Mark Roberts is not an easy man to pin down when it comes to giving an interview.

Family and work commitments, coupled with the fact that he was moving house, meant he was almost as difficult to get hold of as it was for international touring teams to get an LBW decision against Sachin Tendulkar on his home soil back in the day.

But when The Local Answer did get hold of Roberts, he was certainly good value and he was happy to wax lyrical about all things Cinderford St John Cricket Club, a club he has been involved in for well over 30 years.

The irony was that he was available to speak on a Saturday afternoon in mid-May, a day when he would much rather have been playing cricket.

“The match got cancelled because the other team couldn’t raise a side,” explained Roberts.

Cancelled matches are one of the big bugbears of 46-year-old Roberts, who this season has dropped down to the 2nd XI to try to ensure that it is not his club calling off games because of a lack of players.

“I decided I didn’t want any cancelled 2nd XI games,” he said. “I’ve got a few players out of retirement, including my brother Craig.”

The Roberts family have been a big part of Cinderford St John for many, many years.

Dad Bryn was one of the leading figures at the club, who play their home games in Broadmoor Road, before his untimely death in early February last year.

“My dad did absolutely everything,” said Mark, who first started playing for the club at the age of 11. “He did so much I think some of the others thought the club just ran itself!

“He was a past captain of the 1st XI and at the end he was doing the ground and running the bar.”

And now Mark, a former first XI captain on and off for 10 years himself, has taken on a lot of that extra workload.

“On the Wednesday, three days before my dad died, we were at the club and we were saying that needs to be done, that needs to be done, that needs to be done,” said Mark.

“I remember my dad saying it would never happen and since he died I’ve made it my objective to get all the jobs done that dad said needed to be done.”

They included new windows in the main clubhouse, cleaning the patio and putting decking outside the front door of the pavilion. The result is hugely improved facilities at the County League Division Two club and Roberts said: “We’re moving in the right direction.”

And it’s not just off the pitch that they’re moving forward.

The junior section is increasing in numbers all the time – at the last count they had around 30 – and two of the club’s players, Andrew Cotterill and Keith Smith, are Level 2 coaches.

Roberts, an all-rounder who bowls spin – “I used to bowl quicker when I was younger but I don’t ache so much bowling spin,” he laughed – also has high hopes for the 1st XI under the captaincy of Jordan Warren, although there is a proviso.

“If we could get our strongest team out every week I think we’d do very well,” said Roberts, who has high hopes for young all-rounder Ryan Kibble. “I think at the moment the level we’re playing at is about right. Commitment is the key.

“I know cricket is a long game. There are early starts and you can get home quite late but we need more players to be available more of the time.”

There’s no questioning Roberts’ commitment of course. These days he is club captain and looks after the club’s facilities as well as running the bar with his wife Alison.

And their two daughters – Ella, who captained the under-11s last year, and Ava – are both big into their cricket too.

And there should be many other youngsters following in Ella and Ava’s footsteps in years to come because the club are part of the All Stars programme, the hugely popular initiative which aims to get youngsters aged five to eight involved in the great game that is cricket.

And when they grow older, there will be plenty of opportunities for them to play cricket at senior level.

“We run two Saturday teams and a midweek team in the Forest league,” said Roberts. “And for the first time in 15 years we’re running a Sunday team who play friendlies.”

Mark Roberts is right, Cinderford St John are moving in the right direction.