The 10 Fastest Bowlers of All Time

Shoaib Akhtar, who played for Pakistan in the past, is unquestionably one of the quickest bowlers in cricket history. When Akhtar threw a ball in a Globe Cup match against England in 2003, it was at a pace of 161.3 kmph. Hence, he got the attention of the whole nation. 

Top 10 Fastest Bowlers in Cricket History

Shane Bond – New Zealand (Fastest ball: 156.4 km)

Shane Bond hunted down batters with the same speed, ferocity, and audacity that James Bond did his adversaries. The inspiring career of Shane's inspiring career was not too long because of recurring injuries.

Throughout his career, Shane Bond was famous for his speed and accuracy. In the 2003 Cricket World Cup versus India, the right-arm bowler's fastest ball was at a rate of 156.4 kmph. Soon after the competition, he had a spinal injury. Bond played international cricket for just eight years, from 2002 to 2010. This is because of recurrent ailments, although he did collect a substantial amount of wickets.

Bond represented New Zealand in 18 Tests, 82 ODIs, and 20 T20Is, accumulating 87, 147, and 25 wickets, respectively.

Mohammad Sami – Pakistan (Fastest ball: 156.4 km)

Mohammad Sami is one of the most mysterious players in Pakistan and the best for a fantasy cricket team. If the Pakistanis were Greeks, they would have written a play about Sami long ago. Sami, yet another product of Pakistan's assembly line of quicks, lights up the speed gun, consistently reaching speeds over 145 kilometers per hour (kph). The bowler was born in Karachi and is also an excellent exponent of the yorker. However, because of his poor accuracy and direction, batters often face "hit-me looseners" from him.

In a one-day international match against Zimbabwe in 2003, a right-arm fast bowler for the Pakistan national cricket team reached a top speed of 156.4 kilometers per hour. Sami made his debut in a test match against New Zealand and grabbed eight wickets for 106 runs, including five wickets for thirty-six runs in the second innings. The career of the now 40-year-old cricketer spanned 15 years, during which time he took 85 wickets in 36 Test matches, 121 wickets in 87 One-Day Internationals, and 21 wickets in 13 Twenty20 Internationals.

Mitchell Johnson – Australia (Fastest ball: 156.8 km)

Mitch has come a long way and is now one of Australia's primary fast-bowling weapons. The standard delivery for right-handed batters from Johnson is a pitch that travels away at an odd angle. His ability to extract more bounce from any wicket enhances his arsenal against left-handed batters. And he also attempts to constrict them by bringing the ball back in. Many top-order batsmen from the subcontinent have been captivated by this "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

In December 2013, Johnson bowled the fastest ball against England on day three of the fourth Ashes Test in Australia. Johnson bowled so viciously that he twice fractured former South African captain Graeme Smith's hand. Additionally, he struck Ryan McLaren on the right arm, inflicting a hairline fracture.

In 73 Tests, 153 ODIs, and 30 T20Is, Johnson took 313 wickets, 239 wickets, and 38 wickets, respectively. He has also performed well with the bat, accumulating 2065 Test runs and 951 ODI runs. Johnson received the Cricket Cricketer of the Year and Cricket Test Player of the Year awards in 2014.

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Fidel Edwards – West Indies (Fastest ball: 157.7 km)

Fidel Edwards got off to the type of start that most people can only dream of. It was enough for the West Indian selectors to see him play in his first game for Barbados. People started believing that he had what it takes to be successful at the international level. In his very first encounter, which took place in 2003 against Sri Lanka, he achieved a five-wicket haul. It was a significant step in validating the previous statement. Even in his first One-Day International, he was brilliant, finishing 6/22 off of 7 overs.

Fidel Edwards is famous for his aggressiveness and velocity on Rummy Bo, handcrafted by Paytm. He delivered his fastest delivery in international cricket back in 2003. At that time, he was still a relatively fresh face on the scene. This happened against South Africa. It was the second-fastest delivery ever in international cricket during that period. The right-arm right-speed bowler made his debut in a Test match against Sri Lanka in Jamaica in 2002. He made an immediate impact by collecting five wickets in the match's first innings. His One-Day International debut was even better. He picked up six wickets and 22 runs in his seven overs against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2003.

To this point, Edwards has participated in 55 tests, 50 one-day internationals. He has taken 165, 60, and 17 wickets, respectively.

Andy Roberts – West Indies (Fastest ball: 159.5 km)

Roberts was a hardy guy who also had a sharp intellect. He made excellent use of his broad shoulders throughout the run-up, which was famous for its rhythmic nature. He used two approaches to his stock delivery, which he called the bouncer. The first one was bowled at a more leisurely tempo, and the batter was often able to handle it. It was a ruse that Roberts used to trick the batsman into thinking he was safe while it was a trap.

After that, Roberts would throw the second bouncer, which he would throw at a location quite similar to the first. But he would throw it at a much faster speed. The batter would try to play this delivery in the same manner as the previous slower bouncer, only to be caught off guard by the high pace and bounce of the ball. By adopting this tactic, Roberts was able to get rid of a lot more batters and inflict terrible hits on a lot more of them.

The former West Indian bowler was one of the quickest in his day and one of the most feared. He was famous for his incredible speed. In the match versus Australia in Perth in 1975, his quickest delivery was 159.5 kilometers per hour. Roberts was the first player from Antigua to play for the West Indies squad. He was also a member of the West Indian team that won the first two Prudential World Cups in 1975 and 1979. After he had retired from playing the game, he spent the next decade serving as the coach of the West Indies squad.

Roberts, now 70 years old, participated in 47 tests and 56 one-day internationals, during which he took 202 and 87 wickets, respectively.

Mitchell Starc – Australia (Fastest ball: 160.4 km)

The name Mitchell Starc puts terror into the hearts of modern batters. It is difficult to imagine that the tall, slender boy from Sydney, who once aspired to be a wicketkeeper in junior cricket, would become a terrifying sight for the finest batters in the world.

The AFL's legendary strategy of scouting a body type and constructing a specific talent around it seemed to be at work once again since it tends to favor the player's skill and aptitude. According to legend, a tall, lanky 14-year-old was discovered by a club coach trying out for the Western Suburbs as a wicketkeeper. He drew the young guy away and insisted that he abandon the wicketkeeping gloves; he then instructed him on how to bowl.

One of the world's quickest bowlers, Stars delivered his fastest ball against New Zealand on the third day of the second Test in 2015. Known for his in-swinging yorkers, Starc is the quickest bowler to reach 150 ODI wickets. In 2017, he took two hat-tricks in the exact Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia.

As a member of the Australian side that won the 2015 World Cup, the 31-year-old has taken 244 Test wickets and 184 ODI wickets.

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Jeff Thomson – Australia (Fastest ball: 160.6 km)

A native of the Australian state of New South Wales, Thomson was a cricketer who is often regarded as the player with the quickest bowling speed the sport of cricket has ever seen. During the 1974–1974 season, he and Dennis Lillee utterly destroyed the England team, which catapulted him to the forefront of public attention. Many people still believe that the pairing of Thomson and Lillee was "the quickest duo to have ever coincided in a cricket team" when they played together.

When he faced the West Indies in Perth in 1975, Thomson bowled at a pace of 160.6 kilometers per hour, making him the quickest bowler of his period. The induction ceremony for Jeff into the Australian Hall of Fame took place on January 27th, 2016. He got 200 wickets in tests and 55 wickets in one-day internationals.

Brett Lee – Australia (Fastest ball: 160.8 km)

Brett Lee, perhaps the quickest bowler in history, was a deadly weapon in Australia's arsenal throughout the 2000s. If facing Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne wasn't intimidating enough, opposing batters seldom had the luxury of a break due to Lee's sheer speed. The New South Wales fast bowler was adept with the new ball and as, if not more, dangerous with the older ball, making him a complete fast bowler in every way. Lee's primary trump card was often his outswinger, but his speed meant that yorkers and bouncers were constantly lurking around the corner. In Tests, Lee could not achieve the same level of success as he had in ODIs, but he still finished with over 300 wickets in the most extended format. Injuries also hampered him, but he preferred the 50-over design.

In 2005, against New Zealand in Napier, Lee's quickest delivery was 160.8 kilometers per hour, making him one of the world's fastest bowlers. In his 1999 Test debut against India, he took seven wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings. He became the first Australian bowler to capture five wickets in his debut since Dennis Lillee. Lee was instrumental in Australia's 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cup victories.

He retired with 310 Test wickets, 280 ODI wickets, and 487 first-class wickets.

Shaun Tait – Australia (Fastest ball: 161.1 km)

Shaun Tait had all of the requirements to be one of the most feared quicks of his time because of his incredible speed and agility. A bulky and musculus frame, enormous shoulders, and a slinging movement complimenting a quick run up. Unfortunately, he could not create an influence anywhere near as substantial as that of Shoaib Akhtar or as significant as that of Jeff Thompson.

The ball by Shaun Tait of Australia versus England at Lord's in 2010 was the second-fastest ball ever in cricket history. When Lee had an injury during the 2007 World Cup, he took the reins of the Australian bowling attack. And he led them to a joint-second-place finish in terms of wickets accepted. He ended the tournament with 23 wickets. After Australia was eliminated from the 2011 World Cup, Tait announced his retirement from One-Day International cricket.

Tait had a wicket-taking average of 23.56 and an economy rate of 5.19 over his 35 one-day international matches.

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Shoaib Akhtar – Pakistan (Fastest ball: 161.3 km) 

Imagine a bowler sprinting in those additional yards from the boundary and coming at you at a pace of over 100 miles per hour. Forget about confronting him; even thinking about it sends chills down your spine. Just put it out of your mind. This was the kind of effect that the lightning-fast bowler known as "Shoaib Akhtar" had on the batters' minds. It has tarnished the reputations of many legendary figures from the preceding generation. It doesn't matter whether it's Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, or Sourav Ganguly; they're all great. He was a combination of unrefined speed, deadly bouncers, and terrifying dreams. There were scarcely any people who were successful in their scheme.

It should be no surprise that Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan holds the record for the quickest bowling speed in the annals of cricket's long and illustrious history. During the World Cup in 2003, he bowled the fastest delivery recorded at 161.3 kilometers per hour versus England. This achievement earned him the record. His bowling speed was average from 145 to 150 kilometers per hour. However, the pacer was in several controversial situations during his professional career. Because of his criticism of the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2008, Akhtar received a five-year suspension from the sport.

In 2003, while competing in a triangular series in Sri Lanka, he was found tampering with the ball. Akhtar participated in 46 tests, 163 one-day internationals, and 15 twenty20 internationals, taking 178, 247, and 19 wickets, respectively.