Jeff Thomson

Australian cricket speaker Jeff Thomson is considered the world’s unofficial fastest bowler of all time and is remembered for his relationship with fellow fast bowler and sports speaker Dennis Lillee. Now retired 'Thommo' has gone on to work as a specialist cricket after dinner speaker both in his native Australia and in the UK.

With Lillee by his side, Jeff Thomson was part of the most fearsome combinations in Test cricket history, causing Wisden to comment that: "... it was easy to believe they were the fastest pair ever to have coincided in a cricket team". Thomson and Lillee played Test cricket throughout the ’70s and '80s competing in more than fifty matches until Thomson’s retirement in 1986 whereby he became a dedicated cricket speaker.

Playing for the Queensland and New South Wales domestic teams Thomson spent a brief period as a cricket speaker for the British Middlesex team, though he was known across the cricketing world for his work in Test cricket, particularly for the success of the 1974-75 season when Australia won the Ashes series.

Later in his domestic career Jeff Thomson was chosen as the captain and leading sports speaker for the Queensland team, whom he led to victory in a number of matches across the globe. His performance as a cricketer earnt him a place in the Australian Hall of Fame in 2016. Now retired Jeff Thomson works as an after dinner speaker in both Britain and Australia and is known for his sharp, witty, tongue and the wealth of entertaining stories he has to share about his time as a player.