Greg Thomas (born John Gregory Thomas, 12 August 1960) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er, who played in five Test matches and three

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

between 1986 and 1987.

Life and career

Thomas was born in

Trebanos Trebanos ( cy, Trebannws) is a village in the Swansea Valley, Wales. With Craig Trebanos and a part of Pontardawe, it forms the Trebanos electoral ward in the Neath Port Talbot county borough. Controversy and opposition concerning the South Wal ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Mot ...

. He was a genuine

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

, a rare sight in English cricket after the retirement of

Bob Willis Robert George Dylan Willis (born Robert George Willis; 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fa ...

; apart from the raw pace, he was erratic and often had injury problems. At his best, he matched the speed of the fearsome

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

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 Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

. Highlights of his brief Test career included participating in a last-wicket stand of 72 with Richard Ellison in his second match, and taking 4-70 in his third. 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. 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 Neil Alan Foster (born 6 May 1962) is an English former professional cricketer, who played 29 Test matches and 48 One Day Internationals for England from 1983 to 1993. Domestically Foster played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1980 to 1993, ...

that secured a series-clinching victory. Thomas played for an England XI in limited-over match against a Netherlands XI in 1989. However he then joined the rebel tour to South Africa 1989-90 as a replacement for

Philip DeFreitas Phillip Anthony Jason "Daffy" DeFreitas (born 18 February 1966) is an English former cricketer. He played county cricket for Leicestershire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, as well as appearing in 44 Test matches and 103 ODIs. Cricket writer Colin ...

, defying the international sporting boycott of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

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. The West Indian batsman

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to

sledge A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...

him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However, in a county game against

, 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".Lighter examples of sledging - BBC Sport
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Greg 1960 births Living people England Test cricketers England One Day International cricketers Welsh cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Border cricketers Eastern Province cricketers People from Glamorgan Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers