Fastest over EVER bowled in test cricket history

[archie mac]

I was meaning did Marshall, in '84/85, appear to be quicker than Holding, in '84/85?

Yes, he seemed a yard quicker, but I am going by the batsmen's reaction

 

[Top_Cat]

Yes, he seemed a yard quicker, but I am going by the batsmen's reaction

Every person I know old enough to have seen both Holding in the 70's and Marshall in the 80's still talks about Marshall more than they do Holding. Take from that what you will.

 

[Richard]

Marshall was slippery, skiddy, of course, which made his pace a little more awkward than the more "standard" height of Holding. Truth is, I guess, we'll never know who was really faster out of the hand.

All I know is that everyone who spoke of Holding in those two series' in '76 - both against India and in England - said he was sometimes simply too quick, even when he didn't get the ball to swing at all.

This is something top-class batsmen have said of precious few bowlers in history.

I've never come accross anyone who said it thereafter - ie, after he came back from his serious injury in '77.

 

[Top_Cat]

Marshall was slippery, skiddy, of course, which made his pace a little more awkward than the more "standard" height of Holding. Truth is, I guess, we'll never know who was really faster out of the hand.

All I know is that everyone who spoke of Holding in those two series' in '76 - both against India and in England - said he was sometimes simply too quick, even when he didn't get the ball to swing at all.

This is something top-class batsmen have said of precious few bowlers in history.

I've never come accross anyone who said it thereafter - ie, after he came back from his serious injury in '77.

So he bowled at a ridiculous speed? If so, based on what Holding said, Shoaib bowls at ludicrous speed with Atul Sharma at 'Chuck Norris roundhouse' speed.

It gets a bit silly, doesn't it?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Not that it really has any relevance, just an anecdote, but...

I remember Holding playing in one of those tribute games in the 1990s, and the commentators were taking the mickey out of him as he was bowling big outswingers, saying that they'd never seen him swing the ball before - he was always too quick to let it swing.

 

[Richard]

I remember Bob Willis saying the exact same thing when Holding talked about his swinging the ball at The Oval in '76.

Never, ever been remotely sure about where this utter nonsense about not swinging the ball once you bowl lightning quick comes from. I've seen Shoaib, Lee and Tait swing it plenty in the high-90s. Obviously, any swing at all in the right areas at that speed is realistically unplayable.

 

[Richard]

So he bowled at a ridiculous speed? If so, based on what Holding said, Shoaib bowls at ludicrous speed with Atul Sharma at 'Chuck Norris roundhouse' speed.

It gets a bit silly, doesn't it?

Not entirely sure I understand that post TBH.

 

[Top_Cat]

Not entirely sure I understand that post TBH.

It's not a dig at you but the whole 'he was too quick' thing when I've never heard the same thing said about Lee/Tait/Shoaib. Strikes me as more mythology than anything, especially since Holding himself has said Shoaib was quicker than he ever was (although not by much).

 

[vic_orthdox]

I remember Bob Willis saying the exact same thing when Holding talked about his swinging the ball at The Oval in '76.

Never, ever been remotely sure about where this utter nonsense about not swinging the ball once you bowl lightning quick comes from. I've seen Shoaib, Lee and Tait swing it plenty in the high-90s. Obviously, any swing at all in the right areas at that speed is realistically unplayable.

Yeah, I think it was just a "taking the mickey" exercise, especially considering that day he was swinging the ball miles (which a bowler of his ability always would, when bowling at a much slower pace than his prime).

 

[silentstriker]

It's not a dig at you but the whole 'he was too quick' thing when I've never heard the same thing said about Lee/Tait/Shoaib. Strikes me as more mythology than anything, especially since Holding himself has said Shoaib was quicker than he ever was (although not by much).

By 20kph.

 

[Top_Cat]

By 20kph.

How dare you use the Fastest Bowler competition results. They wrong because journalists, pundits and the poor players, bereft of hubris or ego, have said so.

 

[archie mac]

By 20kph.

Although 76 and 79 would seem to be a little different

 

[Manee]

How dare you use the Fastest Bowler competition results. They wrong because journalists, pundits and the poor players, bereft of hubris or ego, have said so.

I have to say that I conceded the common concensus that it was measured from the batsman's end or it was the average speed of the ball from release to hitting the back netting - but it is quite an eye opener to see that the bowlers bowled at sub-140kph, with the exception of Thommo. I have no problem believing that Thommo was Akhtar (1999-2006) speed prior to his injury but it is intriguing that the other bowlers were far slower than common belief had it. Moreover, it was interesting to hear on a youtube clip some time back that if the 'speedo' was used on Imran, he would clock at 87-88mph - a pretty accurate result, considering the results of the study.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Greg Blewett bowled 140km/h plus, and he was might have been described as slippery, surprising, etc.

Peter Siddle bowls spells at 140km/h, and a batsman would describe them as quick and scary. Really think that speedometers are one of the most overrated things in cricket.

 

[Manee]

Greg Blewett bowled 140km/h plus, and he was might have been described as slippery, surprising, etc.

Peter Siddle bowls spells at 140km/h, and a batsman would describe them as quick and scary. Really think that speedometers are one of the most overrated things in cricket.

Siddle gets up to 150kph and rarely is a massively potent force with his pace (if I may make up a term) when he is at 140kph.

 

[silentstriker]

Although 76 and 79 would seem to be a little different

Yup, the difference is we know the 79 results were scientifically accurate, I have not yet tracked down whoever did the 76 tests, though I am trying to do that. One of them can't be right, as far as I am concerned, the speed differences are too great. We'll see though.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yup, the difference is we know the 79 results were scientifically accurate, I have not yet tracked down whoever did the 76 tests, though I am trying to do that. One of them can't be right, as far as I am concerned, the speed differences are too great. We'll see though.

'76 was a stinker of a day, though. Is it possible that what with muscles not working as well in high temps, etc. the bowlers just didn't bowl as quick because of the heat? Was off-season for most of them too, wasn't it? Distinctly remember seeing Lee in Sharjah against Pakistan, early days when he was bowling nothing but out-and-out pace, barely registering 140km/h and sweat was absolutely pouring off him.

 

[silentstriker]

'76 was a stinker of a day, though. Is it possible that what with muscles not working as well in high temps, etc. the bowlers just didn't bowl as quick because of the heat? Was off-season for most of them too, wasn't it? Distinctly remember seeing Lee in Sharjah against Pakistan, early days when he was bowling nothing but out-and-out pace, barely registering 140km/h and sweat was absolutely pouring off him.

Possible, but remember they didn't have to bowl long spells here. Eight balls only.

 

[Top_Cat]

Possible, but remember they didn't have to bowl long spells here. Eight balls only.

True. Possible that they all just went too hard and ended up bowling slower then? From the footage, Roberts and Holding nearly threw themselves off their feet a few times. Perhaps a few years later, they learnt to pace themselves (so to speak) and recorded higher speeds?

 

[silentstriker]

That's a bit thin, don't you think? That doesn't explain the others. And the fact that the vast majority of players don't get faster as they mature. It's usually the opposite.