Top ten fastest bowlers in modern history

Bowling at whirlwind pace is sometimes enough to frighten a poor batsman out of his wits. The bowler begins his run to the crease slowly, giving absolutely no indication of the thunderbolt he’s about to unleash, or the bruising that the willow-wielder at the other end would be subjected to in mere moments.

He slowly increases his speed, accelerating hard with each step, his flowing mane billowing out behind him, a feral snarl on his face. By this time, the batsman has started quivering in his boots – from nervousness or fear, no one knows. The bowler thunders past the umpire, leaps high, and fires the ball towards the hapless figure opposite, who loses his head for a fraction of a second and makes an error in judgment that results in the loss of his wicket.

It was the infamous Bodyline series that brought the havoc caused by fast bowling to international attention – though I am somewhat doubtful about the actual origins. Over the years, the art of menacing batsmen around the world flourished with the emergence of the West Indian attack in the seventies and eighties, the advent of India’s Kapil Dev (though he wasn’t as quick as a Roberts or a Garner) and the fiery Dennis Lillee a bit earlier.

Here is a list of the ten fastest bowlers in modern history:

Fidel Edwards

10. Fidel Edwards (West Indies)

The Barbados tearaway was drafted into the West Indies national squad after playing just one game – he impressed the legendary Brian Lara at the nets so much so that he was included for the Jamaica Test against Sri Lanka. His raw pace flummoxed the Lankans so completely that he ended up with a five-wicket haul on debut.

With a round-arm action reminiscent of former Australian pacer Jeff Thomson, and blessed with immense speed, Edwards was destined for a long spell in the national side. However, persistent back injuries have seen him in and out of the side. He recovered sufficiently to ply his trade for the Deccan Chargers in the IPL, where he troubled the batsmen with his pace and bounce.

Having returned from surgeries numerous times, Edwards is looking to hit the 160 km/hr mark as he sets himself the goal of becoming the world’s best fast bowler. His current speed is somewhere above the 145 km/hr, and if he stays injury-free, we could soon see the return of the West Indian pace battery that dominated cricket in the late eighties.