Starc Clocks 160.4km/h or 99.6m

[Singh bling]

None of those bowlers were quick at that time. Devon Malcolm and  Bishop were past their prime. Others all were never fast.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHA0WDX7Sd4

Come on 141.6 is a joke of speed in fast bowling competetion , look at above Franklyn Rose Video, he was bowling constantly at 86 mph = 138 kmph.Zaheer also used to bowl at 135 at tests and his fastest was 150 something.either Bowlers were not taking that competition seriously or the method was different O/W a bowler who is capable of  138 regularly in tests will be much faster than 140 , where he just needs to bowl fast

[Rightarmfast]

The speeds are absolutely right. devon malcolm and Ian Bishop were old by then. Caddick was a 130kph bowler who stretched it to 140 on that day. Nixon Mclean was a 138 bowler. There's no error at all!

[MechEng]

Cricket in 1970's was going through a transition phase from being a leisure gentlemen's sport to a competitive international sport, so suddenly bowlers started bowling more bouncers and that created an aura of being lightning fast. Which is the reason why Lillee and Roberts were seen as speed merchants, yes they were great but not necessarily express quick. 

Video shows batsmen then were scared of normal short ball.

 

 

 

[Singh bling]

The speeds are absolutely right. devon malcolm and Ian Bishop were old by then. Caddick was a 130kph bowler who stretched it to 140 on that day. Nixon Mclean was a 138 bowler. There's no error at all!

Rose was constantly bowling 138 in video I posted above , any bowler capable of bowling 138 regularly in test can crank his pace up to 147-150 when he is asked just to bowl fast

[rkt.india]

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHA0WDX7Sd4

Come on 141.6 is a joke of speed in fast bowling competetion , look at above Franklyn Rose Video, he was bowling constantly at 86 mph = 138 kmph.Zaheer also used to bowl at 135 at tests and his fastest was 150 something.either Bowlers were not taking that competition seriously or the method was different O/W a bowler who is capable of  138 regularly in tests will be much faster than 140 , where he just needs to bowl fast

 

Rose wasnt a 140K bowler. He was tall, used to get bounce and would bowl in 130-138K range. Zaheer's fastest was 147 in WC 2003 at his peak, but usually in 135-140 bracket. Same for Andy Caddick who wasnt a genuine fast bowler by any stretch of imagination. Imagine Starc who clocked 160 yesterday, does not mean, he will start bowling 170 if there is a fast bowling competition. Same for Rose, he bowled 86 mph in test doesnt mean he will start bowling 90 mph suddenly in a fast bowling competition. 

Edited November 16, 2015 by rkt.india

[express bowling]

 

• In the modern era...Bowling machines are used by batsmen to practice. Speeds of 145 k and more are set by top batsmen. This has made them more used to playing high pace.
• Helmets with visors are used now. There were no helmets for most of the  '70s and the early helmets that were used in the early '80s ( and perhaps late '70s by some batsmen.) were not that good , had no visors and were uncomfortable to wear ( hence not used by many batters who grew up wearing comfortable caps as they feared this would ruin their concentration ).
• The fitness of most players and hence batsmen in the '70s and '80s were abysmal compared to modern batters. They were very courageous though and the best of the lot had supreme concentration...but they were not that fast to move and react to quicker deliveries.
• Other protective gears were not of today's quality either and not as many protective gears were used....like chest guard, thigh pad.were not that common.
• There were no limitations on the number of bouncers per over that could be bowled in a test match, till the mid-80s.
• The pitches were far more pacer friendly in Australia, West Indies, England and New Zealand...in the '70s and most of '80s.

All these factors contributed to even 130 k to 135 k deliveries  hurrying and threatening batsmen of that era.

Edited November 16, 2015 by express bowling

[Singh bling]

 

• In the modern era...Bowling machines are used by batsmen to practice. Speeds of 145 k and more are set by top batsmen. This has made them more used to playing high pace.
• Helmets with visors are used now. There were no helmets for most of the  '70s and the early helmets that were used in the early '80s ( and perhaps late '70s by some batsmen.) were not that good , had no visors and were uncomfortable to wear ( hence not used by many batters who grew up wearing comfortable caps as they feared this would ruin their concentration ).
• The fitness of most players and hence batsmen in the '70s and '80s were abysmal compared to modern batters. They were very courageous though and the best of the lot had supreme concentration...but they were not that fast to move and react to quicker deliveries.
• Other protective gears were not of today's quality either and not as many protective gears were used....like chest guard, thigh pad.were not that common.
• There were no limitations on the number of bouncers per over that could be bowled in a test match, till the mid-80s.
• The pitches were far more pacer friendly in Australia, West Indies, England and New Zealand...in the '70s and most of '80s.

All these factors contributed to even 130 k to 135 k deliveries  hurrying and threatening batsmen of that era.

Then why India was unable to produce fearsome fast bowlers, Do you believe that in Ranji's they bowled at that time 120s  Kapil Dev was also 130-135 did he was considered as fearsome ?

Edited November 16, 2015 by Singh bling

[rkt.india]

Then why India was unable to produce fearsome fast bowlers, Do you believe that in Ranji's they bowled at that time 120s  Kapil Dev was also 130-135 did he was considered as fearsome ?

There were some quick bowlers, some were not. Even 140 is pretty quick. The delivery that hit Dean Elgar on helmet was recorded 140K. Imagine someone playing that without helmet and without speed guns available in 70s, people would have labelled that 95 miles an hour.

[rkt.india]

^Remember watching this. All high scoring games. I reckon, he was the quickest during 2002-2005.

Multiple deliveries at 158+. Something that we dint see yesterday in Starc's spell. 

That is why I have doubts over 160K delivery. He didnt have any over 155K other than that.

[rkt.india]

[express bowling]

Then why India was unable to produce fearsome fast bowlers, Do you believe that in Ranji's they bowled at that time 120s  Kapil Dev was also 130-135 did he was considered as fearsome ?

A large % of Ranji bowlers bowl 120s even now. We did not have many seamers playing Ranji in the '70s. Those who bowled were perhaps 110 to 120 k pacers...they were so slow...In the '80s many of the pacers who represented India were very military medium too ...like Sandhu, Binny, Prabhakar...must have bowled below 125 k most of the times.

Kapil Dev was considered quite lively paced between 1978 and 1985. Kapil had once told a story that he was bowling some hostile bouncers to the West Indians ..some  seniors of the team summoned him and instructed him not to bowl quick short balls because the West Indians may then retaliate with even more bouncers. With this kind of an attitude among some seniors, how will Kapil be considered fearsome. By the time he himself became captain and instilled a sense of aggression in the team,  his reputation was already created as a fast-medium swing bowler. A knee surgery soon after made Kapil much slower too from 1986.

Edited November 16, 2015 by express bowling

[rkt.india]

Only bowlers who have a bit of round armish or slingly side-on or semiside-on action with good runup can generate such high pace. Frank Tyson, Jeff Thomson, Holding, Bishop at his peak before injury, Mitch Johnson, Shaun Tait, Brett Lee, Akhtar and now Starc all have or had these attributes.

[Rightarmfast]

how come nobody checked the video I posted above of Waqar Younis bowling just at 133kph? please check

[Malcolm Merlyn]

how come nobody checked the video I posted above of Waqar Younis bowling just at 133kph? please check

There is a video on Youtube cant find it now where he was measured at 150ks.If i am not wrong he was measured at 153ks in England or SA in 92-93.

[rkt.india]

Cricket in 1970's was going through a transition phase from being a leisure gentlemen's sport to a competitive international sport, so suddenly bowlers started bowling more bouncers and that created an aura of being lightning fast. Which is the reason why Lillee and Roberts were seen as speed merchants, yes they were great but not necessarily express quick. 

Video shows batsmen then were scared of normal short ball.

 

 

 

Roberts does look quick here, at least 140K.

[express bowling]

Roberts does look quick here, at least 140K.

There surely were pacers who could bowl 140 k in their faster spells. Our points are mainly against  claims of those pacers bowling over 145 k .the whole day or touching 150 k at will.

Even 138 k or 140 k is very good pace and looks really quick to the naked eye especially on lively tracks.

 

 

[express bowling]

how come nobody checked the video I posted above of Waqar Younis bowling just at 133kph? please check

I have checked it .

Waqar was never an express bowler like Shoaib. 

He could however bowl some deliveries over 145 k  in his heydeys. I have heard about it and seen it. He was a fast bowler at his peak...quicker than Wasim and Imran.

On a consistent basis he bowled many 130 to 135 k deliveries too...which your video clearly shows.

Edited November 16, 2015 by express bowling

[sscomp32]

Full Spell from Willow (Needs US Proxy):

 

[Singh bling]

There were some quick bowlers, some were not. Even 140 is pretty quick. The delivery that hit Dean Elgar on helmet was recorded 140K. Imagine someone playing that without helmet and without speed guns available in 70s, people would have labelled that 95 miles an hour.

Human body hasn't changed in last 30-40 years , There were very few bowlers that were considered as fearsome , while 140 is  not something which can be achieved by very few. Even today few Afghan bowlers can bowl 140 ,if 140 was considered such a deadly then all bowlers of that era from England , Australia , and West Indies should have been considered as fearsome , but very few achieved  the title of fearsome, 

 

Yes I agree with you that 140 may look like 95 mph  then what real 95 will look like to them?

[rkt.india]

Human body hasn't changed in last 30-40 years , There were very few bowlers that were considered as fearsome , while 140 is  not something which can be achieved by very few. Even today few Afghan bowlers can bowl 140 ,if 140 was considered such a deadly then all bowlers of that era from England , Australia , and West Indies should have been considered as fearsome , but very few achieved  the title of fearsome, 

 

Yes I agree with you that 140 may look like 95 mph  then what real 95 will look like to them?

you think every bowler from Australia, WI, England could bowl 140 or more. Even today, lot of bowlers dont do that. veraging 140K isnt that common. It never was. India has struggled all their cricket history to produce bowlers who could regularly bowl at 140K in test cricket. Even right now, we only have two, Umesh and Aaron. These are the only two fast bowlers who I have seen bowl 140K on average from India since speed guns are used. Bowling odd ball at 140K does not. I dont count that bowler a 140K bowler. These two can average 140 in a long spell. England even today has just one bowler in Mark Wood who can bowl on average 140K.

Also, in 70s and 80s, lack of protective gear meant bowlers were injuring batsmen more often, not many batsmen would ever want to face a bowler bowling 140K without gears. Those guys didnt have gears at that time, so, they had no choice and it made bowling look more fearsome. Any bowler who had good bouncer and decent pace was fearsome for batsmen in those times due to the lack of gears.

 

Regarding human body, it is not about the body but the training. They  have better training and they are stronger. Batsmen can hit more sixes now, clear boundaries more often, not just because of better bats but because they are getting stronger. You can compare athletics as a sport if body had not changed you would not have seen records being broken. We would have still thought Jesse Owens is the fastest athlete.

Edited November 16, 2015 by rkt.india