Frank Tyson - Typhoon Tyson

Typhoon Tyson

Frank Tyson, at his peak, was possibly the fastest bowler of all time. In 1954-55, England convincingly beat Australia by three Tests to one, mainly thanks to devastating bowling that earned Tyson the nickname 'Typhoon'. Roaring off a long run, he generated tremendous pace that unnerved and unhinged even the greatest batsmen.

Tom Graveney

His fast bowling gave him the nickname "Typhoon Tyson", and despite his short career he achieved status as the fastest England bowler in living memory. Don Bradman called him "the fastest bowler I have ever seen" and Richie Benaud agreed, writing "For a short time, Frank Tyson blasted all-comers". Tom Graveney wrote 'I cannot believe any bowler was faster than Tyson at that time'. When fielding in the slips he had 'to stand 40 yards off the bat, and still. the ball was often going over our heads from edged shots'. His Northants colleague Jock Livingston said 'When really firing, Tyson was the quickest of all over a period of three or four overs'. Livingston had seen Harold Larwood bowl Bodyline and batted against the Australian fast bowlers Miller and Lindwall in the Sheffield Shield. At the Aeronautical College in Wellington, New Zealand in 1955 metal plates were attached to a cricket ball and a sonic device was used to measure their speed, with Tyson's bowling measured at 89 mph (142 km/h), but he was wearing three sweaters on a cold, damp morning and used no run up, Brian Statham bowled at 87 mph (139 km/h). He certainly bowled faster than 89 mph in matches, and Tyson claimed that he could bowl at 119 mph (190 km/h), but this cannot be proven. The best that can be said was that he was noticeably faster than his contemporaries Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller, Fred Trueman, Brian Statham, Peter Heine and Neil Adcock. His great fast bowling rival Fred Trueman ‘was forever being told that when it came to bowling I was very fast, but on his day Frank Tyson was faster than me' and it was Tyson who kept Trueman out of the England team in 1954-55. When they played together in a Gentlemen v Players match at Scarborough in 1957 the captain Godfrey Evans insisted Trueman bowl into the headwind so as to give the faster Tyson the advantage of the tailwind Dickie Bird, the famous England umpire, wrote "he was certainly the quickest bowler I ever seen through the air, and on one occasion the quickest bowler I never saw through the air". When playing for Yorkshire vs the MCC at Scarborough in 1958 "I opened the innings against him and hit his first three deliveries through the off side for four. With supreme confidence I went on to the front foot for the fourth ball. Tyson dropped one short. It reared up and hit me on the chin. I went down as if I'd just been on the receiving end of a right hook...I still carry the scar to show my folly that day. There was blood all over and I saw stars. I could hear bells ringing in my head...". Dickie came back to score his then highest first class score of 62 and Tyson took 4/30. When they met in Australia in 1998-99 Tyson joked 'You're looking well Dickie. See you still have the scars through'.