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That ball shoots from the bowler’s grip following a graceful motion. Supple yet powerful arms and legs moving together, it is so easy on the eye that it’s almost hypnotic. The loping, fluid approach into the bowling crease, hip alignment almost connected to stumps on the bowler’s end. High elbow and swiftly turning shoulder passing the brim of the umpire’s hat by just a millimetre. It is released and the spectators and batsman pause.

“It was thrilling, there was a gasp or a cheer every single inning,” remarked Jofra Archer following his destructive spell of fast bowling which left South Africa’s top order in disarray. The home side achieved a record 342-run victory, the bowler ending taking four wickets. At one point, his figures were four wickets for only a handful of runs, but this was one of those displays in which statistics didn’t even registered.

Many claim but exists something special about seeing a fast bowler at peak performance, top speed. Perhaps especially today, with bat increasingly overpowering ball across the game, with batters peppering the stands celebrating, record totals being laid waste and even teenage talents making their mark internationally. That’s why an enjoyable recalibration witnessing perennially six-smiting batters “dismissed”; even better to witness them hopping around the crease as if in a beer garden that’s accidentally trod on a spaniel’s tail. Watch as it whistles by their face, deviates past the edge or speeds dangerously near the wicket it might murmur taunts into the bail groove as it passes to reach the wicketkeeper.

His performance built excitement and gave memories. Many England fans’ minds would have fast-forwarded ahead to Perth for the opening match. The idea of seeing him down under, back to his best after more than half a decade of debilitating setbacks and rehab, dominating through the Aussie batting card. It doesn’t just quicken the pulse it makes it heart-racing. Take that perfect delivery from comeback Test amplify it tenfold.

Some might have been recalled his bowling against the batsman at Lord’s during the series and one of the most visceral periods pace bowling ever seen. Even when both men have hung up their shoes, that segment of cricket shall be remembered. couldn’t tell you what Archer’s figures were or the runs Smith made, this was a spells that elevates and embeds above most others, leaving the numbers or the end result of the match irrelevant.

Recall a wild-eyed and zinc-lipped Allan Donald to a wide-eyed the batsman at Trent Bridge back then. Or, sticking with the rivalry narrative, the all-rounder thundering in as a blond, determined force against the legend in Birmingham 10 years later. The latter usually appeared to be made of granite but, in those few overs of pressure from Flintoff, temporarily looked like something more like fragile.

That Flintoff spell left its mark on another young fast bowler destined for greatness. Young Dale Steyn participated in his first Test tour of England, a broken thumb sustained early on left him an onlooker at the ground. “Among clearest recollections,” recalls the bowler. “The crowd were just electric I’d never experienced anything like it. They were roaring Flintoff to the crease everything seemed legendary. I desired a piece of that myself. The drama and intensity. Seeing that was truly unique and for me defines the sport at its best.”

“During those peak moments, everything is effortless. Your approach, you’re following through. Everything feels perfect and there’s no strain physically. It’s just flowing out.”

Most of us will never get close to anything like it, raising the question – what does it feel like to be a paceman during such a phase, when everything clicks, the ball is on a string and the batter may as well be in your command? “It just happens” was the extent of explanation Ian Botham got attempting describe those instances he entered a purple patch.

“Incredible!” Fortunately, ex- England fast bowler the athlete is less equivocal. “During at your best, all is smooth. Your run-in, you’re following through. It all seems right with no strain on the body. It’s simply natural. Really, those moments, it’s, you know, simply …”

Malcolm is briefly immersed in a moment of reverie. Perhaps it is difficult to describe this stuff in the end.

“I will say this,” he continues after a second or two. “Those performances, those golden days, compensate for all the times when you wake up and can’t get out of bed, when everything aches. So you earn them therefore. All the catches are taken, every appeal are given, fans are behind you and it seems like it’s your time to shine.”

Steyn retired in 2021; an avid skater, surfer and fisher, finds excitement elsewhere than pace attacks these days. He has also just become a father newly. His head sleeps weary yet satisfied every night, yet one sensation he misses.

“It feels like a primal thing almost. You sense like you have this immense power during those spells. You perceive the fear and the thrill and you know you are the reason for it.”

Additionally in detail: “There’s this moment when the ball leaves your fingers, you know it since it’s been released so many times, I can picture it … as it completely exits your grip right at the end, you feel your finger brush the stitching and it lets go, mentally you realize immediately that it’s a good ball, that it’s almost certain result in a wicket. That’s the feeling I yearn for.”