Cricket's 10 Fastest Bowlers - Who are they?

[Craig]

6-0-63-0 vs Essex says it all

Until you get off your backside and actually watch him play he isn't always bowling at over 10 an over.

 

[greg]

Mohammad Zahid?

I know at the start of his career he was was lightening quick as back injuries took toll and when I finally got to see him and his team mates get slaughted at Cape Town in 2003 he looked nowhere near as quick.

If you are going to include somebody then IMO he has to have been quick for all over his carrer.

Ian Bishop was pretty damned quick. I'm not really sure how you can use some "all his career" criterion. If you did that you'd probably HAVE to have Larwood very near the top, because he was the only one who retired at the peak of his powers.

 

[C_C]

I know at the start of his career he was was lightening quick as back injuries took toll and when I finally got to see him and his team mates get slaughted at Cape Town in 2003 he looked nowhere near as quick.

If you are going to include somebody then IMO he has to have been quick for all over his carrer.

Well Zahid was blistering quick for most of his FC career( which was pretty much finished after 2001)....he had a rather short career- 1995 to 2002/03 and played very little after 2001....
but from 1995 till 1999 or so, he was blistering quick......he outpaced Shoaib Akhtar handsomely in the late 90s and Akhtar back then was bowling 93-94mph or so.

 

[Shounak]

Malinga's not that quick - around high 130s to low 140s at best.

Malinga looks a lot quicker than he actually is... and he also seems to hurry batsmen a lot more than another bowler of his pace would. I suppose it's his action.

I saw him get 143km during the Top end tour. But in his case it isn't only speed.

As you can see he doesn't release the pall perpendicular to the ground, like Thommo or most fast bowlers do. The ball comes diagonally, and in some cases, almost horizontally.Tait's similar, but from the very little I've seen of LM, it appears to me that Tait releases the ball at an angle closer to 90 degrees then LM.

I'd imagine that if LM really worked on his accuracy then he'd be almost impossible to face. You can keep most fast bowlers at bay by playing dead straight. But what about a 145k ball that's flying at you at a weird angle. Playing straight could possibly result in edges through to the keeper or slips. Quite a few of the Aussie batsmen were struggling against him, in his debut test.

The kid's got promise..

 

[King_Ponting]

I saw him get 143km during the Top end tour. But in his case it isn't only speed.

As you can see he doesn't release the pall perpendicular to the ground, like Thommo or most fast bowlers do. The ball comes diagonally, and in some cases, almost horizontally.Tait's similar, but from the very little I've seen of LM, it appears to me that Tait releases the ball at an angle closer to 90 degrees then LM.

I'd imagine that if LM really worked on his accuracy then he'd be almost impossible to face. You can keep most fast bowlers at bay by playing dead straight. But what about a 145k ball that's flying at you at a weird angle. Playing straight could possibly result in edges through to the keeper or slips. Quite a few of the Aussie batsmen were struggling against him, in his debut test.

The kid's got promise..

The kid needs to eat. Looks like hes about to snap.

 

[Shahid_afridi]

i got a question.i am 15 years old and bowling at around 100kph(probably a bit less but not a lot)i am quiete tall(a little bit more than 1,82 meters).and i am very thin(63k dont know in pound) how fast wil i be when i am 18 or 19 and get a bit more weight(muscles)

 

[King_Ponting]

i got a question.i am 15 years old and bowling at around 100kph(probably a bit less but not a lot)i am quiete tall(a little bit more than 1,82 meters).and i am very thin(63k dont know in pound) how fast wil i be when i am 18 or 19 and get a bit more weight(muscles)

Really depends on your work ethic, in terms of weights, fitness etc. And also on your bowling action. However as a rough estimate if you are around that mark id say about an extra 25 % of what your currently bowling at will be your max.

 

[Nate]

i got a question.i am 15 years old and bowling at around 100kph(probably a bit less but not a lot)i am quiete tall(a little bit more than 1,82 meters).and i am very thin(63k dont know in pound) how fast wil i be when i am 18 or 19 and get a bit more weight(muscles)

Wrong thread...

 

[Nate]

Wrong thread...

And FTR, it doesn`t really matter how quick you bowl. Just bowl accurately. Speed is good, but you need line-and-length.

 

[King_Ponting]

And FTR, it doesn`t really matter how quick you bowl. Just bowl accurately. Speed is good, but you need line-and-length.

But the faster you bowl the lower your error margin in terms of line and length.

 

[Nate]

But the faster you bowl the lower your error margin in terms of line and length.

If you mean, 'If you bowl quick, there`s not much room to stuff up', then that`s what I said.

 

[King_Ponting]

If you mean, 'If you bowl quick, there`s not much room to stuff up', then that`s what I said.

No what i meant is if you are a slower bowler you have a higher error margin in terms of line and length becuase, the lack of pace provides the batsman with more oppurtunity to capatilise on any error in line and length made by the bowler. For example if a bowler bowling say 95 ks overpitches slightly he is more likely to get hammered for 4 than someone say bowling 145 ks.

 

[Nate]

Debatable.

Fast bowlers can be easier to get away.

 

[King_Ponting]

Debatable.

Fast bowlers can be easier to get away.

Really depends on the quality of the batsman

 

[Shounak]

Debatable.

Fast bowlers can be easier to get away.

No way. If a spinner stuffs up, you've got time to adapt your shot, in order to dispense with the ball. I've faced 160 k balls from a bowling machine, if the ball overpitches a bit at that speed you hardly notice.

Well that's my personal opinion through the eyes of a recreational player, but I doubt I doubt it would be that much different for a world class batsman. Half a foot difference in pitch means hardly anything to the likes of Lee, Freddy or Shoaib. But what about half a foot for Murali or Warne. It's quite possibly the difference between a boundary or runs.

 

[Shounak]

i got a question.i am 15 years old and bowling at around 100kph(probably a bit less but not a lot)i am quiete tall(a little bit more than 1,82 meters).and i am very thin(63k dont know in pound) how fast wil i be when i am 18 or 19 and get a bit more weight(muscles)

How long's a piece of string?

I think that fast bowling is like bodybuilding, you either got it or you don't. No amount of steroids or working out could turn Russel Arnold into Arnold Schwarzeneger.

Rohan Gavaskar understood that given his constitution, he could not become a good fast bowler. Same story with Murali Karthik. So they devoted their effort to spin, where a certain physical structure is not a prerequisite.

But if you think you got the body, and the mind set. Go for it.

 

[Dasa]

As you can see he doesn't release the pall perpendicular to the ground, like Thommo or most fast bowlers do. The ball comes diagonally, and in some cases, almost horizontally.Tait's similar, but from the very little I've seen of LM, it appears to me that Tait releases the ball at an angle closer to 90 degrees then LM.

I'd imagine that if LM really worked on his accuracy then he'd be almost impossible to face. You can keep most fast bowlers at bay by playing dead straight. But what about a 145k ball that's flying at you at a weird angle. Playing straight could possibly result in edges through to the keeper or slips. Quite a few of the Aussie batsmen were struggling against him, in his debut test.

The kid's got promise..

I think he's had success due to his novelty value more than anything...he's surprised batsmen now because he's something different. In the long-term, I don't think he'll be that successful - of course, with accuracy, any bowler can be world-class. However, with that action, no-one can maintain accuracy so he's bound to go for runs.

No way. If a spinner stuffs up, you've got time to adapt your shot, in order to dispense with the ball. I've faced 160 k balls from a bowling machine, if the ball overpitches a bit at that speed you hardly notice.

Well that's my personal opinion through the eyes of a recreational player, but I doubt I doubt it would be that much different for a world class batsman. Half a foot difference in pitch means hardly anything to the likes of Lee, Freddy or Shoaib. But what about half a foot for Murali or Warne. It's quite possibly the difference between a boundary or runs.

International cricketers can seize upon anything slightly overpitched very easily, no matter the pace of the bowler. Why do the fastest bowlers tend to go for a lot of runs then? With spin, sure you have time to adjust the shot but any class spinner will be moving the ball in the air as well - a bit of loop and flight on an overpitched delivery can still be a wicket-taker IMO.

 

[Langeveldt]

probably Dale Steyn.. I thought Chris Silverwood was exceptionally quick in South Africa a few years ago..

And then you have your usuals who have been mentioned already

 

[Shounak]

However, with that action, no-one can maintain accuracy so he's bound to go for runs.

That's why I mentioned if he did learn to be more accurate. He's not all that inaccurate though, his main problems are no balls at the moment. but IF he bowled more accurately, a good swinging or seaming ball would be near impossible to face. He's got a ball which he bowls from around the wicket, it comes across the right handed batsman, but he releases the ball almost side on. So it spins towards the off side. They make for gems of delivery's. Also judging the height can be very difficult.

So IF and only IF he learns to be more consistently accurate, he can become a bowler to fear, which is possible. But the action makes me wonder about the longevity of his back. Getting 143k's from hardly any run up is no mean feat, the speed's all coming from his back and the huge force with which he plants his left foot down (probably the cause for the NB's). I wonder if he'll last til he's 30?

International cricketers can seize upon anything slightly overpitched very easily, no matter the pace of the bowler. Why do the fastest bowlers tend to go for a lot of runs then? With spin, sure you have time to adjust the shot but any class spinner will be moving the ball in the air as well - a bit of loop and flight on an overpitched delivery can still be a wicket-taker IMO.

No argument there. But spinners still have to be more accurate then fast bowlers. A 150k bowler can get away with placing a few deliveries in weird places, more so then a spinner can. A bad delivery from Warne to KPP is more likely to be dispatched straight out of the ground then a bad delivery from Lee. So placement matters for all sorts of bowlers, just more so with spinners then express pace.

 

[vic_orthdox]

No what i meant is if you are a slower bowler you have a higher error margin in terms of line and length becuase, the lack of pace provides the batsman with more oppurtunity to capatilise on any error in line and length made by the bowler. For example if a bowler bowling say 95 ks overpitches slightly he is more likely to get hammered for 4 than someone say bowling 145 ks.

I think it's almost a bit of a bell shaped curve sort of thing here. If you're that slow (95km/h), and doing very little with the ball, then you'll find good balls going to the fence. If you're bowling 150km/h, then good balls plus the quick bat-speed required to play balls at that pace mean that the ball is going to come off the bat at a screaming pace a lot of the time, thus why Shoaib and Lee often go for a lot of runs.

Then, in the middle of those two extremes, you have guys like Pollock and McGrath, who - at their pace - don't come off the bat nearly as well, and are able to exert more control, thus being so economical.