Top 10 Fastest Bowlers in the World (2026): Fastest Deliveries Ever Recorded

Some balls are remembered for the wicket they took. A few are remembered for the number that flashed up on the big screen a second later.

On 22 February 2003 at Newlands in Cape Town, Shoaib Akhtar ran in to Nick Knight and the scoreboard read 161.3 km/h. More than two decades on, nobody in international cricket has posted a higher number that has held up to scrutiny. Plenty of bowlers have come close. Some got within a fraction of a kilometer per hour.

Raw pace is still the most thrilling thing in the sport. It’s also one of the least precise. Speed guns differ from ground to ground, broadcasters use different systems, and the ICC has never named an official record because the readings aren’t consistent enough to compare.

We went back to the match records and the most trusted cricket sources to rebuild this ranking from scratch, with the speed, the opponent and the date for every entry, plus an honest note wherever the figure comes with a question mark.

This guide looks at the fastest bowlers in the world by their fastest recorded delivery, from the Rawalpindi Express to the current crop of quicks chasing the 160 km/h mark in 2026.

How We Ranked the Fastest Bowlers in the World

One Number per Bowler

Each bowler is ranked by the single fastest delivery credited to them, not by average speed or by how long they stayed quick. Where two bowlers share the same reading, we list the one whose figure is more widely confirmed first.

International Cricket First

Eight of the ten speeds on this list were recorded by speed guns during international matches. The two exceptions are Jeff Thomson and Andy Roberts, who were timed with high-speed cameras by researchers at the WACA in Perth in the mid-1970s, before speed guns existed in the game. Most all-time pace lists include them, so we do too, with that caveat clearly stated.

Speed Guns Are Not Lab Instruments

Readings are taken as the ball leaves the hand and are supplied by broadcasters or ground operators. Different systems, calibrations and angles can produce different numbers for the same ball. We use the figures most consistently reported by ESPNcricinfo, Wisden, Cricket Australia and Guinness World Records, and we flag any figure that has been questioned.

Fastest Bowlers in the World at a Glance

Top 10 Fastest Bowlers in the World (2026)

Here are the ten fastest deliveries recorded, and the bowlers who delivered them.

1. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan)

Shoaib Akhtar’s 161.3 km/h delivery to Nick Knight at the 2003 Cricket World Cup in Cape Town is listed by Guinness World Records as the fastest ball ever recorded by electronic equipment. No faster reading from an international match has stood up to scrutiny since. Guinness also notes the ICC’s view that speed guns are too inconsistent for any one reading to be ratified as official.

The “Rawalpindi Express” made his Test debut against the West Indies in November 1997 and his ODI debut in March 1998. Long run-up, whippy action, vicious bouncers: Shoaib was the fast bowler every young Pakistani wanted to be. Injuries and disputes interrupted his career, but he still finished with 178 Test and 247 ODI wickets before retiring after the 2011 World Cup.

✔ Fastest recorded: 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph)
✔ When: 22 February 2003, v England, Newlands, Cape Town
✔ Known for: Breaking the 100 mph barrier at a World Cup

2. Shaun Tait (Australia)

Shaun Tait fell just 0.2 km/h short of the record. Bowling at Lord’s in the fifth ODI against England on 3 July 2010, Tait was clocked at 161.1 km/h. He finished with figures of 4 for 48 as Australia won by 42 runs. Strauss, Yardy, Collingwood and Swann all fell to him that day.

Tait bowled at speeds that made him one of the most feared white-ball bowlers of his generation. His slingy, full-effort action produced that pace but also left him prone to injury. He took 23 wickets at the 2007 World Cup, joint second on the tournament leaderboard, as Australia won the trophy. He played only 3 Tests to go alongside his 35 ODIs and 21 T20Is before injuries pushed him toward franchise cricket. In the IPL, his 157.71 km/h delivery in 2011 is still cited as the league’s fastest ever ball. He retired from all forms of cricket in March 2017.

✔ Fastest recorded: 161.1 km/h (100.1 mph)
✔ When: 3 July 2010, v England, Lord’s
✔ Known for: Short-format menace and a 2007 World Cup winner

3. Brett Lee (Australia)

Brett Lee spent years chasing 160 km/h and got there more than once. His fastest speed-gun reading is listed by most records as 161.1 km/h against New Zealand in 2005. Lee himself has said his fastest was 160.8 km/h, bowled in the fifth ODI at Napier on 5 March 2005, which is the speed quoted by Wisden. Whichever figure you choose, he’s comfortably in the top three. A reading of 161.8 km/h against the West Indies in Brisbane in 2000 was later ruled a speed-gun error, which shows how unreliable these numbers can be.

Lee made his Test debut on Boxing Day 1999 against India in Melbourne and went on to take 310 Test and 380 ODI wickets. He was part of the Australia side that won the 2003 World Cup and retired from international cricket in July 2012.

✔ Fastest recorded: 161.1 km/h (100.1 mph), per most records
✔ When: March 2005, v New Zealand, Napier
✔ Known for: Sustained express pace across 13 years at the top

4. Jeff Thomson (Australia)

Many old pros still call Jeff Thomson the fastest of them all. In December 1975, researchers at the University of Western Australia filmed fast bowlers at the WACA with high-speed photo-sonic cameras and timed Thomson at 160.45 km/h. When a follow-up study was run in 1976, he was clocked at 99.8 mph, or 160.6 km/h. Both speeds are logged in ESPNcricinfo’s records of bowling speeds.

Those were controlled measurements rather than speed-gun readings from a live match, so they don’t compare one to one with modern figures. Thomson debuted against Pakistan in December 1972 and took 200 Test wickets. His partnership with Dennis Lillee is still the standard by which hostile new-ball pairs are judged.

✔ Fastest recorded: 160.6 km/h (99.8 mph), camera study
✔ When: Measured in 1975-76 studies in Australia
✔ Known for: The slinging action and the Lillee-Thomson era

5. Mitchell Starc (Australia)

Mitchell Starc owns the fastest ball ever measured in a Test match. Bowling to Ross Taylor on the third day of the second Test against New Zealand at the WACA on 15 November 2015, Starc speared in a yorker measured at 160.4 km/h. Guinness World Records lists it as the fastest ball bowled in a Test match. New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan was unconvinced and suggested someone in the TV truck might have been having a bit of fun, but the figure has stood.

Starc is the only bowler on this list still playing international cricket in 2026. He was named Player of the Tournament at the 2015 World Cup with 22 wickets, won a second World Cup in 2023 and was part of Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup win. He retired from T20Is in September 2025 to focus on Tests and ODIs. A 176.5 km/h reading against India in Perth in October 2025 was later confirmed as a speed-gun malfunction.

✔ Fastest recorded: 160.4 km/h (99.7 mph)
✔ When: 15 November 2015, v New Zealand, WACA, Perth
✔ Known for: Left-arm pace and the inswinging yorker

6. Andy Roberts (West Indies)

Andy Roberts was tested in the same December 1975 WACA study as Thomson and recorded a top speed of 159.49 km/h, according to ESPNcricinfo. That makes him just a whisker slower than the Australian, and the reading came during the West Indies’ 1975-76 tour of Australia.

Roberts was the first Antiguan to play Test cricket. He debuted against England in March 1974 and went on to take 202 Test wickets at an average of 25.61. He won the World Cup with the West Indies in 1975 and 1979.

He was as much a thinking fast bowler as a quick one, and he helped usher in the era of great West Indian pace attacks. As with Thomson, Roberts’ speed was recorded in a study rather than by a speed gun during a match.

✔ Fastest recorded: 159.5 km/h (99.1 mph), camera study
✔ When: December 1975, WACA, Perth
✔ Known for: Two-time World Cup winner and a pioneer of West Indian pace

7. Fidel Edwards (West Indies)

Fidel Edwards popped up seemingly out of nowhere. Brian Lara saw him bowling in the nets in 2003, and after just one first-class match for Barbados, he was called into the West Indies side to play Sri Lanka in Kingston. He took 5 for 36 on Test debut and 6 for 22 on ODI debut against Zimbabwe at Harare in November 2003.

In that debut year, against South Africa, he was clocked at 157.7 km/h, one of the fastest readings in international cricket at the time. Edwards had a low, almost round-arm action, and the ball skidded onto batters at real speed.

Injuries interrupted his career, but he still took 165 Test wickets. In later years, he became a T20 globetrotter, popping up in leagues all over the world.

✔ Fastest recorded: 157.7 km/h (98.0 mph)
✔ When: 2003, v South Africa
✔ Known for: Low skiddy action and a stunning start to his career

8. Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

One series defines raw pace in the modern game better than any other: the 2013-14 Ashes. Mitchell Johnson took 37 wickets at 13.97 as Australia beat England 5-0, and England’s batters looked genuinely rattled. His fastest recorded delivery, 156.8 km/h, came in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in December 2013, according to Cricket Australia.

He debuted in ODIs in December 2005 and in Tests in November 2007. Johnson took 313 Test wickets and won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award twice, in 2009 and 2014. He retired from international cricket on 17 November 2015, at the end of the same WACA Test in which Starc set the Test speed record.

✔ Fastest recorded: 156.8 km/h (97.4 mph)
✔ When: December 2013, v England, MCG, Melbourne
✔ Known for: The 2013-14 Ashes demolition

9. Mohammad Sami (Pakistan)

Mohammad Sami was clocked at 156.4 km/h against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in April 2003, during the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup. He also has a much higher reading of 164 km/h from an ODI against India, but it was later withdrawn after the speed meter was found to be faulty. So 156.4 km/h is the figure that stands.

Sami debuted in Tests against New Zealand in March 2001 and took 8 wickets in the match. He is one of only two bowlers to take a hat-trick in both Tests and ODIs, the other being Wasim Akram. Sami took his Test hat-trick against Sri Lanka and his ODI hat-trick against the West Indies in 2002.

He had pace in abundance; consistency was always the problem. Sami finished with 85 Test wickets and 121 ODI wickets and played his last international in 2016.

✔ Fastest recorded: 156.4 km/h (97.2 mph)
✔ When: April 2003, v Zimbabwe, Sharjah
✔ Known for: Hat-tricks in both Tests and ODIs

10. Shane Bond (New Zealand)

Shane Bond shares the 156.4 km/h mark with Mohammad Sami. Bond’s came against India at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, the same tournament in which he took 6 for 23 against Australia.

Bond is the quintessential “what if?” of fast bowling. He debuted against Australia in Hobart in November 2001 and took 87 wickets in only 18 Tests, along with 147 wickets in 82 ODIs. But back and other injuries kept him out of the game for long periods, and he retired from international cricket in 2010.

Since then, he has found a second career as a highly respected fast-bowling coach, working with New Zealand, Mumbai Indians and Sydney Thunder, among others.

✔ Fastest recorded: 156.4 km/h (97.2 mph)
✔ When: 2003 World Cup, v India
✔ Known for: Strike rate, injuries and a second life as a coach

Reading the Speed Gun: What Fans Should Know

Speed numbers don’t tell the whole story. Here’s what you should know before crowning a new fastest bowler.

Release Speed Is Not Arrival Speed

The number flashing up on screen is how fast the ball was traveling as it left the bowler’s hand. By the time it reaches the batter, it has slowed significantly, particularly after bouncing. That’s why a ball clocked at 150 km/h can feel quite different from one clocked at 155 km/h, depending on length, bounce and the bowler’s action.

Glitches Happen

Sometimes broadcast speed readings are spectacularly wrong. During the Adelaide Test in December 2024, a Mohammed Siraj delivery was shown at 181.6 km/h. In Perth in October 2025, Starc’s first delivery to Rohit Sharma showed 176.5 km/h. Neither reading was genuine. Treat any figure far beyond 161 km/h as a likely fault until it is proven otherwise.

Different Systems, Different Numbers

Radar guns measure in one way, and camera-based ball tracking measures in another. Grounds and broadcasters don’t all use the same equipment. That’s why the ICC doesn’t maintain an official speed record, and why we’ve named the source behind every speed figure in this countdown.

Who Is Chasing 160 km/h in 2026?

Starc is the only bowler on this list who still plays at the highest level. Among recent quicks, India’s Mayank Yadav hit 156.7 km/h in the IPL in April 2024, while England’s Mark Wood reached 156.26 km/h in a Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in July 2024. Wood retired from international cricket in September 2026. Nobody has yet bettered Shoaib’s record.

FAQs

Who bowled the fastest ball in cricket history?

Shoaib Akhtar holds the fastest recorded delivery: 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph) against England at Newlands, Cape Town, on 22 February 2003. Guinness World Records lists it as the fastest ball ever electronically measured.

Who bowled the fastest ball in Test cricket?

Mitchell Starc. His 160.4 km/h delivery to Ross Taylor at the WACA in Perth on 15 November 2015 is the fastest recorded in a Test match.

Is there an official ICC record for the fastest delivery?

No. The ICC has said speed guns vary too much around the world for any single reading to be officially recognized. Shoaib’s 161.3 km/h is the generally accepted mark.

Has anyone bowled faster than 161.3 km/h?

Not according to any reading that has held up. Brett Lee’s 161.8 km/h in 2000, Mohammad Sami’s 164 km/h and more recent readings such as 176.5 km/h for Starc in 2025 were all put down to faulty equipment.

Who is the fastest Indian bowler?

No Indian has broken into this all-time top 10. Mayank Yadav’s 156.7 km/h in the IPL in 2024 is among the quickest by an Indian bowler in a high-profile match, but it came in franchise cricket rather than an international.

Conclusion

Perhaps what the fastest bowlers in the world have in common, even more than speed, is an extraordinary capacity for suffering. Most of them bowled with actions and run-ups that put intense stress on their bodies, and several paid for it with lengthy layoffs. That’s another reason this list hasn’t changed much in 20 years.

Shoaib’s 161.3 km/h has been the standard since 2003, and only four others have come within a kilometer per hour of it. Starc is still bowling, a new generation of fast bowlers is pushing past 155 km/h, and someone may yet break the mark. When they do, double-check which match it came in before you take the screen at face value.