Quickest bowlers of all-time by nation

[jimmy101]

Don't remember David Brain being that quick tbh. Thought he was at or around Streak's pace.

It'd have to be Olonga then, he looked really quick in the 99 World Cup

 

[indiaholic]

Malinga 155.7 kmh

That has to be a measurement error? Always seemed like he would be in the mid 140s when he was at his quickest.

 

[jimmy101]

That has to be a measurement error? Always seemed like he would be in the mid 140s when he was at his quickest.

Apparently it's legit, although I can't find which match it was from.

 

[Kirkut]

India's got a ton of really fast bowlers, almost all of whom who broke down and ended up being no good. Tinu Yohannan, Yo Mahesh, early Nehra, early Zak, even Munaf Patel. And thats just off the top of my head.

Now we have Umesh and Aaron as two guys capable of hitting 95 mph/150 kmph

Rubel and Mohammed Sharif are the quickest from BD's history I think

Zimbabwe had Henry Olonga.

It's his actual name . He must have had a great time in case he's visited US.

Out of curiosity I thought I'd start this thread to see if we can come to any kind of consensus on which bowler was the quickest for their particular country.

Some of these choices are easier than others, for example, I don't think Sri Lanka have ever produced a bowler as fast as Lasith Malinga. Ditto for NZ & Shane Bond.

Pakistan have Shoaib Akhtar, although someone might be able to make a case for the two W's or Imran being quicker.

India would probably be a toss up between Kapil Dev, Amar Singh & Mohammad Nissar. However, from what I've seen, Varun Aaron & Umesh Yadav can be quite quick on their day.

Australia have Jeff Thomson, but then again Shaun Tait, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson & of course Ray Lindwall were no slouches. And what about Ernie Jones?

South Africa is a real tough one, hard to split Adcock, Steyn & Donald IMO. Brett Schultz is a dark horse.

England, even tougher, what with Trueman, Tyson, Larwood, Kotright & Snow just a few names who could be considered.

Who is Bangladesh's fastest ever bowler? Mashrafe Mortaza? What about Zimbabwe?

And finally, the million dollar question, which fire-breathing dragon from Babylon was the quickest? This is question that I've never heard a definitive answer for. Francis, Martindale, Constantine, Hall, Griffith, Gilchrist, Holder, Clarke, Roberts, Croft, Holding, Garner, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Patterson. Even guys from recent times such as Fidel Edwards deserve attention.

Of course I've more than likely missed some big names here, I'd like to hear what people here on the forum think!

Nantie Hayward from South Africa, was thought to be successor to Donald. He was clocked at 154 kmph against India in Bloemfontein 2001.

 

[Daemon]

Zaheer's been clocked at 170 odd

 

[Dendarii]

Nantie Hayward from South Africa, was thought to be successor to Donald. He was clocked at 154 kmph against India in Bloemfontein 2001.

Hayward was one the first names that came to mind for South African bowlers. And perhaps a little surprisingly, Lance Klusener was also clocked at 154 kph.

 

[Zinzan]

That has to be a measurement error? Always seemed like he would be in the mid 140s when he was at his quickest.

I'm a little surprised if he quite got past 155, although I do recall Malinga touching above 150 a fair few times.

 

[Shri]

L Balaji hit 148kmph against Pakistan in his debut series.

 

[mr_mister]

Klusener was clocked at 155kmph in the mid 90s before he came a medium pace trundler

 

[ImpatientLime]

It's probably Frank Tyson, but I think the fastest recorded speed by an englishmen is actually a Darren Gough delivery

yeah gough could bowl with some serious heat at times. responsible for some of the best stump destroying, reverse swing yorkers outside of pakistan.

he may have only played one t20 for england but tymal mills is seriously rapid.

 

[jimmy101]

Never knew Nantie got up to those kinds of speeds. I knew Klusener was quicker than most in his earlier days but to find out he bowled well into the 150's is nuts.

 

[Zinzan]

Pretty sure Brett Schultz reached mid 150s, but cannot confirm, although would believe it based on what I've seen of him.

 

[Shri]

Never knew Nantie got up to those kinds of speeds. I knew Klusener was quicker than most in his earlier days but to find out he bowled well into the 150's is nuts.

Especially with his action. Run->Jump->Freeze midair with lips in a weird frown and the ball close to his face->Release.

 

[SeamUp]

I did an umpiring course a few years ago presented by a long-standing domestic umpire in SA and in his opinion Procter was the fastest of the Saffers he ever stood to. That would include Donald and Adcock, among others.

I think Procter is someone who could be under-estimated for pace compared to Adcock & Le Roux in the pre-isolation and isolation years. I would definitely put those 3 as the quickest with Heine & P.Pollock following in those years. Just how quick they were compared to post-isolation is probably up to the imagination.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Especially with his action. Run->Jump->Freeze midair with lips in a weird frown and the ball close to his face->Release.

Favourite action to copy as a kid

 

[Tom Flint]

Steve harmison for a couple years was consistently over 90mph.
Also chameera was hitting 150kph before he got injured last year

 

[srbhkshk]

Ishant "Short of a length" Sharma clocked 153 in Australia.

 

[Dan]

Morne Morkel and Matt Henry have both been clocked at around 175.

 

[Dan]

In all seriousness, Eddie Gilbert is probably worth being in the discussion for Aus.

 

[fredfertang]

I think Procter is someone who could be under-estimated for pace compared to Adcock & Le Roux in the pre-isolation and isolation years. I would definitely put those 3 as the quickest with Heine & P.Pollock following in those years. Just how quick they were compared to post-isolation is probably up to the imagination.

Procter had to ease up when he played county cricket and his knees were dodgy, and he was pretty swift then - he must have been very quick indeed before he left South Africa

On the more general point in the days of the back foot no-ball law quick bowlers could release the ball from two or three yards closer to the batsman than they can now - would that make them actually quicker, or just seem quicker? I suspect it must be mainly the latter, with a bit of the former but would be interested to read a proper explanation