Alfonso Thomas has been loaned to Sussex for the Royal London Cup

Somerset have loaned bowler Alfonso Thomas to Sussex for their Royal London Cup campaign.

The county are hoping that the move will ensure the 38-year-old seamer is fully fit for their remaining LV= County Championship Division One matches.

And Sussex will be grateful for the assistance of Thomas as they currently have four frontline seamers on the sidelines due to injury.

Somerset Director of Cricket Matt Maynard told the Somerset County Gazette: “Alfonso isn’t likely to feature for us in the Royal London One-Day Cup but we want to make sure that he is in the best possible condition for our run-in in the LV=County Championship.

“He is an integral part of our four-day squad and his experience and expertise will be vital for us in the last five Championship matches.

“He will play a major part in where we finish in the table and this is why we want him to be playing competitive cricket over the next few weeks.

“We would not have allowed him to join a county in the same group as us - he will also not be allowed to play against us if we make it in to the knockout stages of the competition, plus we can recall him with immediate effect if we need to.

“The likes of Lewis Gregory and the Overton twins have been playing extremely well this year and this has been highlighted by the fact that they’ve featured in one-day squads for England. We therefore feel that they deserve their chance in the 50-over format.”

Thomas has enjoyed a successful career at Somerset since he was first given a contract for the 2008 season, captaining them to the semi-finals of the Champions League T20 tournament in 2011.

He has a reputation as a good ‘death’ bowler in one-day cricket and has taken 216 wickets in List A matches and 264 in T20 games.