An update from Acting Chair Steve Nelson
19 July 2024
As the 2024 Towergate Cheltenham Cricket Festival draws to a close today it feels only right to start by applauding not only the quality of cricket played throughout the Festival, but also the range and diversity of cricket on display. Once again, as it does more often than not, Cheltenham College played host to a historic cricketing moment that will live long in the memory of all who were lucky enough to be there to witness it. James Bracey’s dramatic catch from the final ball of Gloucestershire’s match against Glamorgan resulted in an almost unheard of tied County Championship match, capturing the imagination of cricket fans up and down the country.
We also saw the long-awaited return of T20 cricket and large crowds to Cheltenham, and it was fantastic to hear so many great stories of supporters’ first visit to the Festival to watch the thrills and spills of the Vitality Blast. While experiencing mixed results in T20 cricket at Cheltenham, Mark Alleyne and his side have played some brilliant cricket in the tournament and, depending on results elsewhere tonight, could still qualify for the quarter-final stage of the competition. Whatever happens, I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating Mark and the team for their performances in the competition to date and in particular, for delivering two fantastic wins over our local rivals, Somerset.
This year’s Cheltenham Cricket festival – the 152nd iteration of it – also hosted the last Western Storm home game on behalf of Gloucestershire Cricket. Ever since Western Storm's formation in 2016, it has been a huge pleasure to be a part of the growth of the women's professional game in England & Wales and we are proud of the part we have played in that. As the women’s professional game is restructured from 2025, we look forward with enthusiasm to our next chapter as a Tier 2 county. The awarding of Tier 2 status brings with it some exciting changes, the most significant of which being the transfer of the women’s team and girls pathway from the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation (GCF) to the Club from 2025 onwards. I’d like to thank the GCF for all their hard work over the years on the women and girls regional set up which under their stewardship has undoubtedly flourished. As we move forward with women and girls cricket under the Club’s guidance, we remain ambitious about wanting to produce domestic and international cricketers, a goal that will extend across the boys and girls pathway as we adopt a ‘one club’ mentality under this new structure.
Away from the field of play I would like to update Members on the process for the current Board Member vacancy. Recently the Nominations Committee has met with a range of potential candidates; we will write to all Members again next week regarding the next steps in the process. Meanwhile, the recruitment process to appoint the next Chair of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club will progress to the next stage next week, with the deadline for applications set for 9am on Monday 22nd July. More information on the role and instructions for how to apply can be found here. The Hundred competition and its proposed sale is also of great importance to us all and once again, the Club will communicate further on this matter with Members next week.
As we move into August and look forward to another Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign, I’d like to take the chance to remind Members of the next Members’ Forum scheduled in September. This meeting, in which we will discuss the Club’s latest financial forecasting, our 2025-2028 and longer-term vision, will take place soon after the end of play on day three of the County Championship match against Sussex at the Seat Unique Stadium, on Thursday 19th September. If any Members would like to raise questions with the Club before that meeting, the Members’ Working Group (MWG) will be meeting again in August and should anyone wish to contact the MWG, you can do so here.
I’d like to finish by applauding the continued work of Andy Brassington and Steve Lewis, whose Walkers and Talkers initiative has received yet more national acclaim, this time on BBC One’s The One Show last night. All of us have seen first-hand the impact Walkers and Talkers has had on people’s lives and I’m proud it is associated with Gloucestershire Cricket. All that’s left for me to say is thank you to all of our Members and supporters for the continued support this season and good luck to the team in the upcoming One Day Cup campaign.
Yours Sincerely,
Acting Chair, Steve Nelson
