@@rajeshchahal5183Provide the OFFICIAL references to this great bowler being a chucker. QUALIFIED Officials, and not keyboard warriors, who police the game for bowling actions NEVER listed Thommo.
Even after all these years, I don't think I've seen a faster bowler than Jeff Thompson. Seen Shaoib, Brett Lee, Mark Wood, Joffra. But nobody got that pace off the pitch like Thommo. He was lethal.
Rubbish ! In every sports, records get broken....the latest generation of athletes can run faster, jump higher etc - same applies to cricket. Older generations love to stick to "oh in my time..." its all bullshit!
@@anirudhsuresh4481 Correct. if you can find the vision I mention above I believe Thommo was very close to what Shaoib, Tait and Lee (THE three fastest recorded OFFICIALLY) have since registered on radar. From memory there might have been as much as 2mph in it but consider Thommo's was measured using another technique. Our commenter is "miles out" for thinking there was that much difference. Also, helmets were not an option at this stage given the first on in Test cricket was in 1978 (Graeme Yallop, Australia)
Thomo from one end, Lillee from the other. The poor buggers had no escape. The WACA was a fast bowlers paradise and these two played havoc with all but the bravest.
@mikedawe692 - Roy Fredericks hit 169 off 145 balls at the WACA Dec 1975. No escape for Thommo or Lillee that day. A rare occasion indeed. I recall reading a yarn (I have no idea whether it's true or not) about ABC sports' Jim Maxwell interviewing Sir Donald Bradman after Andy Roberts had blown the Aussies away at the end of that test. "So tell me, Sir Don" asked jovial Jim "you averaged 99 against Larwood and co, how many do you think you'd have averaged against these fellas?". Sir Don reckoned "about 50 or 60". "Surely Sir Don" said Jim "you're being a little bit modest?" "Well" Sir Don replied "I am almost 70 years old".
Thommo was never the same after December 1976, when he collided with Alan Turner and broke his shoulder. After that, he was about he same as Michael Holding but with more lift. But before that injury -my goodness, he could be terrifying. Remember, he was only ever clocked in a Test match once (and this was without his knowledge) but using the same methods as today - the speed 99.75 mph (160 klm) in December 1975 in Perth. I am sure he often bowled considerably faster than that ! At his peak, the most thrilling site in cricket.
The speeds measured today and since around 1979 are done using a radar beam an from the bowler's release point.. This followed the development of the device as used in MLB a season or two earlier. You will find an article on YT made by Aussie TV in Perth in 1979 called "World's Fastest Bowler competition"
@@flamingfrancis ignorant comment. Uni of WA with ACB permission in the test match. Equipment was radar gun and grid - just like today. Some of the ignorant and ill informed guesses on UA-cam are very annoying. The point about Thomson not knowing was that he was just bowling normally. The University Paper has a list of his speeds. From memory, more than thirty delivieres he bowled that day exceeded 155 klm per hr.
@@Beazle00 And from what I remember , they were timing those balls at the batsman's end, not from the hand as is done today. Thommo was regularly over 160KMH until his shoulder injury. My father actually sold a boat to Jeff in the mid 70's....
Story told by Steve Small, who captained Mosman Grade side in Sydney. They played Bankstown one Saturday arvo on a green top. Thommo bowling just out of high school. There was an ambo parked in the parking lot. Say no more. As Clive Lloyd said, "No-one bowled faster than Thommo, no-one!"
Jeff Thompson is probably the fastest bowler of the last 50 years, probably of all time. He only had a few deliveries timed and topped 160km, whereas the likes of Brett Lee, Shoib Achtar and Shaun Tait literally had thousands of deliveries radar checked to find a handful of deliveries topping Thompson's.
That delivery to Keith Fletcher is the fastest ball I’ve seen on TV. Thomson was ridiculously quick. You have to feel for the batsmen who had very little protection.
@@anirudhsuresh4481to Keith Fletcher at one minute forty eight seconds. Unbelievable speed. Marsh jumps to take the ball which lifted alarmingly off a length.
@@anirudhsuresh4481 watched them all mate and there all rapid. Great video and thank you for uploading. Guess that ball to Fletcher is the one for me. Just something about it. Think it’s because Thomson didn’t bang it in, he just let it go and through the air onto a good length and it reered up and literally went like a tracer bullet to Marsh. Look at Fletcher’s reaction after looking at Marsh he can barely believe it. Biggest compliment I’ve ever heard given to Thommo was from Michael Holding who said in 1975/6 Thomson could have hit him at any time he chose.
@@vantheman1238 yes,Tomson was incredibly fast but sadly he got injured in 1978 and lost lot of his pace otherwise he would have bowled many more 100mph+ deliveries for sure
For all those claiming others are/were quicker than Thommo I think they may have been as quick, but Thomson bowled very fast all the time up to his injury. That combined with his unique action enabling extraordinary lift off almost a good length made him lethal. Additionally, Mike Brearley told me personally that nobody talks about the fact that Thommo hid the ball from the batter during the delivery stride (watch - it's his javelin action and he holds the ball behind him and compare to pretty much every other bowler), which you might think doesn't matter much but he said seeing the ball in the usual windmill action somehow enabled you to get your feet moving in time, whereas with Thommo hiding it, it made you late. You see this very clearly in the video v Fletcher and Knott.
When I was about 12 and started playing in the Under 14s, I tried to copy him and got a lot of wickets until I hurt my back. The coach said it was that action that put too much strain on my back. So when I came back the following year I changed to a more front on action. The amount of strain that put on his abdominals and side makes him a freak to be able to do that as long as he did.
Such a good comment. I have seen that Brett Lee on average was more consistent with pace compared to Sohaibh Akhtar as per speed machine. However, once Sehwag and Sachin were asked who was quicker. Sehwag said Sohaibh and also attributed to his bowling action where side-on style of Sohaibh hided the bowl longer than open chested of Brett Lee. It easily creates difference of fraction of a second.
I once asked someone who played cricket both with and against Thommo how fast he was, his response was "Well if you ask Thommo he'd tell you he got up to 180km/h, I'm not sure thats true, but I have no doubt he crossed 170km/h."
This was without a doubt the golden age of cricket. The modern game doesn't hold a candle to these guys. All the major cricketing countries had awesome players with awesome character. I count myself lucky to witness first hand matches by Australia, England, West Indies, India and Pakistan, unfortunately South Africa was banned due to political reasons but they also had a handy capable team.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s, Thompson for me was the quickest then very closely followed by three or four WI wrecking machines in their own right (Roberts, Holding and Marshall).
When you have the West Indies batsman saying that Thomo was the fastest bowler they ever faced is the measure. They'd play their domestic cricket against their own fast bowlers.
Much of it is post the Allan Turner collision - after which he could still bowl really quick but only in short bursts. In the two series - England in 74/5 and WI a year later, it's relentless. It must have been terrifying as a batsman, even an experienced one will not have come across anything like it.
The delivery at 2 minutes 50 seconds in video is beautiful to hear how hard it hit Rod Marsh gloves as the keeper. The pace it is reaching the keeper is crazy good.
The pace that Thomo reached from only 14-16 paces compared to the bowlers of today who take closer to 20 paces is unbelievable....Proper speed recording had it been available would of put his speed OVER 100mph....
That 74/75 series, Thommo and Lillee brought England to their knees and had no answer. They were both injured for the last test and didnt play and England made over 500 runs and won by an innings. Says it all.
@@melthoidserendipity1332 Still means your claim of "didn't play" is wrong". And the fact that Australia was down a bowler and didn't have a replacement for Lillee means it doesn't "say it all".
@@godfreypigott My point of Lillee and Thomson dominating England (and the West Indies) is not wrong. Without the two of them the series at best would have been a lot closer. Australia didn't have any other fast bowlers in their class. They made England look ordinary and as soon as they disappeared from the scene England dominated Australia. I watched the entire series. No one had seen anything like Jeff Thomson. Even England's best fast bowler John Snow was pedestrian in comparison. Australia would not have had the capability of bowling England out cheaply without those two bowlers
@@melthoidserendipity1332 You claim to have watched the series yet believe John Snow was playing. (He was probably off eradicating cholera or joining the Night's Watch.)
What I find interesting is that nobody has attempted to reproduce it, and no coach has ever recommended it. Lots of wannabe Dennis Lilley's out there. Lots of imitation Michael Holding's. But nobody has come along to the top levels of cricket with a wannabe Thommo action.
@@anirudhsuresh4481 I imagine you would need very broad shoulders to be able to bowl like Thommo. Otherwise the rotator-cuff would inflame, and that'd be the end of you for the rest of the match.
Watching this video closely , from when the ball leaves Thommos hand to when it slams into Rod Marshes gloves ,often at full reach above his head with the ball still lifting . It is only a split second .Those balls must of been incredibly fast .Thommo was a freak , a genuine human sling shot.
Many tried to copy his bowling action , especially at grade cricket level with some success, but Jeff's bowling action was pure for him only because when he was a teenager he was a javelin athletic, hence his bowling action
@@davidcollins7739 Oh, he had courage. Dennis Amiss was a very courageous batsman indeed. I well remember his being recalled to test cricket in 1976 to face a West Indian fast bowling trio that was slaughtering the England team. He realized that they were just too quick for the conditions, so he completely changed his stance: he became quite chest-on - helping him to play the rising ball down the leg side -but it meant he couldn't duck the bouncer. He'd just have to take it on the body. He scored 203, and was covered in bruises.
@@johnreynolds7996 Yes I remember that too. All the batsmen were tremendously courageous - Edrich, Boycott, Close, Lloyd etc etc. Amiss was a class player I remember before the World Cup in 1974 he was promoted as follows "in form, he is among the top 10 batsmen in the world". True. Even Thommo stated that Amiss was "a pretty good bat."
5:15 That will wake you up. Put one past his nose to say hello. It looks so natural...almost like he's got a bit extra in him if he truly wanted to let it rip.
A beautiful approach and then he just went " WANG". There's quick and then there's Thomo, imagine being able to scare batsman you bowled to. Frightening pace.
The great fast bowlers hunted in pairs. Lillee and Thomson, Truman and Tyson. The West Indies had four great quicks at the same time. It gave the batsmen no chance to relax. Relentless pace meant the slightest lapse and you were gone.
I'm English but it matters not. The two fast bowlers I've loved watching the most were Thommo and Michael Holding. Holding was grace personnified, effortless style. Thommo made it look effortless but with that truly unique style of his. His speed was, they say, generated by the longer amount of time the ball was in movement in his hand whilst releasing it.
I spent numerous days at the SCG during both 74/75 and 75/76 series, watching from the Pat Hills stand eg side on. Holding was lightning fast and Lillee was frightening, but Thommo is the fastest bowler to ever play test cricket, daylight second. I really felt sorry for the batsmen, even the great ones like Viv & co.
@@tryarunm mate no I never had the privilege of watching Gavaskar play live. He was an outstanding batsman who would be world class even today for sure. 👍
To get an idea how quick Jeff Thomson was, you only need to look at Rod Marsh. Marsh had no problems 'keeping to Dennis Lilee,, who was far from a slouch, but with Thommo he struggled (despite standing further back).
thompson had a slingers action , and thus gained extra bounce. some years later in english conditions at trent bridge i saw graham dilley bowling to the west indies tail and downton was taking it face high and stood further from the batsman than the umpire at the bowlers end was.
Thompson was an absolute weapon. Marsh and the Chappell brothers have always maintained they were never entirely sure where the ball would go once it left Thomo’s hand. 😂
1 of my uncles played for NSW against Queensland in the early 1970’s against Thomo, who was early 20’s at that time. Thompson bowled a bouncer at my uncle that went 3ft over his head, was missed by the keeper and went to the boundary for 4 byes 😂 Many of the players in the state teams were happy when Thomo was selected for Australia, it meant they didn’t have to face him 😂
Yeah I heard Greg Chappell saying about that incident Tony Greig was the batter it went past his chin and hit the sightscreen it would have been a scary sight
Thomson went to Punchbowl High School,as did Len Pascoe. I went to Sydney Tech. We were in the same zone and played cricket against them. Thommo was scary quick even then, but our openers made a stand of 160, which they dined out on for a long time.
I think the first cricket playing nation that starts a Jeff Thomson fast bowling training / selection,,,will have everyone else worried. There must be suitably athletic body types out there.
Yes, me too thought about it before many may have tried but in order to succeed with this action the bowler must be very flexible and Greg Chappell once said he used to bowl with Tomsons action in nets and was able to generate more pace but after a few overs he gets exhausted
Two vivid memories I have of that series can be summed up in two words: Edrich, and Titmus. Any male who was watching the match when those two unfortunate incidents occurred will know exactly what I am referring to.
He was by far the fastest ever you can easily tell by judging batsmen reaction and reflexes . They are always playing him on back foot and are late to the shot
They also show a tendency for the right-foot to slide to leg-slip as the bowler goes through delivery, which is a sure sign that they are too frightened to really get behind the line of the ball.
In the history of test cricket, probably only Frank Tyson approached Jeff for the rare speed he bowled at. Dennis Amiss said the ball hit the bat, not the bat hit the ball. He also had the most superb, natural action of any fast bowler l've seen.
Richie B said Tyson was quick cause he was from his era, but if you see old footage of him he has a rubbish run up and ordinary bowling action...Tyson...sorry ...he wasn't very fast!
Great compilation. Hard to believe we don’t have the technology, now, accurately to measure Thommo’s pace in his prime, based on video like this. If we did, it would put all the debate to rest. But, in the meantime, look where the keeper and slips are standing - and apparently Thommo hit the sight screen at Perth on the full or after one bounce during this period. Inferences can be drawn and anecdotes prevail plus a 160kmh measurement from 1975 using 1975 technology. We don’t know now and we may never know but we will always remain curious about just how quick he was before he busted his shoulder. He was never the same after that but still measured as the quickest in the world after that in 1979. Why isn’t there an app to measure his pace??? We seem to have an app for everything else.
Bro i actually saw a comment on a video about these 2 deliveries @ 2:49,3:04 that he got 165kph+ out of hand for these 2 deliveries.Going frame by frame it takes 7 or 8 frames out of the 25 in one second of video for the ball to travel from his hand to the first bounce 13 m away from him that's 13m/0.28s =46m/s which is 167kph.This was the comment from that man good thinking to provide an idea about Tomson's pace
@@chiefslim9353 Don't know what you're laughing at mate, he was measured once in Australia in the mid 70's at around 160kmh, that was at the batsman's end, would have been 165 out of the hand. I played first grade Cricket In Australia and have seen Thompson bowl live, he was extremely quick, fastest bowler I've ever seen. My father knew him personally, even sold him a boat....
@@MickH60 unfortunately you fell for the mythical lie of being recorded at the batsman's end, it was bull that thommo kept saying to make himself sound faster. He was once clocked at 99mph so when people say silly things about him bowling faster than 100 it deserves to be laughed at
Notice no one scoring in front of the wicket against Thommo. Also notice all the walking ? The poor bastards could not wait to get off the field. Cant blame them no helmets chest guards nothing thin bats. Look at the reaction of the batsmen to some of the deliveries total fear and intimidation. He made Deneese quit, a shattered man.. This series and the next against the WI he was something else
Batsmen had balls of step to face him and Lillee.. no helmets in those days… just like bodyline against Larwood and the 50’s series against Tyson…. Respect.
Saw tommo at lancaster park nz about 1980 he is without doubt the fastest i have seen,lillee was at the other end, when tommo bowled i honestly found it hard to see the ball, and he was supposed to be a bit slower after his injury. never seen anyone as fast
Great compilation sir. Definitely the best one out there. Remember watching Thommo as a youngster back in the 70’s. He was terrifying and mad as a meat axe. Great bloke though just ultra competitive.
@@anirudhsuresh4481 I have when I was 8 years old. I was side on at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Couldn’t see the ball side on he was so quick. I’m nearly 52 now.
I loved the ABC TV Commentary as a stoner. But my all time faves were the two Librans, Richie and Ian. Richie for his succinct and poignant style and Ian for his brilliant tactical and strategic insights. Chappelli had a forensic knowledge of the game. Only Gower and Holding came near them.
@@alexisc4922 Air Signs are the communicatirs and make the best captains. Interestingly, many Indian captains are Cancer's. Cancer's are strategic thinkers with a strong patriotic duty. Alexander the Great was a Cancer
Ian attributes his ablity to read a game from the elite level of baseball he played as a catcher, the onfield general. He could easily have been a forerunner to what David Nilsson did. "Tangles" Walker was amongst the very best cricket commentators....ever.
Jeff must have been a truly frightening sight for any batsmen to face in his pomp. With his slingy action, I don't think batsmen were able to read him.
Thomson had an action similar to that of a javelin thrower. The cross-legged delivery style makes sense in terms of maximising leverage at the point of release. It's a surprise nobody has attempted to emulate it.
Absolutely even Tomson is surprised to see that no one is trying to emulate his action in fact Fidel Edwards came close but he didn't take his arms behind his body like Tomson that's why he didn't cross 💯 mph.Actually Tomson's father Don Tomson used to bowl with this action he was a first class cricketer and his son Matt Tomson too had that kind of bowling action
That cross over step created enormous leg drive which greatly assisted delivery speed. After the 1980 Olympics a javelin medalist was signed by an MLB franchise purely on his leg drive and arm speed. The intention was to create a good pitcher where leg drive and arm speed are imperative given a pitcher has no run up momentum. The top elite pitchers have hurled at 105mph plus..look up the great Nolan Ryan.
He is an absolute weapon...that slingy action , i wouldnt like to have faced him even if i was in a full suit of medieval armour....the fear he would induce would make me step onto my own stumps as he turned round at the top of his run up 😂😂 ....fair play to these batsmen...no helmet, i bet some of them got concussion or dental realignment thomo style!! (And im a pommie , loved lillee and thompson) just a bit before my time im gutted to say
I haven't watched it all through but Mallett's catches in the gully to Thommo were amazing. His ability to take Thommo promotes the idea that Mallett was probably the greatest ever Gully.
I'd say Mallett and Yardley were the best 2 Aussie gully fielders I've seen, but that 74/75 catching cordon is by far the best Australia's had in my lifetime.
@@jugheadsrule l believe Mallett to be superior for these three reasons: #1: He took catches when both Thommo and Lillee were at their peaks. #2: Yardley merely caught the ball, Mallett took it like a panther. #3: Mallett had an incredibly flexible reach And if you look at their celebrations Yardley accepted the deserved accolades. Mallett looked like he was congratulating someone else .... for the miracle take he had just snaffled.
We would not see Thommo bowl this quick for much longer after this series. He had his nasty onfield crash with Alan Turner the next year and he never got back to his best after shoulder surgery...A great Aussie side this was. I distinctly remember the fielding by Ross Edwards at 3:33 and while not evident here, Ross was one of the greatest cover fielders Oz has ever produced. Dougy Walters slips catch isn't exactly shabby either.
He did bowl this fast agin in the 1975/76 series against the West Indies and completely destroyed them. That was his last full series at express pace consistently. He was able to occasionally get the odd delivery to be super quick after his collision with Alan Turner but never with the consistency that had batsmen literally fearing for their own safety. Kudos too to the late Rod Marsh who must have felt like he was trying to catch scud missiles throughout those two series. I remember a famous photo of his bruised hands in the paper during this series. Also, the English team went home with several players nursing broken bones. It was as fierce a bowling display that we will ever see.
Even after the injury Thommo could produce extraordinarily fast deliveries. What he lost was the ability to keep that up for over after over after over: the injured shoulder would start to complain.
Lovely compilation. There's quite a bit of variation in his speed, and it doesn't look like he had much conscious control of it. The views from behind show when he got his arm to flick round fast, and when he didn't manage it. Some of those deliveries are frighteningly fast, much faster than I've seen from anyone else, so they must have been 170+ from the hand. In fact only someone with Thomson's action could possibly bowl them that fast.
In my personal opinion thommo's fastest delivery must be BTW 165kph-167kph not sure and actually his 160.45kph was calculated at hand release it was 129.92kph at batters end and 159.49kph was 138.40kph at batters end because 160.45kph was a short pitched delivery and his fastest ever timed in a match was 160.58kph but he surely bowled faster
He was scary fast, but if you look at the action it would occasionally cause Thommo to rip his fingers down on the ball, which meant a leg-cutter at over 100mph. I don't care how good a batsman you are, a 100mph leg-cutter is going to cause you trouble.
Thommo got bounce that was scary. There has been no one like him. Incomparable for the fear and defensiveness he produced in batsmen. Batsmen were forced to try and score off Lillee. The afternoon he was bowling at Pakistan before his second injury was fast, and accurate, and all the batsmen purely seeking to literally survive. I watched him side on at a Shield game in Sydney in 1980 and even then it took a lot of practice to be able to see the red streak.
Geez he was quick back in 74/75 and 75/76. Such a shame he hurt his shoulder in 76/77 against Pakistan. He was never quite the same after that apart from some sporadic spells.
I did. I got a bag full of wickets and 2 shoulder recos, a knee and an ankle by the time I was 30. But for a brief period I could claim to be an express pace bowler! GLORY!!
There's always debate about who's the quickest ever...but Thommo was certainly the most lethal scary bowler I have ever seen. Maybe Lee, Holding, Tait and Akhtar bowled a delivery or two at similar pace on rare occasions...but Thommo just looked like he was at that extreme pace all the time.
@@makarandkinikar7786 As I said people will debate it....but Thommo had a speed gun on him 3 times in his career for just a few balls and he bowled one of the 4 fastest balls ever recorded. Lee and Shoaib had their entire career recoded by speed guns and hit 160km once. None of those occasions when the speed gun was on Thommo were between 1974 and 76 when everyone agrees he bowled at his fastest.
Thommo and Lillie single biggest reason helmets were brought into the game, gloves improved rapidly around same time, not everyone even wore a thigh pad ...unheard of nowadays .....ive played the game in England and South Africa where i saw Donald on a lightning Wanderers track in a provincial game attempting to Remove Jimmy Cooks head.....but never do i remember any single bowler being so feared as Thommo and if was clocked now hed be 10kmh quicker than anyone
@@anirudhsuresh4481 Lillee only until 1974 when his back started bothering him. But before 74 he was as you say electrifyingly quick. A better and more thoughtful bowler than Thommo who adapted to fast medium in his later years with great trickery and cunning while retaining the intimidatory attitude. Dickie Bird rated him best fast bowler he'd seen.
Jeff “the human trebuchet” Thompson. What a legend, I was a bit young to remember his early career when he was at his fastest but I remember the last few years of him playing really well. He’s pretty hard to forget with his unique bowling action.
I've often wondered why nobody seems to have been able to mimic his action, since it's clearly so well suited to high speeds. I can only assume its because it is so physically demanding, which shows what a natural athlete he must have been. Revisiting this after Mark Wood's spells at headingley in the ashes. Nothing quite like raw pace.
You need really, really broad shoulders to do it at pace, which Thommo certainly had. What's often overlooked is that his action allowed him to just lope up to the crease, whereas someone like (say) Lillee had a more classic action that required the bowler to actually run from their marker to the crease. So Thommo was often able to bowl longer spells than most fast bowlers, because his legs weren't turning to jelly.
And the attacking fields they set for him. Just watched the Sydney test against Pakistan with Australia hoping to get out their number 9 by bowling short and having him caught on the boundary
Outraged at how this Aussie and his stable mate Lillee aimed at the Englishmen's bodies. Unheard of. Oh, wait, you say there were a Jardine and a Larwood who started it in the first place? No, you say? What, Spofforth and Turner? McDonald? Mynn?
Saw him in his prime before his shoulder injury in 1976 and he was absolutely frightening. The batsmen back then had huge balls of steel to face him especially when helmets hadn’t been introduced into the game yet. The argument as to who the fastest bowler was will always be up for debate. However consider this, Thommo was timed at 99.67mph when he won the fastest bowler competition in 1975. Which is slower than the fastest balls bowled by Shohib Aktar, Brett Lee & Shaun Tait who have all been timed at just over 100mph. However Thommo’s speed was timed as the ball reached the batsman’s end of the pitch and not out of the hand like the other three were. So what speed out of the hand was Thommo’s delivery? When you consider that regardless of the speed a ball is bowled at, air resistance causes the ball to slow down by 12% before it even lands on the pitch. Then it slows down further after landing on the pitch, the amount varies from pitch to pitch. But just applying the 12% air resistance onto that ball bowled by Thommo at 99.67mph, it gives you an out of the hand speed of 111.63mph or 179.65kph.
Noo bro actually bowling speed of Tomson was calculated @hand rea Lease itself 159.49kph was 138.40kph at batters end and 160.45kph was 129.92kph at batters end it's clearly given in Lillee's biography and actually fast bowling competition happened in 1978 after his injury 147.9kph was his fastest that day 160.45kph, 159.49kph was calculated in 1975 in a test match VS West indies and 160.58kph in 1976 vs West indies itself 180kph is not possible for a human bro I think Tomson would have reached 165kph-167kph 😊
Remember one thing, he didn't want to bowl the batsman out; he wanted the batsman to get out of the field, and which way that happened wasn't his primary concern. That's why his wicket tally is so low, and his average is too high. Lilee had the same problem too. Lilly admitted the matter in an interview, but Thommo was always honest about his intentions. It didn't matter to him whether the batsman would get out from the field by getting out or injuring themselves to play him. He wanted the batsman off the pitch. Such a badass bowler!!
Consistently. Other bowlers on their day bowled as quick in short bursts on fast pitches. The Holding/Boycott over for example in 1981. Thommo in his heyday bowled every delivery at that speed. I only saw him play once, in 1985 right at the end of his career (might've been his last test) and he was still sharp then !
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The courage of the batsmen facing that type of bowling without helmets etc is commendable to say the least.
Of course
Also not complaining of the obvious chucking is pretty stoic
Are you joking ? Thommo s arm is dead straight coming through . He was never accused of throwing
@@rajeshchahal5183Provide the OFFICIAL references to this great bowler being a chucker. QUALIFIED Officials, and not keyboard warriors, who police the game for bowling actions NEVER listed Thommo.
@@rajeshchahal5183 Get off the pipe buddy!!!!
Even after all these years, I don't think I've seen a faster bowler than Jeff Thompson. Seen Shaoib, Brett Lee, Mark Wood, Joffra. But nobody got that pace off the pitch like Thommo. He was lethal.
Yes absolutely 💯
All those you named are miles quicker 🤣however the fear factor of not having a helmet adds an extra few mph
Rubbish ! In every sports, records get broken....the latest generation of athletes can run faster, jump higher etc - same applies to cricket. Older generations love to stick to "oh in my time..." its all bullshit!
@@michaelgreenwood8239 please watch 2:49,3:14,1:45 and Tomson's action was the best among them for pace
@@anirudhsuresh4481 Correct. if you can find the vision I mention above I believe Thommo was very close to what Shaoib, Tait and Lee (THE three fastest recorded OFFICIALLY) have since registered on radar. From memory there might have been as much as 2mph in it but consider Thommo's was measured using another technique. Our commenter is "miles out" for thinking there was that much difference.
Also, helmets were not an option at this stage given the first on in Test cricket was in 1978 (Graeme Yallop, Australia)
The late, great Aussie 'keeper Rodney Marsh taking these thunderbolts like he's shelling peas.
" Ashes to ashes and dust to dust if Lillee don't get you Thommo must " was the caption for that series and no truer words have ever been spoken
Thompson & Lillee never got better pair in the last 50 years .
Both devastatingly quick 😅 Awesome work Thomo
Thx 4 the memories 😅
Leave it out! Wasim & Waqar
Marshall & Ambrose might have something to say about that
Thomo from one end, Lillee from the other. The poor buggers had no escape. The WACA was a fast bowlers paradise and these two played havoc with all but the bravest.
@mikedawe692 - Roy Fredericks hit 169 off 145 balls at the WACA Dec 1975. No escape for Thommo or Lillee that day. A rare occasion indeed.
I recall reading a yarn (I have no idea whether it's true or not) about ABC sports' Jim Maxwell interviewing Sir Donald Bradman after Andy Roberts had blown the Aussies away at the end of that test.
"So tell me, Sir Don" asked jovial Jim "you averaged 99 against Larwood and co, how many do you think you'd have averaged against these fellas?".
Sir Don reckoned "about 50 or 60".
"Surely Sir Don" said Jim "you're being a little bit modest?"
"Well" Sir Don replied "I am almost 70 years old".
But not against the West Indies at WACA. Fredericks got 169 and Lloyd 149 in a 585 total against these two bowlers just one year later(1975-76).
Thommo was never the same after December 1976, when he collided with Alan Turner and broke his shoulder. After that, he was about he same as Michael Holding but with more lift. But before that injury -my goodness, he could be terrifying. Remember, he was only ever clocked in a Test match once (and this was without his knowledge) but using the same methods as today - the speed 99.75 mph (160 klm) in December 1975 in Perth. I am sure he often bowled considerably faster than that ! At his peak, the most thrilling site in cricket.
The speeds measured today and since around 1979 are done using a radar beam an from the bowler's release point.. This followed the development of the device as used in MLB a season or two earlier. You will find an article on YT made by Aussie TV in Perth in 1979 called "World's Fastest Bowler competition"
p.s. if he was clocked without his knowledge it cannot be official nor was it likely to have been done on a registered and calibrated device.
@@flamingfrancis ignorant comment. Uni of WA with ACB permission in the test match. Equipment was radar gun and grid - just like today. Some of the ignorant and ill informed guesses on UA-cam are very annoying.
The point about Thomson not knowing was that he was just bowling normally. The University Paper has a list of his speeds. From memory, more than thirty delivieres he bowled that day exceeded 155 klm per hr.
@@Beazle00 And from what I remember , they were timing those balls at the batsman's end, not from the hand as is done today. Thommo was regularly over 160KMH until his shoulder injury. My father actually sold a boat to Jeff in the mid 70's....
@@flamingfrancis You're guessing. You make a fool of yourself when you're so self assured and wrong.
Story told by Steve Small, who captained Mosman Grade side in Sydney. They played Bankstown one Saturday arvo on a green top. Thommo bowling just out of high school.
There was an ambo parked in the parking lot. Say no more. As Clive Lloyd said, "No-one bowled faster than Thommo, no-one!"
The slips cordon were standing way, way back…he was super quick, my childhood favourite
Absolutely 💯
Jeff Thompson is probably the fastest bowler of the last 50 years, probably of all time. He only had a few deliveries timed and topped 160km, whereas the likes of Brett Lee, Shoib Achtar and Shaun Tait literally had thousands of deliveries radar checked to find a handful of deliveries topping Thompson's.
That delivery to Keith Fletcher is the fastest ball I’ve seen on TV. Thomson was ridiculously quick. You have to feel for the batsmen who had very little protection.
Which delivery bro?
@@anirudhsuresh4481to Keith Fletcher at one minute forty eight seconds. Unbelievable speed. Marsh jumps to take the ball which lifted alarmingly off a length.
@@vantheman1238 yeah that's quick please watch 2:49,3:04 as well
@@anirudhsuresh4481 watched them all mate and there all rapid. Great video and thank you for uploading. Guess that ball to Fletcher is the one for me. Just something about it. Think it’s because Thomson didn’t bang it in, he just let it go and through the air onto a good length and it reered up and literally went like a tracer bullet to Marsh. Look at Fletcher’s reaction after looking at Marsh he can barely believe it. Biggest compliment I’ve ever heard given to Thommo was from Michael Holding who said in 1975/6 Thomson could have hit him at any time he chose.
@@vantheman1238 yes,Tomson was incredibly fast but sadly he got injured in 1978 and lost lot of his pace otherwise he would have bowled many more 100mph+ deliveries for sure
For all those claiming others are/were quicker than Thommo I think they may have been as quick, but Thomson bowled very fast all the time up to his injury. That combined with his unique action enabling extraordinary lift off almost a good length made him lethal. Additionally, Mike Brearley told me personally that nobody talks about the fact that Thommo hid the ball from the batter during the delivery stride (watch - it's his javelin action and he holds the ball behind him and compare to pretty much every other bowler), which you might think doesn't matter much but he said seeing the ball in the usual windmill action somehow enabled you to get your feet moving in time, whereas with Thommo hiding it, it made you late. You see this very clearly in the video v Fletcher and Knott.
When I was about 12 and started playing in the Under 14s, I tried to copy him and got a lot of wickets until I hurt my back. The coach said it was that action that put too much strain on my back. So when I came back the following year I changed to a more front on action. The amount of strain that put on his abdominals and side makes him a freak to be able to do that as long as he did.
Such a good comment. I have seen that Brett Lee on average was more consistent with pace compared to Sohaibh Akhtar as per speed machine. However, once Sehwag and Sachin were asked who was quicker. Sehwag said Sohaibh and also attributed to his bowling action where side-on style of Sohaibh hided the bowl longer than open chested of Brett Lee. It easily creates difference of fraction of a second.
@@kundankanan9074 Yes. Of course all these bowlers are absolutely terrifying to face!
I once asked someone who played cricket both with and against Thommo how fast he was, his response was "Well if you ask Thommo he'd tell you he got up to 180km/h, I'm not sure thats true, but I have no doubt he crossed 170km/h."
Yeah i always believed that he reached 165/167kph
ha ha yeah na
No helmets or any protective gears, just a stick like cricket bat and facing these fast bowlers,amazing!
@@MohammadKhan-fv1lg yeah 💪
This was without a doubt the golden age of cricket. The modern game doesn't hold a candle to these guys. All the major cricketing countries had awesome players with awesome character.
I count myself lucky to witness first hand matches by Australia, England, West Indies, India and Pakistan, unfortunately South Africa was banned due to political reasons but they also had a handy capable team.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s, Thompson for me was the quickest then very closely followed by three or four WI wrecking machines in their own right (Roberts, Holding and Marshall).
How to measure whether a bowler is fastest of all……the batsman always walks, no complaints
When you have the West Indies batsman saying that Thomo was the fastest bowler they ever faced is the measure. They'd play their domestic cricket against their own fast bowlers.
Hit the nail on the head, I bet they walked too 😂 get the ordeal over and done with quickly
Englishmen of the period all walked. So that is no measure at all.
The best Thomson compilation I've seen. Surprisingly there's not much footage of him. You got a real impression of how rapid he was. Scarily quick
Yes express pace he bowled more than 100mph in that series
Much of it is post the Allan Turner collision - after which he could still bowl really quick but only in short bursts. In the two series - England in 74/5 and WI a year later, it's relentless. It must have been terrifying as a batsman, even an experienced one will not have come across anything like it.
@@paulscottrobson the article above relates to 1974-5 Ashes...JT's accident was in Adelaide in 1976
I was at the Gabba to see the sandshoe crusher delivery to Greig. Thommo when asked to describe his bowling action said "I just run up and go whang!"
The delivery at 2 minutes 50 seconds in video is beautiful to hear how hard it hit Rod Marsh gloves as the keeper. The pace it is reaching the keeper is crazy good.
Yes fiery pace 🔥
I think I'd struggle with the pace even if I was taking guard where Marsh was standing
The pace that Thomo reached from only 14-16 paces compared to the bowlers of today who take closer to 20 paces is unbelievable....Proper speed recording had it been available would of put his speed OVER 100mph....
Was just thinking what a laconic run up it was!
That's what I call classic fast bowler action. Smooth rythmic pacy runup, sideon pivot, weight transfer to ball, follow-through away from the pitch.
Yeah
That 74/75 series, Thommo and Lillee brought England to their knees and had no answer. They were both injured for the last test and didnt play and England made over 500 runs and won by an innings. Says it all.
Nup. Lillee played in the last test.
@@godfreypigott He broke down early on. Only bowled 6 overs. Walker and Dymock had to bowl 40 overs each. Even Dougy Walters bowled 23 overs
@@melthoidserendipity1332 Still means your claim of "didn't play" is wrong". And the fact that Australia was down a bowler and didn't have a replacement for Lillee means it doesn't "say it all".
@@godfreypigott My point of Lillee and Thomson dominating England (and the West Indies) is not wrong. Without the two of them the series at best would have been a lot closer. Australia didn't have any other fast bowlers in their class. They made England look ordinary and as soon as they disappeared from the scene England dominated Australia. I watched the entire series. No one had seen anything like Jeff Thomson. Even England's best fast bowler John Snow was pedestrian in comparison. Australia would not have had the capability of bowling England out cheaply without those two bowlers
@@melthoidserendipity1332 You claim to have watched the series yet believe John Snow was playing. (He was probably off eradicating cholera or joining the Night's Watch.)
Thommo in 74/75 and Michael Holding in 1976 at the Oval are the 2 fastest bowlers I’ve ever seen.
Yeah they were bloody quick
Saw Mally Marshall at Southampton v Yorkshire at "ground level ". Never saw the ball, just heard the thud !
@@blackbob3358 Mally Marshall!! Malcolm Marshall's son?
it is a treat to watch jeff ... what a bowling action .. this is called real cricket ...
Yes ☺️
What I find interesting is that nobody has attempted to reproduce it, and no coach has ever recommended it.
Lots of wannabe Dennis Lilley's out there. Lots of imitation Michael Holding's. But nobody has come along to the top levels of cricket with a wannabe Thommo action.
@@johnreynolds7996 Bro i actually heard that many kids tried it then but we will get exhausted very fast only after bowling 10 to 12 deliveries
@@anirudhsuresh4481 I imagine you would need very broad shoulders to be able to bowl like Thommo.
Otherwise the rotator-cuff would inflame, and that'd be the end of you for the rest of the match.
@@johnreynolds7996 Yeah very strong shoulders required and flexibility
Watching this video closely , from when the ball leaves Thommos hand to when it slams into Rod Marshes gloves ,often at full reach above his head with the ball still lifting .
It is only a split second .Those balls must of been incredibly fast .Thommo was a freak , a genuine human sling shot.
Yeah absolutely
Pitch and blur video also increased his speed😂
Marsh claimed he bowled at over 110mph.
Man I enjoyed this need to watch this again on a big screen television
Glad you enjoyed this video buddy ☺️
Many tried to copy his bowling action , especially at grade cricket level with some success, but Jeff's bowling action was pure for him only because when he was a teenager he was a javelin athletic, hence his bowling action
Even I tried tomson's action 2 or 3 years ago believe me I was able to bowl quicker
@@anirudhsuresh4481 Me too. Great fun.
@@anirudhsuresh4481 I don't believe that for one second 🤣🤣
@@jahno7154 Hey I am serious bro 😐
@@anirudhsuresh4481 How many people did you put in hospital ? 🤣🤣
Look at Dennis Amiss handling those vicious balls. Takes a lot of skill and courage.
if he had courage he was the only one, our batsmen were frightened to death, hence trying to edge one way outside off stump
@@davidcollins7739 Oh, he had courage. Dennis Amiss was a very courageous batsman indeed.
I well remember his being recalled to test cricket in 1976 to face a West Indian fast bowling trio that was slaughtering the England team.
He realized that they were just too quick for the conditions, so he completely changed his stance: he became quite chest-on - helping him to play the rising ball down the leg side -but it meant he couldn't duck the bouncer. He'd just have to take it on the body.
He scored 203, and was covered in bruises.
@@johnreynolds7996 Yes I remember that too. All the batsmen were tremendously courageous - Edrich, Boycott, Close, Lloyd etc etc. Amiss was a class player I remember before the World Cup in 1974 he was promoted as follows "in form, he is among the top 10 batsmen in the world". True. Even Thommo stated that Amiss was "a pretty good bat."
Look at David Lloyd handling his!
He can not be compared with any other fast bowler in history. The FASTEST.
Yeah definitely
Dont forget the mighty shoaib akhtar of pakistan..he was arguably the quickest ❤❤❤
5:15 That will wake you up. Put one past his nose to say hello.
It looks so natural...almost like he's got a bit extra in him if he truly wanted to let it rip.
A beautiful approach and then he just went " WANG". There's quick and then there's Thomo, imagine being able to scare batsman you bowled to. Frightening pace.
The great fast bowlers hunted in pairs. Lillee and Thomson, Truman and Tyson. The West Indies had four great quicks at the same time. It gave the batsmen no chance to relax. Relentless pace meant the slightest lapse and you were gone.
Wes hall and Charlie Griffith too were lethal pairs and so Wasim and Waqar
They did indeed and you missed Lindwall / Miller but arguably one of the best pairing was McGrath and Warne....Shane Warne the leggie.
I'm English but it matters not. The two fast bowlers I've loved watching the most were Thommo and Michael Holding. Holding was grace personnified, effortless style. Thommo made it look effortless but with that truly unique style of his. His speed was, they say, generated by the longer amount of time the ball was in movement in his hand whilst releasing it.
@@stevemelling9438 yeah Thommo had a spring effect in his arms
Serious heat. Wouldn't have wanted to be a pommie batsman on that tour.
Unlike today it was so dangerous those days. Today cricketers are protected from top to bottom.
I spent numerous days at the SCG during both 74/75 and 75/76 series, watching from the Pat Hills stand eg side on. Holding was lightning fast and Lillee was frightening, but Thommo is the fastest bowler to ever play test cricket, daylight second. I really felt sorry for the batsmen, even the great ones like Viv & co.
Wow you are lucky ☺️
Did you ever watch Gavaskar against Thommo? He made centuries in his first three Tests in Australia. Would like to have your opinion of SG.
@@tryarunm mate no I never had the privilege of watching Gavaskar play live. He was an outstanding batsman who would be world class even today for sure. 👍
To get an idea how quick Jeff Thomson was, you only need to look at Rod Marsh. Marsh had no problems 'keeping to Dennis Lilee,, who was far from a slouch, but with Thommo he struggled (despite standing further back).
thompson had a slingers action , and thus gained extra bounce.
some years later in english conditions at trent bridge i saw graham dilley bowling to the west indies tail and downton was taking it face high and stood further from the batsman than the umpire at the bowlers end was.
Thommo !! I remember wathing those games..with the awesome Dennis Lillee....happy days!
🙌🙌
Thompson was an absolute weapon. Marsh and the Chappell brothers have always maintained they were never entirely sure where the ball would go once it left Thomo’s hand. 😂
1 of my uncles played for NSW against Queensland in the early 1970’s against Thomo, who was early 20’s at that time. Thompson bowled a bouncer at my uncle that went 3ft over his head, was missed by the keeper and went to the boundary for 4 byes 😂 Many of the players in the state teams were happy when Thomo was selected for Australia, it meant they didn’t have to face him 😂
Definitely the fastest bowler of all time
Jeff thomson bowls a bouncer goes very over the top of the batsman and over rod marsh keeps going and hits the sight board on the full, frightening
Yeah I heard Greg Chappell saying about that incident Tony Greig was the batter it went past his chin and hit the sightscreen it would have been a scary sight
Yes I was at the sight screen and Arundel castle match 1985 and the ball hit the back fence
Hit the back fence on the full
Thomson went to Punchbowl High School,as did Len Pascoe. I went to Sydney Tech. We were in the same zone and played cricket against them. Thommo was scary quick even then, but our openers made a stand of 160, which they dined out on for a long time.
Wow awesome you are lucky to play against those legends
Great story 👍
Sadly he only played two seasons for NSW Shield and then headed north
I think the first cricket playing nation that starts a Jeff Thomson fast bowling training / selection,,,will have everyone else worried. There must be suitably athletic body types out there.
I'm surprised that more bowlers haven't emulated Jeff Thomson's bowling action.
Yes, me too thought about it before many may have tried but in order to succeed with this action the bowler must be very flexible and Greg Chappell once said he used to bowl with Tomsons action in nets and was able to generate more pace but after a few overs he gets exhausted
@@anirudhsuresh4481Yep, Thomson was an extremely fit guy at the time
Two vivid memories I have of that series can be summed up in two words: Edrich, and Titmus.
Any male who was watching the match when those two unfortunate incidents occurred will know exactly what I am referring to.
Titmus was hit inside the knee, not where you think.
That’s quick. That’s bloody quick.
Yeah 🔥🔥
He was the real fastest bowler of the world.
Absolutely
Smell the leather !Lol!!! Fastest ever ! Those were the best days of cricket. No quarters asked. No quarters given.
Thanks for posting this. Best video of Thommo I've seen ;)
@@anirudhsuresh4481 Would love to see it.
@@Davotheledge ua-cam.com/video/YvPDUzom08M/v-deo.html please watch this video bro ☺☺
He was by far the fastest ever you can easily tell by judging batsmen reaction and reflexes . They are always playing him on back foot and are late to the shot
Of course, he has the best bowling action for genarating pace.There should have been speedguns 😑😑
They also show a tendency for the right-foot to slide to leg-slip as the bowler goes through delivery, which is a sure sign that they are too frightened to really get behind the line of the ball.
Thompson himself said he didn't know where the ball was going to go
In the history of test cricket, probably only Frank Tyson approached Jeff for the rare speed he bowled at. Dennis Amiss said the ball hit the bat, not the bat hit the ball. He also had the most superb, natural action of any fast bowler l've seen.
Richie B said Tyson was quick cause he was from his era, but if you see old footage of him he has a rubbish run up and ordinary bowling action...Tyson...sorry ...he wasn't very fast!
Shoaib Akhtar was equally quick.
@@thornwivans and Tyson was bowling during the Backfoot rule so he was releasing the ball a lot closer to the batsmen so he might have seemed faster
@@thornwivans Tyson's action was one of the best for generating express pace
No way is his action as good as Dennis Lillee
00:39,00:50,1:03,1:45,2:26,2:49,3:04,3:19,3:32,4:09,4:27,4:54 these are the fastest deliveries in this clip
Great compilation. Hard to believe we don’t have the technology, now, accurately to measure Thommo’s pace in his prime, based on video like this. If we did, it would put all the debate to rest. But, in the meantime, look where the keeper and slips are standing - and apparently Thommo hit the sight screen at Perth on the full or after one bounce during this period. Inferences can be drawn and anecdotes prevail plus a 160kmh measurement from 1975 using 1975 technology. We don’t know now and we may never know but we will always remain curious about just how quick he was before he busted his shoulder. He was never the same after that but still measured as the quickest in the world after that in 1979. Why isn’t there an app to measure his pace??? We seem to have an app for everything else.
Bro i actually saw a comment on a video about these 2 deliveries @ 2:49,3:04 that he got 165kph+ out of hand for these 2 deliveries.Going frame by frame it takes 7 or 8 frames out of the 25 in one second of video for the ball to travel from his hand to the first bounce 13 m away from him that's 13m/0.28s =46m/s which is 167kph.This was the comment from that man good thinking to provide an idea about Tomson's pace
@@anirudhsuresh4481😂😂😂
@@chiefslim9353 Don't know what you're laughing at mate, he was measured once in Australia in the mid 70's at around 160kmh, that was at the batsman's end, would have been 165 out of the hand. I played first grade Cricket In Australia and have seen Thompson bowl live, he was extremely quick, fastest bowler I've ever seen. My father knew him personally, even sold him a boat....
@@MickH60 unfortunately you fell for the mythical lie of being recorded at the batsman's end, it was bull that thommo kept saying to make himself sound faster. He was once clocked at 99mph so when people say silly things about him bowling faster than 100 it deserves to be laughed at
Mate that one at 3:46 is brutal!
Yeah how quick that would be!???
Notice no one scoring in front of the wicket against Thommo. Also notice all the walking ? The poor bastards could not wait to get off the field. Cant blame them no helmets chest guards nothing thin bats. Look at the reaction of the batsmen to some of the deliveries total fear and intimidation. He made Deneese quit, a shattered man.. This series and the next against the WI he was something else
Yeah absolutely he was 100mph+
Batsmen had balls of step to face him and Lillee.. no helmets in those days… just like bodyline against Larwood and the 50’s series against Tyson…. Respect.
Yeah 😊
Geez imagine facing that without modern day protection... Brave men
😂 David Lloyd had a couple of lumps in his throat after that delivery!
Saw tommo at lancaster park nz about 1980 he is without doubt the fastest i have seen,lillee was at the other end,
when tommo bowled i honestly found it hard to see the ball, and he was supposed to be a bit slower after his injury.
never seen anyone as fast
Exactly my experience in '82.
Yet he was nowhere near as fast then as at his peak, after his shoulder injury.
That must have been 1982. I think that was the only time Thommo played in NZ.
Yes it was about then,@@englishciderlover7347
Australian National level Javelin performer in his younger days,I believe. That'll do it!
Whooah, i did'nt know that 1x, but you can see that slinging style.
Great compilation sir. Definitely the best one out there. Remember watching Thommo as a youngster back in the 70’s. He was terrifying and mad as a meat axe. Great bloke though just ultra competitive.
Thank you Sir 😊
@@anirudhsuresh4481 You’re welcome. Thank you again. Greetings from Australia.
@@andrewb1517 bro have you seen tomson bowling live. How old are you?
@@andrewb1517 😊😊😊😊
@@anirudhsuresh4481 I have when I was 8 years old. I was side on at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Couldn’t see the ball side on he was so quick. I’m nearly 52 now.
I loved the ABC TV Commentary as a stoner. But my all time faves were the two Librans, Richie and Ian. Richie for his succinct and poignant style and Ian for his brilliant tactical and strategic insights. Chappelli had a forensic knowledge of the game.
Only Gower and Holding came near them.
😊😊
Ha. Greigy was a Libra too.
@@alexisc4922 Air Signs are the communicatirs and make the best captains.
Interestingly, many Indian captains are Cancer's. Cancer's are strategic thinkers with a strong patriotic duty.
Alexander the Great was a Cancer
Ian attributes his ablity to read a game from the elite level of baseball he played as a catcher, the onfield general.
He could easily have been a forerunner to what David Nilsson did.
"Tangles" Walker was amongst the very best cricket commentators....ever.
@@flamingfrancisTangles took it to the people. If l picked an Aussie XI based on humour and larrikinism Maxxie would be a shoo in
Not a long run in
But the pace he generated from that sling action was frightful
Raw power from him raw courage from the batsmen
Jeff must have been a truly frightening sight for any batsmen to face in his pomp. With his slingy action, I don't think batsmen were able to read him.
Absolutely right
You're missing one point - the absence of helmets means their reflexes and techniques would have had to have been impeccable to survive.
100% quickest of all time !
No doubt about it
Thomson had an action similar to that of a javelin thrower. The cross-legged delivery style makes sense in terms of maximising leverage at the point of release. It's a surprise nobody has attempted to emulate it.
Absolutely even Tomson is surprised to see that no one is trying to emulate his action in fact Fidel Edwards came close but he didn't take his arms behind his body like Tomson that's why he didn't cross 💯 mph.Actually Tomson's father Don Tomson used to bowl with this action he was a first class cricketer and his son Matt Tomson too had that kind of bowling action
Thomson was a competitive javelin thrower before he took up cricket. His javelin throwing technique translated perfectly to fast bowling.
@@agnostic47 yeah,He used to take his arms way back
@@anirudhsuresh4481 The family name is THOMSON.
That cross over step created enormous leg drive which greatly assisted delivery speed. After the 1980 Olympics a javelin medalist was signed by an MLB franchise purely on his leg drive and arm speed. The intention was to create a good pitcher where leg drive and arm speed are imperative given a pitcher has no run up momentum. The top elite pitchers have hurled at 105mph plus..look up the great Nolan Ryan.
He is an absolute weapon...that slingy action , i wouldnt like to have faced him even if i was in a full suit of medieval armour....the fear he would induce would make me step onto my own stumps as he turned round at the top of his run up 😂😂 ....fair play to these batsmen...no helmet, i bet some of them got concussion or dental realignment thomo style!! (And im a pommie , loved lillee and thompson) just a bit before my time im gutted to say
He literally doesn’t bowl. He slings it . Unbelievable technique
Yeah just like a Javelin throw only Fidel Edwards came close but he didn't take his arms back like Tomson
I haven't watched it all through but Mallett's catches in the gully to Thommo were amazing. His ability to take Thommo promotes the idea that Mallett was probably the greatest ever Gully.
Yeah
Please watch 1:45,2:49,3:04 those deliveries must be the fastest bowled in cricket history
@@anirudhsuresh4481 very fast indeed
I'd say Mallett and Yardley were the best 2 Aussie gully fielders I've seen, but that 74/75 catching cordon is by far the best Australia's had in my lifetime.
@@jugheadsrule l believe Mallett to be superior for these three reasons:
#1: He took catches when both Thommo and Lillee were at their peaks.
#2: Yardley merely caught the ball, Mallett took it like a panther.
#3: Mallett had an incredibly flexible reach
And if you look at their celebrations Yardley accepted the deserved accolades. Mallett looked like he was congratulating someone else .... for the miracle take he had just snaffled.
We would not see Thommo bowl this quick for much longer after this series. He had his nasty onfield crash with Alan Turner the next year and he never got back to his best after shoulder surgery...A great Aussie side this was. I distinctly remember the fielding by Ross Edwards at 3:33 and while not evident here, Ross was one of the greatest cover fielders Oz has ever produced. Dougy Walters slips catch isn't exactly shabby either.
He did bowl this fast agin in the 1975/76 series against the West Indies and completely destroyed them. That was his last full series at express pace consistently. He was able to occasionally get the odd delivery to be super quick after his collision with Alan Turner but never with the consistency that had batsmen literally fearing for their own safety. Kudos too to the late Rod Marsh who must have felt like he was trying to catch scud missiles throughout those two series. I remember a famous photo of his bruised hands in the paper during this series. Also, the English team went home with several players nursing broken bones. It was as fierce a bowling display that we will ever see.
@@TheTigers00001 How do you know he didn't bowl this fast in 75-76?
Even after the injury Thommo could produce extraordinarily fast deliveries.
What he lost was the ability to keep that up for over after over after over: the injured shoulder would start to complain.
Shoulder fracture reduced his pace during WSC and later years...what a tearaway
Yep otherwise he would have taken many more wickets
His action is shit
Great upload..Keep it up. I appreciate your passion for fast bowling and fast bowling analysis..
Thank you so much mate I appreciate your passion as well❤
Lovely compilation. There's quite a bit of variation in his speed, and it doesn't look like he had much conscious control of it. The views from behind show when he got his arm to flick round fast, and when he didn't manage it. Some of those deliveries are frighteningly fast, much faster than I've seen from anyone else, so they must have been 170+ from the hand. In fact only someone with Thomson's action could possibly bowl them that fast.
In my personal opinion thommo's fastest delivery must be BTW 165kph-167kph not sure and actually his 160.45kph was calculated at hand release it was 129.92kph at batters end and 159.49kph was 138.40kph at batters end because 160.45kph was a short pitched delivery and his fastest ever timed in a match was 160.58kph but he surely bowled faster
😂😂😂
He was scary fast, but if you look at the action it would occasionally cause Thommo to rip his fingers down on the ball, which meant a leg-cutter at over 100mph.
I don't care how good a batsman you are, a 100mph leg-cutter is going to cause you trouble.
@@johnreynolds7996 except it wasn't over 100mph
Thommo got bounce that was scary. There has been no one like him. Incomparable for the fear and defensiveness he produced in batsmen. Batsmen were forced to try and score off Lillee. The afternoon he was bowling at Pakistan before his second injury was fast, and accurate, and all the batsmen purely seeking to literally survive. I watched him side on at a Shield game in Sydney in 1980 and even then it took a lot of practice to be able to see the red streak.
He just jogs in, incredible.
Yeah,He has the best bowling action ever for generating pure pace
The ball at 1:44 is ridiculous...and the one at 2:49 is beyond ridiculous
Yeah bloody quick watch 3:02 I think that even quicker
@@anirudhsuresh4481 The one at 3:02 is extremely quick.
Look at the slips field set the batsmen were in survival mode
Can you imagine American baseball batters having pitches aimed at their head. They would all be out there fighting.
Yeah absolutely 😂😂
So much bounce off a good length delivery
No helmets, chest guards, arm guards.. cant believe batsmen didnt die.
Yeah absolutely 💯👍
They all knew the fear but did not back down
Geez he was quick back in 74/75 and 75/76. Such a shame he hurt his shoulder in 76/77 against Pakistan. He was never quite the same after that apart from some sporadic spells.
Absolutely
There's a reason why they were quick to walk.
I was scared just sitting in my living room watching this.
Wow. I always wondered why nobody ever really emulated his action.
Malinga , Shane tait , Fidel edwards , Jhonson even wasim akram bowls slinging action to get reverse swing . 🤦🏼♂️
@@anirudhsuresh4481 oh okie Never heard of them.
@@anirudhsuresh4481 exactly !!
It’s a javelin action, shoulder comes off after bowling few spells
I did. I got a bag full of wickets and 2 shoulder recos, a knee and an ankle by the time I was 30. But for a brief period I could claim to be an express pace bowler! GLORY!!
There's always debate about who's the quickest ever...but Thommo was certainly the most lethal scary bowler I have ever seen. Maybe Lee, Holding, Tait and Akhtar bowled a delivery or two at similar pace on rare occasions...but Thommo just looked like he was at that extreme pace all the time.
Holding said Thommo was faster than him.
Thomson was fastest in that era but Brett Lee and Shoaib are a lot more faster than him.
@@makarandkinikar7786 I respect your comment.
But I have seen all the "greats" at a Test match but no one is close to Thomson. Not one!
@@makarandkinikar7786 As I said people will debate it....but Thommo had a speed gun on him 3 times in his career for just a few balls and he bowled one of the 4 fastest balls ever recorded. Lee and Shoaib had their entire career recoded by speed guns and hit 160km once. None of those occasions when the speed gun was on Thommo were between 1974 and 76 when everyone agrees he bowled at his fastest.
@@thornwivans actually Lee bowled 160kph 8 times and akthar 3 or 4 times anyway tomson was quicker in his faster spells
Thommo and Lillie single biggest reason helmets were brought into the game, gloves improved rapidly around same time, not everyone even wore a thigh pad ...unheard of nowadays .....ive played the game in England and South Africa where i saw Donald on a lightning Wanderers track in a provincial game attempting to Remove Jimmy Cooks head.....but never do i remember any single bowler being so feared as Thommo and if was clocked now hed be 10kmh quicker than anyone
Yeah right Thomson was really the fastest bowler ever and Lillee too would have bowled 160kph at his prime
@@anirudhsuresh4481 Lillee only until 1974 when his back started bothering him. But before 74 he was as you say electrifyingly quick. A better and more thoughtful bowler than Thommo who adapted to fast medium in his later years with great trickery and cunning while retaining the intimidatory attitude. Dickie Bird rated him best fast bowler he'd seen.
@@gerontius3 His back broke down a year earlier. He was already back by 1974.
Those were the days ❤
1:03,00:50,1:45, 2:43,2:49,3:04,4:28,3:32,4:54, 0:39these deliveries are around 160kph I think
Plus
@@gorgen23 yeah correct
Jeff “the human trebuchet” Thompson.
What a legend, I was a bit young to remember his early career when he was at his fastest but I remember the last few years of him playing really well.
He’s pretty hard to forget with his unique bowling action.
ua-cam.com/video/exh6K5x_CfM/v-deo.htmlsi=K3bFB9-mKctdc3wo watch this one bro 44 yrs old Tomson bowling quick
Excellent upload bro👍
Thank you bro ☺️
Funnily enough, Thommo was one of the great outfielders. He took some of the great outfield catches but I don't think the footage survives.
He was a natural athlete.
And he would bowl the ball to the keeper from the outfield, rather than throw it.
Just very, very quick .
I've often wondered why nobody seems to have been able to mimic his action, since it's clearly so well suited to high speeds. I can only assume its because it is so physically demanding, which shows what a natural athlete he must have been. Revisiting this after Mark Wood's spells at headingley in the ashes. Nothing quite like raw pace.
Ive wondered that too . I tbink the action contrubuted to rhe bounce he got , maybe not the pace but def rhe boince off just short of a good length
He threw the javelin when he was younger which shaped his action, i believe.
Apparently he was very elastic..he could sit in the lotus position..his muscles were very springy
I have seen couple of Sri Lankan bowlers with sling shot action. Nowhere near this pace though.
You need really, really broad shoulders to do it at pace, which Thommo certainly had.
What's often overlooked is that his action allowed him to just lope up to the crease, whereas someone like (say) Lillee had a more classic action that required the bowler to actually run from their marker to the crease.
So Thommo was often able to bowl longer spells than most fast bowlers, because his legs weren't turning to jelly.
And the attacking fields they set for him. Just watched the Sydney test against Pakistan with Australia hoping to get out their number 9 by bowling short and having him caught on the boundary
Outraged at how this Aussie and his stable mate Lillee aimed at the Englishmen's bodies. Unheard of. Oh, wait, you say there were a Jardine and a Larwood who started it in the first place? No, you say? What, Spofforth and Turner? McDonald? Mynn?
Saw him in his prime before his shoulder injury in 1976 and he was absolutely frightening. The batsmen back then had huge balls of steel to face him especially when helmets hadn’t been introduced into the game yet. The argument as to who the fastest bowler was will always be up for debate. However consider this, Thommo was timed at 99.67mph when he won the fastest bowler competition in 1975. Which is slower than the fastest balls bowled by Shohib Aktar, Brett Lee & Shaun Tait who have all been timed at just over 100mph. However Thommo’s speed was timed as the ball reached the batsman’s end of the pitch and not out of the hand like the other three were. So what speed out of the hand was Thommo’s delivery? When you consider that regardless of the speed a ball is bowled at, air resistance causes the ball to slow down by 12% before it even lands on the pitch. Then it slows down further after landing on the pitch, the amount varies from pitch to pitch. But just applying the 12% air resistance onto that ball bowled by Thommo at 99.67mph, it gives you an out of the hand speed of 111.63mph or 179.65kph.
Noo bro actually bowling speed of Tomson was calculated @hand rea
Lease itself 159.49kph was 138.40kph at batters end and 160.45kph was 129.92kph at batters end it's clearly given in Lillee's biography and actually fast bowling competition happened in 1978 after his injury 147.9kph was his fastest that day 160.45kph, 159.49kph was calculated in 1975 in a test match VS West indies and 160.58kph in 1976 vs West indies itself 180kph is not possible for a human bro I think Tomson would have reached 165kph-167kph 😊
@@anirudhsuresh4481who was the fastest at their peak.
Holding
Thommo.
Patterson
Mm
Are you kidding no one will face with 111 MPH 😅, I think it would be invisible for them.
@@altafwazirtraveler6535 yes bro actually what he said is wrong but i honestly think 103-104mph is possible
@@VikasKumar-vd8hz Surely it's Tomson
Remember one thing, he didn't want to bowl the batsman out; he wanted the batsman to get out of the field, and which way that happened wasn't his primary concern. That's why his wicket tally is so low, and his average is too high. Lilee had the same problem too. Lilly admitted the matter in an interview, but Thommo was always honest about his intentions. It didn't matter to him whether the batsman would get out from the field by getting out or injuring themselves to play him. He wanted the batsman off the pitch. Such a badass bowler!!
Uncle Fred told me the ball would fizz from his delivery.
Your uncle??
The fastest ever, without a doubt.
Absolutely 💯
Consistently. Other bowlers on their day bowled as quick in short bursts on fast pitches. The Holding/Boycott over for example in 1981. Thommo in his heyday bowled every delivery at that speed. I only saw him play once, in 1985 right at the end of his career (might've been his last test) and he was still sharp then !