Top 5 greatest fast bowlers of all time

1. Dennis Lillee (Australia)

Dennis Lillee

Dennis Lillee remains the benchmark for fast-bowling excellence till date. He was eulogized and idolized by his contemporaries and followers alike. Marshall described him as the greatest fast bowler of all time, Hadlee idolized him and another fellow great Imran Khan also thought him to be incomparable. He quite literally remains the Godfather of all fast bowlers.

Lillee took 355 test wickets in only 70 matches at an average below 24. He also had an outstanding strike rate of 48 and was the first fast bowler to cross the 350 wickets mark. Lillee played in only 63 ODIs and took 103 wickets at an economy rate of 3.6. But mere stats cannot do justice to his phenomenal effect on the game. He formed a legendary partnership with fellow Aussie pacer Jeff Thompson and the pair tormented all the other test playing nations, especially arch rivals England.

Lillee had a beautiful outswinger and a very effective inswinger. He was a great proponent of seam bowling and had a deadly bouncer. He was a tearaway fast bowler in the initial days of his career but became a very intelligent bowler in course of time. He developed great accuracy and versatility as his career progressed and had become a master of his trade in course of time. He reduced his run-up and started flummoxing the batsmen with his craftiness. Lillee could also bowl a very nice cutter which made him very effective with the old ball. He was a complete package and remains the epitome of fast-bowling greatness.