Do you want to press charges against a Mr Jeff Thomson?

Poor Mendis.

He played a couple of Thommo's deliveries, after which the fast man let fly. The ball rose from a good length like a striking cobra. Mendis tried valiantly to fend it off but the ball hit him squarely on the forehead. He staggered and fell heavily to the crease.

There we were, peering down at the diminutive Mendis lying face down on the pitch. To our great relief he stirred and turned over onto his back. His eyes were open, like saucers. Tears streamed down his face.

"How yar goin' mate?" someone asked.

Mendis opened his eyes wider, the tears continuing to stream down his face, and said, "Oh, my god… I am going now."

Wettimuny, nursing badly bruised ribs, watched his brave partner being carried off the ground on a stretcher.

Thommo was booed by the crowd as the Sri Lankan captain, Anura Tennekoon, slowly ambled to the crease.

"I took a long time to get to the wicket," Tennekoon said, "I stopped to see if Duleep was okay. Not a very pleasant situation, having to face Thomson after he had just knocked one of our men out cold."

Wettimuny took a single off Walker's next over, which meant he was now facing Thommo again.

"I have this vivid image of what happened on Thommo's third ball of the over," Tennekoon remembered. "He hit Sunil flush on the instep and as he hopped about in pain Thomson tried to run him out."

Unbeknown to Duleep and Sunil, a policeman, who was not on duty at the World Cup game, heard the tail-end of a radio report about two Sri Lankans who were assaulted by an Australian cricketer at The Oval.

"Next morning a policeman walked into my room," Duleep smiled, "He held his bobby's helmet under one arm and he asked, 'Do you want to press charges against a Mr Jeff Thomson?'"

Mendis marvels at Thommo's speed. "If you go to the West Indies and talk to the old fellows in the stands, they know the game backwards and they have seen all the great fast bowlers - Wes Hall, Charlie Griffth, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose - and when you ask them who was the fastest of the lot, they will say, 'JR Thomson'."

confuzzled dude wrote:

Poor Mendis.

He played a couple of Thommo's deliveries, after which the fast man let fly. The ball rose from a good length like a striking cobra. Mendis tried valiantly to fend it off but the ball hit him squarely on the forehead. He staggered and fell heavily to the crease.

"Next morning a policeman walked into my room," Duleep smiled, "He held his bobby's helmet under one arm and he asked, 'Do you want to press charges against a Mr Jeff Thomson?'"

Mendis marvels at Thommo's speed. "If you go to the West Indies and talk to the old fellows in the stands, they know the game backwards and they have seen all the great fast bowlers - Wes Hall, Charlie Griffth, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose - and when you ask them who was the fastest of the lot, they will say, 'JR Thomson'."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/826971.html

Amazing Sri Lankans, they have scored 276 despite all that mayhem.

nevada wrote:I thought they had made a typo regarding Wettimuny's first name. I didn't Know Sidath Wettimuny had a brother named Sunil. Batsmen of that era are fortunate they didn't get killed despite the lack of protective equipment.