5 legendary fast bowlers who earned attractive nicknames

#3 Jeff Thomson (Two-up)

Jeff Thomson played 51 Test matches for Australia

Many consider Jeff Thomson as the fastest bowler to ever play the game. He has even clocked 160.58 kph in 1976 using high-speed cameras. He formed a lethal bowling pair with Denis Lillee which was a nightmarish combination for any batsman to face. The fearsome bowler got his nickname 'Two Up' due to a very interesting reason.

As a matter of fact, Two-Up is a traditional Australian gambling game and a den known as Thommo’s Two-Up school was very popular in Sydney at that time. Thommo was already an affectionate name given to the cricketer. But due to his name’s association with the gambling place, he was also very popularly known as 'Two Up'.

The Sydney-born pacer played 51 Tests for the Aussies and took 200 wickets at an average of 28. About 7 years after his retirement from international cricket in 1992, he was on the course of a possible comeback to first-class cricket at the age of 42. However, the state selectors of Queensland turned down the prospect due to the team’s youth only policy.