Alfonso Clive Thomas (born 9 February 1977) is a South African former professional cricketer. He is a right arm fast-medium bowler and a big hitting lower-order batsman. Playing in South African domestic cricket for North West, Northerns, the

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

, the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

, and the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

, Thomas has also played English county cricket for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

matches for the Pune Warriors, and in Australian domestic cricket for 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. In June 2014, Thomas took four wickets in four balls in a County Championship game against Sussex. He was a pioneer of death bowling in the early years of T20 cricket.

Career

South African domestic career

Thomas made his first-class debut playing for Western Province B in

Newlands, Cape Town Newlands (Nuweland) is an upmarket suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It is located at the foot of Table Mountain in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, and is the wettest suburb in South Africa due to its high winter rainfall. The neighborhood ...

in the 1998/99 season. In three first-class matches for Western Province B, he took two wickets, and did not play another first-class match until the 2000/01 season after a move to North West. His North West and

SuperSport Series The CSA 4-Day Domestic Series is the domestic first class cricket competition of South Africa. The tournament is contested by teams from all nine provinces of South Africa. First contested as the Currie Cup from 1889–90, the tournament has u ...

debut came against

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

, where he finished with match figures of 6/120. Thomas scored his maiden century only two games later, hitting 106

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

while batting at number ten, setting a record tenth wicket partnership for North West of 174 with Garth Roe as he did so. Four months later, Thomas was involved in another record breaking partnership for North West. With the team at 87/7 against Western Province, Thomas joined Morne Strydom at the crease. 492 balls later when Strydom was caught by Neil Johnson, the pair had added 204 to the score; Thomas eventually going on to score 95 not out. The following match, Thomas achieved his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, as he took the wickets of Easterns top five batsmen during a ten wicket victory; finishing the innings with 6/26. Thomas started the 2001/02 season on top form, claiming five-wickets in an innings on three occasions in the first five games, against Boland, Western Province, and Griqualand West. He represented South Africa in the Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes in November 2001, having a stand-out performance in a Pool One match against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

as he took 2/4 in his over. He finished the 2001/02 season as North West's leading wicket-taker, with 35 wickets at an average of 22.14. His form saw him picked for South African Board President's XI and South Africa A to play the touring India A side. In a shortened 2002/03 South African domestic season due to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, Thomas only appeared in three first-class and five one-day matches for North West, although he did once more represent South Africa in the Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes. He made his second career century against Northerns, making 119*. He moved to Northerns for the start of the 2003/04 season and had immediate success with 36 wickets in his eight SuperSport Series matches. His debut for the club, in which he took three wickets and three catches during Western Province's first innings to help restrict them to 173, was overshadowed by future

teammate Charl Willoughby, who took 7/56 & 4/56 to earn himself man of the match. In the Standard Bank Cup, Thomas' 17 wickets helped the club finish third in the league, which saw them qualify for the semi-finals. The 2003/04 season also saw the introduction of

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

cricket in South Africa in the form of the Standard Bank Pro20 Series. Thomas represented

, a re-branded team merging Northerns and Easterns. He finished the Pro20 season with five wickets from six matches, including three vital dismissals in the group match against

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, when he claimed the wickets of Eagles' top three batsmen in his first two overs, helping to lead his team to a 90 run victory. Since then he has constantly represented South Africa A and was part of the Test tour to India, standing in for an injured André Nel. He has represented South Africa in a Twenty20 International, taking 3/25

English county career

In August 2007, Thomas signed as Warwickshire's fourth overseas player of the season, playing nine matches for them through August and September. The following summer, he signed for

under the Kolpak ruling. At the end of the 2015 season, it was announced that Thomas' contract with Somerset would not be renewed.

2009 Champions League Twenty20

In their first match of the 2009 Champions League Twenty20, Thomas played a good lower-middle order innings to guide Somerset to a victory over

Deccan Chargers Deccan Chargers (also sometimes known as the Chargers) is a defunct cricket franchise that competed in the Indian Premier League. It was based in the city of Hyderabad. The franchise was one of the eight inaugural members of the IPL in 2008 and ...

. When Thomas came in, Somerset required 55 runs off the remaining 37 balls of the match. A record eighth wicket partnership for the club meant that when James Hildreth lost his wicket from the first ball of the final over, Somerset needed five runs off as many balls. The following ball resulted in no score, and then the wicket of number ten Max Waller. This wicket allowed Thomas on

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

, and he struck a boundary off the fourth ball of the over, and then after a near

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, in which the fielding team put down the wicket of a batter who is outside their ground, usually because they are trying to score a run. Run out is governed by Law 38 of the laws of cricket. If ...

involving number eleven Charl Willoughby, Thomas hit another four from the final ball to grant Somerset the win.

Australian domestic cricket

Thomas was signed to the

for the inaugural 2011–12 season of the

Big Bash League The Big Bash League (BBL), also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Australia. Established in 2011 by Cricket Australia, the Big Bash League replaced the previous competitio ...

, as one of the franchise's two international players. He played in all of Adelaide's seven matches in the tournament (one of three players to do so), taking five wickets at an average of 35.40. His best bowling figures during the tournament, 3/24, were taken in a loss to the

Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers is an Australian professional franchise men's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Along with the Sydney Thunder, the Sixers are the successors of the Spee ...

at the

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

. Thomas did not re-sign with Adelaide for the 2012–13 season, instead signing with the Perth Scorchers as a replacement for

Albie Morkel Johannes Albertus Morkel (born 10 June 1981), better known as Albie Morkel, is a former South African cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm medium fast and bats left-handed. He was earmarked as the new Lance Klusener from an earl ...

, who had not received a clearance from

Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa aka CSA is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South ...

. In eight matches during the tournament, he took twelve wickets at an average of 14.91, leading Perth's wicket-taking and finishing fourth in the competition's wicket-taking, behind Ben Laughlin (14 wickets),

Lasith Malinga Separamadu Lasith Malinga (; ; born 28 August 1983) is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest limited overs bowlers of all time. Playing as a right-arm fast bowler, Malinga was commonly used as a specialist ...

, and Ben Cutting (both 13 wickets). Thomas' best figures, 4/8, were taken in the game against the

Melbourne Renegades Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competit ...

at the

WACA Ground The WACA Ground () is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA). The WACA has been referred to as Western Australia' ...

, which are also his best in all Twenty20 matches.

Coaching career

In February 2018, Thomas was appointed bowling coach for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. In February 2019, Thomas was appointed bowling coach for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Between 2016 and 2019 he was the cricket development lead and coach at the public school

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

. He was appointed head coach of

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the coun ...

in November 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Alfonso 1977 births Living people Cricketers from Cape Town South African cricketers South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century South African sportsmen Adelaide Strikers cricketers Dhaka Dominators cricketers South African expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh Dolphins (South African cricket team) players Northerns cricketers North West cricketers Perth Scorchers cricketers Pune Warriors India cricketers Somerset cricketers Staffordshire cricketers Sussex cricketers Titans cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Western Province cricketers South African cricket coaches South African expatriate cricketers in England South African expatriate cricketers in India South African expatriate cricketers in Australia