Alfonso Thomas: Ex-Somerset paceman joins Leicestershire coaching staff
- Published
Alfonso Thomas has spent the past three seasons working as assistant coach with Hampshire
Alfonso Thomas has joined Leicestershire as first XI assistant coach and lead bowling coach.
The 45-year-old former South Africa international will take over from Tom Smith, who joined Yorkshire last month.
Thomas took a combined 1,029 wickets in all three forms of the game, including 558 in seven years at Somerset, before retiring in 2015.
He has spent the past three seasons as assistant coach with Hampshire but left just prior to Graeme Welch's arrival.
Thomas will work under director of cricket Claude Henderson and head coach Paul Nixon at Leicester.
"I had a conversation with Nico and Claude. They had a clear vision in terms of where they wanted to take this team and that aligned with mine. When I got offered the role, it was a no brainer," Thomas said.
"It's a young team, but it's a talented team. They look a very close-knit unit, and every successful team I've been a part of as a player or a coach has had that."
Leicestershire start their new County Championship season on Thursday, 7 April with a Division Two home game against Worcestershire.
They finished fifth in their six-team group in the first half of the 2021 Championship season, then fourth in Division Three following the mid-season split.
The Foxes finished sixth in their group in the T20 Blast and fourth in their One-Day Cup group, narrowly missing out on a place in the knockout stages.