Oh Right, but I think If Thomson can hit 160kmph with his diet of a shot of Whiskey every morning, I don't think it's that improbable that Larwood with his run-up and similar slingy action can hit 150s as David Frith and Frank Foster thought he did. Brett Lee was pretty consistently fit and he was a similar pace as Akhtar generally so I think Akhtar's lack of fitness must've to do with more than just pace, maybe something with his action.
This is kind of the ceiling and floor conversation, the floor would be elavated by that as it directly connects to the average person but the Fast bowlers who maintained health and had access to a vast variety of food would not really be impacted by the common man having an easier life, I am more thinking of how the modern Cricketers spent so much more time in the gyms, train a lot more and have very strict and proper diets and yet they still aren't faster than the ceiling of the pacemen from the 70s and 80s. If Numbers are to be believed, Andy Roberts hit a number that was higher than even Mark Wood who has hit the highest of any ongoing pacer right now, I really do think the ceiling has stayed about the same while the floor has elavated.
Overall, it's really weird and it's impossible to tell what pace anyone bowled pre 1998 imo, but I did read a study that put Fred Trueman and Frank Tyson to be bowling at 150+, if that's true then Larwood is definitely 150+.
