The fastest ball ever recorded in cricket was bowled by Shoaib Akhtar: 161.3 km/h, or 100.2 mph, against England at Cape Town during the 2003 World Cup. No delivery has been measured faster in the 23 years since, and only one other bowler, Shaun Tait, has been credited with anything past 100 mph.
One thing to know before the list: there is no official record for bowling speed. The ICC does not ratify these figures the way it ratifies runs and wickets. Every number below comes from a broadcaster’s speed gun, and the equipment, its calibration and the point on the ball’s path where the reading is taken have all changed over the decades. The figures here are the ones cricket has settled on; they are not measurements taken under a single standard.
What that looks like in practice: Brett Lee was clocked at 161.8 km/h in a Test against West Indies at Brisbane in the 2000-01 season, which would have made him the fastest of all. Channel Nine, Australian cricket’s broadcaster at the time, later accepted the reading was a mistake. It is not on any list, including this one.
Fastest bowler in the world: the ten quickest recorded deliveries
| Bowler | Fastest delivery | Against | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) | 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) | England | 2003 |
| Shaun Tait (Australia) | 161.1 km/h (100.1 mph) | England | 2010 |
| Brett Lee (Australia) | 160.8 km/h (99.9 mph) | New Zealand | 2005 |
| Jeff Thomson (Australia) | 160.6 km/h (99.8 mph) | West Indies | 1975 |
| Mitchell Starc (Australia) | 160.4 km/h (99.7 mph) | New Zealand | 2015 |
| Andy Roberts (West Indies) | 159.5 km/h (99.1 mph) | Australia | 1975 |
| Fidel Edwards (West Indies) | 157.7 km/h (97.9 mph) | South Africa | 2003 |
| Mitchell Johnson (Australia) | 156.8 km/h (97.4 mph) | England | 2013 |
| Mohammad Sami (Pakistan) | 156.4 km/h (97.1 mph) | Zimbabwe | 2003 |
| Shane Bond (New Zealand) | 156.4 km/h (97.1 mph) | India | 2003 |
Two things stand out. Five of the ten are Australians, and the most recent entry on the list is Mitchell Starc’s in 2015 — no delivery bowled in the last decade has made the top ten, despite speed guns being on every ground and a generation of bowlers regularly clearing 150 km/h.
Shoaib Akhtar – 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph), Pakistan v England, 2003
Nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express, Shoaib Akhtar bowled the fastest delivery in cricket, 161.3 km/h, in a One-Day International against England at Newlands in Cape Town during the 2003 World Cup.
Bowling to England’s opener Nick Knight, he recorded 153.3 km/h, 158.4 km/h, 158.5 km/h, 157.4 km/h and 159.5 km/h before the last ball of the over came out at 161.3 km/h.
#OnThisDay in 2003 @shoaib100mph registered his name in the record books by bowling the fastest delivery officially recorded at 100.2 MPH in @cricketworldcup game against England.
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 22, 2021
The spell itself was expensive. Akhtar finished with 1 for 63 from nine overs, dismissing Michael Vaughan, and Pakistan lost the match by 112 runs.
Shaun Tait – 161.1 km/h (100.1 mph), Australia v England, 2010
Shaun Tait is the second bowler credited with a delivery past 100 mph, clocked at 161.1 km/h to England’s Craig Kieswetter in his first over of an ODI at Lord’s in 2010. Tait took four wickets in that match and Australia won by 42 runs.
Brett Lee – 160.8 km/h (99.9 mph), Australia v New Zealand, 2005
Brett Lee is third on the list, a tenth of a mile per hour short of the barrier. His quickest accepted delivery, 160.8 km/h, was bowled to New Zealand’s Craig Cumming in the first over of the fifth ODI at Napier in 2005. Lee finished with 1 for 34 and Australia won by 122 runs.
Mitchell Starc – 160.4 km/h (99.7 mph), Australia v New Zealand, 2015
Mitchell Starc’s 160.4 km/h, bowled on the third day of the second Test against New Zealand at Perth in November 2015, is the most recent addition to this list. Every other entry is from 2013 or earlier.
Fastest Indian bowler
The quickest delivery recorded by an Indian is Umran Malik’s 157 km/h, bowled for Hyderabad against Delhi in the 2022 Indian T20 League. His fastest in international cricket is 156 km/h, against Sri Lanka in 2023.
Mayank Yadav is the closest to him: 156.7 km/h against Bengaluru in the 2024 Indian T20 League, the fastest ball of that season. Among the earlier generation, Irfan Pathan’s 153.7 km/h against Pakistan at the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and Mohammed Shami’s 153.3 km/h at Melbourne in 2014 are the standouts, and Javagal Srinath is reported to have passed 157 km/h in South Africa in 1996 on equipment nobody now treats as reliable.
Our full breakdown is here: the fastest Indian bowlers.
Fastest bowler in the world: quick answers
Who is the fastest bowler in the world? Shoaib Akhtar, whose 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) against England in 2003 is the fastest delivery ever recorded.
Has anyone else bowled 100 mph? Shaun Tait, at 161.1 km/h (100.1 mph) in 2010. Brett Lee’s best accepted reading, 160.8 km/h, is 99.9 mph.
Which is the most recent delivery on the list? Mitchell Starc’s 160.4 km/h at Perth in 2015. Nothing bowled since has got into the top ten.
Who is the fastest Indian bowler? Umran Malik, at 157 km/h in the 2022 Indian T20 League.
Is there an official record for the fastest ball? No. The ICC does not ratify bowling speeds, and every figure on this page is a broadcaster’s speed-gun reading.
See also our lists of the most wickets in T20 cricket and the fastest Indian bowlers.
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Photo credits: Alamy