Poor buggers in 3rd grade. Might not have been quite as bad. In those early days he might've actually bowled at them at under 160kph...lol
Last edited:
Quickest Bowlers? Today or Yesteryear?
- Thread starter Run n Spread
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Poor buggers in 3rd grade. Might not have been quite as bad. In those early days he might've actually bowled at them at under 160kph...lol
West Indies were allowed to play by their Board that year. Only did for 2 of the 5 Tests. The WSC walked out after the 3rd Test due to a dispute with the Board. We were smashed in the first two Tests, won the 3rd chasing 360, smashed in the 4th and would've won the 5th Test except it got abandoned due to a riot on the field.
I saw him live. It was feasible the odd ball could've pushed that speed. The scariest part though was he could bowl short at the same speed Lee, Akthar etc bowled when they bowled full.
He had bouncers that bounced over the keepers head and half-volleyed the fence. That would mean in this day and age it would've cleared the rope. That's scary. Wonder if that's 4 or 6 byes?
There is faster than the rest and there is 10km faster than the rest.
It's pretty much the point I make about Thommo. Even though he did lose some pace after his shoulder injury, that's when he lengthened his run up to add more pace, he was still the quickest bowler in the world, a world which included the likes of Holding, etc. After he retired, he was coach of Queensland for awhile. In a game at Adelaide Oval, I went out to the nets and Thommo was bowling. He was still making the batsmen jump around. Two-up was just an amazing athlete.
It does not explain why his deliveries rose steeply off good lengths. That is purely speed.
At about 20.15 of this video Shoaib Akhtar gets one that looks like a 2 bouncer over the rope. Quick stuff.
How about when Thommo and Pascoe both opened for the same school together, then the same club?!!? Crikey!
http://www.cricketcountry.com/artic...australian-pacer-of-yugoslavian-origin-512615
How about when Thommo and Pascoe both opened for the same school together, then the same club?!!? Crikey!
http://www.cricketcountry.com/artic...australian-pacer-of-yugoslavian-origin-512615
I used to buy Australian Cricket magazine in the late 1960s, and they would do a Grade report from all the states. I remember reading about these two teenagers Thomson and Durtanovich from Bankstown who were terrorising batsmen and breaking stumps. I heard somewhere that Thommo used to tease Lenny about his surname, saying he would never be picked for Australia because they wouldn't be able to fit his name on the scoreboard. I don't know if that's true or not.
I also believe that Thommo's mum would drag the two boys off the beach and made sure they were at cricket practice. Even when they were in the NSW state squad, they would turn up to practice in board shorts and surfboards under their arms.
The story about Lillee and Thommo's first meeting in a shield match WA v NSW is a classic with Thommo peppering Lillee with short ones and DK getting really pissed off with him. They didn't like each other to begin with and turned out to be great mates. Sport can do that to people.
Well he regularly played in World Series Cricket days and then he probably also played some Tests straight after World Series Cricket ended but because he basically was a pace bowler he would be competing against Rodney Hogg and I guess Jeff Thomson if Thommo was fit at times. Geoff Lawson soon came on scene around 1981 or 82. Then McDermott after that. Plus we tended to bowl a swing bowler like Terry Alderman or left-armer Geoff Dymock a bit. He would not be a better bowler than Hogg or effective as Alderman so most times he probably just missing out. He did play quite a few Tests in 1980 though.
Most of the time the bowling side of team in his time was going to be Lillee, a swing bowler , a spinner and one other pace bowler. If you got Hogg, Pascoe and Thommo competing for a spot Pascoe no certainty of getting in team. Andy Bichel had a similar career on fringes of bowling attack much of his career.
- May 17, 2014
- 4,009
- 5,270
- AFL Club
- St Kilda
I'm sure they could've made it fit
- Oct 7, 2012
- 15,839
- 24,196
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
On Thommo
Note the comments from Viv who in many eyes was one of the best players of pace ever, and who played with and against all the great Windies quicks.
Rod Marsh: There were times when I thought, 'It's impossible for anyone to bowl faster.' Some say he was faster than the 160 kilometres an hour that he was measured at. I don't know, but what I do know is that he was faster than anyone I ever kept to.
Add to that the fact that he was able to make the ball climb from a length better than anyone I ever saw. That's what the West Indies found in 1975-6 - that a length ball could pass by their chins. That's frightening. From my point of view the worst thing about that particular series is, if you have a look at the byes: astronomical! They were going past the batsman's chin, so not a wide, then one bounce into the sightscreen. There was no hope of the keeper reaching a heap of them.
Viv Richards: When he found that length - basically just short of a good length - he was as good as it gets. The amount of wickets he took with balls lifting sharply off a good length was amazing. For that special delivery, no one could match Jeff Thomson for raw, lethal pace. He was very special, you know.
http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1122003/-thommo---how-quick-was-he
This is an edited extract from Lillee & Thommo by Ian Brayshaw, published by Hardie Grant Books
Note the comments from Viv who in many eyes was one of the best players of pace ever, and who played with and against all the great Windies quicks.
Rod Marsh: There were times when I thought, 'It's impossible for anyone to bowl faster.' Some say he was faster than the 160 kilometres an hour that he was measured at. I don't know, but what I do know is that he was faster than anyone I ever kept to.
Add to that the fact that he was able to make the ball climb from a length better than anyone I ever saw. That's what the West Indies found in 1975-6 - that a length ball could pass by their chins. That's frightening. From my point of view the worst thing about that particular series is, if you have a look at the byes: astronomical! They were going past the batsman's chin, so not a wide, then one bounce into the sightscreen. There was no hope of the keeper reaching a heap of them.
Viv Richards: When he found that length - basically just short of a good length - he was as good as it gets. The amount of wickets he took with balls lifting sharply off a good length was amazing. For that special delivery, no one could match Jeff Thomson for raw, lethal pace. He was very special, you know.
http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1122003/-thommo---how-quick-was-he
This is an edited extract from Lillee & Thommo by Ian Brayshaw, published by Hardie Grant Books
I was pleased I was able to see him bowl when he was at his peak. Never seen a keeper stand back so far when I went to the MCG Boxing Day 1975. He took the first 5 wickets to fall.
He only played 14 Tests but got 64 wickets at 26, so he could certainly bowl. He played a number of Supertests with WSC and was one mean, nasty fast bowler. Packer must've thought alot of him to get him to World Series Cricket without having played a Test.
Not really so weird. There were a number of quality quick bowlers around at that time. It was an amazing time for the emergence of genuine quicks. For years, after the Lindwall/Miller era, we had the likes of Davidson and McKenzie spearheading the Australian attack, and then suddenly there was Lillee. It seemed to open the floodgates for a plethora of quicks like Prior, Hogg, Hurst, etc. Pascoe was one of about 7-8 quicks good enough to play for Australia at that time. There was Lillee, Thomson, and then the 3rd spot was usually filled by Max Walker or Gary Gilmour.
As for Packer selecting him, the number one priority for Packer was a pace barrage, he was a speed freak. He recruited anyone who could bowl at genuine pace.
Clive Lloyd said that when batting against Thommo, you had to have your wits about you. He claimed he was the one bowler in the world who could get you at any time, no matter how many you were on and how comfortable you felt, Thommo would suddenly pick you up. He described Thommo as "dangerous".
Viv Richards said in an interview that West Indian batsman Laurence Rowe used to joke around and sing songs while he was batting, but not when Thomson was bowling
Doss
Ass
- Aug 1, 2011
- 75,214
- 112,305
- AFL Club
- Essendon
Another thing I heard attributed to Rowe about Thommo was what he said to Viv - "he's bowling damned batty balls!", a reference to his action where his hand more or less whipped out from behind, well, his backside.
Gough
Moderator
- Sep 29, 2006
- 71,902
- 133,484
- AFL Club
- Hawthorn
- Moderator
- #197
In the old days you used to be able sit right behind the nets at Adelaide and see bowlers from more or less a batsman's perspective. It helped you appreciate what they did, even somone like Bruce Reid who was more or less fast medium looked quick enough to me.
- Apr 18, 2005
- 30,972
- 26,719
- AFL Club
- Melbourne
Yeah if you're not used to that pace it's pretty quick. Facing a county bowler and ex West Indian was extremely quick for the level I played. But that would've been considered just medium at state or national level.
Some great quotes in that article. Thommo asking Chappell how many steps his own run-up was got me chuckling. Reminded me of a throw-away gag in one of the Warwick Todd books that said Thommo's signature was just an X.
- May 5, 2006
- 62,726
- 70,017
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Couch potatoes scoff at guys on TV that "only" bowl in the 130s but even if you're an accomplished grade cricketer (which I am not) that's serious pace. I've faced a mate who played to a decent level in NSW and off his long run probably only got to 120-130 having not played regularly in years and I can say from experience if you don't pick it up it can leave a hefty bruise. People are the same watching the tennis. The top servers on the ATP tour can serve at 200 or even 250 km/h but if you reckon you'd get a serve back from someone who "only" serves at 160-170 you're kidding yourself. Did LOL watching heroes at the Hopman Cup measuring their powerful serves that came up low 100s.
* doing a Piers Morgan and facing Brett Lee in the nets.
