AMERICANS REACT TO JUST HOW FAST WAS JEFF THOMSON, ACTUALLY? || REAL FANS SPORTS

#Cricket #AmericanReacts #JeffThomson #RealFansSports #Nonpfixion #Zach
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VIDEO DESCRIPTION : In today's video Nonpfixion and Zach will be reacting to Australian Cricket player Jeff Thomson. Jeff Thomson is one of the fastest bowlers in cricket history although he played in a much different era. So this leads to the question that us two Americans are trying to find out, how fast was he actually.
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[@jimkat2]

The term "sandshoe crusher" came from Thompson's yorkers

[@aplund]

When asked about his accuracy, the response was along the lines of: if I don't know where the ball is going then the batsman definitely won't know.

[@neumanmachine3781]

I was lucky enough to watch Jeff Thomson play live, but only towards the end of his career in a Sheffield Shield match (interstate cricket) where he was past his peak speed. Even then from side on his bowling was faster than the naked eye could see. The wicket keeper was also standing some 25 metres behind the stumps and was taking the ball at shoulder height. We moved around to get behind the wicket to have a chance to actually see the ball and even then you only got an impression of the bowl as it was so quick. The only other bowlers I have seen live that could match that pace were a young Craig McDermott, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson- none of whom could have matched a pre injury Thommo.

[@glenchapman3899]

Yes I saw him and a lot of the great West Indian's play live. Always sat behind the wicket or would have no idea what was going on lol

[@blairchristie910]

You need to watch the history of "bodyline" between Australia and England in the early 30s ashes series

[@jamesrowe3606]

I saw Jeff Thompson bowl once. I was sitting side-on to the pitch, so I didn't really see the ball, just a frighteningly fast blur and a batsman trying desperately to get out of the way of the red missile coming at him. It was only a tour match against an English county side, so he probably wasn't giving it full blast, but man it was fast, and hostile.

[@davidhandson2429]

He went for the head and the toes. He had the most lethal yorker in the game and broke many batsman's toes. As for the how fast he bowled he was recorded at 161 kilometres per hour in the late 70's I think 77 againsed the West Indies in Perth. The difference in how they recorded the speed then to now is that Thompson's was recorded when the ball reached the batsman now they record the speed as the ball leaves the bowlers hand. So Thompson's was recorded at its slowest point and now it is recorded at it's fastest point. Aktars was 161.8 when it left his hand Thompson's was 161 when it reached the batsman. Experts say that the ball looses between 8 to 10 kilometres by the time it gets to the batsman. So Thompson's 161 would be 8 to 10 kilometres faster when the ball left his hand.

[@jamesszabadics5911]

Aside from the bean ball bouncers aimed at the head he also aimed for the toe - the sandshoe crusher. This delivery is called a yorker in traditional cricket parlance....

[@stevecam724]

Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson and Rod Marsh were the backbone of the Aussie bowling attack in the mid 77s

[@UmpireStrikesBack]

PLEASE, stop saying "throw". Throwing is an illegal delivery. Say bowl, bowler, bowling, bowled etc.

[@RealFansSports]

Just a habit my brother. we catch ourselves most the time but every once in a while it slips out. We are aware that it is not allowed.

[@UmpireStrikesBack]

@@RealFansSports Please don't take it as an insult. Only a comment.

[@RealFansSports]

@@UmpireStrikesBack oh no Ofcourse not! Was just letting everybody know we are aware of the difference. It’s hard breaking the habit of decades using the word throw. Especially since for us it’s never been correlated with bending of the elbow. Throw has always been used as a loose term for using force to move an object using your arm.

[@tonyroy8123]

Listen you twoJeff Thomson was the most lethal bowler ever. So was Michael Holding for the WestCaribbeans). So, watch that as well.

[@Ducatirati]

@RealFansSports and Bodyline , Pompus English Captain Douglas Jardine , a twat , decided to beat Australia he had to employ a tactic , and decided that Bradman was key , and all batsmen will receive a constant barrage off short ball bowled at the body head preferably, and Harold Larwood , arguably the fastest bowler in the colonies , But it was "JUST NOT CRICKET" there is only one team playing cricket out there and it's. Isn't England , and it was dirty Cricket, but so be it , the most unsporting thing I've ever seen , would be a certain underarm , Bloody piss weak , any one but a little brother would had a fkn dip , so. GREG you put it on yah Lil bro , prick , NOT OUT

[@roderickdunn3464]

Jeff Thompson was extremely flexible, few people are flexible enough to bowl using his action. I watched him bowling at the gabba, the keeper was standing about 25 metres behind the wicket, and taking catches over his head. He is a nice bloke, with a wry sense of humour.

[@arconeagain]

He's very funny and humble. I saw an acceptance speech from him and it was thoroughly entertaining. I think it ended in tears, maybe about Rod Marsh?? Anyway, he seems like an out and out great bloke.

[@davejensen7922]

Aussie cricketers were a bunch of drunks back in those days and still won most of their matches

[@vp4744]

Wasn't there an incident where an English player went to Aussie changing rooms to demand an apology for a slur he heard on the field? He then saw they talked like that even to themselves. I believe the slur was "bastard".

[@user-ij5wm7ev4s]

@@vp4744 Think that was Lord Tennyson back in an Ashes series in the 1920's.

[@vp4744]

@@user-ij5wm7ev4s That's probably right, because it's something I read. Thanks.

[@jsegal8385]

Back in the 1930's the English used a tactic against Australia called 'Bodyline' where the pace bowlers aimed AT the batsman, not the wicket. And by saying 'at the batsman' it was a short pitched ball aimed to rise up and hit the batsmans head. This was developed to counter the Australian batsman Don Bradman. Bradmans Test batting average was 99.94. And but for going out for a duck (ie no score) in his last innings it would have been 100. That was set between 1928 and 1948. It is still a record today. The second closest is Harry Brook at 62.15. This is still remembered today by the Aussies and back in those days it sparked a serious diplomatic incident Jeff was not trying to bowl bodyline as he didnt aim at the man but he was still dangerous as was Dennis Lillie

[@neumanmachine3781]

Bodyline or as the English captain Jardine called it “Leg Theory” had the bowler come around the wicket so that the starting point of the delivery was outside the line of the batter’s body and then pitched short aimed at their ribcage or head. The Australian team refused to respond in kind and as this was still in the amateur era they considered it to be an ungentlemanly way to play the game. There were many injuries to the Australian players who were often unable to return to their occupations after the match due to their injuries (at least until they healed) and this generated much outrage in Australia and embarrassment for those English who did not support these tactics.

[@kevharper1378]

@@neumanmachine3781 "There are two teams out there, but only One of them is Playing Cricket" Australian captain of the day.

[@arconeagain]

​@@kevharper1378 one of the greatest statements in cricketing history.

[@mymartianhome]

I believe there was also the England tour of Australia when the Australians used bodyline against England but that was several years before.

[@jsegal8385]

@@mymartianhome Splitting hairs, there is leg theory and fast leg theory. Leg theory is when the ball is bowled at the leg stump. It was used before the First World war mainly by slow and medium pace bowlers. Fast leg theory ie. bodyline is when the ball is bowled at speed aiming at the batsmans body. This was developed specifically for use against Bradman by The English

[@brentdavis3102]

Thommo was a legit freak made of the old school stuff. The realist fast bowler to ever look down a pitch. Imagine having to face him one over & Dennis Lillee the next over after over? Imagine the effect that would have on any batters moral?

[@adamparker9765]

and without a helmet 😳

[@jamesmorgan4121]

I watched the 74/75 Ashes series in Australia and Thompson bowled balls that went past the batsman’s chins and hit the sight screen on the full. That is how quick he was and I have never seen another fast bowler do that. The only way they could measure the speed back then was timing it from Wicket to Wicket. For Thompson to reach 160km/h using this measure he had to release it at about 180km/h. Note that it is the speed at release that they measured now, they don’t take into account the reduction in speed of the ball when it bounces.

[@aqibpeer7451]

I have heard this from a few people. Would the pitch have aided him a little because the pitches would have been uncovered and much faster than today? Not disrespectful but just trying to understand how someone could hit the sight screen on the full

[@relevantbrother8964]

If he was 180 in 1974 ,he measured only 147 in 1979 using speed from the hand as they do today. That means he lost 35kph of pace in 5 years as did Roberts , Holding and Lillee mysteriously.. I know the old stories of Thommo being in the bar and suddenly pitching up and winning the 79 speed challenge but all of them were much slower.Very strange.

[@jamesmorgan4121]

@@relevantbrother8964 1979 was after he had his shoulder injury and he was nowhere near as fast after that. You can see that from the videos and the players say the same thing.

[@jamesmorgan4121]

@@aqibpeer7451 pitches were covered in 1974. The pitches were actually no different than today. He did it in Perth which is no surprise as it is a fast bounce wicket. But he also did it in Sydney and that was a spinner’s paradise as it is today. Melbourne is the only pitch that has changed significantly in the last 50 years but they were all covered back then.

[@aqibpeer7451]

@@jamesmorgan4121 he must have been really fast then. Scary af 😲

[@joeblack1652]

If you guys haven’t looked up Shaun “The Wild Thing” Tait he is another incredible Aussie fast bowler with an unorthodox action. He once hit AB Devilier who was late on the ball, bottom edged it into his hip, and the pain was so great AB spun around and couldn’t hold his bat up and dropped it onto the stumps which counted as a wicket.

[@geoffmaloney2717]

A couple of tidbits on Thommo. Was from my hometown suburb in Sydney. Played for my soccer club (is about ten years older than me) was banned for life for punching a referee. I would ride my bike down to the local oval to watch him play local (Grade) cricket. Would open the bowling with another Australian bowler Len Pascoe. Both terrifyingly quick. As you say this is before helmets around 1973. He then moved to Queensland (a state north of New South Wales) and while playing for Queensland his housemate was killed by a cricket ball while playing grade cricket fielding in close. Helmets were introduced for both batting and in close around 1977. His delivery was also very difficult for batsmen because they need to watch the ball in the bowlers hand. Coming from behind him, it cut down the batters time to see the ball and what type of ball he was bowling.

[@satyapalsingh116]

Go for Mitchell Johnson another Aussie who brought back the fear and threatened batsmen to leave the crese. Watch 2013-14 ashes a slingy action fast bowler. He was firing lethal rockets (bouncers).

[@johnfisher4872]

The bouncers limit only applies to limited overs matches.. In that 74/75 series in Australia the only rule was the umpires could tell the bowler he was endangering the batsmen. Bear in mind this series was a few years before there were helmets available. Try watching on You Tube there are sections of Thommo bowling in that series where the batsmen, with no helmets, were just about avoiding the ball hitting them on the head. You showed one clip of a batsman being struck in the groin. The batter was David Lloyd, also known as Bumble. He tells the story about how the groin protector shattered in that moment and his wedding tackle got tangled in the debris. Hilarious story if you can find it.

[@richo2418]

In Thommo’s day, as he explains in an interview with Sachin Tendulkar, the speed was measured at the batsman’s stumps. When live speeds started the bowlers were no where near Jeff’s 160km/h mark and Kerry Packer wanted higher speeds so the more modern radars now the speed from the bowlers hand, not at the opposite end. This means that Jeff could actually have bowled at 175-180km/h if bowling today. Also note it wasn’t unusual for Jeff to see the ball to go over the keepers head and over the boundary without touching the ground after bouncing on the pitch. You don’t see that these days!

[@siryogiwan]

only just clicked on, but I'm so glad you covered Jeff, he was a gun of the game

[@siryogiwan]

I was born in 73, growing up with only 2 channels on tv, 1 (ABC of Australia) had every test match (prior to 1 day cricket), so watching these guys was a done thing, you would play backyard cricket, coming in for breaks to see the score and get food, drinks or frozen treats, simpler days lol

[@siryogiwan]

a heap of wicketkeepers played with broken hands and fingers etc, purely from the power of the bowler

[@siryogiwan]

The vid he suggested at end, is def another bowler, along with Bruce Reid, Merv Hughes and Craig McDermott, that you guys will be impressed by

[@mikeythehat6693]

Thompson was part of the Test line up for Australia when I was a kid, his delivery style was certainly unorthodox, he just ran in with a flurry of arms and legs, out of which flew a cricket ball at full pace. It really wasn't pretty, but absolutely effective, and with Denniss Lillee bowling from the other end, you couldn't help but become enthralled. This is the era that I learned to love Cricket.

[@KikiBabe-km2mm]

Thommo's top speed was recorded when he had not played competitive cricket for a year as he had not been cleared by the Australian Cricket Board to World Series Cricket. Thommo was sitting in the stadium half the day drinking beer when at the lunch break Kerry Packer the owner of World Series Cricket told Thommo he had to compete in the fastest bowler contest. Thommo was in a suit and had to borrow pants , shirt and shoes to compete and half drunk still won the competition, bowling 160km and also won the accuracy. And not played or trained in months.

[@paulflanagan7739]

The English batsman hit in "the jewels" at 5.04 is David Lloyd. Over the many years since has said, whenever he see's Thomo he covers up the jewels & his pitch of voice becomes higher instantly.

[@KikiBabe-km2mm]

I have seen Jeff Thomson and Shoaib Akhtar bowl live and both were incredibly fast. But you must remember that in Thommo's day they only occasionally timed the bowling speed and used a police hand held speed gun. Something to note is today they have better timing equipment and they time the speed of the ball out of the bowlers hand. In Thommo's day they timed the ball after it has bounced on the pitch and arrived at the batsman's wicket 22 yards away. The speed of the ball decreases by up to 20% once it bounces on the pitch. If they used today's timing method on Thommo's bowling and timed the ball out his hand his speed would be more like 180km per hour

[@piripi40]

It’s actually amazing Thommo never killed anyone. I’ve watched some fast bowlers in my time and the one who left an impression on me was Waqar Younis of Pakistan.

[@chrispetritsch1291]

In case you don't know, it's about 70 feet from where the bowler lets it go to where the batsman is standing and the same distance again to the wicketkeeper. Also, Thommo regularly exceeded 160 km/hr until he badly injured his shoulder in the late 70's.

[@Shivian124]

Hey guys. The English left handed opener hit in the jewels is a very famous incident. Here is David Lloyd hilariously retelling the story kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqOmf4ioo9ioaNU Also Jeff Thomson claims the speed gun speeds were not originally recorded at release - they recorded basically average speed across the wicket. He claims the calculation was changed post his retirement to make subsequent bowlers not seem so much slower. The speeds nowadays are calculated using math to be the actual out of the hand release speeds so Shoaib's speed was at release 100mph but Jeff's speed out of the hand was likely a lot higher.

[@petervad]

I watched him play in the 70s. There were a couple of times in his career when he bowled the ball into the pitch and it went over the batter's head, over the keeper's head and went over the fence on the full; that's 80-100metres! Often he would bowl like that and it would only bounce once before going over the boundary; he was that quick. Also when he was timed at 160kph, it was in a fast bowling competition that was conducted while he was suspended. He was in the bar at the ground at the time drinking beer. The boss came down and said, hey, there's a fast bowling competition happening now downstairs, what are you doing here, get down there and compete. He had been drinking, he was not playing, he had to borrow whites and boots because he didn't have any with him, and he WON! There is little doubt he was often bowling in the 170k's.

[@MichaelWright-xd6zt]

Thomson was a player to be feared.. absolute weapon.

[@julienash9470]

It's worth noting that nowadays the ball is timed out of the bowlers hand but in the 70's it was off the pitch so by that time the ball would have slowed somewhat

[@TheKira699]

Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee were legendary bowlers, they were complimented by the Wicket Keeper (catcher for you Americans) by Rod Marsh who only wore Keeper's Gloves. No helmet, no chest protector. The immortal trio decimated teams. Where you said "they aren't wearing helmet here", the batsmen were wearing white helmets with clear plastic face protectors. First prototype.

[@KikiBabe-km2mm]

Thommo's first test he had a broken foot and was dropped from the Australian Test team and he was not included in the New South Wales State team as well. This really pissed Thommo off and he decided to target all State team players he encountered in club matches. On one occasion in a club game a NSW batsman knew Thommo would target him so he prepared by batting against the bowling machine set at 100 miles per hour at training sessions and claimed he was comfortable with facing that speed. When His turn to bat came was when the previous batsman retired hurt after being hit by a Thommo delivery. Apparently as the batsman was taking guard he was looking at a pool of blood from the previous batsman on the pitch. He was at ease with 100mph bowling, BUT not for what Thommo bowled. He claims it was a hell of a lot faster than 100mph and he could not see the ball and had no idea where the ball was. This was a Highly skilled 1st Class cricketer batting at number 4, so he was more than a capable batsman.

[@COBBETT1215]

You should check out the great West Indies teams of the 70's and 80's. They bowled with a battery of FOUR fast bowlers, each one bowling at or near Thompsons pace. Check out Michael Holding from that team. They called him whispering death because of his speed in bowling and the way he glided in to bowl. They dominated cricket with these bowlers and some great batsmen.

[@matthewcharles5867]

He was scary quick and also very fit.

[@gbrowser5867]

As a kid I was taken to the MCG to see Aus vs WI in the mid seventies. The WI had 4 fast bowlers and Aus had 2 (Lillee & Thomson). Thomson was the fastest of the 6, but not by much and it showed me just how much courage was needed to bat against these bowlers without helmets. Sadly, Jeff Thomson collided with a fielder a couple of years later and had to have his right shoulder reconstructed. He was never quite the same bowler after that. He probably was the fastest bowler ever before his injury, but as speeds were not measured accurately back then its hard to say. Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee and a couple of others were really quick and once someone bowls over 160 Kmh it is probably just academic anyway.

[@UmpireStrikesBack]

Unfortunately I think you are misremembering your childhood. 75/76 West Indies played Lance Gibbs. Then WSC happened, Thommo only played 5 matches all in the West Indies. In 1979/80 Thommo did not play. I cannot find an ODI where that happened.

[@gbrowser5867]

@@UmpireStrikesBack Maybe my memory is merging the Aus v Eng series from the previous year, which I also went to when Thomson was seriously scary, with the WI series. I do remember the gasps in the crowd when Dennis Lillee hit Viv Richards on the head when he was wearing just a cap, but amazingly Viv just shrugged it off and faced the next ball. I guess the point is, there were some serious fast bowlers in that 70s era and if you were listing the top 10 pace bowlers of all time Lillee, Marshall, Roberts, Holding and Garner from that era would all be in contention. I think had Thomson not injured his shoulder, he would have been up there too.

[@utha2665]

He dislocated his shoulder in a collision with Alan Turner when going for a catch at around mid-wicket from memory. I remember when Thommo came back, he could never throw the ball in from the boundary, he had to bowl it. But, you're right, after that injury he was never as quick.

[@nedeast6845]

famously. Jeff Thommo Thomson was timed at the magical 99 mph, yes, he aimed at the head, and wasn't backward in admitting it, as part of his strategy to get the batsmen out lbw by pushing them back in the crease, he had a devastating yorker, his main weapon

[@DavidUKesb]

For a short period probably the fastest ever. There's nothing more thrilling in cricket than seeing a genuine fast bowler live as it's much much faster than it looks on TV. If you're watching 'side-on' you won't even see it.

[@michaelwebster8389]

Good to see this. There are some other early bowlers like Larwood and Tyson that were also legendarily fast. Both are thought by some people to be the fastest of all time, but very difficult to measure. They have to take what footage there is, and try and come up with a measure from the old footage, which isn't very accurate.

[@digimont]

Benaud saw Larwood and played against Tyson, rated Thommo as the fastest.

[@tomfrombrunswick7571]

I remember seeing this guy bowl. He bowled so fast I could not see the ball come out of his hand. His speed also meant that he tended to lose control and the ball could go anywhere. Which if you are a batsman it living hell. You have a fraction of a second to make a decision about what shot to play. In addition some bowlers will bowl in a pattern. Thompson did not know where it was going so no batsman did either. His career was short as he injured his bowling arm and after he got back into the game he could not bowl as fast

[@adamparker9765]

He once said that he didn't know where the ball was going to go so what hope did the batsman have . The English had heard of Dennis lillee being quick , and he was , but the Aussies said you haven't seen anything yet , Thompson is quicker . They couldn't believe it but he was . The two together were extremely scary.

[@richardknight4328]

Thompson bowling action is different because he started as a javelin thrower in school.

[@rw-xf4cb]

Those fielding in slips also feared Thommo bowling and they were around 20m from the bat. Chappell/Walters etc have said this along with Rod Marsh.

[@TheKira699]

Most Wicket Keepers, especially Rod Marsh, wore 'inners' inside the gloves. Usually made of Chamois and cotton and soaked in water prior to playing. The water absorbed some of the impact. Sounds crazy, but I used to use the same method when I played. It gives an extra barrier between Skin and Glove.

[@CLAWCUZBRO]

TOMO..TOMO..TOMO.. we would chant slowly lol

[@jlc1306]

Brilliant cricketing era - Thomson/Lillee bowling (and others), great fielding, amazing wicket keeping. What a team. Noteworthy it has to be bowled on wicket. Wides would grant opposition a run. So to be so fast and accurate is to be admired.

[@colinhackwood4701]

The bloke who said he was after blood was lying, you get people out by hitting the bat for catches, hitting the pads in front of the wickets,or hitting the wickets, it's terrifying when the ball bounces higher, because the faster you bowl, the more it bounces in general, he got heaps of people out, if he aimed for heads he would get nobody out, but he did sometimes try to intimidate batsman by bowling a short ball if the batsman was scoring runs off him

[@tonyhyde2644]

he was often so fast that his bouncers often cleared the boundary, plus he often shattered stumps and cart wheeled them 30 metres back!

[@ROBOTVEDYT]

Haha, nice! Zach has a Brisbane Heat hat on.

[@fruitopia6798]

There is very little real data on bowling speeds from back then, it was considered too impractical for TV, everything took a long time and man hours to set up and calibrate the cameras, then it took a couple of days of checking and calculating to get the result. Just based on the distance the wicketkeeper and slips are standing back and the distance the ball is carrying past the batsman it looks like Thomson has a few kmh on anybody in the 21st century but who can really say for certain. Thomson was measured over perhaps a dozen balls in his entire career, current bowlers are measured over every ball in every match in every format. Thomson broke many toes and fingers and stumps but amazingly I dont think he ever hit a batsman in the head.

[@nicholasunion4362]

See if you can find Thomson's bowling his unique "sand shoe crusher" to Tony Greig. I was lucky enough to watch Lillei and Thomson bowl at a 42 year old Sir Colin Cowdrey (74/75 Ashes Series) a middle aged man batting against L & T.......balls of steel....never would tell that to an English man.

[@electronwave4551]

I was at the WACA. When Cowdrey came out to bat, there was a noticeable murmur throughout the crowd. Everyone anticipated he would be slaughtered. From memory, he didn't bat great, but took a hell of a beating and didn't buckle.

[@davidarmstrong3564]

Thommo didn't just aim for the head. His favourite was the toes and one very famous occasion, English opener David Lloyd's groin. Funny story for you to check out.

[@ChristopherNFP]

Shaun Tait was probably the bowler who was next fastest after Thommo. He was clocked at 101 mph.

[@stuartrowley1981]

Thomo's first practice game was against the poms and his captain told him to bowl dead slow at them so the could surprise them in a proper international game. The pons thought this guys easy to play against we don't understand the hype behind him. Then first proper game came a week later and thommo released hell and fury on them and took wickets so fast and broke the cup one pom was wearing that it opened up and allowed his groin to pop out thru the crack in the cup and close back up on his groin on the wrong side of the protective cup. Lol

[@phoarey]

A friend when I was in my teens managed to get some games in 'A' grade club cricket for Easts in Brisbane (club first grade not first class cricket) as a leg spin bowler (number 11 batsmen). I remember he said to me words along the lines of "being sent out to face Jeff Thompson at 5 pm in fading light on a club quality pitch when you can't bat very well with no helmet was not fun".

[@peterguildford2133]

I used to be a wicket keeper, and played at a reasonable standard. We had one fast bowler for a couple of seasons his knickname was "head hunter Punter". He was so fast after 10 overs of his bowling my hands would feel like tenderised steaks! I got to the stage where i used to pray the batsman would either hit the ball or be hit by the ball, just so it would stop my hands getting such a pounding. Footnote he had a simular realise as Thomo and after a few years had to give the game up due to stress fractures in his back.

[@RealFansSports]

LMAO! Damn, thats crazy. Was there ever any joking between yall two about how fast he bowled.

[@peterguildford2133]

@@RealFansSports No not too much really. To be honest he wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. He wasn't subtle like other bowlers, no slower ball and I'm not sure he ever knew how to make the ball deviate one way or the other, which it did on occasions but not intentionally. He was just flat out all the time. He did have another name that another wicket keeper called him, but and that was "knuckles" . Because he was convinced that he was a throw back to ancient Neanderthals and he dragged his knuckles along as he ran. Not very flattering but probably apt in this case lol

[@ChristopherNFP]

Thommo genuinely bowled faster than 100 mph. He has explained twice that when the radar speed gun was used, he did not know what was being tested so he bowled a normal delivery that hit the ground first then went over the stumps. The other bowlers being measured all bowled a "full toss" - that is they bowled to hit the top of the stumps on the full. Clearly hitting the ground first reduces the speed of the delivery by 10 -20%. Thommo's speed or of the hand was 115 mph.

[@joewalsh3404]

A fellow Bankstown (Sydney) boy - I was in high school with him and Len Pascoe in the early to mid 1960s. I believe his mother and sister were champion javelin throwers.

[@adamparker9765]

That's very interesting and not uprising at all because the same fast twitch muscle fibres are used . I used to throw javelin as a school boy and represented Australia . I could also bowel pretty quick. Not anywhere near Thompsons level of course but I skittled a lot of batsman at local level.

[@hudsonsled454]

He did some drag racing after he retired, I seen him a few times at my local track in his Chevy impala.

[@arconeagain]

The other major advantage of Thommo's bowling action is the batsmen can't see where the ball's coming from. Batsmen are obviously taught to watch the ball, and you watch it come out of the hand, but you may also track it before this. This includes watching the grip for the type of delivery, and which way the shiny side of the ball is facing. You'll see some pace bowlers covering the ball up with their non preferred hand during the run up.

[@RealFansSports]

I didn’t even think about that. But that definitely makes sense! I know in baseball some batters found it hard to hit against side arm pitchers and other variety’s similar to that due to the same reason. Not being able to identify the typical path of the ball as well as the different angles that is delivered by

[@arconeagain]

@@RealFansSports some even pass it from one hand to the other just before the delivery. Once you learn more about the details and tactics of cricket, just pace bowling alone, there are so many variables to play with. Type of delivery, condition of pitch, weather conditions (swing for instance with humidity and the condition of the pitch, has it got some moisture), REVERSE swing, seam, cracks they may be aiming for, field placement and the history of the Batsman getting out, bounce, wind, up hill or down hill, psychology, reverse psychology, condition of the ball including new ball of course, type of ball, angle, short deliveries, yorkers (so length basically), speed (slow ball or mix it up, out the back of the hand or run your fingers over it or grip the ball right back in the hand and it kind of boggles), the state of the match...the list probably goes on. It's often about strategy and setting the batsman up in an over or several overs, you can suck him in to play that ball just outside off, and a simple field placement change or a pattern of previous deliveries can lure him into this. It's very subtle yet complex. Would you believe there used to be 8 ball overs? This would give the bowler more time to conduct his business.

[@craigpilgrim5793]

Thomson himself, guest speaking at "Speaking Conferences/broadcasts") claimed along with Rod Marsh (guy behind the stumps, with gloves and pads on, catching Thommo's missiles if batsman didn't hit it) that he sometimes bowled up to 170klm/hour. He said at these Guest Speaking Arrangements that nowadays the speed cameras/measuring devices that they used to (in 1970's-when Thommo played) measure the speed from where the batsman is standing (22 yards down the grassy wicket), whereas nowadays they measure from the bowler (no chance of speed reducing, once bouncing on the wicket, or just natural speed retardation). If you have queries, please ring Anthony Albanese (Australian Prime Minister) for a good and short time.

[@l3f799]

Thommo didn't always just go for the head. He was famous for what he called his 'sand shoe crusher' which, obviously, was aimed at hurting feet!

[@dangermouse3619]

Have looked at the body line series when Australia vs England when Australia went to England for the series to win the Ashes. This was where body shots were delivered by the bowler to Batman's body. It was brutal in a sense.

[@mymartianhome]

There was also the time when Mike Gatting got hit in the face by one of the West Indies fast bowlers and a bit of his nose bone was embedded in the ball.

[@jib6984ify]

A cricketer, Phil Hughes of Australia, actually died in 2014 after being hit on back of the head facing a bouncer. This lead to redesigns to the helmet. Cricket is no joke in terms of potential dangers faced from the ball.

[@mithrasrevisited4873]

He tended to go for the toes not the head. He liked the toe crusher. Sandshoe crusher as said by someone else in the comments.

[@brentdavis3102]

You really should do the Glenn McGrath video.

[@terryhunt2659]

From a rough calculation, the time from the ball leaving Thomson's hand to its arrival at the batsman (a distance of 20 yards) was about 0.4 seconds.

[@SeekerShivG]

Guyz u have seen enough videos on cricket, now its time to vlog your own cricket match . Please give it a try and play the game once. I am really looking forward to see u guyz playing cricket. Love your videos ❤

[@RealFansSports]

I wish it was that simple but where we live there is not much cricket that goes on. We are going to try to go to a game for the t20 World Cup though and do a vlog.

[@michaeljk555]

Also back in those days they were 8 ball overs not 6. They changed to 6 ball overs in the late 70`s. I remember watching Lillie & Thomo, they were scary together. 👍

[@charlesward4314]

In Australia only

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

In the simplest terms, as long as the bowler's arm is straight once the delivery (i.e., "pitch") starts, it's legal. Thomson's delivery was very unusual - another more recent bowler with a very odd action was Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga. South Africa's Paul Adams had such a weird delivery that he got the nickname "frog in a blender"! And scientists still don't know how a top batsman has the ability to react to a fast bowler's deliveries the way they do! At 100 mph, the batsman has 1.2 seconds to see where it's going, work out where it's going to hit, and change their position.

[@adamparker9765]

Tate had a similar action to . But the bowler that goes twice as fast lasts half as long .

[@neumanmachine3781]

Tate never had the degree of control that Thommo had. Don’t take Thommo’s word for how much control he had. He liked to play up to his image and it was part of the mind games that he would play with the opposition. He knew full well what he was doing with the ball, and only occasionally lost control of it. I don’t think Tate was as physically robust as Thommo and he used to fall away a bit in his delivery stride which made him inconsistent and probably put him at more risk of injury. When he got it right though, it was frightfully quick and quite reminiscent of Thommo in his prime. He is probably the closest to Thommo of any bowler that has played since his time.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

In terms of speed and venom, though not action, the closest in recent years to Thommo was probably Brett Lee.

[@adamparker9765]

@@jamesdignanmusic2765 I would say Tate . He also had that slinging action. Lee was always more upright. Seriously fast all of them.

[@thomaschivers7883]

He was checked with radar at one hundred and four mph at the batting crease where as now it's measured midpitch or out of the hand

[@vp4744]

Lillee more than Thompson changed cricket in another way: weightlifting. Until then bowlers were advised not to lift weights for fear of altering their finely developed bowling arm muscles. Lillee proved that wrong. Now every bowler's workout follows Lillee's regimen, especially dragging weights gladiator style. Thompson and Lillee were certainly the most feared pair until West Indies players became faster and more accurate. Thompson did not have as much ball control as Lillee did, but in those days the pitches were erratic for this style of pace bowling. Once the pitches were fixed and the batsmen figured out how to handle pace, it was easy to score runs. That's how India won its very first World Cup soon after touring West Indies.

[@RealFansSports]

Thanks for the history lesson! Yeah I always find it interesting how the ideas behind training change through the generations. I’m a personal trainer and with baseball they used to believe that working out shoulders caused injuries but now it has been proven the opposite

[@tonyagnello1128]

i met the wicket keeper rod marsh and he told me he stood at least 10 meters further back to thompson than anyone else

[@nickjames7719]

As an Aussie back in the Day, Sunburned half Pissed (drunk) Rod Marsh behind the wickets, with Jeff Thomson from one end Dennis Lilly thundering in from the other end, Mate that was cricket. Cricket never better than those days. These days we have cheats, then the worst things was letting those same cheaters represent Australian again 😢😢 no integrity I would think representing your country would be awesome, so why would you jeopardize that. No way no how ever. That's the reason I don't watch cricket these days. 😮 But back in the day, Thommo was a GOAT.100%

[@splattered63]

I was in Sydney 74/75 test against England. Side on you couldn't see Thompson through the air. You could just see Lillee but Thompson was scary fast.

[@greenidgelewis8347]

The four Horsemen from the West Indies were as fearsome if not scarier than Thomson.

[@baabaabaa-yp2jh]

Malcolm Marshall l wdnt wanna have faced!!

[@bluegold6682]

Those West Indies sides of the late 70's and 80's were awesome. The four fast bowlers (Garner, Holding, Marshall and Roberts) and the amazing Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd in the batting line up were so entertaining.

[@baabaabaa-yp2jh]

Honestly fella's, look up Skull O'Keefe..... He was a spin bowler, then commentator.. bloke is a deadset legend!!

[@billschild3371]

Thommo was once quoted as saying that the terry towleing hats worn by batsmen were for mopping up blood.😮

[@user-hf3vy3hu7i]

Another indication of "Thomo's" speed was where the wicket keeper stands .... Rod Marsh, the keeper often had to jump to stop a ball and that was standing nearly 15 yards back from the stumps. Marsh also stated that with Thompson ( and Lilley) bowling he always wore 2 inner gloves and still ended up with bruised hands !

[@digimont]

Well at least you spelled Marsh correctly. One out of three(4). It's Thommo, Thomson and Lillee.

[@michaelreifenstein2114]

when tommo was clocked at 160, he had been drinking, and was unprepared. he slowed down so he could be more accurate. Flat out he was much faster.

[@robmckrill3134]

I've meet the man and he's as funny as fcuk. He alone with his team mates were so underpaid by cricket Australia, he said to me that the wicket-keeper Marsh along with Lillee spent their players payments on booze 🤣. I've also spoken to Lillee and he confirms alot of the rumours of touring

[@MattThomson]

If you want to see a similar modern day bowler take a look at Malinga. In a way a similar slingy action, but very side arm

[@patrickcollins6680]

He bowled at least 175kph - fastest I've ever seen by the length of a street!

[@georgiegorge6679]

i wagged school to go watch Thommo , he was bloody fast . loved it when he was bowling to the poms , f...... put the shits right up them 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂

[@RealFansSports]

LMAO! I cant lie I did the same thing the other day to go watch Lebron play for my first time lol.

[@stevetreloar3129]

And he could bat a little too, saw him at MCG went in as night watchman and went on the next day to score seventy something!

[@stirlingmoss4621]

Diplomatic Controversy. Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932-33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's leading batsman, Don Bradman. A bodyline delivery was one in which the cricket ball was bowled at pace, aimed at the body of the batsman in the expectation that when he defended himself with his bat, a resulting deflection could be caught by one of several fielders deliberately placed nearby on the leg side. At the time, no helmets or other upper body protective gear was worn, and critics of the tactic considered it intimidating, and physically threatening in a game that was traditionally supposed to uphold conventions of sportsmanship.[1] The England team's use of the tactic was perceived by some, both in Australia and England, as overly aggressive or even unfair, and caused a controversy that rose to such a level that it threatened diplomatic relations between the two countries before the situation was calmed. WikiPedia

[@ianharkin2691]

Yes, they actually worked out that to face someone as quick as Jeff Thompson, you have to start playing your shot before he's even let go of the ball! They measure bowling speeds differently these days. Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee got up around 160kph, but I've got no doubt that at his fastest, Thompson bowled deliveries that would have been clocked at over 160kph using today's technology. A few other bowlers were very fast over the years too. Frank Tyson of England was said to be VERY quick.

[@Ducatirati]

A Green top "WICKET " fast pitch that one , and his famous sand shoe crusher , broke many a toe did Thommo , fast , like real fast

[@relevantbrother8964]

He was a nightmare. 160 and maybe even a bit more was likely in 1974/75... Still ,when they tested his pace 4 years later alongside his contemporaries ,using speed from the hand as they do today , they were all 15km slower. Roberts wbo had been timed at 159 a few years could barely touch 140, Thommo 147. By that stage he had lost pace due to injury.

[@gettinhungrig8806]

Yeah real funny! Lucky no-one was killed by him.

[@pramitmitra3883]

Watch Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara to watch some beautiful batting

[@graemealexander8804]

Jeff Thomson is still the fastest clocked Test Bowler of All-time. He was clocked in 2x separate studies & registered 160.60kmh. He also recorded 160.45kmh, 160.45kmh. Those 3x ball's, are faster than 2nd placed Mitchell Starc, who recorded 160.40kmh. Andy Robert's 3rd with 159.49kmh. No doubt Thommo regularly bowled at the 100mph mark & higher than his recorded 160.60kmh. Akhtar, Tate & Lee broke 100mph in ODI white ball cricket. They never surpassed 157.4kmh in Test Cricket. Thommo was a minimum 3.2kmh faster than them in Tests. No doubt he would have breezed past Akhtar's ODI record, if he was clocked bowling in ODI. Thommo would have nudged 165kmh, if you add the 3.2kmh difference.

[@danielporter1218]

You want to check out Dennis Lillee’s career

[@RalphBrooker-gn9iv]

It is sling shot. But his arm is straight. That’s the issue. See also the Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga. Nowhere near as fast as Thompson but very difficult to play because of his action. He was nicknamed Malinga the Slinger. Another genuinely fast bowling action that looks like it derived from javelin throwing was Shoaib Akhtar.

[@RealFansSports]

We have checked out both of those and have another Shoaib video coming out soon! Yeah the action is definitely different from anything we have seen so far and could only imagine how deceptive it is for a batsmen

[@sujeetparida6055]

He is the best...watch west indies growling vs Australia 1970 series

[@AliRaza-lg8nw]

Try and watch a TV series called Bodyline and a documentary called Fire in Babylon. You'll get an idea of fast bowling, especially before they had helmets. Observe how Sir Viv Richards faced fast bowlers!

[@johnwhear9600]

Ashes to Ashes dust to dust, if Thommo don't get ya, Lillee must...

[@S_Morocco]

I hope look your reaction about raja and wedad fans ( morroco) Specifically the fans of the match raja and wedad 4/4 And big respect for you

[@sentimentalbloke185]

Listen up: Thommo was the quickest there's ever been. Accept no imitations.

[@user-ys8ky6tv1q]

I'm not sure whether or not you know that the cricket ball is very hard very much harder than a baseball and when the batsman hits the ball it is traveling much faster than the bowled speed, the fielders catch the ball with their bare hands.