Lillee & Thommo: The Deadly Pair's Reign of Terror

by Ian Brayshaw

Lillee and Thomson — a fast-bowling, fire-breathing, batsman-battering combination with no peer, who tore apart England body and soul in the 1974–75 Ashes, then put the might of Clive Lloyd’s West Indies to the sword the next wild summer.

This is their story, seen through the eyes of their teammates — all the way from suburban clubs to the national side — and of their opponents and the umpires.

Ian Brayshaw, a teammate who was at Lillee’s side as he returned from a career-threatening back injury, who knows what it’s like to face Thomson thunderbolts, orchestrates affairs in this in-depth look at a special time in world cricket.

The time when Lillee and Thommo reigned supreme.

Genres: History

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2017

Reviews

[Nat K]

”Virtually everyone who had batted had come away with the battle scars to prove it.”

Howzat!!!

Long hot summers. Never ending school holidays. The heat and humidity. The cricket theme music on Channel 9 playing on the telly. This book brought back all these memories to me.

“Lillee & Thommo” focuses on the 1974-75 Ashes series, when the two men in question (Dennis Keith Lillee & Jeffrey Robert Thomson), absolutely annihilated the English batting line-up.

”You didn’t actually feel fear, but you did feel a sort of hopelessness at times, a sense that you couldn’t cope.”
- David Lloyd

The 1974-75 is before my TV watching consciousness. But with an older brother, I clearly remember watching Lillee & Thommo flying down the pitch in subsequent series. Imagine what it would have looked like if we had HD TV then!

“The Twins of Terror” were the fastest of the fast bowlers and reigned supreme. The book talks about their early careers, starting cricket at a local club then Sheffield Shield level, through to playing at an international level against England, Pakistan & the West Indies.

”You knew you were taking your life into your hands, because we didn’t wear helmets in those days and they were that quick.”
- Clive Lloyd

I’d forgotten that back then no helmets were worn by the batsmen, and that body padding was archaic and minimal. Bruising and walking away from the field black and blue was a given after facing these two.

Overs were eight balls, rather than the current six. So not only was the game physically exhausting, it was mentally challenging, facing up to a bowler running straight at you at speeds of up to 160km. Scary stuff…

”…You had to be prepared to lose you front teeth...”
- Mike Denness

It was fun reading about so many players whose names I’ve not heard in years. A real walk down memory lane.

There are plenty of stats (statistics) scattered throughout, and at the end of the book, for all the number crunchers out there.

As with all good athletes, injuries (and age) eventually caught up with both of them, and they bowed out of the cricketing stage and retired. But what amazing careers they had. Absolute legends. Glory days!

I also love the photo of Lillee, Tangles & Thommo at the beginning of Chapter 1. It really captures the essence of those times.

”Ashes to ashes…dust to dust…
if Thommo don’t get ya…Lillee must.”
- Paul Rigby, cartoonist

[Adam]

Good read. The batters that faced the 'Twins of Terror' were courageous.

Fav part was the story of Jeff Thomson being a bit homesick in the UK and went to a famous toystore and bought a trainset and electric car track (Selectrix?) to play with. Aggressive on the field but quiet spoken and a man of few words. What a bloke. He set the toys up in his hotel room. His teammate had to step around the obstacle course to get to bed.

His teammate asked him why he got it and he said 'it's for the kids (back home in Australia). Thing is though, Thommo didn't have any kids!

Just adorable. What a lovable gentle soul. Why Thommo isn't more famous here I don't know, maybe it's the macho culture that worships Dennis Lillee.

The nickname for Lillian Thomson (Lillee and Thomson) was FOT and Two Up. Lillian was a bit absent minded in fielding forgetting to change sides of the pitch for left and right handed batters. One day the captain Greg (or was it the brother Ian) Chappell yelled out to change sides you 'Fucking Old Tart' and it stuck*. Two Up came from the Pommy invasion period of 1800s Sydney when there was a gambling den called Thomson's Two Up (flipping two pennies at the same time, heads or tails, heads/heads, tails/tails being the bets).

The genesis of Aussie (and Scottish, Irish, British, Welsh) nicknames are rather odd but fun.

* also see Seriously...You Have to Laugh: Great yarns and tall tales from the sporting fields, dressing rooms and commentary boxes of Australia page 152. Reviewed it with other nicknames added. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Anyhow on page 152 of book there was a highly regarded NSW magistrate in the 1980s called 'Two Fast Bowlers' because her name was Lillian Thompson.

[Craig Freene]

A very good insight into the fast bowling combination of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, two of Australian crickets best ever bowlers. A really good reflection on their bowling performances together, and insights into their injury woes and struggles to get back to the Everest of Australian bowling. A must read for those interested in the history of Australia’s great bowlers. (Of interest is the measurement of Thommo’s bowling speed - much different now to what it was back then. Makes you consider that Thommo may have been the fastest ever.)

[Duncan Smith]

This takes me back to my childhood. In depth look at Lillee and Thommo. No pics but made up for my first hand accounts of them by their peers.

[Greg]

Great book for cricket tragics and anyone who remembers Australia in the 1970s.