New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan has questioned the accuracy of Australian paceman Mitchell Starc’s ball believed to be the fastest delivery bowled in Test cricket history at the WACA Ground in Perth on Sunday.
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Starc joined an exclusive club with a sizzling delivery, with the fourth ball of his 21st over to Ross Taylor clocked at 160.4 kilometres per hour (99.7mph). Only four other fast bowlers have officially been recorded with deliveries at more than 160 kpm, but none of those were in Test cricket.
But McMillan who once faced a 161kmph delivery from Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar, was far from convinced and put it down to the result of a technical fault in the broadcast van.
“I was surprised when it came up on the TV… maybe someone in the truck was having a bit of fun,” McMillan said.
“The delivery came out of now- here. It looked pretty similar to a lot of the other deliveries throughout the day that were closer to 150 than 160.
“I’m not sure whether the wrong button was pushed… you’d have to ask Rosco if it felt 10k quicker than every other delivery he faced.”
While Starc didn’t comment on the specific ball, he said it was one of his fastest spells.
“It was nice to have rhythm and have the ball coming out nicely,” he said. “It felt really good and I was trying to bowl fast.” Starc said he wasn’t too worried about McMillan’s comments.
“I’m happy for him to face me in the nets tomorrow if he wants,” he responded.
Akhtar holds the record with a 161.3kmph thunderbolt in a one-day match against England at Newlands in 2003. Australian pair Shaun Tait and Brett Lee were both recorded at 161.1kmph in separate limited overs matches.
The only other bowler to reach the mark was Australian firebrand Jeff Thomson at 160.6kmph, which 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.
