The most potent pace attack in world cricket

Through the 1990s, the fast-bowling stock around the world was exceptional: West Indies had Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh; South Africa had Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock; Pakistan had the two Ws; and Australia had Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie. Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick weren't quite in the same class, but they were more than handy for England.

Over the last decade, though, all those names have retired, making life much tougher for their teams and significantly easier for opposition batsmen. The last few years have been one of transition for several teams, as they look to cope as best as they can without the presence of these bowlers. Some of these sides have had more luck than others - Dale Steyn has been fantastic for South Africa, while Mitchell Johnson, Zaheer Khan and James Anderson have had reasonable success too. Overall, though, fast-bowling stocks have dwindled, and teams are still in the rebuilding process, which makes it an interesting time to look at the fast-bowling resources for each team. The latest episode of Timeout had discussed the overall bowling resources for teams; this one focuses on the pace attacks.

In that Timeout debate, most of the experts had agreed that Australia, South Africa and England have the best bowling attacks at the moment. In terms of fast-bowling stats since the beginning of 2007, South Africa and Australia are neck-to-neck, with England leading the rest of the pack. In fact, South Africa and Australia are so close that their pace attack has taken exactly the same number of wickets - 504 - from the same number of matches - 37. South Africa have a marginally better average and strike rate, thanks largely to Steyn.

Those two teams are also the only ones with a sub-30 average. England, Pakistan, New Zealand and India are bunched together in the mid-30s, while Sri Lanka and West Indies have been worse. The overall fast-bowling average during this period has been 34.14; in the three years preceding 2007 (2004 to 2006) it was 34.04, but in the 1990s it was 29.73. You could argue that the quality of batting has improved in the last few years, but almost all experts would agree that this difference has been due to the fall in the standards of fast bowling.

Almost all these teams have done better at home than away, though the difference between the two averages varies from marginal to a lot more. Again, the numbers are similar for Australia and South Africa, but England have far better numbers at home, conceding ten fewer runs per wicket. A comparison for some of their current bowlers shows why concerns are being raised about their ability to rise to the challenge in Australia later this year. James Anderson has been the biggest culprit, averaging a touch over 26 at home for his 100 wickets, and almost 40 overseas for his 42 wickets in 14 matches. For Ryan Sidebottom, the difference isn't as stark - he averages 24.68 at home and 31.46 overseas. Similarly, Stuart Broad averages 33.40 in England and 37.07 in other countries.

Sri Lanka's fast bowlers have been even more ineffective overseas, conceding more than 56 runs per wicket. That partially explains why the team has lost five out of 11 away Tests during this period; and of their three wins, two have come in Bangladesh. They've lost by an innings in Australia and India, and by 121 runs in the West Indies. To be fair to them, though, Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara have played only one overseas Test each during this period, and the others have been woefully inadequate. At home, on the other hand, Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara and Malinga have excellent numbers.

The two teams with better fast-bowling stats away than at home are India and Pakistan. There used to be a time when Indian fast bowlers were more proficient in Indian conditions - Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath both have better home records - but that seems to be a thing of the past. Zaheer Khan, easily India's most potent fast bowler at the moment, averages 26.51 in 15 away matches, and 34.56 in 13 home games, numbers which are a clear departure from the era of Kapil and Srinath. Pakistan, meanwhile, have only played four home games during this period, including that ill-fated match against Sri Lanka in Lahore in March last year, but they've got more opportunities overseas, and their fast bowlers have used those well. Mohammad Asif deserves special mention: in 15 overseas Tests he has taken 74 wickets at an average of less than 23; in two home Tests his two wickets have cost 97 each.

Overall, Steyn and Mohammad Asif stand out among the current fast bowlers. Steyn leads the way with an exceptional average of 20.84 in 32 games, which is even more remarkable as he has missed only five Tests during this period. Asif has missed nine, and has played half the number of matches as Steyn. Johnson is the other bowler with more than 150 wickets during this period - and he missed only one of Australia's 37 Tests - but each wicket cost him almost 29 runs.