Australian paceman Brett Lee was quick to offer his congratulations to Shoaib Akhtar after hearing that the Pakistani had beaten him in the race to become the first man to bowl at 100 miles per hour.

Shoaib clocked 100.04 mph (161 kph) in the third one-day international against New Zealand in Lahore.

The record will remain unofficial, however, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) does not at present recognise speeds achieved by bowlers.

"We have never kept any official records about bowling speeds," said spokesman David Clarke.

Lee, meanwhile, hailed Shoaib as a "fantastic guy"

He said: "I'm really proud of him. I'm just glad someone's done it because it's sort of the holy grail of cricket to try and achive that, and now it's been done.

Lee's fastest delivery is 97.8 mph (157.4 kph) during the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town last month.

He said flexibility and rhythm were the keys to bowling fast.

"It's a bit like a golf swing. The person who tries to go out there and hit the ball really hard, it doesn't tend to come off, but a player with a nice smooth action and a great follow through always hits the ball further," he explained.

"It's the same with bowling quick. It just comes down to rhythm and that's something I've worked on lately. It's a matter of having that oil strength but also that flexibility too."