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

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, who played in five

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and three

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s for

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 ...

between 1986 and 1987.

Life and career

Thomas was born in Trebanos in

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

. He was a genuine

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

, a rare sight in English cricket after the retirement of

Bob Willis Robert George Dylan Willis (born 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 fast bowlers of all tim ...

; 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). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...

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 Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. 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 cricket, Test matches and 48 One Day Internationals for England cricket team, England from 1983 to 1993. Domestically Foster played for Essex Co ...

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, defying the international sporting boycott of the

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

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 a retired Antiguan cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Usually batting 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 ...

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