Starc bowls fastest ever Test delivery

E-Paper | April 25, 2026

PERTH: Australian paceman Mitchell Starc bowled what is believed to be the fastest delivery in Test cricket history Sunday on the third day of the second Test against New Zealand at the WACA Ground in Perth.

Starc joined an exclusive club with a sizzling delivery, with the fourth ball of his 21st over clocked at 160.4 kilometres per hour (99.7 mph).

Only four other fast bowlers have officially been recorded to have bowled at more than 160 kilometres per hour, but none of those deliveries were in Test cricket.

Also read: Johnson, Starc rip through Kiwis

Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar holds the record with a 161.3 kilometres per hour thunderbolt in a one-day match against England at Newlands in 2003.

Australian pair Shaun Tait and Brett Lee were both recorded at 161.1 kilometres per hour, in separate limited overs matches.

The only other bowler to reach the mark was Australian firebrand Jeff Thomson at 160.6 kilometres per hour, when he was clocked during a study into fast bowling at the WACA Ground in 1976.

Thomson is widely considered the fastest bowler in cricket history. Starc's delivery was a yorker dug out by Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor.

On the very next ball, Taylor edged an attempted drive to gully, where a tough chance was grassed by Mitchell Marsh.

Also read: Too meek to too aggressive, Starc disappoints skipper

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Nov 15, 2015 03:10pm

Starc didn't bowl the fastest ever delivery. He came in as second best. Shoaib Akhter holds the record for the fastest ever delivery.

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R.S. Menon

Nov 15, 2015 03:16pm

@JM It is the fastest delivery in TEST that has been bowled by Starc. Akthar bowled the fastest one in an ODI. R.S. Menon, Bangalore

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Nick

Nov 15, 2015 03:30pm

@JM He bowled in ODI against England during the world cup bro not in the test matches.

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YOUKNOWIMRIGHT

Nov 15, 2015 03:55pm

Why do some rush to respond, showing they haven't read the story properly, which clearly states the difference between Test and ODI performance etc?

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malika

Nov 15, 2015 03:56pm

Shoaib still fastest. Starc a small boy before him

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Harmony-1

Nov 15, 2015 04:04pm

@R.S. Menon - But he is right in saying "the fastest ever delivery". That's what he was saying!!!

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Naxalite

Nov 15, 2015 04:30pm

Akhter Still Tops the Chart. Wow!

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MohAammad Farooq

Nov 15, 2015 05:24pm

@JM Yes but Starc is the fastest in test cricket while Shoiab Akhtar holds the record for ODI.

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ilyas

Nov 15, 2015 05:33pm

now that Starc is behind shoaib, they brought up the issue of test and ODI. Give Shoaib the credit that he bowled his fastest in an ODI where bowlers reduce speed to contain runs and control the match. BTW Jeff Thomson bowled in study where they were checking the fastest bowler. Holding was second and Imran was third in a total of 12 fast bowlers who played Kerry Packer. Others included Garth Le Raux of South Africa, Andy Roberts and Wyne Danialof WI, John Snow of England, Sarfaraz Nawaz of Pakistan, Dennis Lillee of Australia. Cant recall others. Thomson was also most accurate.

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KaKa

Nov 15, 2015 06:47pm

Tomorrow these guys will come up with fastest bowler in T20 as well. They will start classification. SA is the fastest bowler is cricket as of date period.

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Goga Nalaik

Nov 15, 2015 06:49pm

Perth is one of the fastest pitches in the world. Our Viki (Wahab Riaz) could've done better than Starck

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Anees

Nov 15, 2015 07:01pm

Whoaaaaaa!!!

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sandeep

Nov 15, 2015 07:22pm

@Harmony-1 please read the article headlines carefully Starc bowls fastest ever test delivery

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eli

Nov 15, 2015 07:55pm

I still think Jeff Thomson as the strongest candidate for being the fastest bowler ever in the game of cricket. He had a great disadvantage that in those days, there was no speed gun installed... so his results are just based on a very sample taken. Imran Khan could be a better judge on this as he probably saw and faced both the bowlers in nets or otherwise.

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M.Saeed

Nov 15, 2015 08:17pm

@JM : Read the story again. It talks about fastest ever "Test Match Delivery". Shoaib had bowled his fastest in ODI.

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Rashid

Nov 15, 2015 08:47pm

@Goga Nalaik When it comes to measuring the speed of the delivery the ground doesn't come into the picture, because for quite some time they measure the speed once you leave the ball and ball is still in the air:-) At least that is my understanding.

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MrKam

Nov 15, 2015 09:19pm

Why is it always in Australia that the Aussies bowlers bowls their fastest deliveries? On the Contrary Shoaib bowled his fastest in South Africa.

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zafar

Nov 15, 2015 09:23pm

Shoaib's delivery was the fastest in cricket overall.simple

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Shakeel Ahmed

Nov 15, 2015 09:56pm

Of course Shoaib Akhtar bowled the fastest. Most time he was deliberately not recorded or an excuse was given the machines were not recording accurately. Such is the hypocrisy of those not wanting to give credit where due. It is common trait in jealousy.

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Mb Iftikhar

Nov 15, 2015 10:23pm

@R.S. Menon And Sachin was a paper tiger, a publicized player who was a product of the strong Indian media. Most of the runs he scored were against weak teams of that time like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, holland & Ireland etc

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Mb Iftikhar

Nov 15, 2015 10:26pm

@MohAammad Farooq Akhtar still holds the Fastest Ball record in "CRICKET", just like how sachin is publicized for scoring most runs for all type of "CRICKET"combined ...

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Saeed Masood

Nov 15, 2015 10:27pm

Shoaib Akther....is the fastest and will remain the fastest Inshallah...The news print should clearly say and print...Starc the second fastest bowled his Fastest and became the second fastest behind Shoaib Akther....any way Starc you did a good job well done.

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Desi Bhai

Nov 15, 2015 10:59pm

Before the records were kept, mohindar amaranth bowled 163.5 ft/ hr. Yes I was there.

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Mathew

Nov 15, 2015 11:17pm

As a person of Indian origin, I can say that Starc is nowhere near Shoaib who could bowl 7-8 consistently at that extreme pace, not the occasional one or two balls in 5 overs or so.

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Dervaish

Nov 16, 2015 01:03am

@eli only yesterday in a tv interview, Imran Khan declared Jeff Thompson to be the best ever bowler and Viwen Richards as the best batsman.

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asgher

Nov 16, 2015 09:13am

The fastest ball in the history of cricket was bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin to Afridi. The last ball of that over was fastest when the ball travelled at 200mph out of the stadium.

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Akil Akhtar

Nov 16, 2015 09:46am

It seems dodgy as the fastest he bowled all day and before was 155 and to suddenly jump to 161 plus seems unlikely. NZ coach has also questioned it on the same basis and it also did not look any faster than other deliveries. Was it a speed gun glitch.

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Sandeep

Nov 16, 2015 09:54am

@Shakeel Ahmed Another conspiracy theory for no reason what so ever.

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Sandeep

Nov 16, 2015 09:55am

@Mb Iftikhar But he scored most runs in both version of the games he played.

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asgher

Nov 16, 2015 10:02am

@R.S. Menon JM said "fastest ever delivery" (as in Cricket, regardless of Test of ODI) think before you ink..

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Shazia Bangash

Nov 16, 2015 11:30am

"Thomson is widely considered the fastest bowler in cricket history"? Widely considered by whom, on what reliable evidence and why is Express Tribune publishing a biased statement like this against Shoaib's record?! In fact, the fastest ball ever recorded was by Shoaib Akhtar to Nick Knight at 161.3kph in 2003.

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Arif k

Nov 16, 2015 11:42am

I was watching that special spell of starc. It was furious. He even broke the bad of Brandom Mccullum and at one point slip fielder couldn't hold on to the catch bcoz of speed. They drop two catches in that short spell of Starc. Great bowler! I rate him number one in all format of cricket games.

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Aman

Nov 16, 2015 01:22pm

Our cricket crazy nations lol

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Jyotika

Nov 16, 2015 02:34pm

@Goga Nalaik dear it was a yorker . . . pitch doesnt matter

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naresh

Nov 16, 2015 11:53pm

Starc still has lot of cricketing years to play. I am sure, he will break the shoab's records. Starc is bowler of today's era. Shoaib's cricket finished around 10 years ago. Last 5 years of his career was just gone in injuries.

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True Blue Indian

Nov 17, 2015 06:26am

Chill guys no one disclaming Shoaibs achievement Shoaib is fastest bowler in cricket, period. Please appreciate this young lad .. Just for sake of records they have mentioned Starc bowled fastest delivery in test & which is a fact & that doesn't write off what akhtar has. So no need to create fuss about conspiracy n all

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Sami

Nov 17, 2015 09:52am

@naresh Whatever, Sohaib Akhtar is all time the fastest bowler with 161.3 km/hr bowling. 10 yrs after his peak, in current all-star series batsmen cannot face his bouncers. Dehshat ho tuo aysi!!!

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Jalim Shah

Nov 17, 2015 02:45pm

Akhtar, Muralidharan, Ajmal, Saqlain, Rajesh Chauhan- all these have defective bowling actions, if ICC rules are followed strictly then their records would have abandoned. These are just chuckers. Akram, Ambrose, walsh, Macgrath were best bowlers

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