On Thursday, Dale Steyn became the newest entrant to the 400-wicket club, when he picked up the wicket of Tamim Iqbal of Bangladesh in the 2nd Test. Here are some incredible numbers from Dale Steyn's career as a Test bowler.
1) He is the second fastest bowler to 400 Test wickets (80 Tests), behind Mutthiah Muralitharan (72 Tests). Given that spinners from the subcontinent bowl far more at home, Steyn's achievement is phenomenal.
2) By implication, Steyn also has the best wickets-per-test ratio among fast bowlers for all time: 5:1.
3) Steyn is the fastest to reach 400 wickets in terms of balls bowled. He has bowled just 16,634 balls to take 402 wickets - which means he takes a wicket every 41.58 balls - or approximately 6.5 overs.
4) This strike rate of 41.58 is one of the best in Test history. Among 13 bowlers with 400 + Test wickets, Steyn's strike rate is by far the best. It is also the best among bowlers with 200 + wickets.
5) Among bowlers with 400 + wickets, Steyn's bowling average (22.48) is higher than only 3 - Richard Hadlee, Curtly Ambrose and Glenn McGrath.
6) Steyn is now the second highest Test wicket taker for South Africa, just behind Shaun Pollock (421 wickets). It looks near certain that Steyn will overtake Pollock.
7) Dale Steyn has a bowling average of under 30 against all teams except England (32.78). He also averages 20 in India, 24 in Sri Lanka and 24 in Pakistan - countries deemed nightmarish for fast bowlers.
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8) The Proteas speedster has taken 5 wickets or more 25 times in his career, the fourth best among fast bowlers for all time, behind Richard Hadlee, Glenn McGrath and Ian Botham.
9) However, he is second to only Sir Richard Hadlee when it comes to the ratio of matches per five wicket haul. Hadlee took a staggering 36 five wicket hauls in his career, in just 86 Tests (ratio 2.4:1). Steyn has taken 25 five wicket hauls in 80 Tests (ratio 3.33:1)
10) The speedster has also taken 24 4-wicket hauls, making it an astonishing 49 times in 148 bowling innings that he has taken 4 wickets or more (once every 3 innings on average).
11) Steyn, in his 12th year as a Test bowler, has averaged under 30 8 times, including the last 6 consecutive years and 8 of the last 10 years. In his first 2 years, Steyn played just 3 Tests, so this record assumes greater importance.
12) To put Steyn's achievement in the context of the present era, Mitchell Johnson, the other celebrated fast bowler of today, has a far poorer record on almost all parameters. His bowling average in 27.72, he averages over 30 against all 3 subcontinental Test giants, he takes 4.4 wickets per match, averages 30 away from home (against Steyn's 23), and has averaged under 25 only in his last 4 years. He has also taken just 12 five wicket hauls in 69 games (ratio 5.75:1).
Thus. there can be no reasonable doubt whatsoever that Dale Steyn is the greatest fast bowler of this generation, and easily among the best of all time.
