Darren Thomas: Jersey appoint former Glamorgan all-rounder as women’s head coach

Jersey have appointed former Glamorgan all-rounder Darren Thomas as head coach of their women’s side.

The 52-year-old has coached with Western Storm, Glamorgan’s academy and the national coach of Wales.

He takes over from Lee Meloy who has become Jersey’s head of cricket operations and will work under newly-appointed interim director of cricket Paul Hutchison.

He is also responsible for the Under-19 women’s side and youth development.

Known as ‘Ted’, Thomas played in 169 First Class matches, 140 List A games and 14 Twenty 20 games in a 15-year professional career at Sophia Gardens.

He burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old in 1992 when he took 5-80 against Derbyshire on his county debut and stayed at Glamorgan until 2007 when he moved to Essex, although he did not play a game for the English side after suffering a career-ending shoulder injury shortly after his move.

“I am delighted that Ted has accepted the role and he joins us at a fantastic time for Jersey Cricket,” said Hutchison – who joined the island setup last month.

“We are setting up our programme to achieve our long term ambitions and Ted is the first piece of that jigsaw.

“Ted is highly respected and experienced, I am extremely confident that the players will develop well under his leadership.”