sport news Andre van Troost - potentially the fastest bowler EVER - opens up on Big ... trends now
It is not hard for Andre van Troost to recall his instructions at Somerset. 'Stick it up 'em, let 'em have it,' he chuckles, three decades later.
'Honestly, from a tactical point of view, that was it. When I hit someone, the slip cordon loved it.'
Van Troost's story is one of cricket's most tantalising what-ifs. Born in Schiedam in South Holland, he was talent-spotted by Somerset captain Peter Roebuck at the age of 15 and was playing for the county's first team three years later.
Dutch destroyer Andre van Troost has opened up on being one of the fastest bowlers ever
He was huge, wild — and fast.
How fast? 'I reckon it was close to 100mph,' he tells Sportsmail as he looks out across Amstelveen's VRA ground, where England have been playing the Netherlands. 'I've seen the fastest bowlers and thought, well, I was up there.'
Good judges did not disagree. England's then coach Micky Stewart suggested van Troost play Test cricket. But a four-year qualification period turned into seven and his back gave way. At the age of 26, he quit the game.
He was almost certainly the fastest bowler never to play a Test match. He may even be the quickest of all time. Former England batsman Mark Butcher believes a spell Van Troost bowled at The Oval in the mid-1990s was the fastest he ever faced, suggesting it made Waqar Younis look like a medium-pacer.
Ex-England star Mark Butcher believes a spell van Troost bowled was the fastest he ever faced
'That game Butch mentioned, I reckon our wicketkeeper Rob Turner was standing halfway between the circle and sightscreen and he was still taking them up here,' says van Troost, cupping his hands in front of his face.
Then there was the moment in 1995, the summer he says everything clicked, when van Troost fractured the cheekbone of the West Indies' Jimmy Adams during a tour match at Taunton.
'He wasn't playing it too well and wasn't wearing a grille either. He ducked into a normal bouncer. As a fast bowler, you want to be intimidating, but when you hit someone it's awful.
'I visited him in hospital afterwards and the whole Windies team were around his bed when I walked in. Oh my god. But they were pretty
