Hosted by Richie Benaud, the bowlers included Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Dennis Lillee, Michael Holding, Jeff Thompson, Andy Roberts, Richard Hadlee, Colin Croft and more...
I was 9 years old when this was televised and I was watching keenly when the signal dropped out completely. I never knew the results until today. I did always suspect Thommo as the fastest.
Wow yeah that would of sucked. I was 9 as well. That was fantastic era of cricket.I don’t even remember this. Stumbled across it. Pretty cool tho. Yes Thomo recons he’s even bowled 100 miles an hr/160km a few times. I believe him. He was very fast.
@@russe19642 I think it was Thommo who bowled a bouncer that went for six wides at the WACA. It hit the deck in front of the batsman and hit the sightscreen behind him.
I partially agree with you... legends are still part of the game...after 10 - 15 years, people will remember today's teams and say legends were part of the game 😃
Bear in mind that Sunny never faced Thomson at his fastest either - the 1977-78 season was AFTER the shoulder injury which robbed him of several yards.
What an era it was! All the bowlers featured in this short documentary are the fast bowling legends. Also, West Indies became known for its fast speedy quartet, but few people know that Clive Lloyd thought of recruiting intimidating fast bowlers after the fast bowling duo Dennis Lillee - Jeff Thomson intimidated West Indian batsmen during West Indies' tour of Australia in 1975-76, and the rest is history.
And he brought them in after west indies lost to India and went 1 nil down to them after a test in port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. The pace quartet turned the series around, windies won that series 2 to 1. India and west indies played two fascinating series in the 1970's. The first one was the 1971 series, which India won 1 nil. Gavaskar scored a lot of runs in this series. What made both series so fascinating was the contrast between the pace bowling lineup of the windies and the Indian spinners. India was the only test playing nation with a spin dominated attack.
It feels wrong to hear somebody criticising the likes of Imran Khan, but then you remember it’s Richie Benaud and he can say whatever he likes about cricket 😂
An endless debate, of course, but my two cents’ worth. Every cricketing nation has produced express bowlers, and we’ll never know who bowled the fastest delivery ever. What, in my opinion, made Jeff Thomson unique was that he bowled at express pace all day. Quite possibly Frank Tyson, Harold Larwood, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Shoab Akhtar, Alan Donald, Michael Holding, Patrick Patterson, Curtly Ambrose et al. bowled a few deliveries or an over faster than Thomson ever did. The thing about Thomson was that he bowled at express pace all day. Clive Lloyd said that he was just as quick in the last over before stumps as he was in the first over of the morning session. That’s what made him special. There have been many more intelligent fast bowlers, but none as consistently fast over days of play.
The funniest thing is how they recount everyone's average speed and highest speed at the end - except for Sarfraz. What on earth was he doing there? Medium pacer.
Jeff Thompson was in an another league altogether. He could have killed batsmen instantly with those speeds especially as they didn't have helmets in those days. That's downright lethal ...
I am surprised so many of these fast bowlers didn't realize that bowling shortish takes a yard or two off the measured pace, because the pace is measured along the pitch alone, and not in the perpendicular direction. Only Jeff Thomson seems to have understood this, bowling full tosses.
IMRAN KHAN was my favourite of all times, not only was he a fast bowler, a great all rounder but the best Captain out of all these great Cricketers , they were all legends .
Super fast bowlers - legends all - but Andy Roberts on the green at full tilt was something else. A bowler with a fast bouncer and a slow bouncer - whew - the Late Mr. Brian Close had talked about it.
Since the horizontal component of velocity is being measured it's best to bowl full (yorker length) and straight to record the highest speed. Most of the bowlers are wasting their efforts by bowling bouncers especially Andy Roberts.
My favourite quote from Clive Lloyd (and didn't we respect big Clive )...."If you face Jeff Thompson, with no helmet, and you were not scared....you are a liar"
And Thommo was half pissed and had to borrow some shoes and whites for the competition. He was having a few beers with Kerry Packers and after six beers, Kerry asked Thommo why he wasn't at the fastest bowler competition. The rest is history.
Yes, these guys going on and on saying it was 175, 150 blah blah . See this full video czcams.com/video/0SCu4ju9POg/video.html 6:10 onwards. they clearly say it is measured at the time of release. 147kph is kinda average
They had high speed camera at the bowling end and one at the batting end and measured the time from end to end then got the average speed. That’s why you can see the timer and the checkerboard from side on. The camera pointing at the bowler is doing what cameras do not measuring speed. Today it’s measured by a radar gun which assume picks up the ball at peak speed but unsure what point that is.
@@shortshiftmotorsportpodcas1862 The use of radar guns in cricket started about a full season after they were first used in MLB (1978?). The measurement is generally taken at a point soon after release. These older tests were first performed in Perth WA by UWA Mechanical Engineering dept. You have to remember that the older measurement is done from the side and between two points (level with the bowling and batting creases). The overall velocity therefore includes the velocity lost when contact is made with the pitch. Today's telecasts sometimes indicate the speed measured on release and also the speed on arrival at the batter.
Options to explain speeds: 1. They measured hand-speed at top of action rather than ball after it left hand (there was a slo-mo which stopped at top of action) - wrist adds 5-10kmh itself. 2. They are using the grid and analogue clock to calculate distance/time; given 90mph=40metres/second, and these guys will be through their action in a second, a tiny error in the clock, grid interpretation or if the ball is crossing grid at an angle will change the speed. You also have the parallax of the camera which could affect the speed positively or negatively. I agree with many others these speeds seem low; visually they look quicker. There is a POV video of And Gilchrist facing Brett Lee at 88mph+ and these guys look at least as sharp from the batting end camera
I think the best test would be high speed camera judging hand release to contact on the ground - this older style I’d rate as a better test than nowadays -all these speed gun machines give wild results now and then - I don’t trust they pick up the ball out of the hand.
Those saying the ball was recorded at the batsman's end are wrong. Those saying the ball was recorded out of the hand are also wrong. Modern measurments track the speed of the ball the instant it leaves the hand, the measurment observed here is the distance of the grid (perhaps a couple of feet) over which time the ball will slow down slightly. The numbers these bowlers would be bowling with modern measurments would be marginally faster. Another note is that this competition was held on a 40 degree day.
@@ude3333 I didn't say "two feet", the measurement of the ball speed is measured over the distance between the release point and the edge of the frame, that appears to be around 2-3 feet.
Thanks for this. Remember this as a little kid. Be interesting to see it done with modern tech taken back with a time machine lol. Comparing eras is something that can't be done.
I think they can measure (to a point) with old footage. They need to work out angles and camera positions of the day, but they measure the distance travelled between two frames to calculate. I always thought they measured speed these days with radar but they actually use the DRS ball tracking to calculate, apparently it is far more accurate and faster.
Remember,speed in those days were calculated when the ball reached the batsmen it means that speed of the ball when it reached the batsmen was considered actual speed,but when shoib and bretlee started to bowl from then onwards bowls sperd started to be measured when it left the bowlers hand.So as per todays standards all of them were bowling above 150 km/h regularly and jeff thompsons 147 was above 160.
I don't think that was the way they measured in this competition...notice the square grid in background...they calculate speed by simple distance travelled divided by time taken...
Hum andhe hain kya jab shoaib aur brett lee bowl chorte the dekh k pata lag jata tha 150 k speed daal rahen hain same with waqar younis also agar speedo meter naa bhi available ho toh tab bhi naked eye se pata lag jata tha
My Respect for Shoaib Akhtar just went up... Like no disrespect to these legends.... But how scary Akhtar must have been with 161.3 Km/h being his highest he used to bowl consistently at over 150+. What a beast of bowler he was
Lee has far more 150 plus deliveries recorded than soaib…even he reached 160 plus 4 times which is more than soaib….yes soaib was more furious because he wanted to kill batsmen where on the other hand lee was focused on the good lengths and the Yorkers only.
Methods used to measure speed are different. Shoaib's speed was measured only at the time of release. But in this video they measure speed based on time taken by ball to reach other end. And we all know that speed drops considerably once you hit the deck
Thomson bowled in this event after his shoulder injury. He was waaaaaay quicker prior to the shoulder injury after a collision on field with Alan Turner.
Bowlers have different days when they are in a riddim and bowled fast. It is hard to put 5 or 6 fast Bowlers to run up and bowl their fastest. Most times a bowler needs some motivation.
Yep exactly, pretty much all these bowlers have clocked 155+ and that was in an actual game against a batsman. You can’t expect usain bolt to even go sub 10 during practice or friendly competition cause there’s no motivation or drive in practice unlike a competition
I was negative 11 when this was done, but I just appreciate a good spectacle. It's actually pretty impressive how they got the high speed this clean more than 40 years ago. Same goes for time the time of Bradman. A lot of foresight from the camera operators and technicians who made it happen. Although we probably won't know them by name, we can still appreciate their work nearly a century on. P.S. Jeff Thompson mentioned how he cleaned up by bowling full tosses when everyone else was bowling bouncers (in order to be faster). The guy wasn't just a talented athlete but also quite wiley! czcams.com/video/khpB7ZarKgc/video.html Cheers!
yep, that was the classic era huh, late 70s early 80s, so many great players and characters in the game and one day-ers white ball coloured clothing were new and exciting etc.
Imran Khan s bowling action was perfect with high jump after him holding, later on Imran Khan became fast in 80s era before injury, he bowled 140 to 147 , and started new art reverse swing introduce to the world,
This is great. Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure who THE fastest bowler ever was, to me it seems there's a certain level that can occasionally be reached, but we'll never know for sure. Geoff Boycott said that Holding was the fastest he'd faced, and that he felt he had more in him if he wanted it (scary thought). He didn't face Thomson in the mid-1970s though. Benaud swore the fastest bowling he ever saw was Frank Tyson in Australia in 1954/55. Alan McGilvray was convinced Eddie Gilbert was the fastest he'd ever seen (and faced). Fascinating to wonder how quick they all would be captured with modern equipment.
1979 - One player springs to mind immediately Jeff Thomson but don’t forget Harold Larwood in the 30’s and Frank Tyson in the 50’s for we will never know how fast they bowled.
@creativity2598 Are you for reel ? There were fragments of Mike Gatting's nasel bone tissue in-bedded in the ball after Marshall hit him in the face at Sabina Park !! Marshall also took his 376 Test wickets at 20.94. He was also fit and could bowl all day unlike Shoab
Richard Hadley is running a successful business in South India with my Malyali friend's friend. People always encircle him for autographs and stuff here. He is so fond of South India I believe.
Methods used to measure speed are different. Shoaib's speed was measured only at the time of release. But in this video they measure speed based on time taken by ball to reach other end. And we all know that speed drops considerably once you hit the deck
Yes but Michael Holding was tested using very similar equipment and methods to current ones in 1980 by an Aussie Uni and he topped out at around 138km. I watched a lot of Garth Le Roux and Croft in the 80s and these speeds look bang on the mark.
Did anyone else have the Brett Lee fast bowling VHS as a kid like me? It also included the results of this competition and an interview with Jeff. He said he wasn't even well during this competition.
@@aliasgarasgie Kapil made his debut in 1978, I guess too early by 1979 to be invited here. Holding made debut in 75 series, so playing for 4 years by then.
Kapil after 1980 was a medium pacer,barely hitting 125-130 range, the quickest in India then was ta Sekhar and before in the 70s salgaonkar, neither played test cricket sadly.
@@tanwerkiani7510 yeah right. 434 wickets, more than half of them being from the top order and 250 of them in 63 tests against full-strength teams from England, Pakistan, West Indies and Australia compared to a guy who didn't even cross 200. Can't be taken into the same bracket in any sense.
A fired up Sylvester Clarke would have been up there no question! Ask Alan Kourie? Here's a clip from Wiki.. "Alan Kourie recalls that Clarke, during the unofficial West Indies 1983 rebel tour, recorded speeds between 98 mph and 101 mph by two South African police officers testing out a new automobile speed radar gun who were present at Johannesburg ground."
We hear bs stories like those coppers all the time....who is to say that the alleged radar gun had been calibrated correctly to a standard and / or was in calibration. In any case the West Indies so called rebels played in the World Series years 1977 to 1979.
Mesurements were carried out at 90Deg. to the two creases near to the boundary. Testing was done in Perth WA as part of studies performed by UWA. There were no devices that measured linearly in 1979.
@@flamingfrancis for this competition, or for games? Surely in this one the grid parallel to the crease, plus the frame rate is what calculates the speed? Ie distance over time?
Amazing Ritchie mentioned Larwood it is about the same time from now than we he bowled in the thirties - as it was in this broadcast we thought that was ancient - but this doesn't seem that long ago - go figure!!
It was always known that Thommo was the fastest of his era. He was a top Javelin thrower that is why he had such a slingee action. In my 40 years of watching top level cricket only Shoaib A and Brett Lee have clocked as fast. Special mention to Waqar who was super quick for a smaller guy.
Waqar Younis was officially timed at 153kph after his injuries. I heard that he was recorded around 157kph before he got injured, but it was not officially verified so it remains speculation. Regardless Waqar was a true freak in his own regard. Can you name any other bowler who could reverse swing the ball like he did at 150+ with lethal accuracy on the stumps, like he did during the 1990s?
Lillee and Thompson were my idols and quite young I could imitate their actions quite well. My dad took super 8. I adapted the Lillee style to use because it was more consistent for me and I could hit the seam, but I felt the "Tommo" was faster. As a physio I now know that's because you create a lot more leverage across the left knee, which more easily obtains terminal extension and has less forward flexion force to overcome - faster for longer. When I got to high school and learned javelin I realised that that was Thompson's technique. I still dont understand why conventional and Thompson's javelin stye aren't both taught to youngsters, so they may choose what works for them. Even if only 10% can master javelin style, they will have a lot of success.
To my untrained eye, Thomson's style looks like a recipe for shoulder and other injuries? And perhaps that's why youngsters are encouraged to stay away from that technique?
Under rated great Imran khan by saying he is fast medium and sometimes fast..and Imran khan superseded to most of them like Andy Roberts and Dennis Lillie by speed and accuracy just behind Michael Holding and Jeff Thompson. Anyway they were all great legends, belongs to golden era of cricket. It was like a real clash of the titans.
What if such competitions are held now and the same equipment for testing the speed of the current bowlers. Some confusion or myth can be cleared. Also I would like to add another point the 15 degree elbow flexion was not implemented back then . Which seems like they may not be so fast & furious but were genuine pacers with clean undisputed action. Because the flexion gives a clear advantage in terms of bounce swing and pace. Lee ,Tait and akthar cleary have some flexion in their actions. Where as Starc Johnson Bond Milne fidel Edwards and some bowlers who clocked over 150 have very less or sometimes negligible amount of flexion.
Thommo goes around saying that the speed was measured at the batsman end.... Clearly, the measurement device is at the bowlers end measuring during delivery stride and release.
Shame Thommo wasn't recorded before his injury in 1976/77. Yes 1974/75 he was at his peak. Can you imagine him with raw pace before the broken collarbone. I just shuffle up and go whammo !! Might have been the quote.
I think Thommo was recorded in 1975 at 99.8 mph. The record lasted for 30 years. But I still think to this day that he bowled faster. True Aussie larrikin.
Having watched Garth Le Roux in the 80s extensively,these speeds look bang on the mark. Whats intersting is not the actual speeds but the relative differences between the bowlers.. Imran was on average 2nd quickest behind Thommo with Holding and Roberts behind him. I also read about another bowling speed test conducted by an Australian university using radar equipment in 1980 or so on Michael Holding and he topped out around 138km,so its pretty similar to this. Very quick foe the times rhey played in.
Facing them was like standing🧍 before a battery of shooters. Even the batsmans country men shivered. Their runup & the ball traversing the length of pitch & the long journey to keepers.
Fail to see why so many are finding fault with the outcome. Thommo was in a bar when he got the news about the 'shoot-out'. He hadn't played in 6 months as he has said on many occasions in interviews, Channel 7(?) knew this but encouraged him anyway. The others were all match fit, playing or at least training for a 'season' coming up. They all had the same rules and conditions. They knew the rules... no real warm-ups as if playing in a match and having had several overs to get rhythm. The comments from batsmen and commentators of the time talking about Thommo, pretty much backed up the truth he was the fastest. Lloyd, Richards, Bumble ( David LLoyd) Lawrence Rowe, Dujon, Lillee, Pascoe, Grieg and here's a direct comment from England Captain Mike Brierley said, “Broken marriages, conflicts of loyalty, the problems of everyday life fall away as one faces up to Thomson.” The accuracy prize must been sweet for him as the detractors have always said he was wild and no control. Truth is he always bowled to get the ball down to the batsmen/stumps as fast as he could so that was his style...he pretty much bowled using sheer pace, (he has said that too on many occasion, think sometimes he does play up to the image some people have of him)... whereas the others were trying to beat him ( they all knew who was the fastest) and by just bowling as fast as they could.. accuracy went. I find it funny that the relatively unfit 'Bankstown beach-bum's' average speed was still faster than any of their fastest balls !!
I believe Kerry packer asked thommo why he wasn't down there trying out . Thommo had problems with contracts with cricket Australia or something. Mr packer in true packer style told thommo i own this you get your ass down there and you'd better win, I think thommo said Mr packer had had a substantial side bet for thommo to win .packer made sure thommo was included..
@@aussiesmoko Thomo is the Chopper Reed of the cricket world. Some of what he says may be accurate but you don't let the truth get in the way of a good yarn!
In his own words, "I'd been sittin' on me arse on me back verandah all summer, drinkin' beer". Bear in mind this was also a couple of years after the collision with Alan Turner which wrecked hos shoulder and robbed him of several yards. He was still quick after that but no longer terrifying.
Yeah it's injury risk, no administration is going to let their nation's fastest bowler risk a potentially permanent injury by going all out just for bragging rights. It would be interesting if they could gather data during matches to have an annual fastest bowler or fastest of the world cup award. They can put a camera directly above the bowler with spider cam these days I would think that would let you get extremely accurate measurement without needing the bowlers to bowl just for the sake of being measured.
Michael Holding made it look easy wouldve watched that just for the smooth commentary, retro effects and funky music skits. Could it be lego men hairstyles were created in the Mold of Thomo's mighty mop
I believe to add 5 to 7 kmph speed to measured speed due to technical limitations those days, with today's measuring techniques their speeds would have been 5-7 kmph more....hats off to all legends.
No it is accurate measuring. The speed in this era that you see is shown from release until first bounce. The speed back in the days is shown from release until reaching the wickets. So they were bowling approx 152kph on average on the meters used now
@@foodieranger9652 pulling figures out of your ass ain't doing it for me i'm afraid. The true answer is, we will never know. Seeing as Thomson was recorded in the 70's bowling a ball at 100 mph, by your calculations it was even faster. but... it all depends where the ball pitched...
@@foodieranger9652 I agree, I think in this competition they were quoting the average speed of the ball not the speed out of the hand. I can remember reading in a newspaper just after this competition that Imran's fastest ball was timed at 154kph.
@@jugheadsrule Imran between 1980 to 1988 was sharp 145 km/h pretty much all day...This was a disputed competition in my opinion..1975 cameras were more accurate
I was born more than thirty years after this event but i’ve always taken it as evidence that thommo was the quickest bowler of all time. Even after a shoulder injury that teammates said took 5kmh off his pace he was still the fastest bowler in the world. I have no doubt that he was pushing 165 in his prime in 1974
I took photos at a Windies vs Australia melbourne test in 75, At 1/500th sec the ball was spherical for Lillee, and smudged ,indicating greater speed, for Thommo.Thompson at his fearsome best, player of the match that test.
I recalled Clive Lloyd taking a big step back and to leg when Thommo was at his most fearsome in that game. He must have been terrifying if Clive Lloyd took a backward step.
@@sayedrouf6744 old school film/analogue camera; Nikon F2 Photomic with a 500mm telephoto lens, film- Kodak Tri-X ASA 400. exposure 1/500 th of a second.
Thomson bowled a heap of full tosses which the gun picks up as much quicker (we know that now). Some of the West Indian guys were definitely quicker than the speed gun because they bowled shorter.
The speed of the ball was measured as it left the hand not as it reached the batsman (or where they normally stand) so it shouldn't matter whether they bowl full or short.
@@truthseeker3536 It would appear slower because the radar calculates the ball speed travelling at it. The higher the angle of attack the slower the speed it read by the radar, this is why full tosses are typically recorded at a higher speed.
For those why may think the speed is not fast. The speed in this era that you see is shown from release until first bounce. The speed back in the days is shown from release until reaching the wickets. So they were bowling approx 152kph on average on the meters used now
Nah they weren't anywhere near that. You can see the difference in pace looking at the ball and the action/follow through. Thompson is really the only one bowling express.
@@ude3333 No they had high speed cameras its was measured full length you see the screen on the replays that measures the bowlers end and the timing is then matched with the camera at the batters end so you need to add around approx 15% to get similar out of the hand speeds there is a video on here with Imran and Thomson talking about how it was done.
These speeds were in fact measured out of the hand despite the common misconception that they were not. These studies used high speed cameras that timed the ball out of the hand hence the square brackets at the bowlers end where the high speed cameras were set up. For those disappointed with the bowlers speeds, just remember they had to bowl in near 40 degree heat in net conditions, and some of these bowlers were past their best days after serious injuries etc. This same study clocked Jeff Thompson, Andy Roberts, and Dennis Lillee at quicker speeds in the mid-70s. Bowlers also tend to bowl quicker when in a real game as they are more likely to have more rhythm in their bowling so produce quicker speeds.
Is that true. There is an interview with imran Khan and Thommo where they talk about the setup of this event and how the measurement is at or after the bounce. The measurement (t0) starts at the hand but the t1 measurement is at or after the bounce
I was 9 years old when this was televised and I was watching keenly when the signal dropped out completely. I never knew the results until today. I did always suspect Thommo as the fastest.
Wow yeah that would of sucked. I was 9 as well. That was fantastic era of cricket.I don’t even remember this. Stumbled across it. Pretty cool tho. Yes Thomo recons he’s even bowled 100 miles an hr/160km a few times. I believe him. He was very fast.
I was probably 15, world series cricket was at its peak and remember watching this and remembered he was the most accurate as well
@@russe19642 I think it was Thommo who bowled a bouncer that went for six wides at the WACA. It hit the deck in front of the batsman and hit the sightscreen behind him.
🤣🤣
43 years later you got the answer
It was a golden era in the world of cricket -- non commercial, pure gamesmanship and legends were part of the game.
I partially agree with you... legends are still part of the game...after 10 - 15 years, people will remember today's teams and say legends were part of the game 😃
What are you saying without commercial cricket was never played there were sponsor
Always commercial.
Kerry Packer "Non Commercial? Hold my beer mate"
Yes, lots of bookies. Good that cricket was non commercial
The fact that Sunny Gavaskar says Thomson was noticeably faster than Michael Holding or anyone else says a lot for me.
That goes for me too. Nobody was quicker than Thommo during the 70s.
Bear in mind that Sunny never faced Thomson at his fastest either - the 1977-78 season was AFTER the shoulder injury which robbed him of several yards.
What an era it was! All the bowlers featured in this short documentary are the fast bowling legends. Also, West Indies became known for its fast speedy quartet, but few people know that Clive Lloyd thought of recruiting intimidating fast bowlers after the fast bowling duo Dennis Lillee - Jeff Thomson intimidated West Indian batsmen during West Indies' tour of Australia in 1975-76, and the rest is history.
And he brought them in after west indies lost to India and went 1 nil down to them after a test in port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. The pace quartet turned the series around, windies won that series 2 to 1. India and west indies played two fascinating series in the 1970's. The first one was the 1971 series, which India won 1 nil. Gavaskar scored a lot of runs in this series. What made both series so fascinating was the contrast between the pace bowling lineup of the windies and the Indian spinners. India was the only test playing nation with a spin dominated attack.
@@vijayiyer8518More specifically, they had a number of spinners in their lineup and failed to defend 405 runs or something against India
No my friend it's the most well known story in cricket
It feels wrong to hear somebody criticising the likes of Imran Khan, but then you remember it’s Richie Benaud and he can say whatever he likes about cricket 😂
An endless debate, of course, but my two cents’ worth. Every cricketing nation has produced express bowlers, and we’ll never know who bowled the fastest delivery ever. What, in my opinion, made Jeff Thomson unique was that he bowled at express pace all day. Quite possibly Frank Tyson, Harold Larwood, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Shoab Akhtar, Alan Donald, Michael Holding, Patrick Patterson, Curtly Ambrose et al. bowled a few deliveries or an over faster than Thomson ever did. The thing about Thomson was that he bowled at express pace all day. Clive Lloyd said that he was just as quick in the last over before stumps as he was in the first over of the morning session. That’s what made him special. There have been many more intelligent fast bowlers, but none as consistently fast over days of play.
Also waqour younis..
Kapil dev was only a medium pace bowler and not even fast medium let alone real fast!
Kapil Dev was at best medium fast.
Thommo was measured at 160, there's no way some of these names, maybe all, ever reached that pace.
Makes sense , because it appeared Thomo's action gave him the pace. Bumra is one of the current bowlers who falls into such a category.
The funniest thing is how they recount everyone's average speed and highest speed at the end - except for Sarfraz. What on earth was he doing there? Medium pacer.
Thomson wasn’t even playing at the time - he borrowed someone else’s boots and clothes and still won !
Jeff Thomson is arguably the fastest bowler in cricket history
Remember watching this as a kid, brings back memories of a golden era of cricket.
English losing 23 world cu
Such an absolute gift. Thank you!!!
I remember watching this one when I was a kid.Len Pascoe was one of my favourites along with Jeff Thompson,the world's fastest.Fond memories.
I remember watching this as an old man
Now I am a young one
@@drnaveedyazdani1619 Ah! Reincarnation, good for you! 🙂
Jeff Thompson was in an another league altogether. He could have killed batsmen instantly with those speeds especially as they didn't have helmets in those days. That's downright lethal ...
Facing such express pace without helmets ...those Batmen had some real big Balls !!
200% Agree n Brave Hearts Too
I've faced a bowler who played for Middlesex colts.He was over 80mph
That felt very quick!😫😫
No they were crazy!!!!
Balls had protection:)
@@anujsarin17 🤣🤣
I am surprised so many of these fast bowlers didn't realize that bowling shortish takes a yard or two off the measured pace, because the pace is measured along the pitch alone, and not in the perpendicular direction. Only Jeff Thomson seems to have understood this, bowling full tosses.
Imagine how India's Sunil Gavaskar stood up to them and scored tons of runs! Most courageous indeed.
and that too without wearing a helmet most of the times
No doubt but all deliveries wont be that quick.
Yeah but he played mainly on dead, dusty Indian pitches that nullified the fast bowlers.
@@theunquietdead8138 check his runs in West Indies
No bowler from India?
IMRAN KHAN was my favourite of all times, not only was he a fast bowler, a great all rounder but the best Captain out of all these great Cricketers , they were all legends .
Plus his ex-Mrs was HOT! 😁
You need a psychiatrist along with Imran
Imran khan's book says he tampered the ball to get wickets. I lost all respect for him since.
Ball tamperer
@@aryanwarrior6233typical indian
RB referred to Holding as a former champion athlete, but Holding himself said that they mixed him up with another guy and he wasn't!
Super fast bowlers - legends all - but Andy Roberts on the green at full tilt was something else. A bowler with a fast bouncer and a slow bouncer - whew - the Late Mr. Brian Close had talked about it.
i still maintain he was the greatest WI bowler of them all
@Tech SUPPORT I'm not dissing Marshall at all. He was definitely one of the best. I guess it's too hard to really seperate them when they're that good
Since the horizontal component of velocity is being measured it's best to bowl full (yorker length) and straight to record the highest speed. Most of the bowlers are wasting their efforts by bowling bouncers especially Andy Roberts.
They said in some other video that they measured from the bowling end while the release hence the proper camera set up showing their release
Ya ground eats lot of pace.
I remember watching this on television at the time, thanks for posting 👍
When was this posted?
This takes me back to the golden era when I wasn't around. What a diamond of an upload!
thank you Richie!
My favourite quote from Clive Lloyd (and didn't we respect big Clive )...."If you face Jeff Thompson, with no helmet, and you were not scared....you are a liar"
Lloyd never said that. What he did say was that Thompson's cousin , Jeff Thomson was the quickest he had ever faced.
Final Standings After 8 balls:
By Top Speed:
1. Jeff Thomson: 147.9 Average: 142.0
2. Michael Holding: 141.3 Average: 135.3
3. Imran Khan: 139.7 Average: 138.3
4. Colin Croft: 139.2 Average: 134.7
5. Andy Roberts: 138.6 Average: 135.3
6. Dennis Lillee: 136.4 Average: 132.5
7. Garth Leroux: 135.9 Average: 132.4
8. Wayne Daniel: 133.5 Average: 128.2
9. Len Pascoe: 131.6 Average: 127.7
10. Richard Hadlee: 129.8 Average: 128.1
By Average Speed:
1. Jeff Thomson: 147.9 Average: 142.0
2. Imran Khan: 139.7 Average: 138.3
3. Michael Holding: 141.3 Average: 135.3
4. Andy Roberts: 138.6 Average: 135.3
5. Colin Croft: 139.2 Average: 134.7
6. Dennis Lillee: 136.4 Average: 132.5
7. Garth Leroux: 135.9 Average: 132.4
8. Wayne Daniel: 133.5 Average: 128.2
9. Richard Hadlee: 129.8 Average: 128.1
10. Len Pascoe: 131.6 Average: 127.7
By Accuracy:
1. Jeff Thomson: 5
2. Garth Leroux: 4
3. Sarfraz Nawaz : 4
4. Mike Proctor: 3
5. Wayne Daniel: 2
6. Dennis Lillee: 1
Michelle stark too lad
And Thommo was half pissed and had to borrow some shoes and whites for the competition. He was having a few beers with Kerry Packers and after six beers, Kerry asked Thommo why he wasn't at the fastest bowler competition. The rest is history.
So, Dennis Lillee was marginally slower than Shardul Thakur. LOL.
And all old players still continue to say they were faster than Bret Lee, Shane bond or akthar.. who can bowl around 155..
Shaun Tate AVE 250!!
WOW. That's Amazing to see these legends in action.👍
With camera setup clearly on bowling end and measuring release speed i still see comments saying speed was measured at batsmen end. 👏.
Yes, these guys going on and on saying it was 175, 150 blah blah
. See this full video czcams.com/video/0SCu4ju9POg/video.html 6:10 onwards. they clearly say it is measured at the time of release. 147kph is kinda average
Yeah some people are just dumb
They had high speed camera at the bowling end and one at the batting end and measured the time from end to end then got the average speed. That’s why you can see the timer and the checkerboard from side on. The camera pointing at the bowler is doing what cameras do not measuring speed.
Today it’s measured by a radar gun which assume picks up the ball at peak speed but unsure what point that is.
Exactly
@@shortshiftmotorsportpodcas1862 The use of radar guns in cricket started about a full season after they were first used in MLB (1978?). The measurement is generally taken at a point soon after release. These older tests were first performed in Perth WA by UWA Mechanical Engineering dept.
You have to remember that the older measurement is done from the side and between two points (level with the bowling and batting creases). The overall velocity therefore includes the velocity lost when contact is made with the pitch. Today's telecasts sometimes indicate the speed measured on release and also the speed on arrival at the batter.
Options to explain speeds:
1. They measured hand-speed at top of action rather than ball after it left hand (there was a slo-mo which stopped at top of action) - wrist adds 5-10kmh itself.
2. They are using the grid and analogue clock to calculate distance/time; given 90mph=40metres/second, and these guys will be through their action in a second, a tiny error in the clock, grid interpretation or if the ball is crossing grid at an angle will change the speed. You also have the parallax of the camera which could affect the speed positively or negatively.
I agree with many others these speeds seem low; visually they look quicker. There is a POV video of And Gilchrist facing Brett Lee at 88mph+ and these guys look at least as sharp from the batting end camera
I think the best test would be high speed camera judging hand release to contact on the ground - this older style I’d rate as a better test than nowadays -all these speed gun machines give wild results now and then - I don’t trust they pick up the ball out of the hand.
They were all legendary bowlers who gave us sheer entertainment.
Those saying the ball was recorded at the batsman's end are wrong. Those saying the ball was recorded out of the hand are also wrong. Modern measurments track the speed of the ball the instant it leaves the hand, the measurment observed here is the distance of the grid (perhaps a couple of feet) over which time the ball will slow down slightly. The numbers these bowlers would be bowling with modern measurments would be marginally faster.
Another note is that this competition was held on a 40 degree day.
Yeah, I suspect add 15kmh to match modern measurements
Where did you get the "two feet" part from?
@@ude3333 I didn't say "two feet", the measurement of the ball speed is measured over the distance between the release point and the edge of the frame, that appears to be around 2-3 feet.
@@ethybubs I dont think thats the case. Because the video doesn't explain it properly. so thats only an assumption.
@@ude3333 It's just obviously how they're measuring it. That's the point of the grid and the clock.
Thanks for this. Remember this as a little kid. Be interesting to see it done with modern tech taken back with a time machine lol. Comparing eras is something that can't be done.
I think they can measure (to a point) with old footage. They need to work out angles and camera positions of the day, but they measure the distance travelled between two frames to calculate. I always thought they measured speed these days with radar but they actually use the DRS ball tracking to calculate, apparently it is far more accurate and faster.
Remember,speed in those days were calculated when the ball reached the batsmen it means that speed of the ball when it reached the batsmen was considered actual speed,but when shoib and bretlee started to bowl from then onwards bowls sperd started to be measured when it left the bowlers hand.So as per todays standards all of them were bowling above 150 km/h regularly and jeff thompsons 147 was above 160.
I don't think that was the way they measured in this competition...notice the square grid in background...they calculate speed by simple distance travelled divided by time taken...
Hum andhe hain kya jab shoaib aur brett lee bowl chorte the dekh k pata lag jata tha 150 k speed daal rahen hain same with waqar younis also agar speedo meter naa bhi available ho toh tab bhi naked eye se pata lag jata tha
@@ayushsinghchauhan22 yeh more calculated than like towards speed cameras
Fastest ball results 11:11
Love the wobbly, high tech soundtrack when they do the side on replay! 😀
Amazing video! We featured this in one of our articles. Thanks for sharing!
My Respect for Shoaib Akhtar just went up... Like no disrespect to these legends.... But how scary Akhtar must have been with 161.3 Km/h being his highest he used to bowl consistently at over 150+. What a beast of bowler he was
Lee has far more 150 plus deliveries recorded than soaib…even he reached 160 plus 4 times which is more than soaib….yes soaib was more furious because he wanted to kill batsmen where on the other hand lee was focused on the good lengths and the Yorkers only.
@@writamchatterjee4676Absolutely 💯
Methods used to measure speed are different. Shoaib's speed was measured only at the time of release. But in this video they measure speed based on time taken by ball to reach other end. And we all know that speed drops considerably once you hit the deck
Thomson bowled in this event after his shoulder injury. He was waaaaaay quicker prior to the shoulder injury after a collision on field with Alan Turner.
The speed Thomson bowled at in Brisbane in 1974 against England must have topped 160km/hr@@AndyTychon
Bowlers have different days when they are in a riddim and bowled fast. It is hard to put 5 or 6 fast Bowlers to run up and bowl their fastest. Most times a bowler needs some motivation.
Exactly.. having a batsman at the other end to knock his head off gives the motivation for me to bowl faster
Yep exactly, pretty much all these bowlers have clocked 155+ and that was in an actual game against a batsman. You can’t expect usain bolt to even go sub 10 during practice or friendly competition cause there’s no motivation or drive in practice unlike a competition
$10,000 is enough motivation 😂
riddim loool
Playing any sport is motivation enough regardless of level.
Awesome video thanks 👍
"And there's Jeff Thomson, the one they're all chasing."
I was negative 11 when this was done, but I just appreciate a good spectacle. It's actually pretty impressive how they got the high speed this clean more than 40 years ago. Same goes for time the time of Bradman. A lot of foresight from the camera operators and technicians who made it happen. Although we probably won't know them by name, we can still appreciate their work nearly a century on.
P.S. Jeff Thompson mentioned how he cleaned up by bowling full tosses when everyone else was bowling bouncers (in order to be faster). The guy wasn't just a talented athlete but also quite wiley!
czcams.com/video/khpB7ZarKgc/video.html
Cheers!
Now those were the good old days of cricket..... Long gone now
yep, that was the classic era huh, late 70s early 80s, so many great players and characters in the game and one day-ers white ball coloured clothing were new and exciting etc.
Imran Khan s bowling action was perfect with high jump after him holding, later on Imran Khan became fast in 80s era before injury, he bowled 140 to 147 , and started new art reverse swing introduce to the world,
This is great. Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure who THE fastest bowler ever was, to me it seems there's a certain level that can occasionally be reached, but we'll never know for sure. Geoff Boycott said that Holding was the fastest he'd faced, and that he felt he had more in him if he wanted it (scary thought). He didn't face Thomson in the mid-1970s though. Benaud swore the fastest bowling he ever saw was Frank Tyson in Australia in 1954/55. Alan McGilvray was convinced Eddie Gilbert was the fastest he'd ever seen (and faced). Fascinating to wonder how quick they all would be captured with modern equipment.
Take into account the views of the wicketkeepers. Jeff Dujon once said Patrick Patterson was the fastest that he kept wicket to.
Patrick Pattetson story is really sad .
He suffered from depression and suddenly went into oblivion till.he was spotted by an Indian ,
David Williams told me the same thing.
Pattrick Patterson didn't debut at this time..
@@Jack-qn9ic talking about the real fast and patsy was.up there and vanished intp the blue
He would not have to playing for the w.i at the time. Regional and club cricket they would have crossed paths.
The guy that took his shirt off was the fastest. Good onya Thommo.
1979 - One player springs to mind immediately Jeff Thomson but don’t forget Harold Larwood in the 30’s and Frank Tyson in the 50’s for we will never know how fast they bowled.
Thommo was drunk when they filmed this. He wasn’t going to compete but Kerry Packer made him go out there. He wasn’t wearing his own gear.
Richie - that maaaarvelous flowing action
The most graceful and deadly fastest bowler of all time Malcolm Marshall.
Shoaib akhtar laughing in the corner 😂
@creativity2598 Don't think so pal he might have been quicker but was not in the same league as Marshall !!
@@liamfitzgerald8557 Marshall was cute in front of Shoaib's bouncer's
@creativity2598 Are you for reel ? There were fragments of Mike Gatting's nasel bone tissue in-bedded in the ball after Marshall hit him in the face at Sabina Park !! Marshall also took his 376 Test wickets at 20.94. He was also fit and could bowl all day unlike Shoab
@@liamfitzgerald8557 Marshall is nowhere close records speak for themselves
Richard Hadley is running a successful business in South India with my Malyali friend's friend. People always encircle him for autographs and stuff here. He is so fond of South India I believe.
It takes a while to get going 🥃🥃. Cheers from Adelaide
Which brand of sundial did they use to calculate Sarfraz's velocity?
Methods used to measure speed are different. Shoaib's speed was measured only at the time of release. But in this video they measure speed based on time taken by ball to reach other end. And we all know that speed drops considerably once you hit the deck
Yes but Michael Holding was tested using very similar equipment and methods to current ones in 1980 by an Aussie Uni and he topped out at around 138km.
I watched a lot of Garth Le Roux and Croft in the 80s and these speeds look bang on the mark.
Great competition between the great fast bowlers of the world.
Did anyone else have the Brett Lee fast bowling VHS as a kid like me? It also included the results of this competition and an interview with Jeff. He said he wasn't even well during this competition.
Batters were brave enough to face such formidable pace attack without a helmet..
Great sportsman back then.
If sarfraz Nawaz could be brought then Kapil Dev could have been brought. Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev were almost same pace
Kapil was quick in his early days but later played on movement and accuracy
@@aliasgarasgie Kapil made his debut in 1978, I guess too early by 1979 to be invited here. Holding made debut in 75 series, so playing for 4 years by then.
Sarfraraz and Kapil...get a grip .
😂😂😂
Kapil after 1980 was a medium pacer,barely hitting 125-130 range, the quickest in India then was ta Sekhar and before in the 70s salgaonkar, neither played test cricket sadly.
@@tanwerkiani7510 yeah right. 434 wickets, more than half of them being from the top order and 250 of them in 63 tests against full-strength teams from England, Pakistan, West Indies and Australia compared to a guy who didn't even cross 200. Can't be taken into the same bracket in any sense.
There's a guy up from where I'm from who has a similar action to Thommo, and he is bloody quick for a park cricketer...
We need this now
A fired up Sylvester Clarke would have been up there no question! Ask Alan Kourie? Here's a clip from Wiki.. "Alan Kourie recalls that Clarke, during the unofficial West Indies 1983 rebel tour, recorded speeds between 98 mph and 101 mph by two South African police officers testing out a new automobile speed radar gun who were present at Johannesburg ground."
We hear bs stories like those coppers all the time....who is to say that the alleged radar gun had been calibrated correctly to a standard and / or was in calibration. In any case the West Indies so called rebels played in the World Series years 1977 to 1979.
Speed was calculated from the hand in those days too.. that’s why the screen is placed behind the bowler.
Mesurements were carried out at 90Deg. to the two creases near to the boundary. Testing was done in Perth WA as part of studies performed by UWA. There were no devices that measured linearly in 1979.
@@flamingfrancis for this competition, or for games? Surely in this one the grid parallel to the crease, plus the frame rate is what calculates the speed? Ie distance over time?
Amazing Ritchie mentioned Larwood it is about the same time from now than we he bowled in the thirties - as it was in this broadcast we thought that was ancient - but this doesn't seem that long ago - go figure!!
Incredible
It was always known that Thommo was the fastest of his era. He was a top Javelin thrower that is why he had such a slingee action. In my 40 years of watching top level cricket only Shoaib A and Brett Lee have clocked as fast. Special mention to Waqar who was super quick for a smaller guy.
@Tech SUPPORT I Googled it 1.83m - 6ft. Yes taller than I thought.
Starc and Tait??
@@mjt7585 Yes, Tait has 2nd fastest delivery of 100.1 mph, Starc, I think is just behind Lee in speed ranking.
Waqar Younis was officially timed at 153kph after his injuries. I heard that he was recorded around 157kph before he got injured, but it was not officially verified so it remains speculation. Regardless Waqar was a true freak in his own regard. Can you name any other bowler who could reverse swing the ball like he did at 150+ with lethal accuracy on the stumps, like he did during the 1990s?
TV gold!
The absolute greats
It'll be interesting to watch this competition in 2021
Lillee and Thompson were my idols and quite young I could imitate their actions quite well. My dad took super 8. I adapted the Lillee style to use because it was more consistent for me and I could hit the seam, but I felt the "Tommo" was faster. As a physio I now know that's because you create a lot more leverage across the left knee, which more easily obtains terminal extension and has less forward flexion force to overcome - faster for longer.
When I got to high school and learned javelin I realised that that was Thompson's technique.
I still dont understand why conventional and Thompson's javelin stye aren't both taught to youngsters, so they may choose what works for them. Even if only 10% can master javelin style, they will have a lot of success.
To my untrained eye, Thomson's style looks like a recipe for shoulder and other injuries? And perhaps that's why youngsters are encouraged to stay away from that technique?
Dennis lillee is my all time fav.
Yassssss!!!! 👌🏻
DK off the long run!!!
The video is priceless
Under rated great Imran khan by saying he is fast medium and sometimes fast..and Imran khan superseded to most of them like Andy Roberts and Dennis Lillie by speed and accuracy just behind Michael Holding and Jeff Thompson.
Anyway they were all great legends, belongs to golden era of cricket.
It was like a real clash of the titans.
The days when mc Donald’s would give away a World Series cricket poster with every Big Mac
What if such competitions are held now and the same equipment for testing the speed of the current bowlers. Some confusion or myth can be cleared. Also I would like to add another point the 15 degree elbow flexion was not implemented back then . Which seems like they may not be so fast & furious but were genuine pacers with clean undisputed action. Because the flexion gives a clear advantage in terms of bounce swing and pace. Lee ,Tait and akthar cleary have some flexion in their actions. Where as Starc Johnson Bond Milne fidel Edwards and some bowlers who clocked over 150 have very less or sometimes negligible amount of flexion.
Pigeon too had flexion
Thommo goes around saying that the speed was measured at the batsman end.... Clearly, the measurement device is at the bowlers end measuring during delivery stride and release.
Shame Thommo wasn't recorded before his injury in 1976/77.
Yes 1974/75 he was at his peak. Can you imagine him with raw pace before the broken collarbone.
I just shuffle up and go whammo !! Might have been the quote.
I think Thommo was recorded in 1975 at 99.8 mph. The record lasted for 30 years. But I still think to this day that he bowled faster. True Aussie larrikin.
Those days Speed is measured when ball is reached to the batsmen and now a days Speed is measured when ball is delevred from hand .. .
Bowling is measured at bowling end and Thompson era it's a batting side
Wrong. The speed is measured from the bowlers end in this comp. (With the grid you see). Therefore it's from the hand.
@@pubudusenanayake6724 exactly, with high speed camera's from the time
@@thehoppo So does that mean it's measured at the batsmen? No ...
@@pubudusenanayake6724 it was measured using high speed cameras from the hand
Denis lile and four horsemen of death were something else than today's fast bowlers
Having watched Garth Le Roux in the 80s extensively,these speeds look bang on the mark. Whats intersting is not the actual speeds but the relative differences between the bowlers.. Imran was on average 2nd quickest behind Thommo with Holding and Roberts behind him.
I also read about another bowling speed test conducted by an Australian university using radar equipment in 1980 or so on Michael Holding and he topped out around 138km,so its pretty similar to this. Very quick foe the times rhey played in.
Facing them was like standing🧍 before a battery of shooters. Even the batsmans country men shivered. Their runup & the ball traversing the length of pitch & the long journey to keepers.
I watched this when it first aired on TV. Thommo, fastest and most accurate.
Gee that was riveting. I wonder why this didn't become an annual challenge.
Why isn't this an annual event? Would be great to watch and a good why to showcase the art of fast bowling.
Fail to see why so many are finding fault with the outcome. Thommo was in a bar when he got the news about the 'shoot-out'. He hadn't played in 6 months as he has said on many occasions in interviews, Channel 7(?) knew this but encouraged him anyway. The others were all match fit, playing or at least training for a 'season' coming up. They all had the same rules and conditions. They knew the rules... no real warm-ups as if playing in a match and having had several overs to get rhythm. The comments from batsmen and commentators of the time talking about Thommo, pretty much backed up the truth he was the fastest. Lloyd, Richards, Bumble ( David LLoyd) Lawrence Rowe, Dujon, Lillee, Pascoe, Grieg and here's a direct comment from England Captain Mike Brierley said, “Broken marriages, conflicts of loyalty, the problems of everyday life fall away as one faces up to Thomson.” The accuracy prize must been sweet for him as the detractors have always said he was wild and no control. Truth is he always bowled to get the ball down to the batsmen/stumps as fast as he could so that was his style...he pretty much bowled using sheer pace, (he has said that too on many occasion, think sometimes he does play up to the image some people have of him)... whereas the others were trying to beat him ( they all knew who was the fastest) and by just bowling as fast as they could.. accuracy went. I find it funny that the relatively unfit 'Bankstown beach-bum's' average speed was still faster than any of their fastest balls !!
I believe Kerry packer asked thommo why he wasn't down there trying out . Thommo had problems with contracts with cricket Australia or something. Mr packer in true packer style told thommo i own this you get your ass down there and you'd better win, I think thommo said Mr packer had had a substantial side bet for thommo to win .packer made sure thommo was included..
@@aussiesmoko Thomo is the Chopper Reed of the cricket world. Some of what he says may be accurate but you don't let the truth get in the way of a good yarn!
In his own words, "I'd been sittin' on me arse on me back verandah all summer, drinkin' beer".
Bear in mind this was also a couple of years after the collision with Alan Turner which wrecked hos shoulder and robbed him of several yards. He was still quick after that but no longer terrifying.
Why aren't they conducting world's fastest bowler competition nowadays?
I suppose fear of illegal actions such as the pace race involving Lee, Ahktar, et al. Just a guess though.
Cricket is no more a game of bowlers let alone fast bowlers
Probably injuries, lots of effort that goes into bowling express,
Injury risk means most players on central contracts aren’t allowed to
Yeah it's injury risk, no administration is going to let their nation's fastest bowler risk a potentially permanent injury by going all out just for bragging rights. It would be interesting if they could gather data during matches to have an annual fastest bowler or fastest of the world cup award. They can put a camera directly above the bowler with spider cam these days I would think that would let you get extremely accurate measurement without needing the bowlers to bowl just for the sake of being measured.
Michael Holding made it look easy wouldve watched that just for the smooth commentary, retro effects and funky music skits. Could it be lego men hairstyles were created in the Mold of Thomo's mighty mop
I remember watching this when I was a kid. I wanted to bowl more than bat from then on .
I believe to add 5 to 7 kmph speed to measured speed due to technical limitations those days, with today's measuring techniques their speeds would have been 5-7 kmph more....hats off to all legends.
probably more - somehow Holding averaging 84mph doesn't seem anyhere close.
No it is accurate measuring. The speed in this era that you see is shown from release until first bounce. The speed back in the days is shown from release until reaching the wickets. So they were bowling approx 152kph on average on the meters used now
@@foodieranger9652 pulling figures out of your ass ain't doing it for me i'm afraid. The true answer is, we will never know.
Seeing as Thomson was recorded in the 70's bowling a ball at 100 mph, by your calculations it was even faster.
but...
it all depends where the ball pitched...
@@foodieranger9652 I agree, I think in this competition they were quoting the average speed of the ball not the speed out of the hand. I can remember reading in a newspaper just after this competition that Imran's fastest ball was timed at 154kph.
@@jugheadsrule Imran between 1980 to 1988 was sharp 145 km/h pretty much all day...This was a disputed competition in my opinion..1975 cameras were more accurate
Thomo .. legend 🙌
Great video 👍🇮🇳
I was born more than thirty years after this event but i’ve always taken it as evidence that thommo was the quickest bowler of all time. Even after a shoulder injury that teammates said took 5kmh off his pace he was still the fastest bowler in the world. I have no doubt that he was pushing 165 in his prime in 1974
I took photos at a Windies vs Australia melbourne test in 75, At 1/500th sec the ball was spherical for Lillee, and smudged ,indicating greater speed, for Thommo.Thompson at his fearsome best, player of the match that test.
I recalled Clive Lloyd taking a big step back and to leg when Thommo was at his most fearsome in that game. He must have been terrifying if Clive Lloyd took a backward step.
What if it was ur hand shaking....
What does 1/500th sec mean
@@ayushsinghchauhan22 At that shutter speed, the players were all sharp the only blur on the Thommo photos was the ball.
@@sayedrouf6744 old school film/analogue camera; Nikon F2 Photomic with a 500mm telephoto lens, film- Kodak Tri-X ASA 400. exposure 1/500 th of a second.
i would challenge star batsman of 2021 just to stand and watch these legends bowl without their pants being wet
😨🌧🌧🌧
If it were possible, I would pay good money to see David Warner on the receiving end of these guys at their prime.
You can't say that
What makes you belive such stupid thing
Akhtar, Lee, Sami, Bond and Tait were pace machines! Indeed, Thomson was of their league in his peak!
hats off windies
Thomson bowled a heap of full tosses which the gun picks up as much quicker (we know that now). Some of the West Indian guys were definitely quicker than the speed gun because they bowled shorter.
The speed of the ball was measured as it left the hand not as it reached the batsman (or where they normally stand) so it shouldn't matter whether they bowl full or short.
@@utha2665 The ball tends to come out of the hand a bit slower when you pitch it short.
@@truthseeker3536 It would appear slower because the radar calculates the ball speed travelling at it. The higher the angle of attack the slower the speed it read by the radar, this is why full tosses are typically recorded at a higher speed.
For those why may think the speed is not fast. The speed in this era that you see is shown from release until first bounce. The speed back in the days is shown from release until reaching the wickets. So they were bowling approx 152kph on average on the meters used now
Nah they weren't anywhere near that. You can see the difference in pace looking at the ball and the action/follow through. Thompson is really the only one bowling express.
I don't believe that they bowled 152kph on average from release to reaching the wickets.
Bull shit. The video doesn't say such. They were most probably measuring it out of the hand.
Nonsense, Thompson was the fastest among lot of them, even he admitted during his interview at lords, at best he bowled in early & mid 140s.
@@ude3333 No they had high speed cameras its was measured full length you see the screen on the replays that measures the bowlers end and the timing is then matched with the camera at the batters end so you need to add around approx 15% to get similar out of the hand speeds there is a video on here with Imran and Thomson talking about how it was done.
I’ve always found Thommo’s style to be fairly odd looking so it was genuinely interesting to see it side on in slow motion.
Just missing Big Bob. RIP.
These speeds were in fact measured out of the hand despite the common misconception that they were not. These studies used high speed cameras that timed the ball out of the hand hence the square brackets at the bowlers end where the high speed cameras were set up. For those disappointed with the bowlers speeds, just remember they had to bowl in near 40 degree heat in net conditions, and some of these bowlers were past their best days after serious injuries etc. This same study clocked Jeff Thompson, Andy Roberts, and Dennis Lillee at quicker speeds in the mid-70s. Bowlers also tend to bowl quicker when in a real game as they are more likely to have more rhythm in their bowling so produce quicker speeds.
Is that true. There is an interview with imran Khan and Thommo where they talk about the setup of this event and how the measurement is at or after the bounce. The measurement (t0) starts at the hand but the t1 measurement is at or after the bounce