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Who is the fastest bowler you’ve ever faced in a game of cricket?
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I had the misfortune of playing against Jeff Thomson in a Shield game at the Gabba and as usual it was a Gabba green top.
I was batting with Greg Matthew’s and he was going after him , unfortunately I got caught up in the s..t fight and he was super quick .
I stepped it out next day and Ray Phillips was back about 80/85 feet .
Looking back it was great fun !
The "fastest" can be a little bit subjective and depends on a few factors; but I will give it a shot.
I was lucky enough, I guess you could say, to play a couple of games against the West Indies when they had some good quicks. This is where the subjective part comes in:
Malcolm Marshall - only faced 2 balls and hard to say how quick he bowled them as I did not see either of them due to the speed of his bowling arm through the gather and release. That was pretty scary considering I wasn't wearing a helmet.
Patrick Paterson - consistently fast through an entire spell, but I found ball tracking out of his hand easier to focus on. I have photos from side on from this game and David Williams (keeper) was outside the 30 yard circle. So, I think he was bowling pretty sharp that day.
Anderson Cummins - fastest single delivery, I hit him for a couple of 4's back down the ground and the follow up bouncer was as sharp as anything I ever faced.
In Brisbane Grade cricket I faced quite a few quality quicks, and I think Greg Rowell would be top of the list. Especially for consistent pace, every match (every ball come to think about it) mattered to him.
As a child my older brother in the backyard with a shaved tennis ball on a wet plastic slip and slide, pitch length of around 7-8 meters was pretty sharp too, and nearly as scary.
No claims to fame like others here but but the three quickest were:
* Andy Roberts (3 balls in the nets at what is now Glen McGrath Oval)
* a slightly built lefty from Parramatta called Smith (long hair and a string headband) in Telegraph Shield in 1976-77 and
* a bloke from Sutherland called Eek. Again at Caringbah Oval on a day when we were rolled for 42 and he took 8 or 9 of them.
Have been others but they were the only three occasions when I found it hard to track the ball and had not enough time to play.
The first time I saw Jeff Thomson bowling in grade cricket was a game against Bankstown at Waverley Oval around 1972. Also got to face him as a lower order bat.
We batted first and of course in those days we only turned up 20 minutes before the start of the game. We won the toss. Elected to bat and thought we would be in for a leisurely day getting over the previous night's festivities.
Lenny Richardson, later to play for NSW and Queensland, was opening the batting and took strike. Ian Gorman was the keeper and Thommo marks his run up. Right to the edge of the southern practice wickets. About 40 metres.
There would have been nearly 100 metres between Thommo at the top of his run up and Gorman, who was planted not far from the northern practice wickets. Len must have felt a little lonely out there.
We thought. This is bullshit. On Waverley Oval. This bloke is having a lend of us. We had heard rumours about how quick Thommo was, mainly from a David Lord article in the old Sunday Mirror who quoted ex England player Barry Knight who said about Thommo "fastest bowler he had ever faced". But we thought that was just paper talk. How wrong we were and Lordie had nailed it.
First ball. I remember it like yesterday. Thommo bounded in and let fly. It whistled past Len's face and Gorman took it on the rise. It was just a blur. But very intimidating. We all immediately put our papers down and thought this is going to be very interesting.
Which it was.
Thommo was all fired up pushing for state selection at the time. Coming from the Birrell Street end, with the southerly behind him, if he didn't hit 100 mph that day nearly every ball, I'm not here. He absolutely demolished us and took seven wickets.
It is without doubt the fastest bowling in 60 years at Waverley Oval I can ever recall. Next quickest was Malcolm Marshall, semi final against Randwick 1992 and third Patrick Cummins 2008 second grade playing for Penrith.
But Thommo was really the only bowler I remember at Waverley Oval who you couldn't pick up the ball watching side on. So in my books the quickest.
Sent from my Galaxy
For a couple of overs I reckon Winston Davis (he was playing for Campbelltown) was as quick as I've faced.
He thought he had me caught behind off the glove/elbow - given not out. Think he was bit shitty with umpires decision so he decided to crank it up for the next few overs.
Imran Khan on a very up and down MCG pitch in early 1980’s – Pakistan v Victoria
Jeff Thomson at the WACA Sheffield Shield final WA v Qld
Denis Hickey, Melbourne Cricket Club and former South Australian opening bowling at the Junction Oval in a semi-final against St Kilda after a lengthy rain/covers break 1984/85
No one enjoys facing real quicks, just some handle it better than others! (helps having all the gear they wear nowadays though; slogs, reverse and ramps would be interesting without the armour plating!! Haha)
Jeff Thomson by a country mile.
Michael Holding, Dennis Lillee, Wayne Prior, Andy Roberts, early Froggie Thompson, Len Pascoe (at least I think he was quick, didn't bowl much in my half), Ian Callen.
In grade cricket most teams had a quick or two, but fast for 3 overs isn't a measurement.
Quickest I've faced was Dave Gilbert in a PG game at Pratten Park on the famous Ridge. Not a pleasant experience.
Quickest bowler I've kept to was Chris Killen - scary quick when fired up
I reckon a spell from Brett Boardman at University of Queensland one afternoon was very swift. I remember Scotty Muller saying to me, "how about you take most of Boardman please mate."
Geoff Cooke was very swift as a young bloke and Kevin Bray bowled rockets one season as well.
In club cricket in England I’ve faced a few but 3 stand out as super fast:
1. Devon Malcolm played club cricket in South Yorkshire. The wicket was also very quick and bouncy. That was late 80s when there was probably only one helmet in the dressing room.
2. Mark Footitt played for Notts, Derbyshire and England. He played a lot of club cricket in the local leagues and could touch 90mph regularly. Lefty aswell with a Starc like action so pretty hard to pick up.
3. Lyndon Joseph played for the West Indian Cavaliers in the Notts Leagues in the late 90s / early 2000s. Rumour has it he was on course to play for the Windies but fell out with the wrong people.
I measured players by the person I’d least like to bowl at or bat against. Out of those 3 I would probably say Joseph - rapid and nasty with it 😀🏏
The obvious or best known ones would be Len Pascoe, Geoff Lawson and Dave Gilbert. Dave Milligan from Manly bowled a couple of pretty quick spells at me in the 80’s.
Playing for Wimbledon in the Surrey Championship at Banstead one day I faced a quick from Western Australia called Mark Atkinson. Admittedly it was fading light and I was closer to 40 than 30, but I couldn’t lay a bat on him. Pretty unsettling. I looked him up later and he was classified as Fast Medium. Not in my book.
Sometimes it just comes down to someone on their day. Conditions, how they are feeling themselves. You play someone not expecting quick stuff and they are quick. And then the opposite when you play someone with a reputation and it just doesn’t eventuate.
It can also be that you yourself is out of nick. Or in form and it seeing well. I remember opening in a Perth grade game once with Test quick Chris Matthews at one end and supposed trundler Dermott Reeve at the other end. Saw Matthews quite well but for the life of me I couldn’t pick up Dermott and he nearly cleaned me up with a short ball. Could have been the end he was bowling from with trees behind the sight screen but he was tricky.
Mark Cameron was rapid! Good bloke & never bounced me for some reason, probably didn’t want to have a death on his hands!
Andrew Jones terrorised a 16yo batting number 8 in Davidson Shield and never saw anything else like that up to 2nd grade in Sydney or 1’s in Melbourne ( even Merv Hughes)
I’ll give my vote to my late brother Bill Hutchinson who passed away recently. He had quite a few world tours with the Northern NSW Emus. Great ability to swing a new ball both ways at a good speed. RIP Bill.
Thommo at Bankstown in 1971.
Pre helmets.
Lenny Pascoe got six fer that day so there was no relief.
I survived by being bowled by offie, Thebridge for a duck.
Denis Lynch
ND 1967 -1983
Fastest I can remember was Darren Coutts, who played for Wellington Point at the time. He was quick. About 1990/91 season in the Redlands comp in Brisbane.
1. Shane Harwood (before he came to Melbourne)
2. Steve Cottrell (Fitzroy-Doncaster)
3. Troy Corbett (Northcote)
Fun and games here trying to work out who was what, but the list I came up with is based on 2 levels I feel.
Rapid and deceptively quick.
Rapid.
1- Wasim Akram.
2- Jason Gillespie.
3- Chris Killen.
4- Gerard Denton.
5- Brad Williams.
Deceptively Quick.
1- Josh Marquet / Andrew Jones
2- Shane George.
3- Andy Bichel
4- Anthony Stewart.
5- Mark Harrity
Special mentions and good fortune must go out to Brett Lee ( Never faced him)
Brad McNamara who could rapidly change up and one from way back Dave Chardon who I remember watching him from side on before I went into bat, couldn't see it and wasn't a good move.
My top 5 not in order would be,
• Geoff Lawson,
• Andrew Jones on a green top at Drummoyne,
• Len Pascoe,
• Dave Gilbert was deceptive,
• Wayne Daniel had a season with Mosman & bowled quick,
• Special mention Evan Gordon, a South African I think he was played for Randwick.
One that stands out was Trevor Osborne
I was hit on the left foot by a full toss just outside leg stump, as I turned I saw the ball bounce once before crashing back off the fence. By this time the pain had registered and I still can't believe that numerous toes were not broken.
The old time hard capped Adidas boots of the 1970s surely saved them
I remember facing Steve Taylor at North Sydney and got the tatas..but he only lasted a few overs. Johnny Coyle at the nets at Pratten was dangerous especially since he was bowling off 18 yards!
Probably a guy by the name of Eshan Adil. A former Pakistani test cricketer who was the professional for a club in the U.K called Attock. He was seriously slippery around 2017.
Jeff Thomson by a country mile!!!! Only bowler I have seen bowl a short pitched ball at the batsman and it bounced over his head and Rod Marsh’s head and then half volleyed into the boundary fence. I think he did that in Perth and Sydney!!!! Also remember him hitting English batsman Keith Fletcher on the the forehead and Ross Edwards caught the ball at extra cover 30 metres away.
1 Boyd Williams: Brothers Bundaberg after playing in Brisbane.
2 Kirk Powell : Dunnington Yorkshire
Kirk played for Jamaica and Middlesex
3: Brian Drinkwater: Brothers Bundaberg as well. As a kid starting in first grade this man was not fun to be in front of.
1. Shoaib Akhtar on a belter at North Sydney, thank god is was flat. Bowled me the quickest ball I faced and didn't see it.
2. Brett Lee. Enough said.
3. Don Nash. First faced him when I was 14 and he was 16 with no lid and it was the first time I was hit on the inner thigh. Over the next 15 years I would have faced Nashy at least 20 times in games but a thousand balls in the nets. Only bowler I wore an arm guard to. I think I only got out to him once but the bowlers at the other end got a shot duck out easily. I can't recall scoring many runs in front of square and didn't pull or hook him once until mid-2005.
Relatively speaking in terms of my physical strength and equipment I used I would say he was the quickest I faced. Because of him I used a 2lb 4 oz bat. It wasn't until 2005 that I hooked him with confidence when his pace dropped.
He was the first cricketer I came up against when I knew I couldn't win a battle before the ball was bowled. Easily the most skilled bowler I came up against and a mystery why he didn't play 100 tests. Additionally, whilst playing with him I saw him destroy high quality batsmen that went on to achieve huge things. One game in particular NSW 19's v NSW Schoolboys at Hurstville Oval. We were 4-0 and I was at the non-strikers end for all of it. He yorked Thornley and his bat was still facing the sky. So many bowlers came through after Nashy in my playing time and not one of them that have been recorded at 150 felt anywhere near Nashy's pace.
Another story we were training at the new SCG indoor nets for NSWIS. We had the mental coach doing drills. Nashy and Binga had to write down and declare what they were going to bowl and execute. Nashy wrote FB Graeme Rummans. We asked what it meant, and he said effing badge. Sure, enough in the next few balls he did exactly that. Freakish talent.
Fastest for me was Richard McCarthy who played for North Melbourne in the 80s and 90s and a few games for Victoria. Batting in my regulation no 11 position (some said this was still to high) and coming in at 9/50ish on a wicket with a wet spot on a good length and Richard already having 7 fa I must say i wasn't disappointed to nick one to slip after a couple of overs and becoming his 8th victim of the day.
The other bloke was someone no one will know as it was in D grade local cricket. His name was Ian Whitby. As an 11 year old i somehow talked our 3rds captain into letting me bat at number 4. Whit didnt have the most classical action and most balls he dragged down short.
As an 11 yr old, no helmets in those days, no thigh pad and kids standard equipment i was absolutely terrified. Faced him about 10 years later and he wasnt to quick at all, but as an 11 yr old it was terrifying. Its all relative i guess
By the time I batted, the bowlers were pretty worn out, however, I did face Wasim Akram on a seeming greentop at Manuka in 1992 and I couldn’t get a bat on him. His arm whizzed over, I lunged forward, the keeper caught the ball and tossed it off to first slip. That was the only time I saw it.
The fastest bowling I have witnessed up close was a game at ANU South Oval when Jamaican left arm fast bowler Ken McLeod was playing for ANU against his former team Wests. That was terrifying at first slip. He was very, very rapid.
I was playing for Campbelltown that day and Dean and he is right. Winston who would normally bowl around 75%, decided that after the decision (which looked and sounded out from my position at square leg), decided to bowl 100% for the next couple of overs. From my side on position it was hard to pick up the ball.
In a game against Randwick in the same season, I was fielding in the gully, with Winston bowling to Trevor Jay (left hand wristy lower order), and he flashed at one, and flew at me, I stuck my hand out in the general vacinity, it hit flush in the middle of my left hand, and landed one bounce for four. I had a purple ring bruise for weeks afterwards.
Winston Davis definitely one of the quickest.