If a cricket club’s success is dependent on how vibrant its junior section is then Tewkesbury should have a bright future.

That’s because the man in charge of their youth set-up, junior coordinator Gwyn Williams, is doing an outstanding job.

So says first-team captain Tom Allcoat, 23, who himself came through the junior section.

Allcoat said: “Gwyn Williams is a real unsung hero. He has grown our junior section from 60 to 120 over the past 10 years with endless amounts of hours and commitment to Tewkesbury Cricket Club.

“He won the ECB 2015 outstanding contribution award for Gloucestershire which is nationally recognised.

“He has coached, managed and set up a wide range of teams aging from under-9 through to under-16, with many of the products of the junior system now playing competitive 1st and 2nd XI cricket.

“He heads up and motivates a team of 15 coaches who give up their time and dedication in Gwyn’s positive manner.”

Williams, a former 1st XI player and ex-2nd XI captain who now plays occasionally for the 3rds, is typically modest about his role at the club.

“It wouldn’t be right to put me on a pedestal,” he insisted. “There are lots of volunteers who bust a gut for the cricket club.”

“Dave Allcoat, Tom’s dad, looks after the ground and Tom Brown does an awful lot of work behind the scenes.”

“Junior cricket at Tewkesbury really is a huge team effort. Many of the other junior coaches and team managers put just as much into it as me.”

Williams’ route into the role was an interesting one.

He told The Local Answer: “I changed my career 10 years ago. I’d been a manager with Royal Mail for 18 years but decided to go into education.

“I was looking for something to do in the summer before going into teaching so I decided to help Mike Peachey who was running the juniors at the time.”

Within a few years Williams was the main man and he gets as much satisfaction from seeing the youngsters develop as he did when making runs for the club’s 1st and 2nd XIs.

“It’s great to see ex-junior players in the first team,” he said. “It’s nice to see the junior section thriving. The kids enjoy it, the parents enjoy it and it’s a safe environment.”

Williams is a business and economics teacher at King’s School in Worcester. He coaches the school’s under-13 team who play just a six-hit from New Road, home of Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

“The school have got a tremendous wicket, in fact I’d say it’s better than the one at New Road,” chuckled Williams.

He still gets roped into playing for the 3rd XI occasionally but, typically, would far rather see the younger players given a chance ahead of him.

“I’m a 50-year-old who limps,” he laughed.

He describes himself as an “ugly batsman”, adding “a lot of my runs came down to third man or were tickled round the corner. My record was better than my style!”

Williams hopes that a number of the current crop of youngsters will break into the first team. He mentioned that two young batsmen – Will New and Matt Alonso – had shown plenty of flair when sharing an unbroken opening partnership of more than 100 in a Sunday afternoon pre-season friendly for the club.

“It isn’t just these two either,” said Williams, “There are a number of talented young players who could be pushing for a place in the first team this season.”