Not only was George Thoms a member of Australia's one-Test club, he is the only Test cricketer to have been a gynaecologist. An eminent surgeon who introduced the concept of laser surgery to Australia in the mid-70s, Thoms quit representative cricket prematurely, at 27, for fear of sustaining a hand injury which would have finished his career as a surgeon. Good enough to make three centuries and average 35 at first-class level in a formidable era for fast bowlers, he scored 16 and 28 on debut for Australia on a green Sydney wicket alongside fellow rookies Richie Benaud and Colin McDonald against the West Indies in the fifth Test of the 1951-52 summer. "My strengths were more with defence, to keep them out early or as (his Victorian captain) Lindsay Hassett would say, 'see you at lunch or see you after the new ball,' Thoms said in a recent interview. Thoms was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 1996. He attended the grand reunion of Australian cricket, involving almost 200 of Australia's living Test cricketers in Sydney, just weeks before his death.
Ken Piesse, The Wisden Cricketer, October 2003

• Cricket Australia pays tribute to the late George Thoms (Aug 29, 2003)