The lions and their shares

Now that the celebration of Muttiah Muralitharan's career has abated and Sri Lanka are continuing to clobber India without him, we thought it appropriate to bring up another stat that underlines how Sri Lanka wouldn't be where they are - a win and a draw away from the No. 1 Test ranking - without Murali's contribution. We've dug up a list of bowlers who took the largest percentage of their team's wickets during their careers, and though Murali isn't No. 1, he's far ahead of anyone who's played a comparable number of Tests.

Murali's taken 795 out of the 2065 wickets Sri Lanka managed to take in his 132 Tests. That's 38.50%. (His other five wickets, making it 800 in 133 matches, were for the ICC World XI against Australia in 2005). Sri Lanka used 59 other bowlers (part-timers included) in Murali's Tests and they took only 1270 wickets between them; 58 bowlers combined for 956 wickets, if you exclude Chaminda Vaas' 309.

Three bowlers - Jack Cowie, JJ Ferris and Ranji Hordern - have taken a higher percentage of their team's wickets than Murali has, but they all played fewer than 10 Tests. Cowie, the New Zealand medium-pacer whose nine Tests were either side of the Second World War, took 43.68% of his team's wickets: 45 out of 103. He also took the first ten-wicket haul by a New Zealander, against England at Old Trafford, and had figures of 6 for 40, out of a total of eight wickets, in his only Test against Australia.

Murali, however, is the only bowler to have sustained such a dominating performance over more than 100 Tests. Richard Hadlee, with 34% of New Zealand's wickets in his 86 Tests, and Alec Bedser, with 30% of England's wickets in his 51, are the only other bowlers with more than 50 matches in the table below. Among currently active players, only Mohammad Asif and Dale Steyn have taken more than 30% of their team's wickets.

Highest proportion of team wickets taken by a bowler in Tests (qualification: 2000 balls)

Player	Span	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	5		Team	%
J Cowie (NZ)	1937-1949	9	2028	969	45	6/40	21.53	2.86	45.06	4		103	43.68
JJ Ferris (Aus/Eng)	1887-1892	9	2302	775	61	7/37	12.70	2.01	37.73	6		151	40.39
HV Hordern (Aus)	1911-1912	7	2148	1075	46	7/90	23.36	3.00	46.69	5		114	40.35
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)	1992-2010	133	44039	18180	800	9/51	22.72	2.47	55.04	67		2070	38.64
SF Barnes (Eng)	1901-1914	27	7873	3106	189	9/103	16.43	2.36	41.65	24		494	38.25
T Richardson (Eng)	1893-1898	14	4498	2220	88	8/94	25.22	2.96	51.11	11		233	37.76
CTB Turner (Aus)	1887-1895	17	5179	1670	101	7/43	16.53	1.93	51.27	11		281	35.94
RJ Hadlee (NZ)	1973-1990	86	21918	9611	431	9/52	22.29	2.63	50.85	36		1255	34.34
CV Grimmett (Aus)	1925-1936	37	14513	5231	216	7/40	24.21	2.16	67.18	21		636	33.96
Fazal Mahmood (Pak)	1952-1962	34	9834	3434	139	7/42	24.70	2.09	70.74	13		410	33.90
FR Spofforth (Aus)	1877-1887	18	4185	1731	94	7/44	18.41	2.48	44.52	7		285	32.98
L Amar Singh (India)	1932-1936	7	2182	858	28	7/86	30.64	2.35	77.92	2		86	32.55
WJ O'Reilly (Aus)	1932-1946	27	10024	3254	144	7/54	22.59	1.94	69.61	11		446	32.28
AE Hall (SA)	1923-1931	7	2361	886	40	7/63	22.15	2.25	59.02	3		125	32.00
SP Gupte (India)	1951-1961	36	11284	4403	149	9/102	29.55	2.34	75.73	12		470	31.70
RW Price (Zim)	1999-2004	18	5135	2475	69	6/73	35.86	2.89	74.42	5		219	31.50
AP Freeman (Eng)	1924-1929	12	3732	1707	66	7/71	25.86	2.74	56.54	5		211	31.27
JV Saunders (Aus)	1902-1908	14	3565	1796	79	7/34	22.73	3.02	45.12	6		253	31.22
GA Lohmann (Eng)	1886-1896	18	3830	1205	112	9/28	10.75	1.88	34.19	9		359	31.19
C Blythe (Eng)	1901-1910	19	4546	1863	100	8/59	18.63	2.45	45.46	9		322	31.05
Khan Mohammad (Pak)	1952-1958	13	3157	1292	54	6/21	23.92	2.45	58.46	4		174	31.03
Mohammad Asif (Pak)	2005-2010	19	4361	2179	94	6/41	23.18	2.99	46.39	6		304	30.92
TB Burtt (NZ)	1947-1953	10	2593	1170	33	6/162	35.45	2.70	78.57	3		107	30.84
Mohammad Rafique (Ban)	2000-2008	33	8744	4076	100	6/77	40.76	2.79	87.44	7		328	30.48
DW Steyn (SA)	2004-2010	41	8273	4881	211	7/51	23.13	3.53	39.20	14		693	30.44
AV Bedser (Eng)	1946-1955	51	15918	5876	236	7/44	24.89	2.21	67.44	15		777	30.37
H Ironmonger (Aus)	1928-1933	14	4695	1330	74	7/23	17.97	1.69	63.44	4		245	30.20

Among batsmen, Don Bradman scored 24.28% of the runs made by Australia in his 52 Tests (6996 out of 28,810). Brian Lara and Sunil Gavaskar are the only batsmen to have made more than 16% of their team's runs after playing more than 100 Tests.

New Zealand's Jesse Ryder and Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal are the only currently active players in the table below, scoring more than 16% of their team's runs. Modern greats such as Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis don't feature because they've been part of strong batting line-ups.

Tendulkar does appear in the table for ODI batsmen, though, having scored 18% (17,598) of India's 97,726 runs in his 442 games. The highest percentage contribution, however, is by Netherlands' Ryan ten Doeschate, who has made 24% of his team's runs in his 27 matches. Ten Doeschate has scored 1234 runs at an average of nearly 69, though most of Netherlands' opponents have been fellow minnows.

The leading contender to displace ten Doeschate from the top spot is South Africa's Cricketer of the Year, Hashim Amla. Despite being part of a strong batting line-up, Amla has scored nearly 20% of South Africa's runs in 29 matches (1371 out of 6925). At this rate, it'll be a matter of time before he moves past Zaheer Abbas (21%), but he will have to lift his average from 54.84 to catch ten Doeschate.

Highest proportion of team runs by a batsman in ODIs (qualification: 20 innings)

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50		Team	%
RN ten Doeschate (Neth)	2006-2010	27	26	8	1234	109*	68.55	3	8		5101	24.19
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	1974-1985	62	60	6	2572	123	47.62	7	13		12239	21.01
HM Amla (SA)	2008-2010	29	28	3	1371	140	54.84	3	8		6925	19.79
GM Turner (NZ)	1973-1983	41	40	6	1598	171*	47.00	3	9		8186	19.52
CG Greenidge (WI)	1975-1991	128	127	13	5134	133*	45.03	11	31		26657	19.25
BC Broad (Eng)	1987-1988	34	34	0	1361	106	40.02	1	11		7122	19.10
GM Hamilton (Scot)	1999-2010	36	36	3	1198	119	36.30	2	7		6509	18.40
DL Haynes (WI)	1978-1994	238	237	28	8648	152*	41.37	17	57		47655	18.14
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2010	442	431	41	17598	200*	45.12	46	93		97726	18.00
GR Marsh (Aus)	1986-1992	117	115	6	4357	126*	39.97	9	22		24680	17.65
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	187	167	24	6721	189*	47.00	11	45		38112	17.63
DM Jones (Aus)	1984-1994	164	161	25	6068	145	44.61	7	46		34559	17.55
CH Gayle (ICC/WI)	1999-2010	220	215	15	7885	153*	39.42	19	42		45778	17.22
MD Crowe (NZ)	1982-1995	143	140	18	4704	107*	38.55	4	34		27443	17.14
Majid Khan (Pak)	1973-1982	23	22	1	786	109	37.42	1	7		4616	17.02
NV Knight (Eng)	1996-2003	100	100	10	3637	125*	40.41	5	25		21417	16.98
Saeed Anwar (Pak)	1989-2003	247	244	19	8824	194	39.21	20	43		52033	16.95
BC Lara (ICC/WI)	1990-2007	299	289	32	10405	169	40.48	19	63		61652	16.87
WTS Porterfield (Ire)	2006-2010	41	41	3	1313	112*	34.55	5	4		7800	16.83
G Kirsten (SA)	1993-2003	185	185	19	6798	188*	40.95	13	45		40617	16.73
NC Johnson (Zim)	1998-2000	48	48	2	1679	132*	36.50	4	11		10027	16.74
PN Kirsten (SA)	1991-1994	40	40	6	1293	97	38.02	0	9		7733	16.72
ME Trescothick (Eng)	2000-2006	123	122	6	4335	137	37.37	12	21		25994	16.67
GA Gooch (Eng)	1976-1995	125	122	6	4290	142	36.98	8	23		25800	16.62
G Boycott (Eng)	1971-1981	36	34	4	1082	105	36.06	1	9		6516	16.60

Which bowler do you think has taken the highest percentage of team wickets during his ODI career? It would have to be someone with an outstanding strike rate in a relatively short career; someone like Shaun Tait, Ajantha Mendis or Shane Bond. The answer is a New Zealand bowler but it isn't Bond, who is third. It's Geoff Allott, followed by another New Zealander, Chris Pringle, in second place.

Allott took 52 out of the 195 wickets New Zealand claimed in his 31 ODIs (27%), while Pringle claimed 25% of his team's 410 wickets in 64 matches. Unfortunately for New Zealand, the careers of Pringle, Allott and Bond did not overlap, or they might have possessed a remarkable strike force.

Highest proportion of team wickets taken by a bowler in ODIs (qualification: 1000 balls)

Player	Span	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	5		Team	%
GI Allott (NZ)	1997-2000	31	1528	1207	52	4/35	23.21	4.73	29.38	0		195	26.66
C Pringle (NZ)	1990-1995	64	3314	2459	103	5/45	23.87	4.45	32.17	1		410	25.12
SE Bond (NZ)	2002-2010	82	4295	3070	147	6/19	20.88	4.28	29.21	4		616	23.86
RN ten Doeschate (Neth)	2006-2010	27	1268	1005	48	4/31	20.93	4.75	26.41	0		203	23.64
BAW Mendis (SL)	2008-2010	42	2013	1469	77	6/13	19.07	4.37	26.14	3		326	23.61
AH Gray (WI)	1985-1991	25	1270	835	44	6/50	18.97	3.94	28.86	1		188	23.40
T Mupariwa (Zim)	2004-2009	35	1773	1446	55	4/39	26.29	4.89	32.23	0		242	22.72
SCJ Broad (Eng)	2006-2010	68	3434	2938	113	5/23	26.00	5.13	30.38	1		500	22.60
SW Tait (Aus)	2007-2010	25	1233	1060	46	4/39	23.04	5.15	26.80	0		204	22.54
AJ Ireland (Zim)	2005-2007	26	1326	1115	38	3/41	29.34	5.04	34.89	0		169	22.48
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak)	1995-2003	169	8770	6275	288	5/20	21.78	4.29	30.45	6		1312	21.95
DK Lillee (Aus)	1972-1983	63	3593	2145	103	5/34	20.82	3.58	34.88	1		470	21.91
M Hendrick (Eng)	1973-1981	22	1248	681	35	5/31	19.45	3.27	35.65	1		161	21.73
LS Pascoe (Aus)	1977-1982	29	1568	1066	53	5/30	20.11	4.07	29.58	1		244	21.72
RD King (WI)	1998-2005	50	2603	1807	76	4/25	23.77	4.16	34.25	0		350	21.71
VC Drakes (WI)	1995-2004	34	1640	1293	51	5/33	25.35	4.73	32.15	2		235	21.70
B Lee (Aus)	2000-2009	186	9478	7456	324	5/22	23.01	4.71	29.25	9		1507	21.49
JAR Blain (Scot)	1999-2009	33	1329	1173	41	5/22	28.60	5.29	32.41	1		192	21.35
Waqar Younis (Pak)	1989-2003	262	12698	9919	416	7/36	23.84	4.68	30.52	13		1953	21.30
Abdur Razzak (Ban)	2004-2010	103	5421	4092	144	5/29	28.41	4.52	37.64	2		677	21.27
CG Rackemann (Aus)	1983-1991	52	2791	1833	82	5/16	22.35	3.94	34.03	1		389	21.07
GB Troup (NZ)	1976-1985	22	1180	791	32	4/19	24.71	4.02	36.87	0		152	21.05
AA Donald (SA)	1991-2003	164	8561	5926	272	6/23	21.78	4.15	31.47	2		1297	20.97
Sarfraz Nawaz (Pak)	1973-1984	45	2412	1463	63	4/27	23.22	3.63	38.28	0		302	20.86
Shoaib Akhtar (Asia/ICC/Pak)	1998-2010	147	6966	5441	227	6/16	23.96	4.68	30.68	4		1097	20.69
EO Simons (SA)	1994-1995	23	1212	810	33	4/42	24.54	4.00	36.72	0		160	20.62
D Gough (Eng/ICC)	1994-2006	159	8470	6209	235	5/44	26.42	4.39	36.04	2		1142	20.57
AB Agarkar (India)	1998-2007	191	9484	8021	288	6/42	27.85	5.07	32.93	2		1401	20.55