Allsportspk Greatest: Cricket’s Fastest Bowlers – 150+ MPH
One of the best sights in cricket is to see a quick bowler running up the wicket and flinging a variety of express deliveries at the batsman, who at that point, jumps around like a cat on a hot tin rooftop.
Express bowlers are a rarity today, however several years back almost every nation had its own spearhead, fully capable of ripping any opposition line-up to pieces. But, that in any way does not imply that the rare breed has stopped today, as Mitchell Starc of Australia and Adam Milne of New Zealand still bowl consistently in the 150’s.
In this list the criteria is neither the inclusion of present nor past bowlers, rather it is based on the fastest bowlers, who bowled with consistent express pace throughout their career.
#11 Jeff Thompson – Australia
One of the genuine legends of the game, Jeffrey Thompson reclassified express pace at the pinnacle of his career. With his bowling resembling that of a slingshot, Thompson could unnerve even the best batsmen on the planet with his fiery pace.
Mike Brearley, the ex-England captain, had once said in regards to Thompson’s pace: “Broken marriages, conflicts of loyalty, the problems of everyday life fall away as one faces up to Thompson.” This statement was a genuine sign of how much dread Thompson imparted in batsmen.
Thompson’s ability to bowl a radiant cutter along with seam and swing was the highlight of his fast bowling talent. His bouncers were savage and, on occasion, unplayable. And, his quickest recorded delivery is 160.5 km/h amid a Test match held in 1975-76.
These skills allowed Thompson to take 200 wickets from 51 Tests that he played for Australia. His ODI career was not very profitable, as he only got 55 wickets from 50 matches, however, this does not downgrade the achievements of the prestigious Australian pacer.
#10 Shane Bond – New Zealand
When Shane Bond burst on the scene, he was considered as the speediest bowler in New Zealand after Richard Hadlee. The Kiwi had everything: ruthless pace, capacity to swing the ball, inswinging toe-pulverizing yorkers, and a sharp ricochet.
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Loaded with injuries all his vocation, Bond could not scale the statures that were anticipated from him as he needed to cut his journey short. In any case, the Kiwi, when taking care of business, was an unadulterated enchantment to watch, as his streaming bowling action and capacity to upset the best batsmen on the planet, was a beautiful sight in its own accord.
An ideal example of his extraordinary skill were his 6 wickets against Australia in the 2003 World Cup where he was relatively unplayable.
Additionally in the same World Cup, Bond timed his quickest delivery that reached 156.4 km/h in a match against India.
The Kiwi pacer played only 18 Tests and amassed 87 wickets in his short stint. His performance in ODIs was just as impressive, with 147 wickets from 82 ODIs.
#9 Dale Steyn – South Africa
Red hot, unnerving, forceful, energetic, persistent; these are a few descriptive words that can portray Dale Steyn when ablaze. He is one of those uncommon quick bowlers of this period who can swing the ball at fearsome speed both ways; his speediest delivery being 155.7 km/hr against New Zealand.
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It is this capacity of his which helped him earn in excess of 400 scalps in Test cricket and engraved his name in the fastest bowlers. At first, it set aside Steyn some opportunity to subside into worldwide cricket yet once he did, no one came in his way. He was at one time the speediest South African to achieve 100 Test wickets and was totally crushing batsmen everywhere throughout the world.
Steyn remained at the highest point of ICC rankings and was named ICC Test Player of the Year in 2008 where he took 86 wickets in 14 Tests. Generally, Steyn has been down with injuries and his pace and shape has endured a bit as a result of it.
Nonetheless, despite everything one wants to see the best of Dale Steyn in the coming days. In the 88 Tests that Steyn has played, he has taken 421 wickets and in ODIs he has 180 wickets from 116 matches. He has additionally got 58 wickets in 42 T20Is.
The above stats allow him to make his place in the fastest bowlers, cricket has ever seen.
For the next 3 fastest bowlers, move on to the next page!