Picture Credit: Twitter
Alan
Thomson, the former Australian fast bowler, who took the first-ever wicket
in One Day Internationals (ODI), died at the age of 76. The younger brother of Alan gave
an update on the death of his brother, which happened during the hip replacement.
“It is with
a heavy heart I announce the death of my only older brother and past Australian
Test Cricketer Alan ‘Froggy’ Thomson,” he wrote.
“Being in
hospital after a fall just days ago he was being operated on for a hip
replacement but it was just too much for his frail body and he passed away a
bit over an hour ago.”
The Victorian
pacer bowled off the wrong foot and made his first-class debut in 1969 against
New South Wales, wherein he impressed by taking six wickets in the first innings.
Soon,
Thomson returned with figures of 5/76 and 6/84 against the touring West Indies
team, and then followed it by picking 9/181 against England team for Victoria. His
consistent performances paved the way for the national call-up. In November
1970 against England, the talented pacer made his Test debut.
A couple of
months later, he was a part of the Australian team in the first-ever ODI game against
England and returned with figures of 1/22 in eight overs. His victim was
legendary batter Geoffrey Boycott, who was holed out to Bill Lawry for 8.
Unfortunately,
this was his only appearance in the limited overs, while he could feature in
only four Test matches and bagged 12 wickets at an average of 54.50. Then,
he went on to play in domestic cricket until the 1974/75 season.
Thomson then served as an umpire in six matches of the Senior Grade VFL football. Afterward, he became a primary school teacher.
