Tait takes place among sultans of speed

With Shaun Tait officially retiring from all forms of the game, we've looked at where the slingy speedster from the Adelaide Hills ranks among the quickest bowlers of all time. 

While the introduction of speed guns to the sport have at times added as much controversy as clarity, at the very least they have provided us with a means by which we can measure the game's true speed freaks, and revel in their ability to crank things up a notch on any given day. 

Tait, in his pomp, was as quick as just about anyone. 

Below are the 10 fastest bowlers of all time, as rated by their respective fastest recorded deliveries. 

1) 161.3kph: Shoaib Akhtar v England in 2003 at Newlands

No less a judge than Ricky Ponting rated a spell from Shoaib Akhtar at the WACA in 1999 as the quickest he ever faced; and the Rawalpindi Express built his career on extreme speed like few before or since. Those from Pakistan will invariably rate him as the quickest of them all, and the speed gun agrees.

2) 161.1kph: Shaun Tait v England in 2010 at Lord's