After Ben Stokes, Mark Butcher claims Mark Wood can bowl a 100mph thunderbolt in Test Cricket

Former England cricketer Mark Butcher talked about the possibility of Mark Wood going past the 100 miles an hour mark in Test cricket. He said that it was possible because the fast bowler was bowling around 90 miles in the last Test against the West Indies National Cricket Team.

England speedster Mark Wood has looked in an angry mood in the ongoing Test series against West Indies National Cricket Team. The pacer has been bowling thunderbolts which had made West Indies batters look clueless and save their bodies from the fast bowling.

In the second Test against West Indies, Mark Wood reached a top speed of 97.1 mph which was the fastest delivery in a Test match in England. The pacer bowled scary short balls as well and made the batters dance to his tunes with his fiery bowling, helping his team win the game by a massive margin.

Mark Wood, with the kind of fast deliveries that he has been bowling, would be key for England in the last game. Even skipper Ben Stokes backed the fast bowler to breach the 100mph mark. Currently, the fastest ball in the longest format belongs to Mitchell Starc, who clocked 99.6 mph (160.3km/h) against New Zealand in 2015.

Mark Butcher believes that Mark Wood can go past 100 miles but points out that he will need some things to go in his favor. He highlighted that the fast bowler is in a good rhythm and he might bowl over the 100mph mark. Speaking to Sky Sports, he explained:

"It's possible, yeah. I mean, you need lots of things in your favour at the time, you know, the right sort of weather, maybe the wind in the right place, him being in fabulous rhythm once again, which you wouldn't put past him because he was purring last week. His looseners were 90 miles an hour and over. So yeah, of course, it could happen."

I remember watching it. Shoaib Akhtar break the 100 miles an hour mark - Mark Butcher

Mark Butcher further recalled how Shoaib Akhtar bowled over 100 miles to Nick Knight in the World Cup game, and everyone in England's dressing room went nuts. Highlighting this he also backed Mark Wood to break the record. He explained:

"I remember watching. Shoaib Akhtar breaks the 100 miles an hour mark. It was the most underwhelming thing I think I'd ever seen. He ran into Nick Knight in the World Cup game, I think in Johannesburg on the high Belt.

"It came up as 100 miles an hour on the board. Everyone went nuts. Nick Knight just calmly played it off his hip for one to square leg. It was just like nothing happened whatsoever, but it can be done."

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar holds the record for the fastest ball in Cricket. He clocked 161.2 km/h delivery against England in 2003. Shaun Tait also delivered a ball at 100 mph.