Jeff Thomson

[smithy]

Found a couple of articles on Thommo which I thought were a great read.
Interesting in his time, they timed the bowler from the batsmans end, not the bowlers end like today.

Surely he hit the 170kmh mark.

The utube video is Thommo at his super swift best.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

So much has been written about those likely to feature in the forthcoming Ashes that it is inconceivable that anyone who takes part will not already be a known quantity.

That's not always been the case. In 1950-51 Jack Iverson took 21 wickets for 15.73 runs in five Tests. Iverson developed a peculiar method of spinning the ball, which he gripped between his thumb and middle finger which bemused England's batsmen. That series was his entire Test career. In 1954-55 Frank Tyson, who made his Test debut just before setting sail to Australia, took 28 wickets at 20.82 to effectively decide the series. And in 1974-75, Jeff Thomson was the unknown who turned a series on its head.

England set off for Australia in October 1974 buoyed by a drawn series in the Caribbean the previous winter and a summer in which they had whitewashed India and drawn with a strong Pakistan side. Under Mike Denness, they possessed a good fast-bowling attack, even though they controversially omitted John Snow, the hero of the previous tour.

Australia seemed to pose few threats. Their one known fast bowler, Dennis Lillee, was on the comeback trail after a career-threatening back injury and few thought he would be remotely as quick as he had been in the 1972 series. The England side watched him in action during a state game soon after they landed. "He was not employing the high kick and jump which he had used just before delivery," Denness noted. "Neither did he look as quick as before."

One other bowler's name had cropped up in the local media - Thomson. He was erratic but fast and with a unique action. He had played one Test, almost two years earlier, when he had taken 0 for 110. It subsequently emerged he had been bowling with a broken foot.

The tourists got a chance to see him first hand when they played Queensland. For a couple of overs he was sharp, but then he cut back and the feeling was that he was quick but wayward. "Most of us found it a little difficult to pick up the ball, because when the arm goes back the ball is hidden behind the body, and could not be seen again until just before delivery," Denness noted. "At that time we were very open-minded about the threat he posed."

What England didn't know was that Thomson was under orders from Greg Chappell, his captain. "Just **** around," Chappell told him. "Don't show the English batsmen what you can do." "I followed his instructions," Thomson admitted, "and just toyed around and bowled within myself." Even so, he let rip in the second innings after Peter Lever and Bob Willis had peppered the Queensland tail with a barrage of short stuff.

However, England were surprised when Thomson was included in the Australian side for the opening Test at Brisbane. "We never thought they'd pick Jeff," recalled David Lloyd. "We thought it was a different Thomson ... Froggy, who played for Victoria."

In the build-up to the match, Thomson upped the hype in a TV interview when he said: "I enjoy hitting a batsman more than getting him out. I like to see blood on the pitch."

The night before the match Lillee came across Thomson in the bar drinking scotch. "When I go out to bowl I want a hangover from hell," Thomson explained. "I bowl really well when I've got a headache."

When the game got underway Australia batted first, leaving Thomson in the pavilion to nurse his hangover. Towards the end of their innings Tony Greig, who could bowl briskly and generated significant lift from his 6'7" frame to trouble decent batsmen, bounced Lillee. The ball reared at his head and he could do no more than glove it to Alan Knott. "Just you remember who started this," muttered Lillee as he trooped off.

Although England were not outgunned in the first innings, largely thanks to a brilliant counterattacking hundred from Greig, they were blown away by Thomson second time round. He took 6 for 46 to give him 9 for 105 in the match. "He frightened me, and I was sitting 200 yards away," wrote Keith Miller. There was no looking back.

In the first four-and-a-half Tests Thomson took 33 wickets at 17.93 and left England battered and beaten. He seemed set to break Arthur Mailey's Australian record of 36 wickets in a series when on the rest day of the penultimate Test at Adelaide he tore muscles in his shoulder playing tennis.

By then, England's morale was in tatters. Lillee's form had increased as the series went on and Thomson's raw pace had left nerves shattered. Just how bad was it facing the two of them in an era before helmets and chest protectors.


"When I batted at Perth I didn't even wear a cap," said Lloyd. "All I had was an apology for a thigh pad." It was in that Test that Thomson struck Lloyd so hard in the groin that his protective box was turned inside out. "You didn't feel fear," he added, "but you did feel a hopelessness at times, a feeling that you couldn't cope." Denness noted Lloyd's reaction when he returned to the dressing room after one innings. "Within seconds his body was quivering. His neck and the top half of his body in particular were shaking. He was shell-shocked."

"There was no respite," added Dennis Amiss, who the previous year had set a record for the most Test runs in a calendar year but ended the tour a shadow of the batsman he was. "They were in your face the whole time."

Australia won the series 4-1 - England's sole win came in the final Test when Thomson was absent and Lillee broke down after four overs, as if to underline the impact the pair had on the rubber.

Thomson was almost as effective in the 1975 Ashes series which followed, and again in the unofficial world championship against West Indies in 1975-76 which Australia won 5-1. But in the first Test of 1976-77, again at Adelaide, he collided with Alan Turner as they both went for a catch in the deep and seriously injured his shoulder. Thereafter he was rarely as fast in anything other than occasional bursts, but he had already stamped his mark on Ashes history.

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I was a footballer, in all honesty. I used to play football professionally. So I could run all day. And I had a slow heartbeat. Playing soccer.

When they timed me around the 161Ks, that was done at the batting end. These guys today are timed at the bowlers' end. Who's standing two metres in front of a bowler facing the ball? Nobody. They're trying to make them look as quick as us. We were timed further down the pitch, where it slows down. If they had timed me out of the hand, it would have been close to 180Ks.

There were lots of scary bowlers during my time. Probably the scariest ever 20 years of bowling in history.

Chasing pigs was one way of staying fit. I liked it. I could still chase them now. I love hunting, fishing, surfing. Always been an outdoors man - don't like computers and all this garbage.

I happened to break my big toe in the lead-up to my debut Test. I thought, "Aw, it'll just go away". I wasn't worried. Went away and didn't play the rest of the season. The doc said, "Come back next summer." Unfortunately, the New South Wales selectors didn't put me in the side, so that made me angry. I was destroying people in grade cricket. It was ridiculous. I finally got a game against Greg Chappell and the Queensland guys and bowled them all out. Then NSW thought, "Oh yeah, he's back again". But I went to Queensland because I was really browned off at NSW.

Intimidation was a key factor in the way I bowled.

Cricket was something we always did. My dad was a good cricketer, but didn't have the opportunity that we had. He had to work a lot. Things changed by my time, and I was lucky that I had his ability. I bowled like my dad, my boys bowl like me. I didn't teach them; it was given.

With that action, you can bowl really quick off a couple of steps. You play in the backyard - obviously you don't have the same area as that of a cricket ground, so off a shorter run-up you develop pace.

I signed with [Kerry] Packer initially as one of the originals, but I was contracted in Queensland by a radio station. I had a 10-year contract with them, which was worth a lot more than the Packer deal. They didn't want me to go because I was going to be vice-captain of Australia. I only wanted to go because I wanted to play with my mates, the Lillees, the Chappells. I stayed with the establishment for one year. And when I got the opportunity, I got released, but they still wouldn't allow me to play World Series Cricket in Australia. I only played in the West Indies.

I knew what I could do. That's not being big-headed.

Towards the end of my career, around 1981, I got chipped around a lot by the board. I was the bad boy, so I was picked as a last resort, even if I picked up the most wickets.

Apart from that injury in the first Test, the broken foot, I wouldn't have had an injury in a cricket match - no hamstrings, no backs, no nothing - the whole deal. No injuries. So what does that tell you about my action? It's got to have had something right about it. And I bowled the quickest.

Greg Chappell was unbelievable - he was the best bloke I played with or against in my time. He was very correct, very upright, very strong on the on side, just very hard to get through - didn't give you many chances and could score quickly. Freddo (Roy Fredericks) was the best at having a little bit of time to play against me.

I could bowl a bouncer much fuller than everybody else because I could get it to sort of jump like a cobra. It was a bit of a blessing. It was the style I was given.

I always say what I think - whether that's good or bad, I don't know. Never die wondering.
I don't really believe in bowling coaches. They create all these jobs and then you've all these parasites hanging around. I'm not saying all of them are parasites, but there's a lot of bullshitters around

The people in authority are bloody people that sit on a board for a free ticket to a match, not for the good of cricket. The ICC are a waste of space. Have they ever gone through with anything they've said? They always pass the buck.

Ian Chappell was the best captain. He was just a good bloke: accepted you as you were, knew how to manipulate you to get the best out of you. He was good at getting the lesser players to perform above themselves without yelling and screaming. He's a good judge of character. Led from the front. Went out there and took all the bullets himself.

There don't seem to be any pace bowlers now. Brett Lee and Akhtar are sharp, but they are timed differently. Tait's sharp, but he seems to have lot of injuries, even if he is a big, strong young bloke. I don't know why there were so many good fast bowlers in the 1970s and so few now.

Without Dennis it would've made me work twice as hard. And it would be same for him.

I never said much. I was the quiet assassin. If you mouth off, you're losing the plot, you're not concentrating on what you are supposed to do.

Don't go out with him in the night time: that's what I learned from Dennis Lillee. I'm just joking. His determination would stand out and he was aggressive, always full-on. He would never laugh off anything.

Malcolm Marshall was the best bowler. He was not huge, released the ball late, bowled sharp, was up there, bowled pretty quick. He just got wickets everywhere, on pitches where we never did.

One of my stupid statements when I was young was: "Never turn down a request from a kid for an autograph - he might have a good-looking sister."

I didn't come in and bowl your little outswingers and all that. I came in and let you know, "Hey, this is my turf. Get out."

When I turned back from my mark, what was on my mind? The ball I was going to bowl next. Actually, when I bowled the previous ball, straightaway I knew what I would bowl next. You look at their feet, you look at their grip and you work them out.

On a rest day during the Indian tour in 1977-78, Don Bradman was around in the nets. I was bowling only legspin to him, but he had a couple of young blokes trying to get him out. With no pads, no nothing ... for a 68-year-old, he belted the hell out of them on a turf wicket. And he hadn't batted for 20 years. I went back in and said, "Why isn't this bastard playing with us tomorrow?" That's how good I thought he was.

Once Greg Chappell said to me, "I don't want to bat against you anymore." I said, "That's all right, mate, I don't want to bowl against you." He was the best man at my wedding.

It wasn't satisfying to get my 200th wicket on my last Ashes trip (1985). I got hit by Botham and I couldn't bowl properly. I struggled through that Test through the sheer fact that AB (Allan Border) had picked me and I wanted to do the job for the boys. So it didn't mean anything to get the 200th wicket - it was just another wicket.

I started with an injury and ended with an injury.

I don't want to talk about the MCG Test of the 1982 Ashes. I lost. I should've got those extra-cover runs and I didn't. The Michael Kasprowicz wicket in the 2005 Ashes (Old Trafford) was déjà vu. I said to my kids, "Ah, they are gonna win this." I should've shut my mouth.

I don't really believe in bowling coaches. They create all these jobs and then you've all these parasites hanging around. I'm not saying all of them are parasites, but there's a lot of bullshitters around. If I was a young bloke wanting to know about fast bowling, I would ask somebody who's been there and done it.

[JK]

Brilliant reading mate, Marshy must have had bloody sore hands by the time a series finished in those days

[Interceptor]

Seen it before, but great to read it again.
The quote from Keith Miller is gold and the brief story about the Bradman in the nets is a beauty.

[gadj1976]

Surely some mathematician can work out the difference in time the ball was released, versus the time the ball passed the batsman (divided by 22 yards) and work out how fast the delivery was?

SURELY!

[Interceptor]

Surely some mathematician can work out the difference in time the ball was released, versus the time the ball passed the batsman (divided by 22 yards) and work out how fast the delivery was?

SURELY!

If you look at footage of 70s era fast bowling measurements they were using high speed cameras with reference points to essentially do what you are suggesting. The accuracy would have been limited by the frame rate.

The modern technique is the radar gun of course.
How these techniques actually compare for accuracy is debatable (there are probably academic papers around).

[locky801]

See Rod Marshes face after that 3rd ball. Absolute gold

[GWW]

I'd love to see channel 9 showing some live footage of deliveries as the batsman sees it, they only really do that through slow motion.

[Adelaide Hawk]

I'd love to see channel 9 showing some live footage of deliveries as the batsman sees it, they only really do that through slow motion.

Good point. I went around behind the nets to watch Shaun Tait bowling. There were two nets and a batsman between me and Tait, and I was still flinching. It was rather scary to be honest. I really think a lot of people watching on TV would have no real appreciation of how quick these guys really bowl.

As for Thommo, quickest I've ever seen, without doubt. In the 1974-75 series v England and 1975-76 series v West Indies he bowled like the wind. After injuring his shoulder he was still able to win the quickest bowler in the world competition in Perth in the late 70s.

[Jimmy]

I'd love to see channel 9 showing some live footage of deliveries as the batsman sees it, they only really do that through slow motion.

Good point. I went around behind the nets to watch Shaun Tait bowling. There were two nets and a batsman between me and Tait, and I was still flinching. It was rather scary to be honest. I really think a lot of people watching on TV would have no real appreciation of how quick these guys really bowl.

As for Thommo, quickest I've ever seen, without doubt. In the 1974-75 series v England and 1975-76 series v West Indies he bowled like the wind. After injuring his shoulder he was still able to win the quickest bowler in the world competition in Perth in the late 70s.

In my one and only west end cup game for prossie in 02' (actually the day of the bali bombing) i was lucky enough to be at the non-strikers end vs tait. My partner tickled one to fine leg and we couldn't get a single because it went too bloody quick to the fielder. Luckily, my mate didn't get an opportunity to get a single that over, i honestly couldn't see the ******* thing. We were rolled for about 100 that day. Tait took 5 for about 10.

[am Bays]

No injuries Thommo - he actually copped a hammie one year i think in Adelaide (81-82) and does he forget that mis-communication with Alan Turner here against Pakistan in 1976??

I have highlights of all the 74-75 tests on video. When Australia played the Bangas in Darwin in 2003, the Australians trained in our gym at the NTIS. I put the first video on (the 1st three tests) and Hayden watched it whilst on the bike. As someone whose watched a bit of fast bowlers on video. All he kept saying as Thommo unleashed in the 2nd innings at Brisbane was, "F*** that's good heat" "Sh!t that's quick"

[Adelaide Hawk]

The four quickest bowlers I've seen in Australia since the mid 60s are:
1. Jeff Thomson - unquestionably the quickest and would have easily cracked 170 by today's standards.
2. Shaun Tait
3. Brett Lee
4. Dennis Lillee - prior to his back injury in 1973

You could shuffle the other three around, depending on the day, but Thommo was just a thunderbolt.

There have been others just marginally slower. There was a quick in SA back in the late 60s called Alan Frost who was very swift indeed, toured New Zealand with the Australian 2nd XI, but his career was cut short when they started playing Sheffield Shield Shield on Sundays. Wayne Prior was very quick as well.

[smithy]

The four quickest bowlers I've seen in Australia since the mid 60s are:
1. Jeff Thomson - unquestionably the quickest and would have easily cracked 170 by today's standards.
2. Shaun Tait
3. Brett Lee
4. Dennis Lillee - prior to his back injury in 1973

You could shuffle the other three around, depending on the day, but Thommo was just a thunderbolt.

There have been others just marginally slower. There was a quick in SA back in the late 60s called Alan Frost who was very swift indeed, toured New Zealand with the Australian 2nd XI, but his career was cut short when they started playing Sheffield Shield Shield on Sundays. Wayne Prior was very quick as well.

HAWK - I'm interested in your observations on a bowler called Andy Roberts.
From what I've heard he was just as swift as Thommo around the 76-78 period, and the footage of his bouncer hitting Hookesy in the jaw is definitely one sharp delivery.

[Adelaide Hawk]

HAWK - I'm interested in your observations on a bowler called Andy Roberts.
From what I've heard he was just as swift as Thommo around the 76-78 period, and the footage of his bouncer hitting Hookesy in the jaw is definitely one sharp delivery.

Andy Roberts was the first of the West Indian quick bowlers who terrorised world cricket through the 70s and the 80s. IMHO, rated alongside Malcolm Marshall as the best of the lot. He bowled with great speed, could move the ball both ways, had subtle variation of pace, and had two bouncers .. one quick, one bloody quick. That was what undid Hookesy in WSC. He'd just hit one into the stands, the next one come onto him quicker than he thought.

Andy always had that slight grin on his face, that of a smiling assassin, and I hear he worked as a grave digger in the West Idies ... how apropos

Apparently so far as pace is concerned, we never saw Andy at his quickest in Australia. I hear he was quickest around 1973 and 1974, but he didn't get here until 1975-76. By that time he was flanked by a young Michael Holding who was their quickest bowler. Roberts was around Dennis Lillee pace.

IMHO, the quickest of that group of fast bowlers in the 70s and 80s were Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall.

[Iron Fist]

I'd love to see channel 9 showing some live footage of deliveries as the batsman sees it, they only really do that through slow motion.

Good point. I went around behind the nets to watch Shaun Tait bowling. There were two nets and a batsman between me and Tait, and I was still flinching. It was rather scary to be honest. I really think a lot of people watching on TV would have no real appreciation of how quick these guys really bowl.

As for Thommo, quickest I've ever seen, without doubt. In the 1974-75 series v England and 1975-76 series v West Indies he bowled like the wind. After injuring his shoulder he was still able to win the quickest bowler in the world competition in Perth in the late 70s.

In my one and only west end cup game for prossie in 02' (actually the day of the bali bombing) i was lucky enough to be at the non-strikers end vs tait. My partner tickled one to fine leg and we couldn't get a single because it went too bloody quick to the fielder. Luckily, my mate didn't get an opportunity to get a single that over, i honestly couldn't see the ******* thing. We were rolled for about 100 that day. Tait took 5 for about 10.

I was similar, facing Weeks when iw as at Port a fair few times, he was clocked at 144km but couldnt do that consistently, so say he was bowling about 130, that was still very scary!
You dont even have time to think about what ya doin.
Facing someone like tait bowling 150+ or thommo bowling a possible 170+, i dunno what I would do
thats just ridiculous!

[JK]

HAWK - I'm interested in your observations on a bowler called Andy Roberts.
From what I've heard he was just as swift as Thommo around the 76-78 period, and the footage of his bouncer hitting Hookesy in the jaw is definitely one sharp delivery.

Andy Roberts was the first of the West Indian quick bowlers who terrorised world cricket through the 70s and the 80s. IMHO, rated alongside Malcolm Marshall as the best of the lot. He bowled with great speed, could move the ball both ways, had subtle variation of pace, and had two bouncers .. one quick, one bloody quick. That was what undid Hookesy in WSC. He'd just hit one into the stands, the next one come onto him quicker than he thought.

Andy always had that slight grin on his face, that of a smiling assassin, and I hear he worked as a grave digger in the West Idies ... how apropos

Apparently so far as pace is concerned, we never saw Andy at his quickest in Australia. I hear he was quickest around 1973 and 1974, but he didn't get here until 1975-76. By that time he was flanked by a young Michael Holding who was their quickest bowler. Roberts was around Dennis Lillee pace.

IMHO, the quickest of that group of fast bowlers in the 70s and 80s were Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall.

Awesome to reflect back on those Windies sides, so many great players went through their system in the 70's, 80's and 90's (and no doubt prior to that before my time).

Roberts, Garner, Croft, Holding, Marshall, Davis, Benjamin, Ambrose, Walsh .. Just seemed they were never short of pace and/or quality, even after retirements.

[am Bays]

I was similar, facing Weeks when iw as at Port a fair few times, he was clocked at 144km but couldnt do that consistently, so say he was bowling about 130, that was still very scary!
You dont even have time to think about what ya doin.
Facing someone like tait bowling 150+ or thommo bowling a possible 170+, i dunno what I would do
thats just ridiculous!

Yeah, its "fun" cranking up the bowling machine to 90 mph (145 km/h). It is actually appears faster out of the bowling machine as you aren't watching a hand for a ball, it just appears coming at you...

I did it one lunchtime 8 years ago when work was 500 m from the cricket oval. 70 mph, realtively easy, 80 mph bloody difficult but you get used to it after a while, however missed more than I hit by being late though. 90 mph no chance. I managed to hit a few by anticipating before it was released where the ball was going given that the machine was set to just bowl in the channel. So just pushing forward and timing it the ball would just fly off the bat - the same with edges. Christ I'd hate to face a "live" bowler who would be varying line and length at 90 mph plus. Fair dinkum you'd just kick your stumps over and walk off...

When you see quality batsmen pulling blokes who are bowling 150 km/h plus you realise just how much of a muppet you are with the bat. With me just as I finished me bat lift, the ball would be smashing into me guts....

[Iron Fist]

I was similar, facing Weeks when iw as at Port a fair few times, he was clocked at 144km but couldnt do that consistently, so say he was bowling about 130, that was still very scary!
You dont even have time to think about what ya doin.
Facing someone like tait bowling 150+ or thommo bowling a possible 170+, i dunno what I would do
thats just ridiculous!

Yeah, its "fun" cranking up the bowling machine to 90 mph (145 km/h). It is actually appears faster out of the bowling machine as you aren't watching a hand for a ball, it just appears coming at you...

I did it one lunchtime 8 years ago when work was 500 m from the cricket oval. 70 mph, realtively easy, 80 mph bloody difficult but you get used to it after a while, however missed more than I hit by being late though. 90 mph no chance. I managed to hit a few by anticipating before it was released where the ball was going given that the machine was set to just bowl in the channel. So just pushing forward and timing it the ball would just fly off the bat - the same with edges. Christ I'd hate to face a "live" bowler who would be varying line and length at 90 mph plus. Fair dinkum you'd just kick your stumps over and walk off...

When you see quality batsmen pulling blokes who are bowling 150 km/h plus you realise just how much of a muppet you are with the bat. With me just as I finished me bat lift, the ball would be smashing into me guts....

haha ive done that to
not as bad with the bowling machine as you know where its going. No where near as fun on the pitch!!
acidentlly hit my mate in the calf with it on about 85mph, he dropped like a sack of shit and the bruise was horrible. Hilarious for me at the time!

I totally agree makes u realise just how much better the blokes playing international cricket are when they are playing pulls and the like.

[jackpot jim]

It's hard to imagine that Thommo was decisively faster than the fastest bowlers from his era to today. Tait, Lee, Ahktar, Bond, Steyn, Hogg, Dizzy, Prior, all the West Indians etc bowled at extreme speeds at certain stages of their careers.
Im making this statement based on that over the decades, athletes in virtually all sports have become fitter, stronger, faster etc.
Take running & swimming in the Olympics and compare the times from the 70s thru til now.
What seemed ridiculously quick back then is rather slow now.
Look at stats from just about any sport and you'll see how much quicker everything is in the modern era.

Just saying that without decisive proof, it's hard to believe that Thommo was clearly quicker then anyone else from todays era.

[Adelaide Hawk]

It's hard to imagine that Thommo was decisively faster than the fastest bowlers from his era to today. Tait, Lee, Ahktar, Bond, Steyn, Hogg, Dizzy, Prior, all the West Indians etc bowled at extreme speeds at certain stages of their careers.
Im making this statement based on that over the decades, athletes in virtually all sports have become fitter, stronger, faster etc.
Take running & swimming in the Olympics and compare the times from the 70s thru til now.
What seemed ridiculously quick back then is rather slow now.
Look at stats from just about any sport and you'll see how much quicker everything is in the modern era.

Just saying that without decisive proof, it's hard to believe that Thommo was clearly quicker then anyone else from todays era.

Richie Benaud still rates Frank Tyson as the quickest bowler he has seen, marginally quicker than Thomson. You're saying Richie is wrong? I just wonder why nobody today can kick a football as far as Noel Pettingill and Bob Shearman used to.

[Jimmy]

Used to love putting the machine at bean ball height and listening to the thud as it hit the back of the nets, used to mess around a lot with the machine after training. Haha