the pace race between shoaib akhtar, brett lee and others in the early 2000s _ cricket news _...
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Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar
You can see me, but can you see the ball?
2002: Never before has
there been so much
competition to melt the
speed gun. By Eddie
Smith
2011: Does cricket
possess a quality that
lends itself to expression
in music more than othersports? By Sidharth
Monga
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(http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/player/42655.h
and Australia's Brett Lee
(http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/6278.ht
have been clearly the two most
devastatingly destructive bowlers in
world cricket over the last few years.
In modern times nobody else has been
closer to the elusive 100 miles per hour
mark (160.9kph).
This may have been an ultimate goal of
these two rare gems but over the past
few years an intriguing battle has
ensued as they jostle for the title as the
world's fastest bowler.
So close has the margin been between
Shoaib and Lee that they have almostgone ball for ball, speed for speed, since
Lee's emergence in December 1999.
Before this, Shoaib held the mantle as
the world's fastest bowler.
Early in 1999, Shoaib was timed at
154.5kph (96mph) in Sharjah, the same
mark that he reached against South
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Africa in Durban the previous year. In
May 1999, at the World Cup, Shoaib
proved himself the undisputed fastest
bowler in the world, by bowling at
153kph (95mph) in his opening spell
against South Africa. He then produced
the fastest ball of the tournament in the
final against Australia, once again
reaching 154.5kph (96mph).
In October 1999, the great Dennis Lillee
wrote an article for the West Australian,
suggesting the imminent arrival of a
sensational new speedster to the world
stage, a 22-year-old Australian, who at19 had been clocked at 148kph
(92mph). Although no name was
mentioned, by December 1999 the
cricketing world knew the name Brett
Lee.
In Lee's first Test match
(http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63866.html)
he ripped one down at 154.1kph
(95.77mph), signaling himself as a
genuine express bowler of rare ilk. The
two speedsters went head to head,
trading missiles throughout the
Australian summer, constantly bowling
in excess of the 150kph mark, up to andover 154kph. One wickedly brutal waist-
high full toss from Shoaib to Justin
Langer recorded a horizontal velocity of
154.2kph (95.83mph), Langer's hand
bore the brunt of the red missile.
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It was January 23, 2000
(http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65594.html)
when Lee bowled what was considered
the fastest recorded opening spell in
history. Lee was consistently between
150-154kph, with a top speed of
154.8kph, which he bowled twice. His
third and fastest over of that spell will
go down as one of the fastest overs in
history, recording speeds of 153.2kph,
152.7kph, 153.9kph, 154.1kph,
154.5kph and 154.8kph, with an
average speed of 153.9kph. But Shoaib
was to come back with some pure speed
of his own.
In the second one-day final of the 1999-
2000 season at the MCG, Shoaib
bowled an over based on raw, untamed
aggression. His fourth over recorded
the following speeds: 151.7kph,
152.2kph, 152.9kph, 154.7kph,
153.5kph and 153.1kph, the average
being 153.0kph. The two men were fast
and getting faster.
On March 28, 2000 in Sharjah
(http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65787.html),
against South Africa, Shoaib bowled a
ball which registered a phenomenal156kph (97.0mph).
In early April in South Africa, at the
climax of a gruelling international
schedule, Lee had his chance to go for
the gun and eclipse Shoaib's mark, set
two weeks earlier. Lee produced a
seemingly effortless, rhythmical
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display, netting him the same personal-
best mark of 156kph (97.0mph). Not
only was this mark reached once but
twice in the same match; however, it
was not bettered.
Both players suffered stresses and
strains associated with their speed of
bowling. Lee had operations on both
ankles, found he had the first signs of a
stress fracture in his back and, when
fielding, he blew out the elbow of his
bowling arm in an injury akin to those
suffered by baseball pitchers.
When repairing the damaged elbow,
Lee's specialist also repaired long-
standing bone damage.
Shoaib constantly seemed to be
breaking down and had no doubt been
through the most horrendous period of
his life so far. Shoaib was passed fit andready for action in December 2000 and
it was revealed by Pakistani officials that
he had bowled at a speed of 158.4kph
(98.45mph), most likely in practice. The
fast man reached incredible highs and
lows in New Zealand, bowling one of his
most devastating spells with a fastest
ball of 151kph (93.85mph), before
breaking down and ultimately being
reported by the officials.
In the second match of the tri-nation
one-day series in England, a rusty,
under-prepared Lee was a surprise
inclusion to an injury-ravaged
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Australian bowling line-up. Lee looked
weak and nervous in his return bout
and could bowl no faster than 140kph.
Meanwhile, the Rawalpindi Express
steamed in and in his first over recorded
the super fast time of 152.85kph
(95mph). But in his second over, he was
to hurl the red sphere faster than any
bowler in modern times. With the
eighth ball of his spell, Shoaib bowled a
157.2kph (97.7mph) bullet.
Akhtar now stood alone as the fastest
bowler in the world. He had just bowleda full 1.2kph faster than Lee's best of
156kph (97.0mph).
Only 3.25kph (2.02mph) now separated
the Pakistani paceman from the world
record, standing at 160.45kph
(99.72mph). A further 0.45kph
(0.28mph) past this point and Shoaibwould see a major ambition reach
fruition. The cricket equivalent of the
four-minute mile or the 10-second 100-
metre dash.
Not since December 1975 was anybody
recorded bowling that fast in match
conditions.
On that one day in Perth, Jeff Thomson
had recorded release speeds on
200/400 frames per second photosonic
cameras of 159.49kph and 160.45kph
(99.7mph), less than 0.3mph short of
the magical 100mph mark. In fact, two
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men considered in the 'fastest ever'
category, Michael Holding (148.54kph)
and Andy Roberts (150.67kph) were
both 10kph slower than Thomson on
that day and an unwell Dennis Lillee
(139.03kph) was 20kph slower. As an
interesting side point, Jeff Thomson
was also recorded by conventional radar
the following year at 160.58kph to win a
"fastest bowler" competition.
This fastest ball of modern
times was released at a speed of157.4kph. It was a short-pitchedball, so a greater amount ofkinetic energy is taken from theball when it collides with the
pitch
Lee was below his best during the
Ashes, although in the fourth Test he
did bowl a spell close to his best,
bowling both the fastest over and fastest
ball of the five-Test series. Lee's hostile
over recorded an average speed of
148.3kph and peaked at 152.4kph.
In the meantime, Shoaib was making
another comeback to the international
arena following his injuries in England.
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The wait was not long as the Rawalpindi
Express exceeded the 150kph mark
(150.7kph) in his very first over.
A mere four matches later and Shoaib
was given another forced absence as
suspicious officials reported him once
more. Ironically, Shoaib would bide his
time with Brett Lee's club side Mosman
as he waited for the process to take due
course.
While Lee and Shoaib were together on
Australia's eastern seaboard, a third
genuine "express" bowler was emergingand a legitimate threat to Shoaib's
crown. The new threat had not come
from the youngsters Mfuneko Ngam of
South Africa or Mohammad Sami of
Pakistan, as was expected, as both were
on the long road back from injury. But
another South African, a 24-year-old
peroxide blond power-pack had
materialised after spending two years in
the fast-bowling wilderness.
Back on December 10 1999, the then
fiery red-headed Mornantau Hayward
had stopped the gun at 151kph. His
speed reading against England had
stamped the 22-year-old as a 'fast man'
of the future. But over the next 22
months, Nantie battled with poor form
and injury which kept his speeds down
mostly to the 130s (kph) and low 140s
(kph).
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In 2001 against Kenya, Hayward
bowled a shock 152kph to the hapless
Kenyans in a one-day international in
South Africa. A few days later Hayward
bowled a spell
(http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/66107.html)
to Sachin Tendulkar which had the
Little Master in all sorts of trouble.
In the first Test against India, Hayward
bowled the ball that would indelibly
stamp him into express bowling's "big
three".
He produced a 154.4kph blinder. Hisfastest delivery and faster than Lee had
bowled in 18 months.
In the third Test against New Zealand
Lee rejoined the pace race. He bowled
three stand-out balls in the match, two
of them measuring 153kph and one
touching in at 154.5kph. That was fasterthan he had bowled in Australia since
his debut season in 1999-2000, only
1.5kph from his fastest ball and more
importantly 0.1kph faster than
Hayward's personal best set the
previous month.
In the first South African Test in
Adelaide, Hayward shocked both
commentators and fans alike with his
new-found pace.
In the second Test, Lee was back in the
express lane again, bowling in the high
140s on occasion and breaking the
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150kph barrier.
When the South African captain finally
let Hayward loose for a long spell he
came out swinging. He notched up
speeds of 150.2kph and 150.1kph twice
in a torrid spell. He was in the 150kph
zone for the first time on Australian
soil, but one ball in the middle of the
spell was of special significance.
Hayward bowled a ball to Steve Waugh
which came in at 154.3kph, just 0.2kph
under Lee's fastest ball and only 0.1kph
below his own quickest. Of particularnote was that the ball was bowled to
Steve Waugh and that Waugh came
within a whisker of playing on as did
Sachin Tendulkar.
Lee stopped the gun at the 150.5kph
mark in the second innings of the third
Test. But a new challenger was yet toemerge.
During the one-day international tri-
series to follow, Shane Bond of New
Zealand emerged from the pack.
In Bond's first two Tests, he notched
top speeds of 142.3kph and 146.2kph,
and then headed home to terrorise the
hapless Bangladeshis. He returned to
Australia as a fully-fledged and
confident speedster.
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Bond not only proved to be the best
bowler of the tri-series series to follow
in Australia, he often pushed Lee for
the title of the fastest.
Lee's fastest ball of the summer came
on January 11, 2002 against New
Zealand, the ball registering 154.6kph.
Just 0.1kph faster than the ball in Perth
and once again, his fastest since the
156kph balls in April 2000.
On January 26, Bond joined the "big
three" in the 150kph club. During one
of the most devastating spells you'relikely to see in one-day cricket, Bond
bowled over Adam Gilchrist with a
151.2kph rip-snorter of a yorker.
Hayward's ankle injury gave a boost to
another young paceman as Makhaya
Ntini took over the reins as the No. 1
South African fast man. Ntini aspired tojoin the express pacemen's club and was
constantly up around the high 140s
(kph).
Ntini reached a pace peak in Australia
towards the end of his tour, clocking up
149.7kph and joined the likes of Bond,
Shoaib, Lee and Hayward. Just a few
weeks later back home in South Africa
he released a 151.4kph projectile on
February 22 2002.
In just a few short months, the
exclusive club of two had grown to five
and still there was another to come.
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On the first day of the second Test in
South Africa, Lee blew away these
newcomers with a 157.4kph rocket. The
ball in question was called a no-ball but
this does not affect the speed of the
ball's release and thus the speed was to
stand as the new benchmark. Lee also
bowled a legal ball recorded at 157.3kph
by the EDH company's speed recording
devices and one in the third Test came
in at 156.2kph.
His two fastest balls had eclipsed
Shoaib's 157.2kph, recorded the
previous June against Australia and Leewas now No 1. But while Lee should
have been basking in the glory of his
fastest ball, the media as a whole chose
to concentrate on some off-hand
remark by wicketkeeper and Australian
team-mate Adam Gilchrist.
Gilchrist had chosen to rain on Lee's
parade when he called into question the
accuracy of the EDH speed guns. What
Gilchrist failed to acknowledge was that
the EDH guns actually track the ball
through the air, giving an actual ball
velocity at the time of release by the
bowler and not when the ball smacksinto his gloves some 40 or more metres
away.
This fastest ball of modern times was
released at a speed of 157.4kph. It was a
short-pitched ball so a greater amount
of kinetic energy is taken from the ball
when it collides with the pitch. Such
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AFP
Brett Lee: the need for speed comes at a painful price
On April 12, Shoaib was to shock the
world with his new found pace. Bowling
with pace like fire, he clocked in at
159.5kph and with another ball of
157.4kph just for good measure. Shoaib
had just blown Lee's 157.4kph out of
the water in an inspired burst.
On April 17, Shoaib proved that his fast
times were no fluke, recording speeds of
159kph and 158.4kph.
In the first of three one-day
internationals against New Zealand, the
show which Shoaib put on can only be
described as phenomenal. Shoaib took
six wickets for 16 runs, clean-bowling
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four New Zealand batsmen and
breaking a stump when Andre Adams
had trouble connecting with the ball.
Shoaib had done it again as he sent a
missile down at 159.9kph.
He was a mere 1.1kph shy of bursting
through the 100-miles-per-hour barrier
(160.9344kph) and half a kph or so
away from Jeff Thomson's world-record
160.45kph recorded during the 1975
Perth Test. During the third and final
one-dayer, Shoaib was to finally go
where no man had gone before.
On April 27, Shoaib burst through the
100 miles-per hour (160.9344kph)
barrier with a ball registering 161kph on
a speed gun operated in the ground by a
sponsor. The US-made Stalker radar
gun was run by the high-tech firm
Cybernet. The EDH radar however wasinoperative at the time and this caused
much confusion as to whether the time
would stand. Shoaib also clocked
160kph on the Stalker device and
159.8kph on the EDH device when it
was operational. The 161kph ball was
the sixth ball of Shoaib's second over
whilst Craig McMillan was facing.
Shoaib can now lay claim to being the
"Hundred Miles Per Hour Man", but
only unofficially. The ICC has declined
to make Shoaib's 161kph officially
recognised, but this is not surprising as
there is no policy in place to recognise
bowling speeds.
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