Born Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1950, Jeff Thomson was a very fast right-arm quick bowler and right-handed late order batsman. Having been part of the most famous pace attack in Test cricket for much of the 1970's with pace partner Denis Lillee. Needing a replacement for the wonderful, Vintcent van der Bijl, who had proved a great success in 1980, the county turned to Jeff Thomson. 'Thommo' having represented New South Wales, Queensland and Australia in 34 Tests arrived at Lord's on the back of Middlesex's 1980 double winning year. Early in the 1981 season the county took the field at Lord's for the first time with a team of eleven full international Test players. Playing only 8 times for Middlesex in 1981 due to injury, he took 23 wickets (av. 22.69), he scored 63 runs (av. 12.60) and he held 4 catches. His best performances of 4 for 66 and a top score of 35 came in the same match versus Essex at Lord's. His best performance during a disappointing season was 7 for 22 against Hampshire in the zonal group match of the Benson & Hedges Cup at Lord's.
