Alfonso Thomas      

It was a long, circuitous route to national recognition for Alfonso Thomas. Raised in Cape Town, he was a member of the provincial schools team for two years and played for Western Province B in 1998-99, but he decided to throw in his lot and move thousands of kilometres inland to join the unfashionable North-West team in Potchefstroom. There, he affirmed his ability as a bustling pace bowler and a stroke-playing lower-order batsman, and began to be noticed for his tough temperament. He joined the Northerns Titans in 2003-04, where a haul of 36 wickets in eight SuperSport Series matches meant he was, at last, seriously attracting the attention of the national selectors. A successful stint with the South Africa A team followed, and Thomas was rewarded with a place on the Test tour to India, as a stand-in for the injured Andre Nel in late 2004. But Thomas had to wait until 2007 for his international debut, and in came in the Twenty20 format when he grabbed 3 for 25 in a win over Pakistan in Johannesburg. Thomas switched from the Titans to the Dolphins during 2007-08 and he signed with Somerset for the 2008 county season as a Kolpak player and enhanced his reputation as an outstanding one-day bowler.
Ken Borland May 2010