Aussie pace great Jeff Thomson reveals ball tampering with razor

Jeff Thomson

Australian pace great Jeff Thomson on Tuesday made a shocking revelation of once tampering with the ball during a Sheffield match between Queensland and
Tasmania.

Speaking on The Betoota Advocate Podcast, Thomson confessed to using a razor on the match ball. "We were playing at the Gabba, playing Tasmania on a flat as s''t wicket. I was bowling, Boony [David Boon] was batting I think," said Thomson, who claimed 200 wickets in 51 Tests.

"The ball was s''t. Kookaburra started making really bad balls because there was no opposition. So the s''t that they made was crap and soft. I told the umpire before the lunch break, 'This ball's s''t.' He said, 'There's nothing wrong with this.' It was like a marshmallow.

"At the lunch break, Greg Chappell said to me, 'We've got to get rid of this ball.' I said, 'I'll fix this freaking thing up'," added the fiery pacer.

Thomson then went into the details of how he tampered with the ball. "This is a true story. Remember those old razor blades? Just a blade on either side, a flat piece of steel. I put that in my pocket. I've run around the quarter seam with it and around the main seam but I pushed it a bit hard. I bowled this ball to Boony, and the thing was nearly fallen in quarters like an orange.

"After lunch, I said, 'I told you this ball was f''''', look at this,' and [the umpire] has gone, 'Jesus, I've never seen a ball do this.'

"It's got clean cuts, it's not even frayed on the stitching. It's f'''ing clean cut, it was very odd. Anyway, we got a new ball and I got him out and we won the f'''ing match. That's how you cheat," said Thomson.

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