We may have hit a plateau in the past 30 years or so, but that doesn't automatically mean we've been at the same level since before the 1950s.
I agree it doesn't. But of all the folk who watched, played, and wrote about cricket from the 50's onwards, I don't know of any who said that bowling speeds went up
in general. (They may have written something like it about specific bowlers, like when Lillee and Thommo were bowling together, or when the West Indian pack took over the world). You'd think if it were the case, someone would have commented.
I know Wikipedia is to be taken with a grain of salt but here's a chunk of the entry for Tyson :
At the Aeronautical College in Wellington, New Zealand in 1955 metal plates were attached to a cricket ball and a sonic device was used to measure their speed, with Tyson's bowling measured at 89 mph (142 km/h), but he was wearing three sweaters on a cold, damp morning and used no run up. Brian Statham bowled at 87 mph (139 km/h).
[snip]
Dickie Bird, the famous England umpire, wrote "he was certainly the quickest bowler I ever seen through the air, and on one occasion the quickest bowler I never saw through the air".[46] When playing for Yorkshire vs the MCC at Scarborough in 1958 "I opened the innings against him and hit his first three deliveries through the off side for four. With supreme confidence I went on to the front foot for the fourth ball. Tyson dropped one short. It reared up and hit me on the chin. I went down as if I'd just been on the receiving end of a right hook...I still carry the scar to show my folly that day. There was blood all over and I saw stars. I could hear bells ringing in my head...".[47] Dickie came back to score his then highest first class score of 62 and Tyson took 4/30. When they met in Australia in 1998-99 Tyson joked 'You're looking well Dickie. See you still have the scars through'
Proves nothing, I know, but it's a cute story!
