“I was born in exile,” says Sarah Blowen.

By that, the lifelong Gloucestershire cricket fan means she was born outside our beautiful county. To be fair she wasn’t born too far away, although it’s considerably further than one of those sweetly timed Michael Klinger sixes.

“I was born in Berkshire,” she said. “My parents were Gloucestershire folk and they used to come back and watch the county play at the Cheltenham Festival.

“I can remember my first game there in 1971 when I was a young child. It was Gloucestershire v Lancashire in a county championship game and my grandma had just given me an autograph book.

“My first autograph was a beautiful smiling Clive Lloyd and the second was Mike Procter.”

These days Sarah and Proccie, as he is known throughout Gloucestershire, work closely together with the Gloucestershire Exiles.

Sarah has been chair of ‘the Exiles’, which was founded in 1971, for the past eight years and Procter has been a big supporter.

He was the special guest in the Exiles’ marquee at the recent Cheltenham Festival while the Exiles in turn work hard to support the Mike Procter Foundation, which aims to change the lives of young people living in Africa.

“The Exiles were set up in the club’s centenary year in recognition of all the county’s supporters who have moved away from Gloucestershire for one reason or another,” said Sarah.

“But it’s not just for people who used to live in the county. Indeed, our founders were a dedicated group of fans who had been captivated by the deeds of past players – Wally Hammond, Tom Graveney, Proccie – and we owe them a huge amount for what they did.

“Now younger members were inspired by Jack Russell and the generation winning all the silverware under Mark Alleyne.

“We had someone who lives in Leckhampton join us during this year’s Cheltenham Festival. Exile is a state of mind!”

These days Sarah has happily returned ‘home’. Now living in Bristol, she says her voluntary role as chair of the Exiles can be “at times all-consuming” but is always enjoyable. “The Exiles’ committee are a fantastic bunch and we all enjoy working to promote interest in Gloucestershire cricket”.

She is proud of the Exiles’ close links with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.

“We have a very good relationship with them,” she said. “We do a lot of fundraising for them and specifically for the club’s academy.

“It’s amazing for members to see players like Chris Dent, David Payne and more recently George Hankins come through the system.”

As well at their big day out at the Cheltenham Festival, the Exiles hold an AGM at the indoor school at Lord’s in spring as “a curtain-raiser” to the new season and once every two years in February they host a big fundraising dinner in the committee dining room at Lord’s.

Andrew Strauss was the special guest for the last one and the next dinner is in February 2018. The Exiles, who have about 300 members, also produce two magazines entitled Outside-edge every year – one in the spring and one in the autumn.

Typically, Sarah reckons they raise £10,000 over a two-year cycle which goes towards helping bring through the next generation of Gloucestershire cricketers.

And where does the farthest flung Exiles member hail from?

“We used to have a member who lived on the Gold Coast in Australia,” laughed Sarah. “We liked that because we thought it sounded good! He’s since moved back to Witney in Oxfordshire…but we’ve interest from an Exile in New Zealand who was at the Cheltenham Festival this year, so here’s hoping!”

“We’ve got all sorts as members – writers, music conductors and even a director at AFC Wimbledon.”

The role as chair of the Exiles is an important one and it’s one that Sarah clearly enjoys.

“Two of my predecessors were Roger Cook and John Light,” she said. “Roger is the current chairman of Gloucestershire and John is a past president and chairman.”

So, are those roles Sarah would be interested in the future?

“I’m very happy doing what I’m doing,” she laughed. “It’s a huge privilege.”

For more information, contact the Gloucestershire Exiles’ membership secretary Simon Franklin at Flat 6, Four Square Court, 405 Nelson Road, Hounslow, Middlesex TW3 3UN or email Nigel Dean via: nigeldean@sky.com