Jeremy Blackmore catches up with Alfonso Thomas after his return to Somerset as a coach
Alfonso Thomas, the spearhead of Somerset’s attack for eight seasons, is back at the County Ground in Taunton, helping the county develop its next generation of fast bowlers.
Thomas, whose death bowling skills helped propel Somerset to five limited-over finals, has taken up a new role as fast bowling coach at the county’s Academy. It marks his return to the club for a man who took more than 550 wickets in all formats for Somerset, and who played a leading role in an unprecedented push for honours in all three competitions.
“I’ve had 12 months away from that high-performance set-up, so it’s exciting to be back. I’m hoping that I can get my hands nice and dirty, see if we can get a few of the bowlers coming through and see if they can go onto bigger things.”
It’s a career path which 39-year-old Thomas feels passionate about, as he seeks the opportunity to give something back to the game he loves.
“Coaching was definitely something I wanted to do. I can only look back to when I started playing, I had to work things out for myself, I wasn’t quite fortunate to have high-performance coaching available. And somehow if I can give back to the game that’s given me such a lot of opportunities, that would be great.”
Thomas left Somerset at the end of 2015 and has since been involved with a number of coaching roles, including county age group sides as well as at Millfield and more recently Downside School. His burgeoning coaching CV also boasts a stint in the IPL as well as working with the bowlers in the title-winning Titans side in South Africa. His is a busy schedule, but when he was approached by Somerset Academy director Steve Snell to work with emerging fast bowlers, he was only too happy to help.
This year also saw Thomas involved with the women’s game, coaching the Western Storm bowlers in the Kia Super League. He is encouraged that the inaugural tournament is already inspiring girls to get into cricket.
“That was certainly something that I enjoyed because I’ve not been too familiar with the women’s game. I’ve learned a lot in the short time that I’ve been working with them and I’ve had a lot of girls at the school now, saying I want to take up the game because of the Kia Super League, so that’s great.”
Thomas, who was born in Cape Town, and first moved to Taunton after a persuasive pitch by former director of cricket Brian Rose on an off-season visitto South Africa: “Rosey was looking for cover for Andy Caddick, who had a back operation. The man was very passionate about Somerset, which is something that really stood out to me and so to me that was a no brainer really.”
Thomas went onto play a leading role in a period in which Somerset came agonisingly close to dominating the county scene. In addition to limited over final defeats, they twice finished runners-up in the Championship. Thomas also captained Somerset to the semi-finals of the Champions League. How does he look back on that time?
“There were certainly a few highs and certainly a couple of lows, but that’s just the nature of the game and it was quite emotional the day that I left.
“I can go back to the Champions League; I can go back to a few finals days. It obviously wasn’t great not winning, but it was fantastic times. We came close to winning the Championship which would have been great and I thought the boys might get over the line this year, but I’m sure it’s not too far away.
“I think what stood out was probably not being flexible enough in our thinking in the way we played games and in terms of conditions. By that I mean we always came up against a wicket that was either turning or was too slow, the complete opposite to what we would encounter at the County Ground, where I think if you give the team now that kind of pitch – the way Taunton’s playing at the moment – I think they would do pretty well!”
Somerset took ‘the great Alfonso’ to their hearts. What made the county so special that he was happy to stay there until the end of his career?
Unexpectedly, he cites the “fantastic support” players receive from fans, but more surprisingly credits Taunton pitches – once derided as ‘roads’ – as a key role.
“I enjoyed how that pitch played, how you had to challenge yourself and how you had to improve as a bowler. I would say the County Ground certainly improved me as a bowler.”
Perhaps Thomas’s most famous spell came on that wicket in 2014 when he claimed four wickets in four balls against Sussex in the Championship. His celebrations that day have greatly amused his new charges.
“That was a highlight. I had a couple of the boys at school looking up the video on YouTube and giving me gip about how I was running off the field! I almost ended up in Morrisons car park! No-one was going to catch me, that is for sure.”
Despite his success with the red ball – he claimed 545 first-class wickets in 163 matches – Thomas was perhaps most renowned as one of the best death bowlers in the shorter format. Despite only playing one T20 international, his success in leagues all over the world saw him become the highest wicket taker in T20 history in 2013. He clearly revelled in that responsibility and believes it is a skill he can pass onto young bowlers. But, he warns, they have to be up for the challenge.
“It’s something that kids and guys coming through the ranks have got to enjoy doing. It’s an opportunity where you’re in the spotlight and it’s your time to shine, so if you want that moment, it’s up to you.
“That was certainly something that I enjoyed. I do think the fact that I didn’t play a lot of games for South Africa also gave me the motivation to go onto places like Australia and Bangladesh and India, but in those kind of situations you’ve just got to back yourself.”
Fevered debate continues about T20 franchises in England. Does he think such a system could work here?
“I certainly think it can work, without a doubt. You have to keep the domestic structure in terms of the shorter format, but there’s certainly a window of opportunity for four to five weeks. It’s certainly a no-brainer to me to have the best coming over for that period of time. It’s an exciting prospect.”
Not ready to give up playing altogether, Thomas took on the role as player-coach at Exeter CC this year, taking 31 wickets as they finished second in the Devon Premier Division. While he particularly misses playing in front of Friday night T20 crowds at the County Ground, he will be there in spirit with a pint of cider enjoying the atmosphere.
Somerset’s young pace bowlers have really started to deliver on their potential, but Thomas is perhaps most excited about the emergence of spin twins Jack Leach and Dom Bess, the latter an Exeter teammate who he recommended to both Devon and Somerset.
“I said I would have absolutely no qualms about Dom playing as second spinner at Somerset whatsoever. And the guy’s gone in and played two games and taken two five-wicket hauls! So he’s done alright! So in the spin department the boys are looking good. It doesn’t bode well for my fellow seamers that those pitches are probably not going to help them, but it certainly saves them from bowling 25, 30 overs in the day!”
This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, December 2 2016
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