Jeff Thomson, one of the fastest bowlers ever.

Jeff Thomson bowling I

Jeff Thomson bowling II

Jeff Thomson was one of the fastest bowlers to have played Test cricket. With an unusual slinging action, and an aggressive approach, he was a fearsome sight to batsmen. He debuted against Pakistan in 1972-73, but hampered by a broken bone in his foot (which he hid from the selectors) was ineffective. Recalled in 1974-5, and forming a partnership with Dennis Lillee, he terrorised the England tourists with consistent spells of extreme fast bowling, taking 33 wickets in the series. His action put considerable stress on his body, particularly his right shoulder, and he was rarely fit enough to reach those peaks again. He adapted his methods, relying less on pure pace, and more on an excellent cutter, and seam and swing. He was always capable of unleashing a very fast bouncer that would skid and follow the batsman from only just short of a length. He remained with the Australian side when many left to join the Packer circus in 1977, and carried their attack through two series against England and India, but left to join WSC shortly afterwards. A capable fielder, and a lower order batsman who could hit, he was frequently heard on radio commentary during the 1997 Ashes series. 

Competing in a 1978 fast bowling contest that included many of the leading bowlers in the world, Thomson came first with a delivery clocked at 147.9 km/h, ahead of Michael Holding (141.3 km/h) and Imran Khan (139.7 km/h). In 1975 during a test match, he was timed using high-speed cameras at 160.45 km/h; the following year he was timed at 160.58 km/h using conventional radar. Australian wicket-keeper Rod Marsh kept wicket to Thomson for most of his Test career and claimed that Thomson bowled upwards of 180 km/h. Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd regards Thomson as the fastest bowler he has ever seen. Thomson himself noted that he had been timed at the batsman’s end of the pitch (by which time the ball has slowed) and believes had he been timed out of the hand he would have been closer to 180km/h.

Perhaps the greatest indicators of Thomson’s extreme pace are reports of his actually hitting the sight-screen after first bounce on the pitch. These incidents were reported when he was at his fastest between 1972 and 1976, long before boundary ropes were pulled in in the 1990s. Such instances lend credence to a commonly held belief that he might have indeed hit 180 km/h at his fastest, which is significantly quicker than anything the game has seen since the era of the 1970s and 1980s. Reports of this occurrence, which is termed ’six byes’, have come very rarely in the past, the most famous being the cases of Charles Kortright, Frank Tyson and Roy Gilchrist

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