While England and Australia are both flawed sides with plenty of weaknesses, there can be little doubt about the quality of their new-ball attacks – no pace bowler has taken more Test wickets than James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood since the latter’s debut in 2014. The four, perhaps with the addition of Kagiso Rabada, the other quick to have taken more than 100 Test wickets in this period, can justifiably claim to be the leading Test seamers in the world. With the help of CricViz, we look at the strength’s and weaknesses of each.

Way above average

Looking purely at overall Test averages, Hazlewood comes out on top, averaging 25.75, while there isn’t much to separate Starc (28.35), Anderson (27.39), and Broad (28.81). But over the last three years, the story is different. In this period, Starc’s average is slightly below Hazlewood’s, Broad’s is also improved, while Anderson’s (20.31) is exceptional – in fact, the best of any bowler, pace or spin, to have taken more than 50 wickets in that time.

James Anderson: The swing king

If Starc provides fire with little control, Hazlewood is the perfect foil. For bowlers who have taken 50 wickets in matches for which ball tracking is available, his LL% is the best in the world – he lands 45.9 per cent of balls in exactly the right area. Hazlewood isn’t as good as the other three at obtaining lateral movement, with both his average seam and swing the worst of the four. Despite this, his average in Australia of 25.35 is by a long way the best.