The Ashes: Ranking 10 Best Bowling Performances in England vs. Australia History

To get you in the mood for the start of the 2015 Ashes series, we are picking out some of the finest individual performances from down the years.

Having already looked at the top 10 all-time batting displays in matches between Australia and England, it's now the turn of the bowlers to take centre stage.

Again, the selection process has looked to be fair in choosing players from all eras.

It should also be made clear that only performances on English soil have been considered, as this is a taster for the upcoming series.

The order is purely based on opinion, not statistics, so feel free to have your say via the comments section.

Frank Laver's medium pace proved too much for England's batsmen to handle in the fourth Test of the series in 1909. 

The Australian took eight for 31 from 18.2 overs, bowling the hosts out for 119 on a wicket that had been altered by bad weather.

The Wisden Almanack report (h/t ESPN Cricinfo) included the line: "He did not seem to break very much but his length was excellent and there was a good deal of variety in the pace and flight of the ball."

Laver picked up just the one wicket in England's second innings, as the match ended in a draw.

With no footage available, instead enjoy watching a video of Peter Siddle taking a hat-trick in the opening Test of the 2010/11 series in Brisbane.

Alec Bedser took 14 wickets in the match for England in the opening Test of the 1953 series.

The Surrey seamer picked up seven for 55 from his 38.3 overs in Australia's first innings at Trent Bridge, then added seven for 44 second time around.

His efforts left the hosts needing 229 for victory, and they reached 42 for one at the end of the third day.

However, after a rest day, rain ruined the possibility of a positive result for either side.

England ended up 120 for one as the match petered out to a draw in Nottingham.

Bedser, however, did have a reason to celebrate. His haul in the match took him past S. F. Barnes to become England's leading wicket-taker, per the Wisden Almanack (h/t ESPN Cricinfo).

Frederick Spofforth was the hero for Australia in the one-off Test in 1882.

The seam bowler took seven wickets in both innings as the tourists somehow recovered from being bowled out for 62 to win the match.

England were left needing just 85 for victory, yet fell agonisingly short as Spofforth clinched a seven-run triumph for his side in a contest that was over inside two days. 

The New South Welshman finished with match figures of 14 for 90 from 64 overs.

Obviously there are not too many pictures around from the 1880s, so instead enjoy highlights of the first Test of the 2009 Ashes series.

It might seem odd that a single delivery would make it into the top 10 of a list of bowling performances, but Shane Warne's ball that dismissed Mike Gatting in 1993 was special.

Playing in his first Ashes Test, the leg-spinner was drafted into the attack at Old Trafford with England 80 for one in reply to Australia's 289.

His opening salvo in the series was a thing of beauty—a leg break that drifted, dipped and then turned sharply.

Gatting was completely deceived, both in terms of flight and spin.

Having judged it was pitching outside his leg stump, the batsman prodded toward it in defence, only to see the ball zip sharply past his outside edge and trim the top of off stump.

It was a thing of beauty, and the start of Warne's dominance over English batsmen for over a decade.

He claimed eight wickets on his debut against the old enemy, helping Australia clinch a 179-run victory.

While Ian Botham's century helped England pull off a famous victory at Headingley in 1981, it would not have happened had it not been for an inspired spell from Bob Willis.

The pace bowler claimed eight for 43 as Australia, chasing a small target of 130, were bowled out for 111 in 36.1 overs.

The tourists had reached 56 for one before collapsing in dramatic fashion, with Willis proving too hot to handle.

He had nearly been left out of the side for the game in Leeds due to concerns over his fitness following illness, as Willis later revealed to the Sunday People (h/t the Mirror). However, the Warwickshire player summoned up the strength to pick up career-best figures.

A change of ends did the trick on the final day, with captain Mike Brearley switching things around in hope more than expectation.

Willis duly delivered on a pitch with uneven bounce, eventually bowling Ray Bright to clinch the win for England and square the series.

Hedley Verity claimed 14 wickets in a solitary day of Test cricket in 1934, bowling England to an innings triumph in the second Test at Lord's.

Australia resumed after a rest day on 192 for two in their first innings, yet by the close had been bowled out twice on a drying wicket.

The rain that fell over the course of the weekend aided England's bowlers, none more so than slow left-armer Verity.

The Yorkshireman followed up his seven-wicket haul in the first innings by going one better second time around, giving him match figures of 15 for 104.

Don Bradman was one of his eight victims as Australia subsided to a heavy defeat, leaving the series at 1-1. 

Verity died while serving his country in Italy in 1943. He played in 40 Tests, picking up 144 wickets at an average of 24.37.

Glenn McGrath simply loved playing at Lord's.

The slope at the famous ground fools some visiting bowlers, but the Australian seamer relished the chance to play there during an Ashes tour.

He claimed 26 Test wickets at an average of 11.50 at the home of cricket, including taking eight for 38 during the second match of the 1997 series.

Australia captain Mark Taylor was vindicated in his decision to bowl first after winning the toss as McGrath's haul helped flatten England for 77 in just 42.3 overs.

Still, the bowler's outstanding performance did not help his side to victory.

Rain, plus some determined batting second time around from England's top order, saw the hosts escape with a draw.

The 1981 series is now fondly remembered (by Englishmen) for the feats of one man—Ian Botham.

The all-rounder is possibly best known for his heroics at Headingley in the third Test, as he smashed 149 not out to somehow help England snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

However, perhaps the home side's greatest escape of the summer actually came in the next match, at Edgbaston.

Needing 151 to move in front again in the series, Australia looked on course to achieve their target when they reached 114 for five.

However, that man Botham had other ideas. He took the last five wickets in a stunning 28-ball spell that saw him concede just one run.

The tourists were bowled out for 121 and suddenly England were 2-1 up in a series that would end up being known as Botham's Ashes.

Bob Massie marked his Test debut by taking 16 wickets at Lord's in the second Test in 1972.

The seamer made an instant impression for Australia, helping his country record an eight-wicket victory that levelled matters at 1-1 in the series.

Unlike Dennis Lillee, his new-ball partner in the match, Massie's success wasn't down to pace.

Instead, he relied on outstanding control and the ability to swing the ball both ways to bamboozle England's batting order.

He finished with match figures of 16 for 137 as the home team were bundled out for 118 in their second innings, leaving their rivals an easy target of 81.

However, Massie played in just five more Tests for Australia, the last of them coming in January 1973. 

Jim Laker came within one wicket of achieving perfection during the fourth Test of the 1956 series.

Tony Lock was the only other England bowler to strike as Laker picked up match figures of 19 for 90 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

The off-spinner became the first player to ever claim 10 wickets in an innings in Test cricket, as Australia were bowled out for 205 to lose by an innings.

They had stuck around for 150.2 overs in their attempts to salvage a draw, with Laker sending down over a third of them.

He inevitably wrapped up the victory by trapping Len Maddocks leg before wicket, receiving congratulatory handshakes from his team-mates after his stunning achievement.

Astonishingly, it wasn't even the first time he had achieved the feat of taking all 10 in an innings.

Playing for Surrey at the Oval against Australia earlier in the summer, Laker had recorded figures of 10 for 88.

India leg-spinner Anil Kumble is the only other bowler to have taken a 10-wicket haul in a Test innings, achieving it against Pakistan in 1999.

All stats used in the slideshow were from ESPN Cricinfo.