A select group of bowlers rely on pace to dismiss hapless batsmen. The best of them put fear into batsmen- fear of being dismissed and even fear for their lives and well-being. Most importantly, the best fast bowlers often destroyed batting line-ups- even on unresponsive pitches. There were many good fast bowlers but a few of them bowled with the belief that good was the enemy of great. The top 5 in cricket history- all legendary fast bowlers- had genuine pace, skill, guile and many wickets to show for it.
1) Glenn McGrath (Australia)
As the leading fast bowler on the all-time Test wicket-takers list (563 wickets), Glenn McGrath is indisputably one of the best. At his prime, he hustled batsmen and had the ability to generate discomforting bounce- even from a good length. Later in his career, his pace dropped to fast-medium but his guile remained.
Although McGrath was never the fastest ever, he was always able to trouble many top batsmen with the new and old ball. To his credit, he always wanted to bowl to the best batsmen. His frequent victims included easily recognizable batting juggernauts like Mike Atherton (19 times), Brian Lara (15 times) and Sachin Tendulkar (6 times).
2) Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)
Richard Hadlee was not only New Zealand's premier fast bowler of the 80s; he was one of the best fast bowlers in cricket history. His phenomenal Test returns of 431 wickets from only 86 Tests single-handedly turned an average New Zealand team into a competitive outfit. Hadlee also took an amazing 36 five-wicket innings hauls and nine 10-wicket match hauls in Tests.
Hadlee started as a young tearaway fast bowler but developed into a wily bowler. The problem for batsmen was that Hadlee maintained his pace throughout. He was able to generate bounce and movement from almost any surface. Hadlee even took wickets on the most unresponsive pitches- as his 68 Test wickets from 13 matches on the unresponsive pitches of the Asian continent clearly illustrate.
3) Waqar Younis (Pakistan)
Waqar Younis put the swing and swerve back into fast bowling in the early 90s. It was his signature late in-swinging Yorkers that brought him many of his 373 Test wickets from only 87 matches. In the early 90s, Waqar was as fast as they came and arguably the most lethal. At the time of writing, Waqar's Test bowling strike rate of 43.4 is the seventh best career strike rate in cricket history. To put that in perspective, Waqar played 87 Tests while the six cricketers above him have 119 matches between them. Even the flat sub-continental pitches on which he regularly bowled failed to blunt Waqar's effectiveness.
4) Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)
With a whippy action, this West Indian great was one of the fastest of his generation. Malcolm Marshall was highly rated by all batsmen who faced him- including Indian batting legend, Sunil Gavaskar. His wicket-taking ability and frightening pace made him the most feared of the imposing West Indian pace attack. Malcolm Marshall's Test bowling strike rate of 46.7 puts him in the fast bowling stratosphere. So devastating was this West Indian legend that he could even take wickets bowling with his non-bowling arm wrapped in a cast- as he famously did against England in 1984.
5) Dennis Lillee (Australia)
Dennis Lillee's and Jeff Thompson formed a tremendous fast bowling partnership for Australia in the 1970s. At his prime, Lillee was frighteningly fast and crippled batting line-ups on several occasions. There was hardly a better sight in cricket than to see the stocky Lillee charging to the crease, cheered on by an expectant, vociferous Australian crowd. He was the fastest bowler to reach 300 Test wickets (by matches). Lillee's aggregate of 355 wickets from only 70 Tests- once the record for most Test wickets- justify his fast-bowling ability.
The best fast bowlers in cricket history were not necessarily the fastest. Their legendary status owes to how they fused pace with skill and guile to dismiss the opposition.