| Rank | Name | Mat | Bls | Wkt | Avg | S/R | 5/10 | BBi |
| 1 | M Muralitharan (SL) | 125 | 41603 | 769 | 21.95 | 54.1 | 66/22 | 9-51 |
| 2 | SK Warne (Aus) | 145 | 40705 | 708 | 25.41 | 57.5 | 37/10 | 8-71 |
| 3 | A Kumble (Ind) | 132 | 40850 | 619 | 29.65 | 66.0 | 35/8 | 10-74 |
| 4 | GD McGrath (Aus) | 124 | 29248 | 563 | 21.64 | 52.0 | 29/3 | 8-24 |
| 5 | CA Walsh (WI) | 132 | 30026 | 519 | 24.43 | 57.8 | 22/3 | 7-37 |
| 6 | N Kapil Dev (Ind) | 131 | 27740 | 434 | 29.64 | 63.9 | 23/2 | 9-83 |
| 7 | RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 86 | 21918 | 431 | 22.30 | 50.8 | 36/9 | 9-52 |
| 8 | SM Pollock (SAf) | 108 | 24353 | 421 | 23.11 | 57.8 | 16/1 | 7-87 |
| 9 | Wasim Akram (Pak) | 104 | 22585 | 413 | 23.61 | 54.7 | 25/5 | 7-119 |
| 10 | CEL Ambrose (WI) | 98 | 22104 | 405 | 20.98 | 54.6 | 22/3 | 8-45 |
| 11 | IT Botham (Eng) | 102 | 21815 | 383 | 28.40 | 57.0 | 27/4 | 8-34 |
| 12 | M Ntini (SAf) | 96 | 19766 | 378 | 28.22 | 52.3 | 18/4 | 7-37 |
| 13 | MD Marshall (WI) | 81 | 17584 | 376 | 20.94 | 46.8 | 22/4 | 7-22 |
| 14 | Waqar Younis (Pak) | 87 | 16224 | 373 | 23.56 | 43.5 | 22/5 | 7-76 |
| 15 | Imran Khan (Pak) | 88 | 19458 | 362 | 22.81 | 53.8 | 23/6 | 8-58 |
| 16 | DK Lillee (Aus) | 70 | 18467 | 355 | 23.92 | 52.0 | 23/7 | 7-83 |
| 17 | WPUJC Vaas (SL) | 109 | 22988 | 354 | 29.22 | 64.9 | 12/2 | 7-71 |
| 18 | AA Donald (SAf) | 72 | 15519 | 330 | 22.25 | 47.0 | 20/3 | 8-71 |
| 19 | RGD Willis (Eng) | 90 | 17357 | 325 | 25.20 | 53.4 | 16/0 | 8-43 |
| 20 | Harbhajan Singh (Ind) | 74 | 20585 | 314 | 30.88 | 65.6 | 22/5 | 8-84 |
| 21 | B Lee (Aus) | 76 | 16531 | 310 | 30.81 | 53.3 | 10/0 | 5-30 |
| 22 | LR Gibbs (WI) | 79 | 27115 | 309 | 29.09 | 87.8 | 18/2 | 8-38 |
| 23 | FS Trueman (Eng) | 67 | 15178 | 307 | 21.57 | 49.4 | 17/3 | 8-31 |
| 24 | DL Underwood (Eng) | 86 | 21862 | 297 | 25.83 | 73.6 | 17/6 | 8-51 |
| 25 | CJ McDermott (Aus) | 71 | 16586 | 291 | 28.63 | 57.0 | 14/2 | 8-97 |
| 26 | DL Vettori (NZ) | 89 | 21583 | 286 | 33.09 | 75.5 | 18/3 | 7-87 |
| 27 | BS Bedi (Ind) | 67 | 21364 | 266 | 28.71 | 80.3 | 14/1 | 7-98 |
| 28 | J Garner (WI) | 58 | 13175 | 259 | 20.97 | 50.9 | 7/0 | 6-56 |
| = | JN Gillespie (Aus) | 71 | 14234 | 259 | 26.13 | 55.0 | 8/0 | 7-37 |
| 30 | JH Kallis (SAf) | 128 | 16704 | 252 | 31.12 | 66.3 | 5/0 | 6-54 |
| = | JB Statham (Eng) | 70 | 16056 | 252 | 24.84 | 63.7 | 9/1 | 7-39 |
| 32 | MA Holding (WI) | 60 | 12680 | 249 | 23.68 | 50.9 | 13/2 | 8-92 |
| 33 | MJ Hoggard (Eng) | 67 | 13909 | 248 | 30.50 | 56.1 | 7/1 | 7-61 |
| = | R Benaud (Aus) | 63 | 19108 | 248 | 27.03 | 77.0 | 16/1 | 7-72 |
| 35 | GD McKenzie (Aus) | 60 | 17681 | 246 | 29.78 | 71.9 | 16/3 | 8-71 |
| 36 | BS Chandrasekhar (Ind) | 58 | 15963 | 242 | 29.74 | 66.0 | 16/2 | 8-79 |
| 37 | AV Bedser (Eng) | 51 | 15918 | 236 | 24.89 | 67.4 | 15/5 | 7-44 |
| = | Abdul Qadir (Pak) | 67 | 17126 | 236 | 32.80 | 72.6 | 15/5 | 9-56 |
| = | J Srinath (Ind) | 67 | 15104 | 236 | 30.49 | 64.0 | 10/1 | 8-86 |
| 40 | GStA Sobers (WI) | 93 | 21599 | 235 | 34.03 | 91.9 | 6/0 | 6-73 |
| 41 | AR Caddick (Eng) | 62 | 13558 | 234 | 29.91 | 57.9 | 13/1 | 7-46 |
| 42 | D Gough (Eng) | 58 | 11819 | 229 | 28.39 | 51.6 | 9/0 | 6-42 |
| 43 | RR Lindwall (Aus) | 61 | 13650 | 228 | 23.03 | 59.9 | 12/0 | 7-38 |
| 44 | Danish Kaneria (Pak) | 51 | 14994 | 220 | 33.90 | 68.2 | 12/2 | 7-77 |
| 45 | CL Cairns (NZ) | 62 | 11698 | 218 | 29.40 | 53.7 | 13/1 | 7-27 |
| 46 | SJ Harmison (Eng) | 59 | 12789 | 217 | 31.69 | 58.9 | 8/1 | 7-12 |
| 47 | CV Grimmett (Aus) | 37 | 14513 | 216 | 24.21 | 67.2 | 21/7 | 7-40 |
| = | HH Streak (Zim) | 65 | 13553 | 216 | 28.12 | 62.7 | 7/0 | 6-73 |
| 49 | A Flintoff (Eng) | 72 | 13804 | 213 | 32.12 | 64.8 | 2/0 | 5-58 |
| 50 | MG Hughes (Aus) | 53 | 12285 | 212 | 28.38 | 57.9 | 7/1 | 8-87 |
| 51 | SCG MacGill (Aus) | 44 | 11237 | 208 | 29.02 | 54.0 | 12/2 | 8-108 |
| = | Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak) | 49 | 14070 | 208 | 29.83 | 67.6 | 13/3 | 8-164 |
| 53 | AME Roberts (WI) | 47 | 11135 | 202 | 25.61 | 55.1 | 11/2 | 7-54 |
| = | JA Snow (Eng) | 49 | 12021 | 202 | 26.66 | 59.5 | 8/1 | 7-40 |
| 55 | JR Thomson (Aus) | 51 | 10535 | 200 | 28.01 | 52.7 | 8/0 | 6-46 |
| 56 | Z Khan (Ind) | 62 | 12275 | 197 | 34.04 | 62.3 | 6/0 | 5-29 |
| 57 | JC Laker (Eng) | 46 | 12027 | 193 | 21.24 | 62.3 | 9/3 | 10-53 |
| 58 | WW Hall (WI) | 48 | 10421 | 192 | 26.38 | 54.3 | 9/1 | 7-69 |
| 59 | SF Barnes (Eng) | 27 | 7873 | 189 | 16.43 | 41.7 | 24/7 | 9-103 |
| = | EAS Prasanna (Ind) | 49 | 14353 | 189 | 30.38 | 75.9 | 10/2 | 8-76 |
| 61 | AK Davidson (Aus) | 44 | 11587 | 186 | 20.53 | 62.3 | 14/2 | 7-93 |
| 62 | Mushtaq Ahmed (Pak) | 52 | 12532 | 185 | 32.97 | 67.7 | 10/3 | 7-56 |
| 63 | GF Lawson (Aus) | 46 | 11118 | 180 | 30.56 | 61.8 | 11/2 | 8-112 |
| 64 | Shoaib Akhtar (Pak) | 46 | 8143 | 178 | 25.69 | 45.7 | 12/2 | 6-11 |
| 65 | ARC Fraser (Eng) | 46 | 10876 | 177 | 27.32 | 61.4 | 13/2 | 8-53 |
| = | Sarfraz Nawaz (Pak) | 55 | 13951 | 177 | 32.75 | 78.8 | 4/1 | 9-86 |
| 67 | GAR Lock (Eng) | 49 | 13147 | 174 | 25.58 | 75.6 | 9/3 | 7-35 |
| 68 | Iqbal Qasim (Pak) | 50 | 13019 | 171 | 28.11 | 76.1 | 8/2 | 7-49 |
| 69 | HJ Tayfield (SAf) | 37 | 13568 | 170 | 25.91 | 79.8 | 14/2 | 9-113 |
| = | KR Miller (Aus) | 55 | 10461 | 170 | 22.97 | 61.5 | 7/1 | 7-60 |
| = | TM Alderman (Aus) | 41 | 10181 | 170 | 27.15 | 59.9 | 14/1 | 6-47 |
| 72 | MH Mankad (Ind) | 44 | 14686 | 162 | 32.32 | 90.7 | 8/2 | 8-52 |
| 73 | IR Bishop (WI) | 43 | 8473 | 161 | 24.29 | 52.6 | 6/0 | 6-40 |
| 74 | DK Morrison (NZ) | 48 | 10064 | 160 | 34.68 | 62.9 | 10/0 | 7-89 |
| = | WA Johnston (Aus) | 40 | 11048 | 160 | 23.91 | 69.1 | 7/0 | 6-44 |
| 76 | S Ramadhin (WI) | 43 | 13939 | 158 | 28.98 | 88.2 | 10/1 | 7-49 |
| 77 | S Venkataraghavan (Ind) | 57 | 14877 | 156 | 36.11 | 95.4 | 3/1 | 8-72 |
| 78 | MW Tate (Eng) | 39 | 12523 | 155 | 26.16 | 80.8 | 7/1 | 6-42 |
| 79 | DW Steyn (SAf) | 30 | 5890 | 154 | 23.08 | 38.2 | 11/3 | 6-49 |
| 80 | FJ Titmus (Eng) | 53 | 15118 | 153 | 32.22 | 98.8 | 7/0 | 7-79 |
| 81 | RJ Shastri (Ind) | 80 | 15751 | 151 | 40.96 | 104.3 | 2/0 | 5-75 |
| 82 | SP Gupte (Ind) | 36 | 11284 | 149 | 29.55 | 75.7 | 12/1 | 9-102 |
| 83 | JE Emburey (Eng) | 64 | 15391 | 147 | 38.40 | 104.7 | 6/0 | 7-78 |
| 84 | CS Martin (NZ) | 45 | 8602 | 146 | 33.55 | 58.9 | 8/1 | 6-54 |
| 85 | H Verity (Eng) | 40 | 11173 | 144 | 24.37 | 77.6 | 5/2 | 8-43 |
| = | WJ O'Reilly (Aus) | 27 | 10024 | 144 | 22.59 | 69.6 | 11/3 | 7-54 |
| 87 | CM Old (Eng) | 46 | 8858 | 143 | 28.11 | 61.9 | 4/0 | 7-50 |
| = | AF Giles (Eng) | 54 | 12180 | 143 | 40.60 | 85.2 | 5/0 | 5-57 |
| 89 | AW Greig (Eng) | 58 | 9802 | 141 | 32.20 | 69.5 | 6/2 | 8-86 |
| = | H Trumble (Aus) | 32 | 8099 | 141 | 21.78 | 57.4 | 9/3 | 8-65 |
| 91 | PAJ DeFreitas (Eng) | 44 | 9838 | 140 | 33.57 | 70.3 | 4/0 | 7-70 |
| 92 | AL Valentine (WI) | 36 | 12953 | 139 | 30.32 | 93.2 | 8/2 | 8-104 |
| = | Fazal Mahmood (Pak) | 34 | 9834 | 139 | 24.70 | 70.7 | 13/4 | 7-42 |
| 94 | MHN Walker (Aus) | 34 | 10094 | 138 | 27.47 | 73.1 | 6/0 | 8-143 |
| = | GR Dilley (Eng) | 41 | 8192 | 138 | 29.76 | 59.4 | 6/0 | 6-38 |
| 96 | PR Adams (SAf) | 45 | 8850 | 134 | 32.87 | 66.0 | 4/1 | 7-128 |
| 97 | TE Bailey (Eng) | 61 | 9712 | 132 | 29.21 | 73.6 | 5/1 | 7-34 |
| = | AA Mallett (Aus) | 38 | 9990 | 132 | 29.84 | 75.7 | 6/1 | 8-59 |
| 99 | M Dillon (WI) | 38 | 8704 | 131 | 33.57 | 66.4 | 2/0 | 5-71 |
| = | DG Cork (Eng) | 37 | 7678 | 131 | 29.81 | 58.6 | 5/0 | 7-43 |
Bold signifies achievement less than 3 years old.