The year of the debutant bowler

If you're a bowler looking to play your first Test match, this might be the best time to take the plunge. Over the last six months, debutants have had a remarkable run with the ball in their first games. Sample this: in the last three months alone, six bowlers have picked up five-wicket hauls on debut. It started with Nathan Lyon's 5 for 34 in Galle against Sri Lanka, and then continued with Elias Sunny of Bangladesh, followed by November's four golden debutants - Doug Bracewell, R Ashwin, Vernon Philander and Pat Cummins. The tally of four in a month equalled the number of such debut performances over 24 months through 2009 and 2010.

There have also been other success stories among debutant bowlers, apart from those who've taken five-fors. Pakistan's Aizaz Cheema took four in each innings against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo to finish with match figures of 8 for 103; a couple of Zimbabweans - Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori - took five each in the match against Bangladesh in Harare; Sri Lanka's Shaminda Eranga showed plenty of promise too in his opener against Australia, taking four in the first innings and finishing with match figures of 5 for 127. A little before that, in June 2011, Praveen Kumar grabbed his first Test opportunity too, taking three wickets in each innings, and 6 for 80 in the match against West Indies. And then there were a couple of spinners with four-wicket hauls in their opening Tests - Bangladesh's Suhrawadi Shuvo and Devendra Bishoo of West indies.

Add up all these numbers and you get a terrific year for the freshmen. In all, debutant bowlers have taken 94 Test wickets so far in 2011 (and the year isn't over yet), at an average of 28.15. That's the most wickets ever taken by bowlers in their first Test in a year, going past the previous best of 83, which was achieved twice - in 1948 and in 1992.

There were a couple of highlights in 1948: Hines Johnson, a right-arm fast bowler from West Indies, took 10 wickets on debut, one of only 15 players to achieve this feat in Test cricket so far. And then there was Jim Laker, who announced his talent in no uncertain terms by taking nine wickets in his first game, against West Indies in Barbados.

In 1992, the two bowlers who stood out on debut were England's Neil Mallender - 8 for 122 against Pakistan at Headingley - and Richard Snell for his 8 for 157 in South Africa's comeback game against West Indies. Allan Donald took six in that game too, which was his Test debut as well.

Two other bowlers also made their debuts in 1992 - less memorably - but then went on to achieve great things thereafter: Muttiah Muralitharan had figures of 3 for 141, and Shane Warne 1 for 150, on their Test debuts. If nothing else, that should make the likes of Michael Beer (1 for 112 on debut) and Nuwan Pradeep (0 for 110) feel a little better about their Test futures.

A comparison with debut bowling performances over the previous seven years further demonstrates how good 2011 has been to the debutant bowler. In the two previous years, they averaged more than 40 runs per wicket, while in 2004 and 2005, the average topped 50.

Plenty of bowlers have taken five-fors on debut in 2011, but does that signify much for the rest of their careers? Here's a look back at recent history: the table below lists the career stats of bowlers who took a five-for on debut between 2000 and 2006. (It's recent enough, and it's also at least five years since that performance, thus having allowed for their careers to take shape.)

Among the names below, only two are still actively involved in Test cricket. James Anderson has been outstanding as a strike bowler in the last couple of years, especially, while Fidel Edwards remains West Indies' best bet. They've both also added 10 five-fors to their debut performance. Among the other names, the one that stands out is that of Stuart Clark, who did a fine job of taking Glenn McGrath's place in the Australian bowling line-up for a brief period. He took only one more five-for after his debut display, but career stats of 94 wickets at less than 24 apiece are a fair reflection of his class.

For the rest, though, the numbers aren't flattering. Four out of the 11 didn't add to their five-for in their first game, while four others managed just one more. A couple of them - Richard Johnson and Shabbir Ahmed - didn't play too many Tests despite pretty good numbers in the matches they played, while Mohammad Sami turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of the decade for Pakistan. (Click here for the corresponding list in the 1990s: among the 13 names is an Australian called Simon Cook. Full marks to anyone who recalls the name.)

The numbers above suggest bowlers who start with a bang don't necessarily go on to great things in their careers. However, in 2011 at least, it looks like debutants have far outperformed the rest.