Alfonso Thomas is one of cricket’s original globetrotting freelancers. The 37-year-old seam bowler has a cricket CV that would be the envy of most, with his home bar boasting the shirts of the Adelaide Strikers, Dhaka Gladiators, Dolphins, Lions, North West, Northerns, Perth Scorchers, Pune Warriors, Somerset, South Africa, Staffordshire, Titans and Warwickshire – all teams he has represented.
But now after 15 years since leaving his hometown to throw his lot inland with the unfashionable North West Dragons in Potchefstroom after limited-opportunities here in Cape Town, the former Ravensmead Secondary pupil and Tygerberg Cricket Club legend will finally get to sit in the home dressingroom at Newlands when he turns out for the Cape Cobras in this year’s RamSlam T20 Challenge.
The Cape Times understands that Thomas is the Cobras’ latest recruit, following in the footsteps of West Indian superstar Sunil Narine and former England and Australian internationals Owais Shah and Brad Hogg who have all played for the Cobras in the T20 domestic series of late.
Although Thomas is South African-born and has played a solitary T20 international for the Proteas, he will qualify as an “overseas” player due to his Kolpak status with English County Championship team Somerset.
Avid followers of local cricket will wonder why coach Paul Adams has gone in search of talent outside the borders of the Western Cape (Western Province and Boland) catchment area, especially after left-arm swing-bowler Mthokozisi Shezi was already lured from the warm waters of Durban in the off-season.
“Fonnie” is also not a “bums-on-seats” type of superstar like Narine was last season or perhaps like Sri Lankan maestro Kumar Sangakkara who the Highveld Lions are attempting to sign for this season’s T20 Challenge. The Knights have also already secured a big-name in West Indian T20 slugger Andre Russell, while his national team captain Darren Sammy could also be on his way to the Centurion to play for the Titans.
The answers to those questions though lies in Thomas’s proven ability to deliver under pressure – and T20 cricket is all about pressure. The Cobras’ seam bowlers were found wanting in the Champions League T20 in India, and the team continues to be struck down by injuries to its pacemen in addition to national team call-ups. Justin Kemp has a long-term injury, Shezi is struggling with a shoulder/ back ailment, and Dane Paterson has an ankle injury while Charl Langeveldt has gone back into retirement after helping out in India.
Langeveldt’s absence leaves a gaping hole, especially with his renowned death-bowling abilities, and Thomas is almost a like-for-like replacement, who has the experience of playing in South African conditions for numerous years and would not still need time to aclimatise.
Thomas was never a bowler that relied on express pace, but even at 37 has lost none of the zip that he had while playing for Western Province Schools back in a previous era. And like Langeveldt, he has developed a bag of magic tricks as the years have passed by, with a mixture of yorkers, slower balls, nagging accuracy and ice-like veins proving successful in all the major T20 leagues around the world and especially on the unrelentless batting paradise of Taunton.
And unlike Langeveldt who was not the sharpest in the field as his career winded down, Thomas has kept his wiry frame intact that allows him to be as athletic as any 20-year-old teammate. - Cape Times