Top 10 fastest deliveries in international cricket

10 cricketers who have the fastest deliveries in international cricket.

Fast bowling is an art, and often teams pick fast bowlers to threaten the opposition and put them under pressure. Bowling fast is not an easy task, but it is one of the most effective skills in the game of cricket. Over the years, a number of bowlers have caught the attention of the world by bowling really fast.

This article also includes a discussion of the list of bowlers who bowled the fastest deliveries in the history of the game. However, there was an era when there was no gadget to measure the speed of a bowler. But the modern era has all the ways to calculate it. So let's check out the fastest deliveries ever bowled in international cricket that have been recorded.

Here are the top 10 fastest deliveries in international cricket:

10. Umran Malik (156 kmph):

Indian speedster Umran Malik also appears on this list. The Jammu and Kashmir pacer caught the attention of the world with his speed in the IPL and made the Indian team. He clocked the speed of 156 kmph in an ODI against Sri Lanka in January 2023 at home. However, he also bowled a ball at a speed of 157 kmph in the IPL 2022 against the Delhi Capitals.

9. Shane Bond (156.4 kmph) :

Shane Bond is considered the best fast bowler to have played for New Zealand in the 21st century. He was fast and lethal, and batters used to struggle against him because of his swing and bounce. Though Bond didn't have a long career, he was a successful bowler for his time. During the 2003 World Cup, he bowled at a speed of 156.4 km/hr against India.

8. Mohammad Sami (156.4 kmph) :

Pakistan have a history of producing some of the best fast bowlers. Mohammad Sami was certainly one of those who achieved success because of his speed and accuracy. There were some reports that he even bowled 164 km/h (101.9 mph) in an ODI unofficially. However, his fastest delivery that was recorded was 156.4 km/hr, which he bowled against Zimbabwe in an ODI game in 2003. He retired with 121 ODIs and 85 test wickets.

7. Mitchell Johnson (156.8 kmph) :

Mitchell Johnson was one of the most fiery pacers that played the game. At his peak, he was unplayable, and England witnessed that during the 2013 Ashes. It was then that he recorded his fastest delivery during the 2013 Ashes at the MCG. Johnson bowled at a speed of 156.8 km/hr and bowled some nasty balls that hit the helmets of the batters.

6. Fidel Edwards (157.7 kmph) :

West Indies have given the game many fast bowlers who were the best at what they did. Fidel Edwards was one of them. The former pacer came onto the scene with the hype of being the fastest of his generation, and he did not disappoint. In a match against South Africa, he clocked 157.7 km/h. He ended up with 165 wickets in tests and 60 wickets in ODIs.

5. Andy Roberts (159.9 kmph) :

Andy Roberts was one part of West Indies's fiery quartet that dominated the world between the 1970s and the early 1980s. In that period, he clocked one of the fastest deliveries of all time. In a game against Australia in Perth in 1975, he touched a speed of 159.5 km/hr. Notably, Roberts was part of West Indies team that won the 1975 and 1979 World Cups.

4. Jeff Thomson and Mitchell Starc (160.4 kmph) :

Jeffrey Thomson was a feral sight for any batsman when he was at his peak. He was a nightmare for some batters during his stint with Australia. It was that time when he bowled a delivery at a speed of 160.4 km/hr in Perth against West Indies in 1975.

Later, Mitchell Starc equaled that record when he bowled a ball at 160.4 km/hr in a test match against New Zealand at the WACA in 2015. Starc is one of the best modern-day bowlers that are active at the moment, and he is very lethal when he is at his full flow.

3. Shaun Tait (161.1 kmph) :

Shaun Tait was a muscular-built fast bowler with broad shoulders who generated extra pace with his slingy action. He burst onto the scene as the fastest bowler going around. Though he didn't have great success at the international level, he registered his name by bowling one of the fastest deliveries of all time. In a T20I game against Pakistan at the MCG, he clicked 161.1 km/hr, becoming only the third bowler to touch the 100mph barrier.

2. Brett Lee (161.1 kmph) :

Speed with accuracy is a very rare combination, but Brett Lee mastered that art and became the most successful fast bowler of his generation. Lee was one of the reasons that Australia dominated world cricket across formats and the World Cups of 2003 and 2007. In a game against New Zealand at Napier, he bowled a bowl at 161.1 km/hr and registered his name in the record books.

1. Shoaib Akhtar (161.3 kmph) :

Shoaib Akhtar was synonymous with speed in cricket. It would not be a wrong statement to say that he was the fastest bowler of all time. Akhtar holds the record for the fastest delivery in the game, which is also part of the Guinness Book of World Records. Famously known as "The Rawalpindi Express", he bowled a ball at a speed of 161.3 kmph during the 2003 World Cup against England to Nick Knight. During his career, Akhtar hit a number of batters, which made him one of the most dangerous bowlers of all time.

(Information gathered from various sources.)