“Right from the start it has been a year to remember at Cheltenham" - Will Brown
25 July 2018
Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown has described this year’s Cheltenham Cricket Festival as one of the most successful in the county’s history.
Two sell-out games in the Vitality Blast and eight days of riveting Specsavers County Championship action played in glorious sunshine have had the tills ringing merrily at the College Ground.
Gloucestershire have been playing games at the picturesque venue since 1872 and the days of W.G.Grace. This year’s Festival looks set to be marked by some of the highest gate receipts ever.
Brown said: “Right from the start it has been a year to remember at Cheltenham. The first day of the opening Championship game against Sussex attracted 3,000 spectators, our biggest attendance in the competition for ten years.
“In the region of 9,000 people came through the gate over the course of that four-day match and it was pretty much the same story against Durham this week.
“The capacity at the College Ground is 4,999 and we sold out the T20 games against Essex and Glamorgan well in advance.
“Of course, the weather has helped. But the success of the Festival is also down to the hard work of so many dedicated people, who make it much more than the stage for the cricketing action.
“We have endeavoured to add other attractions and the feedback from, not just our own supporters, but those from the opposing teams, has been fantastic.”
One of the unsung heroes behind the popularity of this year’s Festival has been Cheltenham College groundsman Christian Brain, who has produced pitches, not only conducive to high-scoring T20 games, but also Championship cricket at its most exciting.
The matches against Sussex and Durham were both in the balance going into the final day after compelling contests between bat and ball on wickets offering pace and bounce.
Brain, who has worked for the College for five years, said: “It’s the best the pitches have been since I started and I hope they will be even better next year with the winter work we have planned.”
The opportunity to see England players such as Durham’s Ben Stokes and Mark Wood, plus rising stars like Sussex all-rounder Jofra Archer in the Second Division of the Championship also added to the appeal of this summer’s Cheltenham fixtures.
Young Gloucestershire players Ryan Higgins, James Bracey, Miles Hammond and George Drissell all impressed against quality opposition, to the satisfaction of head coach Richard Dawson.
“It has been a great learning experience for them facing the likes of Stokes and Archer and bowling to an experienced Test batsman in Tom Latham,” he said. “Irrespective of results they have all taken major steps forward as a result of encountering top class opposition.”
Article by Richard Latham, Bristol and West News Agency Ltd
