1) Jeffrey Robert Thomson was born on the 16th of August 1950 in Greenacre, Sydney, New South Wales.
2) Jeff had an unusual sling-shot bowling action. In fact, his father Don bowled with the similar action. Years later one of his sons, Matt, replicated that action. Don’s two other sons didn’t bowl much, but whenever they did, the action was similar to their father’s.
3) Rod Marsh has stated that Thomson was the fastest bowler whom he has kept wickets to. In his opinion, Thomson bowled in excess of 160 Kmph and might have even touched 180 Kmph during his fastest spells.
4) Jeff Thomson always wanted a boat as a kid and as a toddler he always wanted toy boats. Jeff loved his beach excursions and fishing.
5) Commenting on their bowling during the 1974–75 season, Wisden wrote: “ it was easy to believe they were the fastest pair ever to have coincided in a cricket team”.
6) Thomson attended the Condell Park Primary School and took up cricket there. From talking to girls to surfing to terrorising opposition team’s batsmen — his partner in crime was pacer Len Pascoe, then known as Lenny Durtanovich. Pascoe later went on to play 14 Tests and 29 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia.
7) Clive Lloyd corroborated Marsh's opinion when he said that Thomson was the fastest bowler he ever faced.
8) In his early years, Thomson was equally good at cricket and soccer. He claims to have chosen cricket because it required less rigorous training than soccer. Once during a soccer competition, Thomson punched a referee as he was unhappy with several of his decisions as a result of which he was banned.
9) England was called ‘Dad’s Army’ when they called 42-year old Colin Cowdrey to come in and do battle with the likes of Lillee, Walker, and of course, Thommo. Bowling to Denness, one of Thommo’s bouncers ripped from the surface and smashed into the sight screen on the first bounce. Colin Cowdrey, who witnessed the ball first said to Thommo on the way back to the latter’s bowling mark: ‘Good morning, my name is Cowdrey’. Needless to say, this did little to save Cowdrey as he was rendered with blow after blow on the body.
10) England skipper Mike Brearley had once famously described Thomsons’ pace: “Broken marriages, conflicts of loyalty, the problems of everyday life fall away as one faces up to Thomson.”
11) Thomson happens to be few of the living bowlers to bowl to the great Don Bradman. It was a rest day during a Test at Adelaide in 1978 and Thommo got the opportunity in backyard cricket. By his own admission, he thought, “I had just better bowl my leg-spinners as it wouldn’t look too good in the newspaper if I killed Don Bradman in a game of backyard cricket.” The 70-year-old Bradman faced him without any protection and smacked him. Thommo reckons that Bradman is the most remarkable batsman he bowled to.
12) The action of Jeff Thomson did not have a jump in the run-up, which meant that he was able to generate additional pace. As Richie Benaud would go on to describe the action, it was similar to that of a javelin thrower.
13) Thomson, a charming personality himself, married the pretty model Cheryl Wilson. The wedding flowers were supplied by the legendary Ray Lindwall.
14) In the World Cup 1975, Thomson once again proved his lethalness and this time against the minnows — Sri Lanka. Sunil Wettimuny and Duleep Mendis had launched a counterattack and this only infuriated Thomson who hit both the batsmen all over the body — targeting boots and ribcages. He sent both the batsmen to hospital. Wettimuny, hit on the boot was hobbling around in pain and Thommo famously said him, “Look mate, it’s [foot] not broken. But if you face up to the next ball, it bloody well will be broken!” After the match, Australian captain Ian Chappell introduced him as ‘The Ambassador to Sri Lanka.’
15) One batsman has described a bouncer from Jeff Thomson reaching the boundary board on the first bounce. One can only imagine the number of sight screens that would have been decimated by five ounces of the cricket ball when released by Jeff Thomson.
16) On January 27th 2016 Jeff was inducted in the Australian hall of fame
17) Graham Gooch was Jeff Thomson’s 200th wicket in Test cricket.
2) Jeff had an unusual sling-shot bowling action. In fact, his father Don bowled with the similar action. Years later one of his sons, Matt, replicated that action. Don’s two other sons didn’t bowl much, but whenever they did, the action was similar to their father’s.
3) Rod Marsh has stated that Thomson was the fastest bowler whom he has kept wickets to. In his opinion, Thomson bowled in excess of 160 Kmph and might have even touched 180 Kmph during his fastest spells.
4) Jeff Thomson always wanted a boat as a kid and as a toddler he always wanted toy boats. Jeff loved his beach excursions and fishing.
5) Commenting on their bowling during the 1974–75 season, Wisden wrote: “ it was easy to believe they were the fastest pair ever to have coincided in a cricket team”.
6) Thomson attended the Condell Park Primary School and took up cricket there. From talking to girls to surfing to terrorising opposition team’s batsmen — his partner in crime was pacer Len Pascoe, then known as Lenny Durtanovich. Pascoe later went on to play 14 Tests and 29 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia.
7) Clive Lloyd corroborated Marsh's opinion when he said that Thomson was the fastest bowler he ever faced.
8) In his early years, Thomson was equally good at cricket and soccer. He claims to have chosen cricket because it required less rigorous training than soccer. Once during a soccer competition, Thomson punched a referee as he was unhappy with several of his decisions as a result of which he was banned.
9) England was called ‘Dad’s Army’ when they called 42-year old Colin Cowdrey to come in and do battle with the likes of Lillee, Walker, and of course, Thommo. Bowling to Denness, one of Thommo’s bouncers ripped from the surface and smashed into the sight screen on the first bounce. Colin Cowdrey, who witnessed the ball first said to Thommo on the way back to the latter’s bowling mark: ‘Good morning, my name is Cowdrey’. Needless to say, this did little to save Cowdrey as he was rendered with blow after blow on the body.
10) England skipper Mike Brearley had once famously described Thomsons’ pace: “Broken marriages, conflicts of loyalty, the problems of everyday life fall away as one faces up to Thomson.”
11) Thomson happens to be few of the living bowlers to bowl to the great Don Bradman. It was a rest day during a Test at Adelaide in 1978 and Thommo got the opportunity in backyard cricket. By his own admission, he thought, “I had just better bowl my leg-spinners as it wouldn’t look too good in the newspaper if I killed Don Bradman in a game of backyard cricket.” The 70-year-old Bradman faced him without any protection and smacked him. Thommo reckons that Bradman is the most remarkable batsman he bowled to.
12) The action of Jeff Thomson did not have a jump in the run-up, which meant that he was able to generate additional pace. As Richie Benaud would go on to describe the action, it was similar to that of a javelin thrower.
13) Thomson, a charming personality himself, married the pretty model Cheryl Wilson. The wedding flowers were supplied by the legendary Ray Lindwall.
14) In the World Cup 1975, Thomson once again proved his lethalness and this time against the minnows — Sri Lanka. Sunil Wettimuny and Duleep Mendis had launched a counterattack and this only infuriated Thomson who hit both the batsmen all over the body — targeting boots and ribcages. He sent both the batsmen to hospital. Wettimuny, hit on the boot was hobbling around in pain and Thommo famously said him, “Look mate, it’s [foot] not broken. But if you face up to the next ball, it bloody well will be broken!” After the match, Australian captain Ian Chappell introduced him as ‘The Ambassador to Sri Lanka.’
15) One batsman has described a bouncer from Jeff Thomson reaching the boundary board on the first bounce. One can only imagine the number of sight screens that would have been decimated by five ounces of the cricket ball when released by Jeff Thomson.
16) On January 27th 2016 Jeff was inducted in the Australian hall of fame
17) Graham Gooch was Jeff Thomson’s 200th wicket in Test cricket.
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