Somerset’s veteran seamer Alfonso Thomas will take charge of the county’s limited-overs teams this season.
The 38-year-old has been appointed captain of their Royal London One-Day Cup and NatWest T20 Blast sides, while Marcus Trescothick will continue to lead Somerset in the LV= County Championship and remains official club captain.
Thomas, who has been recovering from a broken ankle sustained playing golf, has previously skippered the county in seven first-class, four List A and 29 Twenty20 matches, which included leading them to the semi-finals of the 2011 Champions League in India.
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The South African, whose only cap for the Proteas came in a T20 international in 2007, has a wealth of club experience to call upon having played in the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash League and the Bangladesh Premier League.
Somerset coach Matt Maynard said: “Alfonso has played a huge amount of T20 cricket in the last few seasons both here and abroad. He has tasted success in the IPL, the BPL and the Big Bash.
“His experiences of the intricacies of the T20 game at the highest level make him the ideal captain for the shorter form of the game.
“Marcus will continue to lead the side in the LV= County Championship and will still fulfil the crucial role of club captain.”
He is the third South African to captain the county, following in the footsteps of Graeme Smith and Jimmy Cook, who took charge of the county in 2005 and 1991 respectively.