From what I remember as part WA university investigation into fast bowling in
the 70's, they looked at the speeds of past fast bowlers (Larwood, Lindwall, Tyson etc)
using film. The peak speeds calculated for all three was in the 92 - 95 (Larwood got the 95).
It is quite likely all three bowled faster on other days that where not filmed. Basically there bowling speeds where
very similar to a lot of modern Fast bowlers (Steyn, Lillee, Marshal etc).
The University identified several factors related to speed including:
- The distance the bowler carried the ball through is hugely important the longer the better. Tall bowlers have an advantage here. Also Jeff Thomsons action carries the ball through a longer arc than the normal conventional bowling action.
- Storing energy in the body.
- Jeff Thompson almost threw his arm back which would store energy in the body.
- Aktar had a lot of flex in his elbows which may have helped him.
- Keeping the front knee straight or braced during bowling. Keeping the front knee straight will stop the bodies forward motion and allow you to bring the arm over faster. This also has a big issue with it - have you ever jumped in the air and landed with you legs straight - it tends to hurt.
But keeping the knee straight/braced puts a huge strain on the body, the heavier the bowler is the bigger the strain.
Bowlers who rely on pure pace all the time tend to have very short careers (e.g. Tyson, Jack Gregory).
McGrath on the hand runs through the crease ==>> a lot of give at the knees. McGrath was not that quick but had very few injuries (except when he stepped on the cricket ball).
I suspect the difference between Steyn bowling at 140kmph and 150kmph is the bracing
of the knee.
For raw pace using a convetial action,
tall wiry bowlers (e.g. Brett Lee or Micheal Holding) have an advantage.
But shorter guys can have a slightly heavier build which would help compensate.
I would think that Thomson / Holding / Lee / Aktar where probably slightly faster
than Larwood, but it would be at most 5mph.