Fast bowling

Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling. Practitioners are usually known as fast bowlers or pace bowlers although sometimes the label used refers to the specific fast bowling technique the bowler prefers, such as swing bowler or seam bowler.

The main aim of fast bowling is to bowl the hard cricket ball at high speed and to induce it to bounce off the pitch in an erratic fashion or move sideways through the air, factors which make it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball cleanly. A typical fast delivery has a speed in the range of 136 to 150 km/h (85 to 95 mph). The fastest delivery that has ever been unofficially recorded clocked in at 101.9 mph (164.0 km/h) by Mohammad Sami of Pakistan against India.[1] The fastest delivery officially recorded was clocked at 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) and was bowled by Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan during a match against England in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. The batsman on the end of the delivery was Nick Knight, who guided it into the leg side.[2] This speed is said to have been later matched by Brett Lee however this has been put down to an erroneous recording due to external interference of the radar's signal. Two back-up radars recorded the correct speed of 142 km/h (88 mph) for the delivery.[3]

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