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Dennis Lillee
Born
Lillee began as a tearaway, broke down with stress fractures of the back in 1973 and rebuilt himself into a complete fast bowler with a classical side-on action, outswing and cutters. His 39 wickets in the 1981 Ashes, in English conditions and at reduced pace, show the craft that replaced raw speed. He is the reference point for fast bowlers who reinvent themselves after injury.
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Jeff Thomson
Born
Thomson's slinging action, the ball hidden behind his back until a javelin-like release, produced some of the fastest bowling ever recorded and steep bounce from a full length. In the 1974-75 Ashes he took 33 wickets alongside Lillee and terrified England's batters. Watch the action rather than the stats: there has rarely been anything like it.
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Michael Holding
Born
Umpires called Holding Whispering Death because they could not hear him approach the crease: a long, silent, gliding run-up that ended in genuine express pace. His 14 wickets on a flat Oval pitch in 1976, when other bowlers toiled, show pace and accuracy beating the surface. His over to Geoffrey Boycott at Bridgetown in 1981 is the most famous over in Test history.
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Joel Garner
At 6ft 8in, Big Bird released the ball from such a height that his yorkers dropped on batters' toes and his short balls climbed into the ribs. He was deadly in one-day cricket, taking 5 for 38 in the 1979 World Cup final. Garner was the most economical of the great West Indies quicks, which shows his method was control as much as menace.
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Malcolm Marshall
Born
At under six feet, Marshall was short for a fast bowler, and he turned that into an advantage with a skiddy, whippy action that made the ball hurry on at the body. He could swing it both ways and bowl cutters, and he thought batters out. His 7 for 53 at Headingley in 1984, bowling with a broken left thumb, is the spell that captures his nerve and skill.
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Imran Khan
Born
Before his political career, Imran was one of the great fast-bowling all-rounders and, with Sarfraz Nawaz, a pioneer of reverse swing, making an old ball swing late on dry Pakistani pitches. His leap at the crease and side-on action generated pace and movement. His 40 wickets in the 1982-83 home series against India showed what reverse swing could do on surfaces that offered seamers nothing.
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Wasim Akram
Born
The Sultan of Swing bowled left-arm with a whippy, short run-up and a very fast arm, swinging the ball both ways at pace, conventional and reverse. His two deliveries to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in the 1992 World Cup final, late in-swing and away-swing, are the best demonstration of his skill. He was as dangerous in Tests as in one-day cricket, with over 900 international wickets in total.
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Waqar Younis
Born
Waqar's method was the fast, late-swinging yorker, aimed at the toes or the base of the stumps, and his strike rate in the early 1990s was among the best in Test history. Bowling for Surrey in 1991 he took over 100 first-class wickets in an English season. The broken stumps and hobbling batters of his peak are the clearest picture of reverse swing used as a weapon.
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Curtly Ambrose
Born
Ambrose used his 6ft 7in height to hit a good length and make it bounce awkwardly, and he rarely gave batters anything to hit. His spell of 7 for 1 in 32 balls at Perth in 1993 is the extreme example; his 6 for 24 as England collapsed to 46 all out at Port of Spain in 1994 is another. Economy and bounce, not swing, were his tools.
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Allan Donald
Born
White Lightning combined a smooth, rhythmic run-up with genuine pace and late away-swing, and he played county cricket at Edgbaston for Warwickshire, where Birmingham fans saw him close up. His duel with Michael Atherton at Trent Bridge in 1998 is the most famous spell of hostile fast bowling of the decade. He led South Africa's attack after their return to international cricket.
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Glenn McGrath
Born
McGrath was never express, but he landed the ball on the same spot, just short of a good length around off stump, over after over, with a little seam movement and bounce. That method took 563 Test wickets and won Australia World Cups and Ashes series. His habit of naming a target batter before a series, and getting him, shows how much was planning.
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Cathryn Fitzpatrick
Born
Fitzpatrick was widely regarded as the fastest woman bowler of her era, regularly clocked around 120 km/h, and retired as the leading wicket-taker in women's one-day internationals. She bowled a full, attacking length and led Australia's attack to two World Cup titles. Her pace changed what batters expected in the women's game and set a benchmark later quicks were measured against.
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Shoaib Akhtar
Born
The Rawalpindi Express was the first bowler officially recorded at over 100 mph, during the 2003 World Cup. His long, sprinting run-up and hyper-mobile arm produced searing pace and reverse-swinging yorkers, like the consecutive deliveries that bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar at Kolkata in 1999. Injuries made him inconsistent; at his best, he was simply terrifying.
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Jhulan Goswami
Born
Jhulan Goswami took the most wickets in women's one-day international history and bowled genuine pace with bounce from a tall frame, in a country where women fast bowlers had rarely been developed. Her 10-wicket Test haul against England at Taunton in 2006 helped India to a series win. She inspired a generation of Indian seamers and played two decades.
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Lasith Malinga
Born
Malinga's round-arm sling released the ball from a low, wide angle, which made his yorkers dip late into the base of the stumps. He took four wickets in four balls against South Africa at the 2007 World Cup and did it again in a T20 international in 2019. He is the white-ball fast bowler who proved a non-textbook action could dominate death overs for a decade.
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James Anderson (cricketer)
Born
Anderson's method was swing: conventional away-swing and in-swing with almost no change of action, and later reverse swing and wobble seam. It brought him 704 Test wickets, the most by any fast bowler, over a 21-year England career that ended in 2024. His 2010-11 Ashes in Australia, where swing is harder to find, answered the old claim that he only thrived at home.
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Dale Steyn
Born
Steyn combined real pace with late away-swing and an aggressive, attacking length, and he was effective almost everywhere, including on Asian pitches that blunt most quicks. His 7 for 51 at Nagpur in 2010, with reverse swing on a dry Indian surface, is the spell that shows his range. He held the No. 1 Test bowling ranking for a record stretch.
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Shabnim Ismail
Born
Ismail is one of the fastest bowlers in women's cricket, recorded at around 128 km/h, and spent nearly two decades leading South Africa's attack with pace, hit-the-deck bounce and a skiddy short ball. She retired from internationals as her country's leading wicket-taker in both white-ball formats. Her pace pushed batters back in a format where many seamers bowl gentler medium pace.
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Jasprit Bumrah
Born
Bumrah's short, stuttering run-up and hyper-extended, almost straight-arm release make him unlike any other fast bowler, and they let him bowl late in-swing, wobble seam and searing yorkers at pace. He took 32 wickets in the 2024-25 series in Australia and helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup. Batters struggle to pick up his release, which is the heart of his method.
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