Where Are All The 150kph Bowlers?

[Vilander]

Like I said if the stop watch was not invented, people would still be saying jessie owens is fastest man ever to grace planet earth. There were no speed guns till latley, so rose tinted glasses go on by many for players from pre speed gun era. In every thing man can run faster and jump higher etc But apparently in fast bowling its all slowed down

:winky: now get ready for brickbats for saying the truth my fella..

[panther]

how much pace can be improved ? for example in the pic of ishant sharma if the back foot had not been raised, how much pace would have increased? can someone give a rough breakdown of how much run up,rocking back,use of front arm , proper locking of front foot and support from backfoot contribute to pace.

Brett lee had a front foot block, tait and akhtar did not, not sure about thompson. Broad also has a front foot block but was bowling like a trundler recently so make what you want from it. AKhtar and tait with there slingey action and powerful shoulders could generate serious pace but bret lee action was more efficient.

[Vilander]

just check baseball fastest pitcher of all time Robb Nen: 102 MPH Armando Benitez: 102 MPH Randy Johnson: 102 MPH Bobby Jenks: 102 MPH Brad Lidge: 102 MPH Matt Lindstrom: 102 MPH Justin Verlander: 102 MPH Brian Wilson: 102.2 MPH Jonathan Broxton: 102.6 MPH Mark Wohlers: 103 MPH Joel Zumaya: 104.8 MPH Aroldis Chapman: 105.1 MPH Aroldis Chapman: 106 MPH Bob Feller: 107.6 MPH Nolan Ryan: 108.1 MPH

base ball pitch is a throw. Cricketers bowl.

[msb1991]

Like I said if the stop watch was not invented, people would still be saying jessie owens is fastest man ever to grace planet earth. There were no speed guns till latley, so rose tinted glasses go on by many for players from pre speed gun era. In every thing man can run faster and jump higher etc But apparently in fast bowling its all slowed down

There is a reasonable school of thought that speaks the other side. In running, technique and fitness levels have come a long way. Bolt is likely much stronger than Owens and has better technique. Fast bowlers are in good condition, but to suggest that they are necessarily in better condition than fast bowlers from the past may not be true. Moreover, the technique in fast bowling has not improved too much among the quickest bowlers (Lee, Akhtar, Tait, Thomson). Not everyone bowls like Jeff Thomson in an aim to bowl fast whereas running technique has become somewhat homogenized. There is technique improvement among fast-medium bowlers and that is why they are quicker but people bowl 150kph with a whole range of techniques. Only Pont seems to coach speed into bowlers as other coaches do not know how and concentrate more on preventing injuries. This is the big difference; athletics coaches know how to coach performance improvement, fast bowling coaches do not know fully how to coach speed improvement yet. I hope you will see that what I have posted is a reasonable case. Of course, the facts are the facts and it might be that Larwood bowled at 135kph but I think the above case is good evidence to the contrary, as well as anecdotal evidence from people who have watched cricket through the ages. The anecdotal evidence is certainly flawed for a number of reasons - but should we discount it entirely? I don't think so.

[ChanaLal]

There is a reasonable school of thought that speaks the other side. In running, technique and fitness levels have come a long way. Bolt is likely much stronger than Owens and has better technique. Fast bowlers are in good condition, but to suggest that they are necessarily in better condition than fast bowlers from the past may not be true. Moreover, the technique in fast bowling has not improved too much among the quickest bowlers (Lee, Akhtar, Tait, Thomson). Not everyone bowls like Jeff Thomson in an aim to bowl fast whereas running technique has become somewhat homogenized. There is technique improvement among fast-medium bowlers and that is why they are quicker but people bowl 150kph with a whole range of techniques. Only Pont seems to coach speed into bowlers as other coaches do not know how and concentrate more on preventing injuries. This is the big difference; athletics coaches know how to coach performance improvement, fast bowling coaches do not know fully how to coach speed improvement yet. I hope you will see that what I have posted is a reasonable case. Of course, the facts are the facts and it might be that Larwood bowled at 135kph but I think the above case is good evidence to the contrary, as well as anecdotal evidence from people who have watched cricket through the ages. The anecdotal evidence is certainly flawed for a number of reasons - but should we discount it entirely? I don't think so.

All fans' views are anecdotal as well :giggle: Coaches only teach what they have been taught by others. It is rare to have a coach like Pont, who is a pioneer it seems.

[India-KXIP fan]

What is pony on about ,I cannot remember even in 90s world cricket had so many fast bowlers who have touched 150ks as there are now. Ind-Aaron,Yadav,Ishant Aus-Johnson,Lee,tait,pattinson,cummins,starc,Harris,Siddle Eng-Finn,Meaker,Broad Pak-Gul,

If it's touched 150 then add Vinay to list. Vinay was hit for four off a 150.1 kph full toss in the one dayers in Australia.

[CG]

If it's touched 150 then add Vinay to list. Vinay was hit for four off a 150.1 kph full toss in the one dayers in Australia.

It was a speed gun error.Other wise we have to ad zak too as he clocked 170ks in wc:hysterical: vye1SQHoGdg

[msb1991]

It was a speed gun error.Other wise we have to ad zak too as he clocked 170ks in wc:hysterical:

You're missing the broader point. Suppose evidence came out that Vinay's 150kph was a solid reading - everything clicked for him in that one ball. Does that change anything? Of course not. One delivery doesn't matter and similarly one spell among dozens isn't too important either. It is about the speed that bowlers predominantly bowl and often in Test matches this renders a bowler with a top potential speed of 150kph and a bowler with a top speed of 140kph as near indistinguishable. Therefore, top speeds become irrelevant, so to speak. One could object that it is about putting the fear into the batsman that one could unleash a thunderbolt at any moment but I think this is a weak and implausible argument.

[CG]

You're missing the broader point. Suppose evidence came out that Vinay's 150kph was a solid reading - everything clicked for him in that one ball. Does that change anything? Of course not. One delivery doesn't matter and similarly one spell among dozens isn't too important either. It is about the speed that bowlers predominantly bowl and often in Test matches this renders a bowler with a top potential speed of 150kph and a bowler with a top speed of 140kph as near indistinguishable. Therefore, top speeds become irrelevant, so to speak. One could object that it is about putting the fear into the batsman that one could unleash a thunderbolt at any moment but I think this is a weak and implausible argument.

Arrey vinay kumar would not clock 145ks let alone 150ks.Its just a list of bowlers who have done just for the sake of it as the article points out guys who have touched 150ks.

[Muloghonto]

Viv not even wearing a helmet facing this guy. Makes me wonder now if Lillee was a trundler :hmmm: Can't even think of a batsman walking out to face Shoaib without a helmet... Lillee, Thommo and the West Indians were probably ~140kph, but Shoaib, Lee and Tait are by far the fastest ever.

Ball in, ball out, two of the fastest bowlers in the world were Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding ( ie, as in their effort balls would be in the 150+ zone atleast and their normal ball being consistently 145kph) and Viv never wore a helmet to them either. Farroukh Engineer didn't wear a helmet either. Helmets simply were not common to the game prior to the early 1980s and even then, plenty of the people remained who grew up without a helmet and didn't take one on anyways. Viv being the prime example of this.

[Jersey #10]

u mean vinnii koomar?