Who are the players to watch? Who’s in the squad? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What is the fixture list? Your questions answered
Head coach: Ian Harvey
Captain: Chris Dent
Overseas players: Daniel Worrall (Australia), Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies)
Players in: Jared Warner (Yorkshire)
Players out: Gareth Roderick (Worcestershire), Stuart Whittingham (retired), George Drissell (released)
Fixture list: April 8 – Surrey (h); April 15 – Somerset (a); April 22 – Hampshire (a); April 29 – Leicestershire (h); May 6 – Middlesex (a); May 20 – Somerset (h); May 27 – Surrey (a); June 3 – Leicestershire (a); July 5 – Middlesex (h); July 11 – Hampshire (h)
Remind me what happened last year?
Given the achievements of the previous autumn, when Gloucestershire finally made it back to the top division of the County Championship through a well-earned promotion, those of a Bristol persuasion could be forgiven for feeling a certain frustration that their return – for the first time since 2005 – would be delayed, at least until 2022 when it is expected that red-ball competition will return to a two-tier structure.
In its absence, last year provided contests against Division One sides Somerset, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire, with mixed results.
Their only victory came against Warwickshire, with Ryan Higgins – their excellent allrounder – taking 11 wickets in the match. There were heavy defeats, however, against both Worcestershire – by eight wickets – and at the hands of local rivals Somerset, who bowled out Chris Dent’s side for 76 and 70.
All told, it was a challenging campaign – epitomised by the Covid-enforced abandonment of their last match against Northamptonshire, though any disappointment was offset by a run to T20 Finals Day for the first time since 2007.
Only Graeme van Buuren made more than 180 runs and no batsman averaged upwards of 31. They were also hindered by James Bracey’s absence to England’s bio-secure bubble, as well as the non-arrival of former West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who had been lined up on a Kolpak deal.
Gloucestershire captain Chris Dent
What’s happened over the winter?
After six seasons as Gloucestershire head coach, Richard Dawson has departed the county to become the ECB’s elite pathway coach, a role that will include overseeing England’s under-19 side and the Young Lions programme, while also coaching across the player pathway at Lions and England level, including supporting new spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel.
For those he leaves behind, it means going into the 2021 campaign shorn of a man responsible for the revival of the county’s on-field fortunes.
Under his stewardship, Dawson’s side developed into a fine T20 outfit, won the Royal London One-Day Cup in 2015 and earned promotion to the top tier of the County Championship in 2019 with a side built around local talent, including David Payne, Dent and Bracey, who was handed his county debut under the former Yorkshire off-spinner and has since broken into the international setup.
George Hankins, Ben Charlesworth, Harry Hankins and Tom Price were also given debuts by the 40-year-old, who was responsible for the signings of Higgins, van Buuren, George Scott, Jared Warner and Tom Lace.
The latter, who followed Higgins and Scott in joining from Middlesex last August, represents a terrific piece of business.
And so, his assistant Ian Harvey, a county legend as a player, has taken over as the county’s interim head coach.
Who’s arrived and who’s left?
There is plenty of excitement around the return of Dan Worrall as an all-format overseas player. The Australian seamer has had two brief stints at the club in the past but his last spell – at the beginning of 2019 – was curtailed by a season-ending back injury.
Since the retirement of Michael Klinger from first-class cricket ahead of the 2017 campaign, Gloucestershire have tended to rely on short-term overseas recruits and an ever-improving crop of homegrown talent. Jerome Taylor, whose Kolpak deal was set to become an overseas agreement post-Brexit until the pandemic struck, will now not be joining the club. Fellow West Indies international Kraigg Brathwaite, however, has signed for the first eight matches of the campaign.
Jared Warner has also come through the door on a three-year contract from Yorkshire. He joins fellow seamer Josh Shaw, who made the same journey from Headingley to Bristol a year earlier.
In the batting department, the county have lost former captain Gareth Roderick to Worcestershire, also meaning that Bracey is now unopposed as the squad’s senior wicketkeeper.
Who will be the key men in 2020?
Chris Dent: Consistency personified. In an era where regular 1,000-run batsmen are hard to come by on the domestic circuit, Dent is an outlier. Since his breakthrough season in 2013, when he accrued 1128 runs at 45.12, he has reached the milestone in four of the last eight seasons. Between 2013 and 2019, his lowest haul was 903.
James Bracey: How much Gloucestershire see of their wicketkeeper-batsman might depend on whether England require bio-secure bubbles through the summer. Yet to make his international debut, he has become well-acquainted with the national setup over the course of 12 months that began with an England Lions tour to Australia and ended as a reserve for the Test series in India.
Ryan Higgins: The allrounder has become one of the leading cricketers in the county game – a consistent threat with bat and ball. In 2019, he took 50 wickets and scored 958 runs – just 42 away from a rare double. Under a coach whose skillset was not too dissimilar as a player, it will be interesting how Higgins fares.
One to watch?
Ben Charlesworth is another, like Higgins, van Buuren and George Scott, who can contribute with bat and ball. Just 20 years of age, he has already struck four first-class half centuries since making his debut at 17.
What can we expect from this team this season?
A red-ball season more like 2019 than 2020 will be on every Gloucestershire fan’s wishlist, albeit in a difficult group alongside Surrey, Somerset and Hampshire.
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