Phil earns high honour with the Welsh Cricket Association
Pembrokeshire Cricket will soon have the Vice-Chairman of the Welsh Cricket Association in its midst when former Cresselly Cricket Club batsman and current Pembroke County Club stalwart Philip Thomas is elevated to the position at the forthcoming AGM.
Phil, who lives in Narberth with his wife Diane, has been Treasurer of the WCA for a number of years and will have Morley Howell as his chairman, the current WCA secretary stepping down from that role and replaced by Brian Crockett, the previous assistant secretary.
As well as his hard work for the Welsh Cricket Association, Phil is still a member of the executive committee of Pembroke CCC after previous service as a highly-respected Hon Treasurer, vice-chairman and chairman.
The only previous Pembrokian to reach such a top role in Welsh Cricket was the late John Griffiths, who was also chairman of the County Club for a number of years, and everyone in local cricket will be delighted that Philip has been elevated to the vice-chairmanship. He will continue for the foreseeable future as treasurer of the WCA as well as serving a three-year term assisting Morley Howell, who is also a great supporter of Pembrokeshire Cricket, and then go on to become the first from our county to be the chairman of Welsh Cricket Association.
Held in high regard
He is held in very high regard amongst cricketers in Pembrokeshire because he is very much involved at the ground level, being heavily involved for a long time in coaching juniors after being a left-handed bat at Cresselly for many years. His son Steve is also a left-hander, as is grandson Harry, who looks the pick of the Thomas bunch since he has already had trials for Wales at junior level. He was also secretary for his club and was on the committee for donkey’s years.
Snooker official
Phil is also well-known in the world of snooker because he played for Cresselly and was chairman of the South Pembrokeshire Snooker League, where he qualified as a referee and, other than Ronnie O’Sullivan, officiated at all the top world’s players in the annual Texaco Snooker events. He became great friends with top ref Len Ganley and worked with the impish Irish man on a number of occasions. It has been said that he had the ideal temperament to be a snooker referee!
Busy ‘up the line’
Phil began his association with the WCA some eight years ago and was roped in to be treasurer after four years when Graham Crimp took on another role – and their budget for dealing with the 270 or so affiliated clubs is in the region of £25,000. But he is also treasurer of the Cricket Board of Wales, whose huge budget of £750,000 covers all youth and junior cricket, ladies cricket and coaching. He has to travel to Llandrindod Wells for the WCA meetings where representatives from all over Wales meet six times a year - and the CB of W meet at Sophia Gardens, the home of Glamorgan CCC, a similar number of times.
Officer service
He first joined the executive committee of the PCCC in 1993 and was one of the rare members of the committee who went straight in as an officer, when he assumed the role of Hon Treasurer. He followed this by being elected as vice-chairman and then chairman and says that he had immense pleasure visiting every ground in the county and being warmly welcomed at matches and club dinners, where he was often roped in to speak and he could use his waspish good humour! The only down side was the fact that in his first year at the helm the County Club were taken to court by a player and it wasn’t the happiest time he’s ever had in cricket!
But that’s all in the past now and Phil is eagerly looking forward to his new challenge alongside Morley Howell at the helm of Welsh Cricket - but it is good to report that Phil Thomas is retaining his role in Pembrokeshire Cricket and will still be seen at pitches around the county, and at cup finals where he serves as the silver-tongued voice of the Pembroke County Cricket Club!
