Most successful bowlers for South Africa across all 3 formats
A land which boasts characteristics of pace and bounce in its cricket pitches and has found them embedded in its sons has fortunately found names like Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and now Kagiso Rabada deliver at the international stage, bowlers who have made even the best of batsmen dance to their tunes during their respective eras.
South African pacers have been involved in some of the most famous duels in the game – like Donald vs Michael Atherton in the yesteryears and Rabada against Ben Stokes today – as Sportskeeda lists their best bowler from each of the three formats, who, incidentally, are all fast bowlers.
Test cricket
Shaun Pollock (1995-2008)
421 wickets at 23.12, Best: 7/87
5W – 16, 10WM – 1, Economy – 2.39
With cricket in his genes – all of his grandfather, great-uncle, father, uncle and two cousins played at the competitive level – Shaun Pollock was always destined to shine at the highest stage. Though he did not threaten with the pace of an Allan Donald or a Brett Lee, his accuracy and pinpoint line and length put him in the bracket of the great Glenn McGrath.
So straight were his deliveries that batsmen always feared getting bowled the moment they missed it; and so tireless where his efforts that it was in the killer heat of Adelaide that he ended up with his career-best figures of 7/87 on the tour of Australia in 1997-98.
Pollock was as good in the opposition's backyard as he was in his own: figures of 6/39 at Nottingham, 6/78 at Faisalabad, 5/28 at Kingston and 5/33 at Wellington rank among some of his best Test performances, and in Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis, he found two allies who complimented him perfectly well with the new ball as well as the old one.