Thommo Speaks Out: The Authorised Biography of Jeff Thomson

Thommo was feared by batsmen all around the world. Sri Lankan Sunil Wettimuny recalls facing one of Thommo's balls: "Never before or since that day did I know fear on the cricket field." Mike Brearley, the Middlesex captain who led England during the World Series Cricket incursion, said of Thommo: "Broken marriages, conflicts of loyalty, the problems of everyday life fall away as one faces up to Thomson." This is Jeff Thomson's story, from the cricket fields of his Sydney schoolboy days to the international matches and beyond, as told to Ashley Mallet by Thommo, his former team mates, and his opponents. Thommo's legendary partnership with Dennis Lillee, a combination known as Lillian Thomson, was one of the most lethal in the history of cricket. As the caption to Paul Rigby's famous cartoon said: "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust—if Thommo don't get ya, Lillee must."