Manee
Cricketer Of The Year
Thompson is estimated at 170kph by some of the more optimistic and he is generally accepted as the fastest since Tyson. The question I pose is why was he so fast? Was he a physical marvel of brute strength or did the action activate more muscles than any other? He also does not seem to travel in straight lines, he ends up on the left edge of the pitch beside the playing strip, something which no fast bowler today does. Does modern coaching prevent the natural and yet, so very unnatural nature of Thompson's action?
I watched some of his deliveries and I fully believe that he bowled a lot of balls in the mid 150kph range but it is his quicker ball or effort ball which broke all prior limits. One particular bouncer from him which reached the batsman before he could sway out of the way (luckily, it was not on course to hit him and so his sway did not seem quite as superfluous) and reached the keeper above head height. When he hit the right length, he seemed to get a mix of vertical and horizontal speed like no other.
Truly a fast bowling marvel.
I watched some of his deliveries and I fully believe that he bowled a lot of balls in the mid 150kph range but it is his quicker ball or effort ball which broke all prior limits. One particular bouncer from him which reached the batsman before he could sway out of the way (luckily, it was not on course to hit him and so his sway did not seem quite as superfluous) and reached the keeper above head height. When he hit the right length, he seemed to get a mix of vertical and horizontal speed like no other.
Truly a fast bowling marvel.