Gloucestershire ready themselves for a very strange 150th anniversary celebration

BOB WILLIS TROPHY PREVIEW: Bristol was supposed to host Division One cricket for the first time in 15 years in 2020; that will have to wait another summer

Bob Willis Trophy team-by-team guides: Click here

Ins: Josh Shaw (Yorkshire), George Scott (Middlesex), Jerome Taylor

Outs: Will Tavare, Michael Klinger, Chris Liddle (all retired), Gareth Roderick (to join Worcestershire at end of season)

Fixtures: August 1 - Worcestershire (h), August 8 - Warwickshire (h), August 15 - Glamorgan (a), August 22 - Somerset (a), September 6 - Northamptonshire (h)

Remind me what happened last year?

This year was meant to mean so much – Gloucestershire’s 150th anniversary and a return to the top tier of County Championship cricket for the first time since 2005. Instead, all of that will have to wait. After a 15-year hiatus, what’s another year anyway?

They are a club going places, well managed on and off the field. In Richard Dawson, Gloucestershire have one of the circuit’s brightest coaches – so much so that he led England Lions on a training trip to Mumbai over the winter before taking charge of the landmark, unbeaten trip to Australia. He has since been assigned to work with England’s spinners through the series against West Indies inside their bio-secure bubble.

Alongside Dawson, Chris Dent has continued along his merry way, churning out runs year after year, seemingly without glitch or recognition. He struck 1,087 red-ball runs last year, the third-highest tally in the division. He has passed the 900-run mark in each of the last five seasons.

The county’s standout player, however, was Ryan Higgins. The allrounder scored 958 runs at an average of 59.87 and a strike-rate of 76.64, as well as taking 50 wickets – the most of anyone at the county.

It all culminated in promotion – reward for a side far greater than the sum of its parts.

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What’s happened over the winter?

Assistant head coach Ian Harvey has led pre-season training since July, when Dawson was called up for England duties. Likewise, James Bracey – Bristol born and bred – kept wicket for England Lions in Australia and then made 85 in an intra-squad warmup game ahead of England’s Test series against West Indies.

Dent, meanwhile, has signed a contract extension, taking him through to the end of the 2023 season.

Like so many other counties, Gloucestershire’s overseas plans have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Cheteshwar Pujara was due to join the club for the start of the County Championship campaign, but that deal was cancelled.

However, the club added a reassuring message to its members early on in lockdown.

“Our financial projections show that, even on the worst-case scenario of no cricket at all this season, the club should be able to break even this year and be ready to face the future in a strong financial position when this crisis has passed,” a statement explained.

Who’s arrived and who’s left?

George Scott has followed Higgins, Adam Rossington and Harry Podmore in leaving Middlesex in search of regular cricket elsewhere.

The allrounder joins Higgins in Bristol, along with former West Indies seamer Jerome Taylor.

Yorkshire bowler Josh Shaw joins permanently, having previously spent time with the county on loan. Will Tavare, Michael Klinger and Chris Liddle have all retired from professional cricket.

Who will be the key men in 2020?

A team in every sense, but still with its stars: Dent, Higgins, Bracey and David Payne have become linchpins of this Gloucestershire side. Watch out, too, for Miles Hammond, the aggressive opening batsman.

He is still young and, despite a poor year in first-class cricket last year, remains an exciting talent, having become an important part of the club’s white-ball plans. Gareth Roderick has been a fine cricketer for the club for some time; he will want to finish well ahead of his move at the end of this season to Worcestershire.

What can we expect from this team this season?

Expect Gloucestershire to be strong. Bracey is an ever-improving player who has impressed all who have come into contact with him over the course of the winter.

In any other year, Higgins would have been won end-of-season awards for his 2019 efforts.

He was just 42 runs short of the 1,000-run /50-wicket double but found himself in the same prize category as Simon Harmer and Ben Stokes. As far as opening batsmen go, Dent is as consistent as they come on the county circuit.

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