England’s Pacer Jofra Archer is the talk of the town at the moment. The Barbadian-bowler rose through the ranks very quickly and has already managed to grab a lot of limelight in his short career for his blistering bowling performances. Apart from his wicket-taking skills, the pacer created a lot of buzz with his aggressive bowling style. In the second innings of the second Ashes Test, the 24-year-old bowled a ferocious bouncer to Steve Smith, which hit him in the grill and the batsman was forced to leave the ground. Steve Smith is ruled out of third Test match at Headingley with concussion after being hit Archer's ferocious bouncer at Lord's Test. In the 2019 Cricket World Cup too, Archer managed to hit the grill of Alex Carey and Hashim Amla. Glenn McGrath Is a Big Supporter of Jofra Archer, Says 'I Love What I See in the Pacer'.

Jofra’s fierce bowling style had glimpses of the lethal pace quartet of West Indies who terrorised many batsmen in the ’80s with their intimidating bowling approach. The quartet consisted of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner. Scoring runs against this bowling line-up was the second concern for the batsman, First was to reach the pavilion safely. Along with the Caribbean quartet, the Australia duo of Jeff Thompson and Dennis Lillie also haunted the batsman with their venomous bouncers. Focusing on the topic, let’s check out the 10 most fearsome bowlers in cricket history. Cricket Week Recap: From Jofra Archer's Dream Test Debut to Dimuth Karunaratne's Match-Winning Ton to Virat Kohli's Carnage, A Look At Finest Individual Performances.

Andy Roberts

The six-foot-two fast bowler was certainly a nightmare for the batsmen. The right-arm-pacer used the bouncer to good effect and has often hit the heads of the batsmen. He never let the batsman take a breather when the ball was in his hand, which made him one of the deadliest bowlers to have played the game.

Michael Holding

The 65-year-old is a familiar face in the cricket fraternity as the former is one of the most renowned commentators at the moment. But before taking the mike, the veteran was a threating fast bowler. The right-arm pacer was one of the fastest bowlers to have played the game. Holding was one of the great exponents of the short delivery, which unsettled many batsmen who faced him.

Joel Garner

Known by the name ‘Big Bird’, the former pacer was an integral part of the West Indies bowling line-up in the ’80s.  The six-foot-eight bowler was capable of ripping through any batting line up. His intimidating bowling style often increased the heartbeats of the batsmen. Short delivery was the strongest weapon in the bowler’s armoury and he certainly used it to good effect.

Malcolm Marshall

Marshall wasn’t as tall as the other West Indies' bowlers but was still a formidable force on the field. The right-arm-pacer was able to extract sheer pace and bounce from the pitch and has often rattled the batsmen with his short deliveries. The late bowler was one of the fastest bowlers who was the stuff of nightmares for many batsmen throughout his career.

Jeff Thompson

In the world dominated by the Caribbean quartet, Australia also produced some great fast bowlers. Jeff Thompson was one of them. Starting in the bouncy pitches Down Under, Jeff was an ace at bowling short deliveries and his natural pace made him one of the most threatening bowlers to reign the cricket field. The pacer used to target the body of the batsmen and has also injured many players with his rattling bouncers.

Dennis Lillee

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Thomson don’t get ya, Lillee must:” This phrase tells all the story about the two Aussie bowlers. Thomson’s partner in crime, Dennis Lillee who was also one of the most fearsome bowlers to play cricket. Lilee consistently bowled with a speed of over 145 kmph and scared batsmen throughout his career.

Shoaib Akhtar

After the introduction of helmets and other protective pieces of equipment, batsmen became more confident and less fearful while facing bowlers. And thus the threat of bouncers was also lowered. But in 1999, with Shoaib Akhtar's debut, the terror was back. Famous for bowling fastest deliveries in international cricket, the bowler has injured and sent as many as 13 batsmen off the field, which is the highest number by any bowler to date.

Shane Bond

In the cricket world dominated by the likes of Australia and India, New Zealand introduced a pace battery called Shane Bond. The tall and muscular fast bowler was gifted with sheer speed. He has had a history of tormenting the opposition batsmen with his rippers throughout his career. The bowler also hit the helmet grill of the batsmen on many occasions and thus will go down as one of the most menacing bowlers in the gentleman’s game.

Brett Lee

The Australian pacer is one of the most successful fast bowlers in international cricket. The right-arm pacer bowled with great speed and accuracy and has also hit many batsmen with his well-directed bouncer. Lee consistently bowled with over 145 kmph through his career and thus is the icon of many fast bowlers in the current generation.

Mitchell Johnson

Known for his heroics in the 2013 Ashes Down Under, Mitchell Johnson was also a scary fast bowler. He had a strong build-up and his intimidating bowling style terrorised the batsman around the world. The left-arm-pacer followed the nose and toes policy where he disturbed the batsman with a bouncer and then rattled the stumps with a Yorker.

So, these were some most fearsome fast bowlers of all time and England’s latest prodigy Jofra Archer will soon want to join the list. In the modern era, players are secured with safety equipment, which gave the batsman a breather while facing the bowlers. Despite this, Archer has managed to get the batsman down on several occasions and will to continue his reign of terror in England’s upcoming assignments as well.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 20, 2019 06:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).