10 times a bowler knocked out a batsman on the pitch

3 Jeff Thomson breaks Clive Lloyd's jaw, Perth, 1975

Jeff Thomson

Jeff Thomson is often regarded as one of the fastest bowlers to have ever played the game and once speaking about his approach to the game as a bowler, he said, “I enjoy hitting a batsman more than getting him out. I like to see blood on the pitch.”

The 1975-76 series in Australia was a bruising one for the West Indies as they were annihilated by the Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee as they crashed to a 5-1 defeat. However, in the very second Test, Thomson struck a big psychological blow to the opponents by knocking out the West Indian captain Clive Lloyd with a vicious bouncer and breaking his jaw. Lloyd was one of the most accomplished players of fast bowling in the West Indies side and even he had no answer to that thunderbolt as it crashed into his jaw.

He threw his bat and supported himself on his knees but it remains one of the most brutal sights in Test cricket history.