Australians have bowled five of the 10 fastest deliveries, Shoaib Akhtar tops list - in pictures

Only three bowlers have crossed 100mph barrier in the history of cricket

Shoaib Akhtar (161.3kph / 100.2mph): The Rawalpindi Express is the fastest bowler the world has seen. The Pakistan quick made it official during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa against England, where he clocked 161.3kph while bowling to Nick Knight. He had already breached the 100mph mark at home against New Zealand the previous year but the speed guns used then were not approved by the governing body. PA / AFP

Shaun Tait (161.1kph / 100.1mph): The 'Wild Thing' bowled a thunderbolt at 161.1 kph during an ODI against England at Lord’s in 2010. A few months earlier, the Aussie had bowled one just below the 100mph mark against Pakistan during a T20 in Melbourne. However, Tait struggled to sustain his pace in ODI cricket, let alone Tests. Action Images

Brett Lee (161.1kph / 100.1mph): Just like Akhtar, the Australian is considered as one of the very few genuine fast bowlers of modern times who sustained their pace in white and red-ball cricket. Lee hit his absolute peak against the Kiwis in Napier, where he crossed the 100mph barrier against batsman Craig Cumming who struggled to put bat to ball. Reuters

Jeff Thomson (160.6kph / 99.8mph): The Australian is seen by many as the benchmark of genuine pace bowling. ‘Thommo’ had a very simple approach to bowling: “I just shuffle in … and go WHANG.” That ‘whang’ was once clocked at 160.6kph during a study in Perth in 1976. Thomson maintains if he had been timed using modern speed guns and parameters, the radar would have read 180kph. Action Images

Mitchell Starc (160.4kph / 99.6mph): The left-arm quick is one of the very few bowlers who can swing the ball even at 95mph. Starc registered his fastest delivery during a Test against the Kiwis on a dead surface in Perth. The full length delivery was defended by batsman Ross Taylor, which was a bit of an anti-climax. The batsman was dropped next ball, by the way. Reuters

Andy Roberts (159.5kph / 99.1mph): The Windies quick was seen as the more dangerous among the Caribbean quartet of fast bowlers as unlike Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall, he was deceptively fast and changed his pace up to surprise batsmen. His fastest ball bowled was against Australia in 1975 in what was then a haven for pacers – Perth. Getty Images

Fidel Edwards (157.7 kph / 97.9mph): Not many talk of the diminutive West Indies pacers when discussing genuine pacers but he was right up there. The right-arm quick was famously selected to play Test cricket as an 18-year-old after bowling just four balls to Brian Lara during a net session. In 2003 against South Africa at the Wanderers, Edwards hurled his fastest ever delivery at a shade under 98mph. PA

Mitchell Johnson (156.8kph / 97.4mph): Another Aussies on this list. You never knew which Mitch would turn up for any game. But when he was switched on, he was one of the scariest bowlers to face. Labelled by Dennis Lillee as a ‘once in a generation bowler’, Johnson’s fastest recorded delivery came, unsurprisingly, against the Englishmen at the MCG. Reuters

Mohammad Sami (156.4kph / 97.1mph): The right-arm pacer was at one point as fast as Shoaib Akhtar but inconsistent performances meant he was quickly forgotten once he lost his place in the team. His quickest recorded delivery was against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in 2003. AFP

Dale Steyn (156.2kph / 97mph): An all-time great bowler, Steyn had more pace than he knew how to handle at the start of his career. Spent the best part of a decade terrorising batsmen with late swing and pace, which was once clocked at 156.2kph while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL in 2010. Remained surprisingly fit during the peak of his career. Reuters

Fast bowling … there simply is no better sight in cricket than a pacer charging in and hurling the ball as fast as allowed by physics and biomechanics. You can see the pace off the pitch, in the eyes of the batsman and in the thud of the wicketkeeper’s gloves.

There have been many great batsmen, seam bowlers, wicketkeepers and spinners over the years; just try gathering a top 10 list and see the number of names in the your first draft. But when it comes to genuine quick bowlers, there have been very few even if you go back 50-60 years. Most cricket fans are unlikely to miss names while making the list of the fastest bowlers of all time.

But what the fastest recorded deliveries in cricket? This is a slightly tricky question to answer as there has never been one standard procedure when it comes to recording speed of bowlers in international matches. Quality of equipment and parameters of speed calculation have varied drastically from year to year. Some records have not been accepted by the International Cricket Council while others have been written off as an equipment malfunction.

Taking all those factors into account, above is a list of the fastest deliveries recorded in official cricket. To move to the next image, click on the arrows, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.