Tim Harris is a savvy kind of guy... but he’ll be the first to admit that you can catch him out.

That’s because when he’s not pouring his heart and soul into Gloucester City Football Club, he likes to relax by playing cricket for Dymock, the village in which he was born and brought up.

He was caught out last weekend.

“I’d just hit a six,” he laughed. “I tried to play the same shot the next ball and I got caught on the boundary by the tallest player on the field!”

By his own admission Harris, a left-hander, is not the greatest player to put on a pair of pads.

“I’ve only got one shot,” he laughed, “it goes on the legside. And I’ve never been able to bowl.”

He may not be the best but he thoroughly enjoys turning out for Dymock’s 2nds and 3rds. His appearances are limited by his commitments with Gloucester City – he can’t play this Saturday because the football club have their first pre-season friendly of the new campaign – but he’ll still play half-a-dozen times or more a season.

“I can’t play any more Saturdays but we have a Sunday side and a midweek team so hopefully I’ll play another couple of games,” said Harris, who usually bats “five or six” and has a highest score of 36 not out this season.

He’s never scored a century – the closest he came was when he made 87 – but it’s typical of Harris that it’s the team rather than his own performance that he cares about most.

He’s very proud of Dymock Cricket Club and retains close links with it even though these days he lives in Churchdown.

“I’ve been playing for the club for 43 years and never missed a season since I was a boy,” he said. “About 20 years ago we only had one team and I was the youngest in it at just under 40.

“The club were struggling but instead of folding they set up a youth team and they are now right at the heart of the community.

“We run three teams on Saturday, a Sunday and midweek team and we’ve got some fantastic young kids and some brilliant juniors.”

It’s not just on the field that the club have been bowling people over.

“They built a new £225,000 pavilion,” the 57-year-old said proudly. “Now when I sit on the balcony I can see the house in front of the church where I was born.”

Harris says he’d like to move back to Dymock one day although that is unlikely to happen while he remains manager of Gloucester City.

So how does the cricket compare with football?

“The thing I love about cricket is that the whole day is enjoyable,” he said. “With football for 42 weeks it’s so much win at all costs, it’s so competitive.”

Anything else he likes about the cricket?

“The cream teas,” he laughed.