It was a golden era in the world of cricket -- non commercial, pure gamesmanship and legends were part of the game.

The fact that Sunny Gavaskar says Thomson was noticeably faster than Michael Holding or anyone else says a lot for me.

I was 9 years old when this was televised and I was watching keenly when the signal dropped out completely. I never knew the results until today. I did always suspect Thommo as the fastest.

It feels wrong to hear somebody criticising the likes of Imran Khan, but then you remember it’s Richie Benaud and he can say whatever he likes about cricket 😂

What an era it was! All the bowlers featured in this short documentary are the fast bowling legends. Also, West Indies became known for its fast speedy quartet, but few people know that Clive Lloyd thought of recruiting intimidating fast bowlers after the fast bowling duo Dennis Lillee - Jeff Thomson intimidated West Indian batsmen during West Indies' tour of Australia in 1975-76, and the rest is history.

An endless debate, of course, but my two cents’ worth. Every cricketing nation has produced express bowlers, and we’ll never know who bowled the fastest delivery ever. What, in my opinion, made Jeff Thomson unique was that he bowled at express pace all day. Quite possibly Frank Tyson, Harold Larwood, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Shoab Akhtar, Alan Donald, Michael Holding, Patrick Patterson, Curtly Ambrose et al. bowled a few deliveries or an over faster than Thomson ever did. The thing about Thomson was that he bowled at express pace all day. Clive Lloyd said that he was just as quick in the last over before stumps as he was in the first over of the morning session. That’s what made him special. There have been many more intelligent fast bowlers, but none as consistently fast over days of play.

Remember watching this as a kid, brings back memories of a golden era of cricket.

Such an absolute gift. Thank you!!!

Facing such express pace without helmets ...those Batmen had some real big Balls !!

I remember watching this one when I was a kid.Len Pascoe was one of my favourites along with Jeff Thompson,the world's fastest.Fond memories.

Thomson wasn’t even playing at the time - he borrowed someone else’s boots and clothes and still won !

This takes me back to the golden era when I wasn't around. What a diamond of an upload!

I remember watching this on television at the time, thanks for posting 👍

Thommo was drunk when they filmed this. He wasn’t going to compete but Kerry Packer made him go out there. He wasn’t wearing his own gear.

1979 - One player springs to mind immediately Jeff Thomson but don’t forget Harold Larwood in the 30’s and Frank Tyson in the 50’s for we will never know how fast they bowled.

thank you Richie!

My favourite quote from Clive Lloyd (and didn't we respect big Clive )...."If you face Jeff Thompson, with no helmet, and you were not scared....you are a liar"

Options to explain speeds: 1. They measured hand-speed at top of action rather than ball after it left hand (there was a slo-mo which stopped at top of action) - wrist adds 5-10kmh itself. 2. They are using the grid and analogue clock to calculate distance/time; given 90mph=40metres/second, and these guys will be through their action in a second, a tiny error in the clock, grid interpretation or if the ball is crossing grid at an angle will change the speed. You also have the parallax of the camera which could affect the speed positively or negatively. I agree with many others these speeds seem low; visually they look quicker. There is a POV video of And Gilchrist facing Brett Lee at 88mph+ and these guys look at least as sharp from the batting end camera

Richie - that maaaarvelous flowing action

Super fast bowlers - legends all - but Andy Roberts on the green at full tilt was something else. A bowler with a fast bouncer and a slow bouncer - whew - the Late Mr. Brian Close had talked about it.

Fastest ball results 11:11

Since the horizontal component of velocity is being measured it's best to bowl full (yorker length) and straight to record the highest speed. Most of the bowlers are wasting their efforts by bowling bouncers especially Andy Roberts.

Now those were the good old days of cricket..... Long gone now

With camera setup clearly on bowling end and measuring release speed i still see comments saying speed was measured at batsmen end. 👏.

I am surprised so many of these fast bowlers didn't realize that bowling shortish takes a yard or two off the measured pace, because the pace is measured along the pitch alone, and not in the perpendicular direction. Only Jeff Thomson seems to have understood this, bowling full tosses.

IMRAN KHAN was my favourite of all times, not only was he a fast bowler, a great all rounder but the best Captain out of all these great Cricketers , they were all legends .

Awesome video thanks 👍

RB referred to Holding as a former champion athlete, but Holding himself said that they mixed him up with another guy and he wasn't!

They were all legendary bowlers who gave us sheer entertainment.

Amazing video! We featured this in one of our articles. Thanks for sharing!

WOW. That's Amazing to see these legends in action.👍

Those saying the ball was recorded at the batsman's end are wrong. Those saying the ball was recorded out of the hand are also wrong. Modern measurments track the speed of the ball the instant it leaves the hand, the measurment observed here is the distance of the grid (perhaps a couple of feet) over which time the ball will slow down slightly. The numbers these bowlers would be bowling with modern measurments would be marginally faster. Another note is that this competition was held on a 40 degree day.

Jeff Thompson was in an another league altogether. He could have killed batsmen instantly with those speeds especially as they didn't have helmets in those days. That's downright lethal ...

Thanks for this. Remember this as a little kid. Be interesting to see it done with modern tech taken back with a time machine lol. Comparing eras is something that can't be done.

Love the wobbly, high tech soundtrack when they do the side on replay! 😀

Final Standings After 8 balls: By Top Speed: 1. Jeff Thomson: 147.9 Average: 142.0 2. Michael Holding: 141.3 Average: 135.3 3. Imran Khan: 139.7 Average: 138.3 4. Colin Croft: 139.2 Average: 134.7 5. Andy Roberts: 138.6 Average: 135.3 6. Dennis Lillee: 136.4 Average: 132.5 7. Garth Leroux: 135.9 Average: 132.4 8. Wayne Daniel: 133.5 Average: 128.2 9. Len Pascoe: 131.6 Average: 127.7 10. Richard Hadlee: 129.8 Average: 128.1 By Average Speed: 1. Jeff Thomson: 147.9 Average: 142.0 2. Imran Khan: 139.7 Average: 138.3 3. Michael Holding: 141.3 Average: 135.3 4. Andy Roberts: 138.6 Average: 135.3 5. Colin Croft: 139.2 Average: 134.7 6. Dennis Lillee: 136.4 Average: 132.5 7. Garth Leroux: 135.9 Average: 132.4 8. Wayne Daniel: 133.5 Average: 128.2 9. Richard Hadlee: 129.8 Average: 128.1 10. Len Pascoe: 131.6 Average: 127.7 By Accuracy: 1. Jeff Thomson: 5 2. Garth Leroux: 4 3. Sarfraz Nawaz : 4 4. Mike Proctor: 3 5. Wayne Daniel: 2 6. Dennis Lillee: 1

Bowlers have different days when they are in a riddim and bowled fast. It is hard to put 5 or 6 fast Bowlers to run up and bowl their fastest. Most times a bowler needs some motivation.

The funniest thing is how they recount everyone's average speed and highest speed at the end - except for Sarfraz. What on earth was he doing there? Medium pacer.

I was negative 11 when this was done, but I just appreciate a good spectacle. It's actually pretty impressive how they got the high speed this clean more than 40 years ago. Same goes for time the time of Bradman. A lot of foresight from the camera operators and technicians who made it happen. Although we probably won't know them by name, we can still appreciate their work nearly a century on. P.S. Jeff Thompson mentioned how he cleaned up by bowling full tosses when everyone else was bowling bouncers (in order to be faster). The guy wasn't just a talented athlete but also quite wiley! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oc6gdZqLxtivl5c.html Cheers!

This is great. Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure who THE fastest bowler ever was, to me it seems there's a certain level that can occasionally be reached, but we'll never know for sure. Geoff Boycott said that Holding was the fastest he'd faced, and that he felt he had more in him if he wanted it (scary thought). He didn't face Thomson in the mid-1970s though. Benaud swore the fastest bowling he ever saw was Frank Tyson in Australia in 1954/55. Alan McGilvray was convinced Eddie Gilbert was the fastest he'd ever seen (and faced). Fascinating to wonder how quick they all would be captured with modern equipment.

Imran Khan s bowling action was perfect with high jump after him holding, later on Imran Khan became fast in 80s era before injury, he bowled 140 to 147 , and started new art reverse swing introduce to the world,

Remember,speed in those days were calculated when the ball reached the batsmen it means that speed of the ball when it reached the batsmen was considered actual speed,but when shoib and bretlee started to bowl from then onwards bowls sperd started to be measured when it left the bowlers hand.So as per todays standards all of them were bowling above 150 km/h regularly and jeff thompsons 147 was above 160.

Under rated great Imran khan by saying he is fast medium and sometimes fast..and Imran khan superseded to most of them like Andy Roberts and Dennis Lillie by speed and accuracy just behind Michael Holding and Jeff Thompson. Anyway they were all great legends, belongs to golden era of cricket. It was like a real clash of the titans.

Dennis lillee is my all time fav.

Which brand of sundial did they use to calculate Sarfraz's velocity?

We need this now

Great sportsman back then.

The most graceful and deadly fastest bowler of all time Malcolm Marshall.

Take into account the views of the wicketkeepers. Jeff Dujon once said Patrick Patterson was the fastest that he kept wicket to.

It takes a while to get going 🥃🥃. Cheers from Adelaide

My Respect for Shoaib Akhtar just went up... Like no disrespect to these legends.... But how scary Akhtar must have been with 161.3 Km/h being his highest he used to bowl consistently at over 150+. What a beast of bowler he was

A fired up Sylvester Clarke would have been up there no question! Ask Alan Kourie? Here's a clip from Wiki.. "Alan Kourie recalls that Clarke, during the unofficial West Indies 1983 rebel tour, recorded speeds between 98 mph and 101 mph by two South African police officers testing out a new automobile speed radar gun who were present at Johannesburg ground."

It'll be interesting to watch this competition in 2021

hats off windies

Speed was calculated from the hand in those days too.. that’s why the screen is placed behind the bowler.

Methods used to measure speed are different. Shoaib's speed was measured only at the time of release. But in this video they measure speed based on time taken by ball to reach other end. And we all know that speed drops considerably once you hit the deck

Just missing Big Bob. RIP.

The days when mc Donald’s would give away a World Series cricket poster with every Big Mac

Imagine how India's Sunil Gavaskar stood up to them and scored tons of runs! Most courageous indeed.

It was always known that Thommo was the fastest of his era. He was a top Javelin thrower that is why he had such a slingee action. In my 40 years of watching top level cricket only Shoaib A and Brett Lee have clocked as fast. Special mention to Waqar who was super quick for a smaller guy.

Batters were brave enough to face such formidable pace attack without a helmet..

The absolute greats

Love the Safraz run up 10:18 , always ran like his underwear was a fraction too tight

TV gold!

Gee that was riveting. I wonder why this didn't become an annual challenge.

Did anyone else have the Brett Lee fast bowling VHS as a kid like me? It also included the results of this competition and an interview with Jeff. He said he wasn't even well during this competition.

I watched this when it first aired on TV. Thommo, fastest and most accurate.

Why aren't they conducting world's fastest bowler competition nowadays?

There's a guy up from where I'm from who has a similar action to Thommo, and he is bloody quick for a park cricketer...

Incredible

Shame Thommo wasn't recorded before his injury in 1976/77. Yes 1974/75 he was at his peak. Can you imagine him with raw pace before the broken collarbone. I just shuffle up and go whammo !! Might have been the quote.

Richard Hadley is running a successful business in South India with my Malyali friend's friend. People always encircle him for autographs and stuff here. He is so fond of South India I believe.

Shoaib akhter… *hold my cap*.. 😂

The video is priceless

Great video 👍🇮🇳

Lillee and Thompson were my idols and quite young I could imitate their actions quite well. My dad took super 8. I adapted the Lillee style to use because it was more consistent for me and I could hit the seam, but I felt the "Tommo" was faster. As a physio I now know that's because you create a lot more leverage across the left knee, which more easily obtains terminal extension and has less forward flexion force to overcome - faster for longer. When I got to high school and learned javelin I realised that that was Thompson's technique. I still dont understand why conventional and Thompson's javelin stye aren't both taught to youngsters, so they may choose what works for them. Even if only 10% can master javelin style, they will have a lot of success.

Great competition between the great fast bowlers of the world.

Michael Holding made it look easy wouldve watched that just for the smooth commentary, retro effects and funky music skits. Could it be lego men hairstyles were created in the Mold of Thomo's mighty mop

Yes... At the end of the day Pace does Matters

i would challenge star batsman of 2021 just to stand and watch these legends bowl without their pants being wet

What if such competitions are held now and the same equipment for testing the speed of the current bowlers. Some confusion or myth can be cleared. Also I would like to add another point the 15 degree elbow flexion was not implemented back then . Which seems like they may not be so fast & furious but were genuine pacers with clean undisputed action. Because the flexion gives a clear advantage in terms of bounce swing and pace. Lee ,Tait and akthar cleary have some flexion in their actions. Where as Starc Johnson Bond Milne fidel Edwards and some bowlers who clocked over 150 have very less or sometimes negligible amount of flexion.

I remember watching this when I was a kid. I wanted to bowl more than bat from then on .

Denis lile and four horsemen of death were something else than today's fast bowlers

Those days Speed is measured when ball is reached to the batsmen and now a days Speed is measured when ball is delevred from hand .. .

I salute you Richard handlee

Amazing Ritchie mentioned Larwood it is about the same time from now than we he bowled in the thirties - as it was in this broadcast we thought that was ancient - but this doesn't seem that long ago - go figure!!

Akhtar, Lee, Sami, Bond and Tait were pace machines! Indeed, Thomson was of their league in his peak!

147.9 measured at the stumps, that's fucking rapid

Facing them was like standing🧍 before a battery of shooters. Even the batsmans country men shivered. Their runup & the ball traversing the length of pitch & the long journey to keepers.

That theme song is 🔥

If only was this competition held today

Thomo .. legend 🙌

The guy that took his shirt off was the fastest. Good onya Thommo.

"Marvelous breakdown of bowlers that"

Why isn't this an annual event? Would be great to watch and a good why to showcase the art of fast bowling.

Fail to see why so many are finding fault with the outcome. Thommo was in a bar when he got the news about the 'shoot-out'. He hadn't played in 6 months as he has said on many occasions in interviews, Channel 7(?) knew this but encouraged him anyway. The others were all match fit, playing or at least training for a 'season' coming up. They all had the same rules and conditions. They knew the rules... no real warm-ups as if playing in a match and having had several overs to get rhythm. The comments from batsmen and commentators of the time talking about Thommo, pretty much backed up the truth he was the fastest. Lloyd, Richards, Bumble ( David LLoyd) Lawrence Rowe, Dujon, Lillee, Pascoe, Grieg and here's a direct comment from England Captain Mike Brierley said, “Broken marriages, conflicts of loyalty, the problems of everyday life fall away as one faces up to Thomson.” The accuracy prize must been sweet for him as the detractors have always said he was wild and no control. Truth is he always bowled to get the ball down to the batsmen/stumps as fast as he could so that was his style...he pretty much bowled using sheer pace, (he has said that too on many occasion, think sometimes he does play up to the image some people have of him)... whereas the others were trying to beat him ( they all knew who was the fastest) and by just bowling as fast as they could.. accuracy went. I find it funny that the relatively unfit 'Bankstown beach-bum's' average speed was still faster than any of their fastest balls !!

Thomson bowled a heap of full tosses which the gun picks up as much quicker (we know that now). Some of the West Indian guys were definitely quicker than the speed gun because they bowled shorter.

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I’ve always found Thommo’s style to be fairly odd looking so it was genuinely interesting to see it side on in slow motion.

are they measuring out of the hand or measuring at the batsman's end?? Judging by the square grid being shown they are measuring after release and not after the ball has bounced. But the speeds recorded here are not as fast as I would expect these guys to have and would make me think that indeed these are measured at the batsman's end rather than at the point of release (which is the usual case today)