Aussie Jeff Thomson hurled the ball after throwing javelin!

by A.C. de Silva

Some fast bowlers destroy batsmen with the weight of their skills. Some others do so by their ability to eject them out. A combination of these too? Jeffrey Robert Thomson at his peak.

For the better part of the seventies, 'Thommo' rode the international arena like a colossus. He gave a torrid time to those who faced him in the middle. In the deadly company of Dennis Lillee, Thomson put the Aussies right on top. A fearsome combination which made Clive Lloyd think and act.... that pace and pace alone would be the way for glory. A ploy that later worked wonders for the 'supercat'.

Tall and powerfully built, Thomson in his early days was a junior national Javelin thrower and a surf rider. Therefore, there is no surprise that he 'hurled' the ball, so to say, off a slinging action with a twist of the body. To judge his delivery was difficult since he would bring the ball from behind at the last minute.

Enviable record

After an unsuccessful Test debut against Pakistan in 1972-73 - in that series, he played with a fracture in his foot - Thomson struck lethal blows against Mike Denness' Englishmen and Lloyd's West Indians.

In his first Test against Pakistan, Thomson had none for 110 in two innings. But he came with telling strides against England at home in 1974-75. A performance that brought him 33 wickets from five Tests (he missed the second innings of the fifth Test due to injury). Needless to mention, every Englishman who faced Thommo and Lillee was like a cat on a hot tin roof.

Then the series against Lloyd's men followed. Before this contest, the West Indians had their reputation high, following the inaugural Prudential Cup success. This series was build as the 'Champion contest'. The end result, however, showed a 5-1 drubbing for West Indies. Lillee and Thomson wiped the floor with Windies.

Injury forces him out

Sixty-two wickets from two series. Thommo.... really amazing! A pity then a right shoulder injury was the bane of his cricket career. On the first day of the first Test against Pakistan at Adelaide, Thomson collided with his team-mate Alan Turner as both went for a high catch. Thomson tore his right shoulder muscle. After that Thomson was never the same bowler again. Thomson was forced out of the remainder of the series as well as the Centenary Test against England.

Thomson was one of the earliest to sign for Kerry Packer's World Series cricket only to withdraw from his contract when he realised at contravent another. Then, after a fairly successful consistent level of wicket taking in Tests, Thomson accepted an offer to rejoin WSC due to compelling financial problems.

When the South African issue plagued Australian cricket the selectors remembered the old war horse.

When Alderman and McCurdy expressed their non availability to tour England in the summer of 1985, Thomson joined the party after completing an outstanding Sheffield Shield season in whick he returned his career- best 7 for 27, against Western Australia at Brisbane, The spell included a hat-trick.

Thomson had the ambition to continue but it was evident the fire in his bowling had gone. Apart from reaching a personal landmark, Thomson could not do much to the team's cause. The three wickets he managed saw him complete 200 Test wickets. He achieved this on his 35th birthday when he had Graham Gooch at Edgbaston. Incidentally this was Thomson's 100th English scalp.