The International Cricket Council (ICC) is responsible for governing the rankings in cricket. Teams, batters, and bowlers are ranked in Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20 Internationals (T20I).
Rankings of bowlers are based on a points system. Bowlers are given points between 0 to 1000. The number of points given to a player is based on an algorithm that has zero human intervention. The only human intervention in this process is done beforehand, where they decided the factors based on which the algorithm functions.
The first factor is the number of wickets the bowler has taken. It also simultaneously calculates the number of runs the bowler has given. The next factor is the rating of the batter or batters that the bowler dismissed. The algorithm also takes into consideration the economy of the bowlers compared to the total runs scored by the opposition team. Finally, an additional factor considered in test cricket is the workload of the bowler. A bowler gets additional points for bowling large number of overs irrespective of the number of wickets taken. This acknowledges the stamina level of the bowler.
A player who earns 500 points can be a part of the Top 100. A player with more than 750 points can be a Top 10 player. The ranking points are updated after every test match and at the end of every ODI series. England’s Sydney Barnes and West Indies’ Joel Garner have been the highest rated bowlers in Tests and ODIs with 932 and 940 points respectively.
