SYDNEY: Cricketing world went in an ‘aaaww’ when a normal-looking delivery from Australia paceman Josh Hazlewood was clocked at 164km/h on day four of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
It’s highly unlikely Hazlewood actually sent down the fastest ball ever recorded, as preceding and succeeding ball in question were measured at 133km/h and 134km/h respectively.
There is precedent when it comes to events like this, with New Zealand seamer Neil Wagner clocked at 160km/h when he sent down a yorker during a Test against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
Sky Sports NZ later attributed the incorrect speed to a low-moving projective – possibly a seagull.
Perhaps that is the explanation for Hazlewood’s surprise reading, which made many television viewers do a double take when the measurement from the speed gun popped onto the screen during Channel 9’s coverage.
The commentators seemed oblivious to the statistical anomaly, and in fact went on to talk about how Hazlewood’s pace had dropped over the course of the match.
Marsh’s injured teammate Mitchell Starc was clocked at 160.4km/h during the Test series against New Zealand, a reading that was more believable as the left-armer had already sent down several deliveries above 150km/h.
However Black Caps batting coach Craig McMillan poured cold water on the fanfare, saying, “I don’t know, maybe someone in the truck was having a bit of fun but that delivery came out of nowhere and looked pretty similar to a lot of deliveries throughout the day that were closer to 150 than 160.”
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