Greg Thomas

Greg Thomas
Personal information
Full name
John Gregory Thomas
Born (1960-08-12) 12 August 1960 (age 64)
Trebanos, Glamorgan, Wales
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 515)21 February 1986 v West Indies
Last Test7 August 1986 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 86)18 February 1986 v West Indies
Last ODI25 May 1987 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1979–1988Glamorgan
1983/84–1986/87Border
1984/85–1986/87Impalas
1987/88–1988/89Eastern Province
1989–1991Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 5 3 192 193
Runs scored 83 1 3,419 1,536
Batting average 13.83 1.00 16.43 13.12
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 2/7 0/1
Top score 31* 1* 110 65*
Balls bowled 774 156 27,916 8,801
Wickets 10 3 525 233
Bowling average 50.40 48.00 31.05 27.32
5 wickets in innings 0 0 18 3
10 wickets in match 0 0 1 0
Best bowling 4/70 2/59 7/75 5/17
Catches/stumpings 0/– 0/– 74/– 36/–
Source: CricketArchive, 19 August 2012

Greg Thomas (born John Gregory Thomas, 12 August 1960)[1] is a Welsh former cricketer, who played in five Test matches and three One Day Internationals for England between 1986 and 1987.

Life and career

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Thomas was born in Trebanos in Glamorgan. He was a genuine fast bowler, a rare sight in English cricket after the retirement of Bob Willis; apart from the raw pace, he was erratic and often had injury problems.[2] At his best, he matched the speed of the fearsome West Indian pacemen on the tour of West Indies in 1985/86, but leaked too many runs with his wayward bowling. This difficult tour was followed by one Test in England, disruptive injury, and then a fruitless switch to play for Northamptonshire.[1]

Highlights of his brief Test career included participating in a last-wicket stand of 72 with Richard Ellison in his second match,[3] and taking 4–70 in his third.[4] However, as he played in a struggling England side, most of his Tests coming against a dominant West Indies side, he jointly holds as of 2022 an unwanted record of playing the most Tests of any England player always to finish on the losing side.[5] He did at least finish on the winning side in one of his one-day internationals against Pakistan, taking two wickets in his first over and helping in the last-wicket stand with Neil Foster that secured a series-clinching victory.[6]

Thomas played for an England XI in limited-over match against a Netherlands XI in 1989.[7] However he then joined the rebel tour to South Africa 1989–90 as a replacement for Philip DeFreitas, defying the international sporting boycott of the apartheid state. Although he took a first-class career-best 7 for 75 for Northamptonshire against Glamorgan the following season, Thomas had further injury problems and did not play for England again.[2]

The West Indian batsman Viv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to sledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However, in a county game against Glamorgan, Thomas attempted to sledge him after he had played and missed at several balls in a row. He informed Richards: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering". Richards hammered the next delivery out of the ground and into a nearby river. Turning to the bowler, he commented: "Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it".[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 172. ISBN 1-869833-21-X.
  2. ^ a b "Greg Thomas profile and biography". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Full Scorecard of West Indies v England 2nd test". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Full Scorecard of West Indies v England 3rd test". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Statistics, test matches, team records". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Full Scorecard of England v Pakistan 3rd ODI, 1987". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Netherlands XI v England XI Amstelveen 16 Aug 1989". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  8. ^ Lighter examples of sledging - BBC Sport