Top ten fastest bowlers in modern history

Andy Roberts

4. Andy Roberts (West Indies)

Part of the famed West Indian pace quartet from the mid-seventies to the early eighties (along with Holding, Garner and Colin Croft, later Malcolm Marshall), the giant fast bowler from Antigua was deceptive in addition to being very quick. Roberts bowled in tandem with Holding in 33 Test matches, and the Antiguan had a devastating effect on opposition batsmen around the globe in both formats of the game.

He used to bowl two bouncers – the first one slow in pace, lulling the batsman into a false sense of security, and then came the second one; similar to the first but bowled at extreme speeds. The batsman would try to repeat the earlier scoring shot, but be shocked at the extra bounce and eventually lose his wicket.

Since his retirement from international cricket (after having won the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979), Roberts has chiefly served as a cricket administrator, and even mentored Indian left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan in 2006. He was also the first Antiguan to play Test cricket, and was followed by many other luminaries including Viv Richards, Richie Richardson and Curtly Ambrose.