Alfonso Thomas to leave Hampshire after three seasons

The South African joined the club in 2019 and has worked with their bowlers, including Kyle Abbott, Keith Barker and Brad Wheal

Alfonso Thomas is to leave Hampshire at the end of the year, having spent three seasons at the county as an assistant coach.

The South African joined the club early in 2019 and has worked with their bowlers, including Kyle Abbott, Keith Barker and Brad Wheal.

At the end of his first summer at the Ageas Bowl, he signed a contract extension, with Hampshire having reached the Royal London Cup final and finished third in the County Championship.

The former seamer enjoyed a fine playing career, spending the majority of his time in English cricket with Somerset, before taking on a variety of coaching roles after his retirement.

Following stints as a bowling consultant with Kent, West Indies, Khulna Titans and Surrey, he arrived at Hampshire shortly after Adrian Birrell replaced Craig White as first-team coach.

^{Alfonso Thomas joined Hampshire in 2019 (James Chance/Getty Images)}

"We have all enjoyed working with Alfonso and he's had a positive impact on the playing group during his time with us," said Giles White, Hampshire's director of cricket.

"He has a huge amount of experience in the game, and I know the bowlers in particular have really benefited from his input.

"Alfonso has a huge amount to offer as a coach and we wish him all the best moving forwards."

Hampshire finished fourth in Division One of the County Championship last season, having qualified for the top tier of the conference system by coming second in Group Two.

Abbott, Barker and Mohammad Abbas all took more than 40 wickets each last season, while Wheal established himself as part of the county’s red-ball side.

Twenty-year-old Scott Currie, who made his professional debut last year, was the sixth-highest wicket-taker in the T20 Blast as Hampshire reached Finals Day.