Fastest Cricket Balls in History: Cricket is a game that is developing itself all over the globe at a rapid pace. Although it is called a game of batsmen, for the last two or three decades it’s been gradually changing its dynamic and making it difficult for the batsman with variety in fast bowling.

The most difficult and important ability of a cricketer is said to be bowling with a serious pace because it requires a lot of core strength to make a batsman difficult to adjust according to line and length and smell the cherry.

Let’s know about the top 10 fastest deliveries ever bowled in international cricket.

Fast bowlers have made cricket more interesting and helped it in growing itself significantly.

There are some very famous and well-known faces like Australian pacer Brett Lee, and Pakistani bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, and many more.

All-time Fastest Deliveries in Cricket History

Bowler	Fastest Delivery	Country	Against	Year
Shoaib Akhtar	161.3 km/hr (100.2 mph)	Pakistan	England	2003
Shaun Tait	161.1 km/hr (100.1 mph)	Australia	England	2010
Brett Lee	161.1 km/hr (100.1 mph)	Australia	New Zealand	2005
Jeffrey Thomson	160.6 km/hr (99.8 mph)	Australia	West Indies	1975
Mitchell Starc	160.4 km/hr (99.7 mph)	Australia	New Zealand	2015
Andy Roberts	159.5 km/hr (99.1 mph)	West Indies	Australia	1975
Fidel Edwards	157.7 km/hr (97.9 mph)	West Indies	South Africa	2003
Mitchell Johnson	156.8 km/hr (97.4 mph)	Australia	England	2013
Mohd. Sami	156.4 km/hr (97.1 mph)	Pakistan	Zimbabwe	2003
Shane Bond	156.4 km/hr (97.1 mph)	New Zealand	India	2003

Fastest Cricket Balls in History

Below, we break down the top 10 fastest cricket balls in history delivery by bowlers.

10. Shane Bond (New Zealand)- 156.4 km/h (97.26mph)

Shane Bond introduced himself to the world by generating some serious pace and forcing batsmen to write his name on their list of bowlers whom they don’t want to face. Bond clocked 156.4 km/h against India in 2003. Born on June 7, 1975, Shane Edward Bond.

However, his career ended with an injury and he played 18 test matches and 82 ODIs and bagged a total of 234 wickets in his career. He is on number 10 of our list of the top 10 fastest balls in Cricket of all time.

09. Mohhamad Shami (Pakistan)- 156.4km/h (97.29mph)

Shami’s ability to consistently trouble batsmen with his searing pace has earned him accolades from fans and experts alike. His relentless determination and pinpoint accuracy have made him a key asset for the Pakistani national team. Mohamad Shami his fastest delivery against Zimbabwe where the Pakistani speedster clocked 156.4 km/hr.

He made his international debut against Zimbabwe in 2003. He is also considered Pakistan’s second-fastest bowler. He bagged 85 test wickets in 36 test matches and 121 ODIs wickets in 87 events. In our rankings of the Top 10 fastest balls in cricket of all time he is in 9th position.

08. Mitchell Johnson (Australia)-156.8km/h (97.4mph)

He is an Australian pacer and generated his fastest pace of 156.8km/h against England in the 2014 Ashes test series which made every English batsman uncomfortable. The 2014 Ashes were played in Australia where Aussies swept England 5-0.

The same year he bagged the Sir Garfield Trophy and the ICC test player of the Year award. With 313 test wickets, 239 ODIs wickets, and 38 T20 test wickets he retired from all formats of cricket in August 2018.

07. Fidel Edwards (West Indies)- 157.7km/h (97.9mph)

Fidel Edwards is a Caribbean fast bowler who is known for his sheer pace and very tight length that can put any batsman in doubt about the upcoming delivery. He clocked 157.7 km/h in Jamaica against proteas in the year 2003.

He took his first fifer in test cricket against Sri Lanka in the year 2002 in the very first test match he played and announced himself to the cricketing world.

He has 60 ODI wickets and 165 test wickets and 20 IntT20 wickets for West Indies. However, he still plays for many franchise leagues across the globe.

06. Andy Roberts (West Indies)-159.5km/h (99.1mph)

In 1975 against the Australians, he clocked his fastest delivery of 159.5km/h. He is a stalwart of West Indies cricket and is known to be one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket. He was outstanding in playing this fastest-growing sport and was considered the fastest bowler of his time during the 1970s and 80s.

He was also a member of two consecutive World Cup-winning teams in 1975 and 1979. With 202 test wickets and 87 ODIs wickets, he is in the sixth rank of the top 10 fastest balls in cricket of all time.

05. Mitchel Starc (Australia)-160.4 km/h (99.7mph)

A slinky left-arm pacer of Australia who still continues to play for Australia clocked 160.4 km/h against New Zealand and dismissed the star cricket, Ross Taylor. He is also the fastest left-arm pacer the cricket has ever witnessed.

He was also named player of the tournament in the series against the Kiwis for his sheer pace which stunned the world of cricket. He won the 2015 World Cup with his bowling and emerged as one of the best bowlers of the tournament.

He broke the previous record of Saqlain Mushtaq’s fastest to 100 ODIs wickets in 53 innings and achieved the feat in 52 innings. At present, he is still playing and winning our hearts with his sharp inswings recently against India in Indian conditions and helped Australia to win the ODI series. He is in the 5th position on our list of the top 10 fastest balls in cricket of all time.

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04. Jeff Thomson (Australia) 160.6km/h (99.8mph)

During the 1970s Jeffery Thompson was known to be the fastest bowler of the era. In 1975 he clocked 160.6km/h this was the time when helmets were not introduced or with no grills. It must have given some batsman a nightmare to recall those deliveries.

His pace was enough to pull the game to his side. He was known for his consistent pace and length. Thompson took 200 tests and 55 ODIs wickets and retired from cricket. He is in 4th position in the list of the top 10 fastest balls in cricket of all time.

03. Brett Lee (Australia)-160.8km/h(99.9mph)

The favorite of all the youngsters with his eye-catching bowling action. I bet everyone has once tried his action while bowling. The star Australian bowler clicked 160.8 km/h (Brett Lee Fastest Ball) against the Kiwis in New Zealand in the year 2005 and helped Australia beat New Zealand comprehensively.

He was also the prime bowler of Australia’s two-time World Cup-winning squad of 2003 and 2007. His exciting career ended with 310 test wickets and 380 ODI wickets.

He is also the very first bowler to take a Hattrick in a T20 international game. He holds the third position in the list of the top 10 fastest balls of cricket of all time.

02. Shaun Tait (Australia)-161.1 km/h (99.9mph)

Shaun Tait is the fastest bowler Australia has ever produced. He clocked his fastest delivery against England at Lords where he generated a pace of 161.1 km/h (Shaun Tait Fastest Ball).

He has represented his country in all three formats and was also a member of 2007 Australia’s world cup winning squad and took 23 wickets in the same tournament and finished joint second wicket takers.

He retired in the year 2017 after playing 35 ODI games and 62 wickets with an interesting economy of 5.19. He is in second position on our list of the top 10 fastest balls in cricket of all time.

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01. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan)- 161.3 km/h (100.1mph)

The Pakistani star cricketer also known as “Rawalpindi Express” holds the crown of the fastest ball delivered in world cricket history. Shoaib Akhtar bowled the fastest ball in cricket history at a speed of 161.3kmph against England in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

He launched this (Shoaib Akhtar Fastest Ball-161.3 km/h) missile against England in the 2003 world cup and marked himself as the one and only bowler to touch 100 mph in cricket after that this ball still holds the record for fastest cricket balls in history.

An aggressive fast bowler with a cheeky bowling action injured many batsmen like Brain Lara, and Saurav Ganguly with his pace and theory of making the batsman smell the cherry.

He also said in an interview about his theory of bowling and called it nose and toes i.e. either sharp bouncer or sharp yorker.

In his career, he took 247 ODIs and 178 test wickets for his country. Shoaib Akhtar rules any list when it is about pace in bowling in a cricket game so he is on the top of the list of the top 10 fastest balls in cricket of all time.

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