was statistically magnified by playing for the dominant Australian team of his era, but his average of 25 against opposition not from England (where he averaged 24) stands up to any historical comparison.

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3. James Anderson (England, 2003-2024)

704+ Test wickets at 26.45 average, in 188+ Tests.

The most prolific seamer in Test history, and the only fast bowler to reach 700 wickets. Anderson's career spanned 21 years and four captaincies. His swing — both conventional and reverse — became the standard for English seam in the 21st century.

His average improved with age. Between 2014-2024 (his "second career"), he averaged under 22 — a remarkable late-career arc. His final Test, vs the West Indies in 2024, ended his career on his own terms.

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4. Anil Kumble (India, 1990-2008)

619 Test wickets at 29.65 average, in 132 Tests.

The most accurate Test bowler of his era, and India's greatest match-winner with the ball. Kumble's fast leg-spin (he bowled at 90+ km/h, much faster than typical leg-spinners) made him uniquely dangerous on the slow Indian pitches that suited his style.

His most famous moment: 10 wickets in an innings vs Pakistan, Delhi 1999 — the second-only instance of all 10 wickets in a single Test innings. Kumble took 619 wickets despite playing in an era where India played fewer Tests than the dominant nations.

For more on Kumble's style and impact, see our most centuries in cricket all formats list — many of which Kumble dismissed.

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5. Stuart Broad (England, 2007-2023)

604 Test wickets at 27.68 average, in 167 Tests.

Anderson's long-time bowling partner, the second member of the modern English fast-bowling axis. Broad's career best — 8/15 vs Australia, 2015 — is among the most devastating spells in Ashes history.

His wicket-taking was streakier than Anderson's, but the highs were higher. Broad retired in 2023 with 604 wickets, the second-most by any seamer behind Anderson.

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6. Glenn McGrath (Australia, 1993-2007)

563 Test wickets at 21.64 average, in 124 Tests.

The most accurate seam bowler of the modern era. McGrath bowled at the same length, the same line, ball after ball, for 14 years. His average of 21.64 is the lowest of any bowler with 500+ Test wickets.

His style was based on relentless top-of-off-stump accuracy with seam movement and steep bounce from his height (1.95m). McGrath was never the fastest bowler — typically 130-138 km/h — but his consistency was unmatched.

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7. Courtney Walsh (West Indies, 1984-2001)

519 Test wickets at 24.44 average, in 132 Tests.

The first bowler to reach 500 Test wickets. Walsh combined extreme stamina (he bowled almost continuously for 17 years), accuracy, and a fast-medium pace that troubled batters in any conditions. His partnership with Curtly Ambrose was the most consistent two-pronged seam attack of the modern era.

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8. Ravi Ashwin (India, 2011-present)

530+ Test wickets at ~23.71 average, in 105+ Tests.

The greatest spin bowler of the modern era after Murali and Warne. Ashwin combines off-spin with the carrom ball, the slider, and an exceptional leg-stump trajectory. His 36 5-wicket hauls are the joint most by an Indian bowler.

Ashwin is also a serviceable Test batsman — averaging around 26 with 5 Test centuries — making him one of the great spinning all-rounders of the modern era. For more on Ashwin's legacy, see our Ravichandran Ashwin career feature.

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9. Dale Steyn (South Africa, 2004-2019)

439 Test wickets at 22.95 average, in 93 Tests.

The most fearsome out-and-out fast bowler of the modern era. Steyn bowled at 145+ km/h with reverse swing — a combination unique to him. His strike rate of 42.4 (the second-best on this list) suggests he took wickets faster than any of the other top bowlers when he was on the field.

Injuries cut his career short — he retired in 2019 at age 36 — but his peak was as good as any modern fast bowler.

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10. Kapil Dev (India, 1978-1994)

434 Test wickets at 29.64 average, in 131 Tests.

India's first true world-class fast bowler. Kapil Dev was an all-rounder (5,248 Test runs, 8 centuries) but his wicket-taking record was first-class. His seam, swing, and delivery on flat Indian pitches kept India competitive in an era of visiting West Indies and Australia teams.

For more on India's Test legacy, see our Indian cricket history overview.

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11. Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka, 1999-2018)

433 Test wickets at 28.07 average, in 93 Tests.

The most prolific left-arm spinner in Test history. Herath's peak was a 10-year stretch (2009-2018) when he was the world's best left-arm orthodox bowler. His 9/127 vs Pakistan in 2014 is the best figures by any left-arm spinner in a Test innings.

For more, see our left-arm orthodox spin history.

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12. Richard Hadlee (New Zealand, 1973-1990)

431 Test wickets at 22.29 average, in 86 Tests.

New Zealand's greatest cricketer ever. Hadlee was a fast-medium seamer with a short, repeatable action and exceptional accuracy. His average of 22.29 in 86 Tests is the lowest of any bowler with 400+ Test wickets.

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13-20. The pace and spin titans

The remaining names — Pollock, Harbhajan Singh, Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose, Ntini, Botham, Marshall, Waqar Younis — represent a stunning variety of bowling traditions. Marshall's 376 wickets at 20.94 in just 81 Tests is, statistically, the highest peak average on the list. Akram and Younis were the great Pakistani reverse-swing tandem. Ambrose was the WACA-haunting tall man. Botham was England's all-rounder genius.

For a deeper look at the modern Indian spin lineage, see our Indian spin bowling pipeline.

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How conditions shaped these careers

A few patterns in the data:

1. Indian and Sri Lankan spinners played most Tests in the subcontinent. Their records on home pitches (where averages dropped 4-5 runs) inflated their global numbers.
2. Fast bowlers from England, Australia, and South Africa played in pace-friendly conditions. Anderson, Broad, McGrath, Steyn — all averaged below their teams' bowling averages on home pitches.
3. The 90s West Indies bowled to a four-pronged pace battery. Walsh, Ambrose, Marshall, Bishop — they shared the workload, which slightly limited individual peaks.

For broader context on how cricket has changed across eras, see our hat-tricks in Test cricket history and the highest individual scores in Test history.

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Active bowlers chasing the milestone

In 2026:

• James Anderson is retired with 704 wickets.
• Stuart Broad is retired with 604 wickets.
• Ravi Ashwin continues at India and is approaching 600 wickets.
• Nathan Lyon (Australia) sits at ~580 wickets and could overtake Ashwin in the next 12 months.
• Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood — the Australian seam triumvirate — are around 350-400 each.

The realistic target for a contemporary bowler hoping to reach 500+ is to play for another 5-7 years. For Ashwin and Lyon, 600 wickets is achievable. For 700, the climb is steeper.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who has the most Test wickets in cricket history? Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, with 800 Test wickets — the only bowler to reach the milestone. The next-highest is Shane Warne with 708.

What is the lowest bowling average among the top wicket-takers? Glenn McGrath of Australia has the lowest average (21.64) among bowlers with 500+ Test wickets. Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall, and Richard Hadlee also average below 23.

Who is the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers? James Anderson of England, with 704 Test wickets — the only fast bowler to surpass 700. Stuart Broad is second among fast bowlers with 604.

Will anyone surpass Muralitharan's 800? Highly unlikely in the next decade. The closest active bowlers (Ashwin, Lyon) are over 200 wickets behind, and the volume of Test cricket played in the modern era is roughly the same as Murali's era.

How many Indian bowlers are in the top 20? Four: Anil Kumble (619), Ravi Ashwin (530+), Kapil Dev (434), and Harbhajan Singh (417). India's representation reflects the country's spin-heavy bowling tradition.

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The top 20 Test wicket-takers represent the absolute peak of the bowling craft across a century and a half. Each name on the list represents a different combination of skill, conditions, and longevity. Murali's 800 is one of those records that may never be surpassed — but the chase for the next 600-wicket club continues.