Shaun Tait-Potential to be the fastest ever?

[Pup Clarke]

Watching Shaun Tait his speed's seem quite insane mostly up around the mid 90s.Is this to do with his suspicious action where by his pace comes mostly through the bending of his arm.Does he have the potential to be consistently faster than Thompson or Akthar?.

[FRAZ]

This 99 MPH mark is quite difficult to overcome tbh !
I have seen Waqar Younis regularly clocking 95 mph in South Africa (93-94)
This final 5 mph difference is the one which makes the difference tbh . I have seen Harmison bowling at 98 mph during ICC (England) ..Anyways lets see how it goes !!

[Pup Clarke]

Originally Posted by FRAZ

This 99 MPH mark is quite difficult to overcome tbh !
I have seen Waqar Younis regularly clocking 95 mph in South Africa (93-94)
This final 5 mph difference is the one which makes the difference tbh . I have seen Harmison bowling at 98 mph during ICC (England) ..Anyways lets see how it goes !!

Harmison bowling at 98!!!

[FRAZ]

Originally Posted by Pup Clarke

Harmison bowling at 98!!!

I am pretty sure that I have seen him clocking such a high speed . It was during the ICC champions trophy (England) . Even if I may be wrong about 98 but it was well over 96 mph for sure .... I have seen him bowling at that speed and there should be at least some one who may acknowledge my statement !!!!

[FaaipDeOiad]

There weren't speed guns in SA in 93-94...

Anyway, the fastest clocked deliveries are from Shoaib and Lee, who have both broken 100mph (161kph) in ODIs on a couple of occasions. Shoaib did it in the 2003 WC against New Zealand, and Lee did it in two consecutive balls in New Zealand in early 2005. Both those series were ones where the speed guns were quite generous though, which is the main problem with the current measurement of bowler speeds. Some series are "fast" series and some are "slow" series, and that's despite the speed being measured out of the hand and thus the pitch being a non-factor. Can't place too much value on individual matches really, you have to judge speed over an extended period.

Anyway, I'd say the quickest ever would be Thomson fairly comfortably. In the fastest bowler comp in the late 70s he was clocked in the high 140s measured across the length of the wicket. Anyone's guess what his pace out of the hand was, but you'd assume it'd be in the high 150s-low 160s sort of range. To add to that, this was after his first major injury where it was generally agreed he lost pace.

Impossible to judge guys like Gillespie (of the West Indian variety) and Tyson, of course.

Tait's certainly the quickest around at the moment in terms of average pace. Almost never seems to bowl a delivery that's short of mid 140s, while guys like Lee take a bit longer to build up their pace to the 150 range.

[FRAZ]

Originally Posted by FaaipDeOiad

There weren't speed guns in SA in 93-94...

.

I perfectly believe that you just have a habbit of doing such a thing . I have seen Waqar Younis clocking 95 MPH and Wasim Akram 91 MPH respectively and in the same series Alan Donald could clock 144kmph and thats it !!!

[age_master]

I think Brett Lee has been quicker recently bowling shorter spells, he seems to start in the mid 140's most of the time now and be high 140's by the end of the first over.

[archie mac]

I like Tait, he has a different action, which helps explain why some of the old timers were considered fast, but are now often dismissed because of their poor action.

I remember McDermott dismissing Jack Gregory as a fast bowler because of his action, but Bradman saying he was about the fastest around when he started, this when Jack was well past his best

[Stumped]

hes not pushing the right buttons for me

[The Sean]

Originally Posted by archie mac

I like Tait, he has a different action, which helps explain why some of the old timers were considered fast, but are now often dismissed because of their poor action.

I remember McDermott dismissing Jack Gregory as a fast bowler because of his action, but Bradman saying he was about the fastest around when he started, this when Jack was well past his best

It'd be great if we had some way of knowing for sure just how quick those old blokes were - because opinions seem to vary between even the guys they played with. I've read that some thought Gregory was truly express, but others thought that his action gave a false estimation of his real pace and that Ted McDonald was the quicker of the two. And no less a judge than Jack Hobbs wrote that he believed Tibby Cotter was faster than both of them.

One of the first things I'm going to do in the next world is to get God to line me up Lockwood, Kortwright, Jones, Cotter, Larwood, Tyson, Hall, Lillee, Thommo, Holding, Marshall, Waqar, Lee, Shoaib and any others I've missed there, all at their absolute peak, and find out who was quickest.

Of course, I could just ask Him for the answer - but where would be the fun in that? I want to see blood on the pitch.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Originally Posted by FaaipDeOiad

Impossible to judge guys like Gillespie (of the West Indian variety) and Tyson, of course.

*cough* Gilchrist *sneeze*

[FaaipDeOiad]

Originally Posted by Mr Mxyzptlk

*cough* Gilchrist *sneeze*

Haha yeah. Gillespie was that Australian guy who was quick, IIRC. Bradman era.

[Dasa]

Originally Posted by FaaipDeOiad

Haha yeah. Gillespie was that Australian guy who was quick, IIRC. Bradman era.

That was Gilbert, wasn't it?

[FaaipDeOiad]

Originally Posted by Dasa

That was Gilbert, wasn't it?

I'll just shut up now.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by FaaipDeOiad

Impossible to judge guys Tyson, of course.

Other than by the fact that he bruised batsmen through their pads, something no-one had ever done before or has ever done since...