Wisden overview
Jeff Thomson's run to the wicket was undertaken at the pace of man jogging around the block, but his action was one of cricket's most explosive; tilting back in the style of a javelin thrower, he catapulted the ball at speeds seldom, if ever, attained since. He was also naturally fit, and as much a threat with old ball as new. Too hot for England in 1974-75 and West Indies the following season, a shoulder injury sustained in an on-field collision at Adelaide in November 1976 restricted him thereafter. But his psychological presence remained valuable, and he reached 200 Test wickets on his last Ashes tour in 1985. Lillee and Thomson remain a combination to conjure with, as sinister in England as Burke and Hare, or Bismarck and Tirpitz. Gideon Haigh

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd