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| Full name | John Gregory Thomas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1960-08-12)12 August 1960 (age 64) Trebanos,Glamorgan,Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 515) | 21 February 1986 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 7 August 1986 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 86) | 18 February 1986 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 25 May 1987 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1988 | Glamorgan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983/84–1986/87 | Border | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984/85–1986/87 | Impalas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987/88–1988/89 | Eastern Province | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Northamptonshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,19 August 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greg Thomas (bornJohn Gregory Thomas, 12 August 1960)[1] is aWelsh formercricketer, who played in fiveTest matches and threeOne Day Internationals forEngland between 1986 and 1987.
Thomas was born inTrebanos inGlamorgan. He was a genuinefast bowler, a rare sight in English cricket after the retirement ofBob Willis; apart from the raw pace, he was erratic and often had injury problems.[2] At his best, he matched the speed of the fearsomeWest 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 forNorthamptonshire.[1]
Highlights of his brief Test career included participating in a last-wicket stand of 72 withRichard 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 withNeil 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 therebel tour to South Africa 1989–90 as a replacement forPhilip DeFreitas, defying theinternational sporting boycott of theapartheid state. Although he took afirst-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 batsmanViv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared tosledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However, in a county game againstGlamorgan, 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]
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