- Who
- Mitchell Starc
- What
- 160.4 kilometre(s) per hour
- Where
- Australia (Perth)
- When
Australia's Mitchell Starc delivered a ball at 160.4 km/h (99.66 mph) during a Test match between Australia and New Zealand at the WACA in Perth, Australia, on 15 November 2015. The left-armer's yorker was defended by New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, who weathered the storm and went on to make 290 – the highest Test score by a visiting batsman in Australia.
Starc is only the fourth bowler – after Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan, 2003; see below), Brett Lee (Australia, 2005) and Shaun Tait (Australia, 2010) – to achieve a bowling speed of 160 km/h (99.41 mph) or more in the history of international cricket. Australia's Jeff Thomson is reported to have delivered balls in excess of 160 km/h at net sessions in the mid-1970s, and has claimed he was "close to 180 km/h" (111.84 mph) when the ball left his hand.
The fastest delivery recorded in all three formats of international cricket (Test/One-Day International/Twenty20) was 161.3 km/h (100.22 mph), clocked by Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan against England during a World Cup match (One-Day International) at Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa, on 22 February 2003.
Starc's rapid delivery was the fourth ball of his 21st over. The opening bowler finished with figures of 4 for 119 from 37 overs as New Zealand racked up 624 runs in their first innings.
Nick Mulvenney, Reuters: "The recording of the speed of deliveries is a relatively recent development in the long history of cricket and an inexact science given the lack of uniformity in the speed-gun technology utilized."
