Faith Thomas (; 22 February 1933 – 15 April 2023), born Tinnipha, was an Australian cricketer and hockey player. She was also a nurse in regional

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Thomas is known for being the first

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

woman to represent Australia in any sport as well as for her distinguished service to the Australian Indigenous community.

Early life

Thomas was born at the Nepabunna Aboriginal Mission in

. Her mother, Ivy, was an

Adnyamathanha The Adnyamathanha (Pronounced: ) are a contemporarily formed grouping of several distinct Aboriginal Australian peoples of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The ethnonym Adnyamathanha was an alternative name for the Wailpi but th ...

woman and her father was

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. Her mother would take her to the Colebrook Home for Aboriginal Children in

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 11 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as both a cooking ingredient and as ...

when she was a baby. She would play cricket with other children at Colebrook, using stones as balls, and making bats from wood they found.

Nursing career

Thomas completed her nursing training at the

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

, graduating in 1954. She was South Australia's first Indigenous nurse to be employed as a public servant. Thomas undertook midwifery training in Adelaide at Queen Victoria Hospital in Adelaide and in 1958 was employed to work at Raukkan (known then as Point McLeay

Aboriginal Reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...

). Thomas later went on to become a patrol nurse, spending much time living out of her car while on call.

Cricket career

After being introduced to cricket by a colleague at Royal Adelaide Hospital, Thomas made an immediate impact for her club side, taking a hat-trick in her second game. She was selected to play for the

South Australia Women's cricket team The South Australia women's cricket team, formerly known as the South Australian Scorpions, is the women's representative cricket team for the Australian State of South Australia. They play their home games at Adelaide Oval and Karen Rolton Ov ...

after only three club games. She played for her state side between 1956 and 1958. In 1958 she was selected for the Australian national team. She played her only international match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, at Melbourne in February 1958. She was the first Aboriginal woman to be selected to represent Australia in sport, and until 2019 (following the selection of

Ashleigh Gardner Ashleigh Katherine Gardner (born 15 April 1997) is an Australian cricketer who currently plays for the national women's team as an all-rounder. A right-handed batter and right-arm off spinner, Gardner also plays for New South Wales in the Wome ...

) was the only Indigenous woman to play test cricket for Australia. Thomas was selected in the squad to tour England and New Zealand after her test debut, but turned down the opportunity to focus on her nursing career. Thomas was known for her fast bowling off a run-up of just a few steps. She was renowned for her pace and skill of bowling the

yorker In cricket, a yorker is a ball bowled (a delivery) which bounces by the batsman's feet. This makes it very challenging for a batter to play. When a batsman assumes a normal stance, a yorker generally bounces on the cricket pitch on or near th ...

. Thomas's skill as a fast bowler came from her time in Colebrook where she would throw rocks at

galah The galah (; ''Eolophus roseicapilla''), less commonly known as the pink and grey cockatoo or rose-breasted cockatoo, is an Australian species of cockatoo and the only member of the genus ''Eolophus''. The galah is adapted to a wide variety of m ...

s. Thomas played her final club cricket game in the early 1960s. She was eight months pregnant at the time. The WBBL plays an annual Faith Thomas match between the

Adelaide Strikers The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decemb ...

and the

Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Scorchers wear an orange uniform and are based in Perth in the Australian state of Western Australia. Their home gr ...

to honour her achievements in both cricket and nursing. The winner of the match is presented with the Faith Thomas Trophy.

Death

Thomas died on 15 April 2023, at the age of 90.

Early life

Nursing career

Cricket career

Death

References

Further reading