Thomson’s confrontation with Vivian Richards was a mouthwatering prospect: the batting king who had recently ascended the throne versus the quickest and most terrifying bowler in the world. They first locked horns on the 1975-76 visit to Australia. My recently departed friend, Ecedro Atkinson, who consumed everything cricket, and who was happy to talk about the game even as he laid almost motionless on his ailing bed, was fond of recalling a story he read in a Jamaican magazine years ago: Richards was batting with Lawrence Rowe when he went down the wicket for a chat with his batting hero. “Yagga, what a man fast, man?!” After securing the agreement of his batting partner he added, “well is either me or him now.” I don’t know what happened the rest of that innings but Richards’ scores in the last two Tests of the series after struggling in the previous four, were as follows: 30, 101, 50 and 98.

https://garfieldrobinson1.substack.com/p/the-terror-of-jeff-thomson