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Who is the fastest bowler ever in the history of the game in terms of average bowling speed?

zabalestmsm

zabalestmsm

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I was thinking about this question! Thought to ask it here! If anyone knows? And if anyone can compile a list, if possible?
 
Malcolm Marshall at 157 kph average speed during his peak at Packers world series cricket. [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]
 
Cricket has never seen a bowler quicker than Shoaib Akhtar from around 1999-2003 both in terms of top speed and average pace .
Not just numbers on the speed gun you could see that he was Right Arm Furiously Fast at the time.
 
Bhuvneshvar kumar, mohit sharma or anwar ali maybe. You choose
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Malcolm Marshall at 157 kph average speed during his peak at Packers world series cricket. [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]
Click to expand...
Did Marshall play WSC? It's new to me though. I think, Lloyd took his players to WSC, WICB managed Kali to lead a team to India without 7 of their top bowlers, Marshall at 20 then in 1978 made his debut in India & suffered at the hands of Gavasker - piling 700+ with 4 hundreds against bowlers, some of whom were not regular for Barbados or Jamaican FC side.
 
aliasad1998 said:
[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] would know. Good thread btw
Click to expand...

Not sure, certainly not Thompson.

Probably it's between Holding, Waquar & Shoaib. If we consider a short span of career, I 'll go with Zahid; but I have seen very little of 80s & early part of 90s.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Malcolm Marshall at 157 kph average speed during his peak at Packers world series cricket. [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]
Click to expand...

Not of a specific series! Overall career average bowling speed i meant!

But really ?? 157 kph?? Unbelievable!
 
It's btw Zahid and Akhtar (Zahid had a shot career so Akhtar). Waqar at peak was also a monster.
 
zabalestmsm said:
Not of a specific series! Overall career average bowling speed i meant!

But really ?? 157 kph?? Unbelievable!
Click to expand...

MMHS said:
Did Marshall play WSC? It's new to me though. I think, Lloyd took his players to WSC, WICB managed Kali to lead a team to India without 7 of their top bowlers, Marshall at 20 then in 1978 made his debut in India & suffered at the hands of Gavasker - piling 700+ with 4 hundreds against bowlers, some of whom were not regular for Barbados or Jamaican FC side.
Click to expand...

FC is being sarcastic.
 
The fastest two I have seen are Akhtar and Lee. Not sure how their average pace compares though.
 
If it's overall career average speed than it have to be the Don shoaib, but than again some would argue what should be minimum criteria of duration of qualification career, or number of wickets or matches.
 
zabalestmsm said:
Yes but i meant the fastest in terms of 'average' bowling speed!
Click to expand...

My bad pal.

I'll say it should be in the following order.

1. Akhtar
2. Lee
3. Tait

Having said that, I believe I read it somewhere that Shoaib himself said that Zahid was faster. However, sadly his carrier didn't last long.
 
Akhtar between 2002-2004 maintained super high average speeds in Tests. Johnson 2013/14 season. Lee - nuff said.
 
It's me. I just choose not to play the game. Don't want to scare the batsmen. 170 kph slower ball.

Sent from pone
 
Should be Shoaib Akhtar. Or Brett Lee. Tait used to drop pace after the initial spell so he is not up there. Marshall at his peak would be right up there, but Marshall also dropped pace towards his later half. Andy Roberts would be right up there, so also Holding. Thomson's pace dropped after his injury. Shane Bond is right up there, too.
 
Can only be between Shoaib and Lee. I didnt see much of Tait coz he was too boring for me. Thommo and all is figment of imagination.
I would put my money on Shoaib and am pretty confident, I am going to win too
 
Zak_Fan said:
What an insecure guy, never leaves an opportunity to have a dig at Indian bowlers. :sanga
Click to expand...



He gets the insecure Indian guys every time....after all you can ignore him as well?
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Malcolm Marshall at 157 kph average speed during his peak at Packers world series cricket. [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]
Click to expand...

Marshall didn't play Packer cricket.

I'd say Thommo, pre- shoulder injury.
 
Akhtar and Lee - fast consistently throughout career

Bond and Starc come next
 
Umesh Yadav, phashtest bowlar from da Indian sabkontinent.

Seriously though, it was probably Lee. He was fitter than Akhtar and so, could probably sustain high speeds for longer.

Average speed doesn't matter though, peak speed does.
 
No one has ever matched the average quickness of Shoaib and Lee. Such bowlers will not be seen in International Cricket again.
 
Bilal7 said:
Umesh Yadav, phashtest bowlar from da Indian sabkontinent.

Seriously though, it was probably Lee. He was fitter than Akhtar and so, could probably sustain high speeds for longer.

Average speed doesn't matter though, peak speed does.
Click to expand...

Average speed matters much more. Hitting 160km/h once is much less valuable than bowling 150km/h all the time.
 
Sachin136 said:
Average speed matters much more. Hitting 160km/h once is much less valuable than bowling 150km/h all the time.
Click to expand...

If you bowl that fast all the time, the batsmen can cope with it as they will get used to the pace. However, if you can throw in effort balls in btw your sharpish stock ball, then you have more of a chance to catch the batsman off guard.
This is why shoaib was a better test bowler than lee as he could really spear in aYorker through his double coil arm action that he used which gave him extra leverage/speed than his stock balls.

Remember, the purpose is always to decieve the batsman.
 
Shoiab I think. He went flat out for pace almost all the time. Thompson pre shoulder injury I didn't see, and the WI quicks weren't as fast as some believe (Holding aside).
 
Sachin136 said:
Average speed matters much more. Hitting 160km/h once is much less valuable than bowling 150km/h all the time.
Click to expand...

c7NJRa2.gif


Guess who?

Shoaib Akhtar.
 
Literally there were some Test series between 1999 and 2002 where Shoaib was bowling 145kph plus ever delivery pretty much and across all spells. Superhuman stuff.
 
Slog said:
Literally there were some Test series between 1999 and 2002 where Shoaib was bowling 145kph plus ever delivery pretty much and across all spells. Superhuman stuff.
Click to expand...

Dude was a showman in every sense of the word.
 
Robert said:
Marshall didn't play Packer cricket.

I'd say Thommo, pre- shoulder injury.
Click to expand...

So would I.

I'm assuming that the requirement is that a given bowler sustained a certain level of pace across at least two Test series.

I reckon Thommo would have had a median delivery of 155+ for the couple of years from 74-75.

Next I reckon Andy Roberts and Mikey Holding had periods with median balls over 150+ in the mid and late 70s respectively.

You can't include Brett Lee or Shoaib Akhtar - I never saw their pace above a median of around 146 across a Test series.
 
Like anyone else I am skeptical of any bowlers physically having a median speed speed of 155+ km/h, but even if that's inaccurate most people do say that Thomson before that collision was the fastest ever.
 
Acricketfan said:
le [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] - Harold Larwood bowling at 170 kmph.
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Well, we all agree that the Don was the greatest ever batsman by a colossal margin, and Larwood chopped his average in half.

So he was clearly very quick indeed.
 
Junaids said:
Well, we all agree that the Don was the greatest ever batsman by a colossal margin, and Larwood chopped his average in half.

So he was clearly very quick indeed.
Click to expand...

It was short pitch bowling in COMBINATION with 7-8 leg side fielders who reduced his average in half
 
Yes, [MENTION=138493]Chrish[/MENTION], but Bowes and Voce had the same fields but not the same pace.
 
The oldies would believe in conjecture but not facts
Just how it is I guess
There just hasnt been a faster bowler than shoaib, period
How can anybody compare with shoaib who could get extra leverage and more surface area to get his arms through because of his hyperextension.
Add to that, he probably produced the most momentum for any bowler that I have ever seen, especially in that 1999 world cup
 
Last edited:
axl100mph said:
The oldies would believe in conjecture but not facts
Just how it is I guess
There just hasnt been a faster bowler than shoaib, period
How can anybody compare with shoaib who could get extra leverage and more surface area to get his arms through because of his hyperextension.
Add to that, he probably produced the most momentum for any bowler that I have ever seen, especially in that 1999 world cup
Click to expand...
Momentum through the run up, I meant*
 
axl100mph said:
The oldies would believe in conjecture but not facts
Just how it is I guess
There just hasnt been a faster bowler than shoaib, period
How can anybody compare with shoaib who could get extra leverage and more surface area to get his arms through because of his hyperextension.
Add to that, he probably produced the most momentum for any bowler that I have ever seen, especially in that 1999 world cup
Click to expand...

To be honest, and I suspect that [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] would agree, I think those of us who lived in England in the early 1990s would all say that Waqar Younis at the start of his Surrey career was quicker than Shoaib Akhtar ever was. Shoaib might have had a quicker quickest ball - I'm actually not sure - but Waqar bowled spells where every ball was 150+. In Test matches a quick Shoaib over tended to look more like

147
145
149
151
154
146

In contrast, the contemporaries of Sachin Tendulkar (Lara, Alec Stewart, the Waughs) who faced Waqar in county cricket reported that in 1990 and 1991 he was generally more like this:

150
151
153
151
152
150
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Malcolm Marshall at 157 kph average speed during his peak at Packers world series cricket. [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]
Click to expand...

Ha ha , that's funny, , Marshal initially was an average bowler and particularly with his short status and lack of pace , he was never even close to WI selection. Got selected only due to the absence of all good bowlers from WI who joined Packer and Marshal was never considered enough to get an offer to join Packer.
 
Junaids said:
To be honest, and I suspect that [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] would agree, I think those of us who lived in England in the early 1990s would all say that Waqar Younis at the start of his Surrey career was quicker than Shoaib Akhtar ever was. Shoaib might have had a quicker quickest ball - I'm actually not sure - but Waqar bowled spells where every ball was 150+. In Test matches a quick Shoaib over tended to look more like

147
145
149
151
154
146

In contrast, the contemporaries of Sachin Tendulkar (Lara, Alec Stewart, the Waughs) who faced Waqar in county cricket reported that in 1990 and 1991 he was generally more like this:

150
151
153
151
152
150
Click to expand...

I can't imagine the need as to why Sachin was mentioned there...
 
Pace90 said:
Ha ha , that's funny, , Marshal initially was an average bowler and particularly with his short status and lack of pace , he was never even close to WI selection. Got selected only due to the absence of all good bowlers from WI who joined Packer and Marshal was never considered enough to get an offer to join Packer.
Click to expand...

Not at all. That's a supremely ill-informed post.

Malcolm Marshall was TOO YOUNG to get a Packer contract.

Marshall was 19 and unknown in the summer of 1977 when Packer and Greig signed up the West Indies team.

Mikey Holding was 23, Joel Garner was 24, Colin Croft was 24 and Andy Roberts was 26, and they were the West Indies pace attack.

The West Indies didn't play many Tests without the Packer players, but Marshall quickly established himself at Hampshire as a world class prospect, but when England hosted the West Indies in 1980 and then toured the Caribbean in 1980-81 the attack of Roberts, Holding, Garner and Croft was still the first choice, in part because in the higher level of the SuperTests they had developed even further as all-time great quick bowlers.

Malcolm Marshall displaced Colin Croft when Croft's knees went (and he went off to get a quick payday in South Africa). And for that period in 1982 and 1983, Marshall was extraordinarily fast. He was a lot like Waqar Younis, only even more skilled with seam and swing bowling, which is why from 1984 onwards he followed the advice of Richard Hadlee and cut down his pace to extend his career.
 
Sachin136 said:
I can't imagine the need as to why Sachin was mentioned there...
Click to expand...

It was a compliment to Sachin, for once.

If I had just put "the batsmen of the early 1990s", ignorant posters would have written "yes, but they weren't that good, and modern batsmen handle pace better".

But by mentioning Sachin:

1) People had to realise that Waqar was quick in an era of some seriosuly great batsmen, and
2) That people like Sachin and Steve and Mark Waugh had direct experience of facing both Waqar and Shoaib.
 
MMHS said:
Not sure, certainly not Thompson.

Probably it's between Holding, Waquar & Shoaib. If we consider a short span of career, I 'll go with Zahid; but I have seen very little of 80s & early part of 90s.
Click to expand...

Thompson was faster the Holding 5/7 clicks. He was the fastest bowler of his era and that too by far. Watch the video below:

Thomo was clearly the fastest, even when past his prime, and I believe after shoulder injury.


 
Junaids said:
To be honest, and I suspect that [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] would agree, I think those of us who lived in England in the early 1990s would all say that Waqar Younis at the start of his Surrey career was quicker than Shoaib Akhtar ever was. Shoaib might have had a quicker quickest ball - I'm actually not sure - but Waqar bowled spells where every ball was 150+. In Test matches a quick Shoaib over tended to look more like

147
145
149
151
154
146

In contrast, the contemporaries of Sachin Tendulkar (Lara, Alec Stewart, the Waughs) who faced Waqar in county cricket reported that he was generally more like this:

150
151
153
151
152
150
Click to expand...
There wernt any speed guns in play then.
So thats all conjecture n opinion. Waqar used to swing the old ball which made his deliveries seem quicker.
He was quick but not quicker than shoaib, that I can just tell by watching.

I have spoken with rashid latif on the matter with him being onevwho has kept to both in their respective peaks.
and he is also of the opinion that shoaib was the quickest thing he had ever seen

He referred to his spell against australia in 2002 to consist of deliveries that were just superhuman.
Below is one of his bouncers from that spell

[Youtube]https://youtu.be/AY23BXu2nQE[/youtube]

Look at this bouncer.
This aint a fast bouncy waca pitch.
Infact this telstrodome pitch was really flat and low bounce as can be seen from mark waugh's commentary n pak's score lol

Yet, look at the carry even though it passed the batsmen at chest level.

Shoaibs true peak in 2002 saw him in the late 150's and not him hovering around the 145 mark.
Have a look at how fast he was at his peak. The cricket ball doesnt get bowled faster than that
Some of his spells from 2002

[Youtube]https://youtu.be/2afdaqRvMvQ[/youtube]

Notice the 643 on the board from pakistan,which gives an indication of how flat the pitch is.
There is no use of swing or even the pitch here for any bounce like a thommo or johnson would need.
Just flat out pace


Some more clips if him during his peak.
Start watching after 0:30 for the real pace
[Youtube]https://youtu.be/tSd7lD_zNZI[/youtube]

Sent from my CHM-U01 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Thanks [MENTION=138241]axl100mph[/MENTION], I really enjoyed your post and links!
 
axl100mph said:
The oldies would believe in conjecture but not facts
Just how it is I guess
There just hasnt been a faster bowler than shoaib, period
How can anybody compare with shoaib who could get extra leverage and more surface area to get his arms through because of his hyperextension.
Add to that, he probably produced the most momentum for any bowler that I have ever seen, especially in that 1999 world cup
Click to expand...

I agree, its hard to know across the generation and time, who was the fastest, but Shoiab was fastest of his era and was probably the fastest I have seen in last 30 years. When in full rhythm(and other guys at their peak as well), he was the fastest!!!

Just to give you an idea, look at this super bouncer of Shoaib, to Watson(this poor guy has to face wrath of Pakistani bowlers for some reason :) )... See how the ball rises as it passes the batsman and keep rising!!! - I have not seen such a bouncer by anybody.... Some of the Shoaib spells were too fast and too good


 
yasir said:
I agree, its hard to know across the generation and time, who was the fastest, but Shoiab was fastest of his era and was probably the fastest I have seen in last 30 years. When in full rhythm(and other guys at their peak as well), he was the fastest!!!

Just to give you an idea, look at this super bouncer of Shoaib, to Watson(this poor guy has to face wrath of Pakistani bowlers for some reason :) )... See how the ball rises as it passes the batsman and keep rising!!! - I have not seen such a bouncer by anybody.... Some of the Shoaib spells were too fast and too good


Click to expand...
Yeah, I embedded this same bouncer in reply to junaids

Sent from my CHM-U01 using Tapatalk
 
axl100mph said:
Yeah, I embedded this same bouncer in reply to junaids

Sent from my CHM-U01 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Your Embedded videos does not show up on my browser for some reason, but the one I attached, do show up.
 
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