In a sport that seems to be increasingly focusing on the shorter forms of the game, Hatherley and Reddings Cricket Club are playing a longer game.

That’s because the club have appointed Gareth Dawson as their coach with the aim of eventually establishing themselves in the Premier Division of the West of England League.

That is some way off – especially after last season’s relegation – and it would require two promotions for the club to be playing in the top tier of the regional pyramid.

That is certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility for a club of Hatherley’s size though and in Dawson they have appointed someone of good cricketing stock.

“He used to coach Malta,” said cricket club chairman Nickell, “and he’s the brother of Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson.

“He’s a Level 3 coach and has played a bit for us in the past.

“We feel we need to get a bit more professional in the way we train and in our thought processes.

“After last season we felt we needed to step back and look at everything in order to go forward.”

It would appear to be right time, right place for Dawson and Hatherley because Dawson also works for the Gloucestershire Cricket Board so clearly knows his way round England’s premier summer sport.

Mind you, he’s taken on a big job at Hatherley as they prepare for the new season back in the Gloucestershire Division.

“The bowling was good and the fielding good was last season,” said Nickell, “but we just didn’t get enough runs. There were a couple of close games which we lost which if we’d have won them could have made all the difference.

“What we found was that there were a lot of established teams in the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire Division who batted a long way down.

“We could have teams 100 for six chasing 200 but then they’d have someone who could come in at seven or eight and make 60 or 70 of even 100.”

It was tough on occasions for the club’s flagship team but Nickell is hoping that they will have learned from their experiences.

Owen Price will again captain the side – all-rounder Nick Weekes is the new vice-captain – and he will be looking to some of the younger plays to step up a level in terms of their performances this season.

“We’ll be putting more responsibility on some of the younger players such as all-rounder Max Kelly and batsmen Tom Coote and Joel Price,” said Nickell.

Ollie Perks and Mirza Mahmud will also be key players along with all-rounder Andre Soma, who has been the standout player at the club for several seasons.

“He’s an excellent bowler,” said Nickell. “He swings it both ways, his control is so good.”

And while a club’s season always tends to get judged by the success or otherwise of the flagship team, Hatherley are by no means just a one-team club.

“We run four adult teams on Saturday afternoons,” said Nickell, who plays for the 2nd XI. “We’ve got an under-19 team that play in the Gloucestershire T20 and teams from under-16s all the way down to the All Stars.

“Caroline Carter looks after our youth set-up and we regularly get 100 to 150 youngsters turn up on Friday evenings.”

They are also hoping to establish a ladies’ team at some stage and any ladies who want to play the game could do a lot worse than get themselves down to North Park.

That’s because the practice facilities are first rate after the club had new nets installed.

“There are three lanes,” said Nickell. “They’re a solid surface and are all encaged. They cost about £45,000 and we got grants from the ECB.”

Like any good cricketer, Nickell, who has been cricket chairman for four years, will be in the nets himself over next few weeks and months! Mind you, he’s looking at maybe playing a bit more cricket at South Park rather than the more spacious North Park.

“I’m hoping some of the youngsters will start pushing some of us older ones down into the 3rds,” he chuckled. “There are four or five of us in the 2nds over 45 who would like to see them doing the running round North Park!”