Top 5 bowling attacks ever assembled in Test cricket

#1 Andy Roberts/Michael Holding/Colin Croft/Joel Garner

Batsmen across the globe shuddered at the prospect of facing the menacing Caribbean pacers

In what could be construed as cricket's equivalent of biblical retribution, West Indies unleashed a sustained spell of terror on hapless batting lineups on either phase of the 1980s. Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner stomped all over opposition teams to spearhead the Caribbean juggernaut.

The 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' played 11 Tests together from 1979 to 1982. West Indies won five of those matches and lost on only one occasion. It took a gallant century from Kim Hughes to buck the trend at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 1981 Boxing Day Test. In those eleven matches, Holding topped the bowling charts with 51 scalps. While Garner and Croft picked up 47 and 46 wickets respectively, an ageing Roberts chipped in with 28 scalps.

With all his experience and shrewd intellect, Roberts showed the way for the other pacers. Holding's ability to concoct stifling pace from a smooth action made bowling appear like poetry in motion. When batsmen somehow managed to get past them, Garner's propensity to extract gargantuan bounce and Croft's slinging angle lurked in the horizon. A more belligerent and intimidating pace quartet has never been assembled in the history of Test cricket.