Top wicket takers for England in ODI's
James Anderson
Before taking a look at the top wicket takers for England in ODI’s, one wonders if they have the same fire power in their bowling attack that they used to have in the past? Geoffrey Boycott was bang on in one of his articles about the future of England fast bowling attack. It was obvious from the recent Ashes series that England attack was ineffective when compared to the Australian attack lead by Mitchell Johnson.
Below is the list of England’s leading wicket-takers in the shorter format of cricket. The figures do not seem staggering when compared to the bowlers from other countries.
| Bowler | Matches | Wickets | Best Bowling | Average | Economy | 4 Wicket Inns | 5 Wicket Inns |
| James Anderson | 175 | 247 | 5/23 | 28.96 | 4.97 | 10 | 2 |
| Darren Gough | 159 | 235 | 5/44 | 26.42 | 4.39 | 10 | 2 |
| Andrew Flintoff | 141 | 169 | 5/19 | 24.38 | 4.39 | 6 | 2 |
| Stuart Broad | 108 | 168 | 5/23 | 28.37 | 5.22 | 9 | 1 |
| Ian Botham | 116 | 145 | 4/31 | 28.54 | 3.96 | 3 | 0 |
1. James Anderson: England’s leading wicket-taker today was very inconsistent early on in his career. The best way to sum up his bowling is when he is good, he is very good; in fact, very very good and swings the ball both ways, besides being a good explorer of reverse swing. But when he is bad, he is horrid. His best bowling figures 5/23 against South Africa was unarguably one of his best spells.
2. Darren Gough: He is the best strike bowler England produced after Bob Willis and Ian Botham. He is not blessed with a great height like Curtly Ambrose or Glenn McGrath, but he was consistent with his line and length and worked new techniques to pick up wickets. He always had a good support from the other end in the name of Andy Caddick. He announced his retirement after being left out for ODI World Cup 2007.
3. Andrew Flintoff: He was nicknamed Freddie due to the resemblance of the cartoon character Fred Flinstone. He was hailed as the new Ian Botham, as he had the ability to contribute with both bat and ball. His bowling was always whole-hearted. This Lancashire all-rounder announced his retirement due to persistent injury problems in September 2010.
4. Stuart Broad: A tall fast bowler from Nottingham, he is currently England’s T20 international captain. He came back very strong after being assaulted by Yuvraj Singh for six 6s in an over. His combative fast bowling skills will surely make him as one of England’s greatest bowlers.
5. Ian Botham: One of the finest all-rounders of all time, Ian Botham was the fastest to the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets. Order of British Empire (OBE) knighted him as Sir Ian Botham for his contributions towards cricket and charity.