One of the many great things about sport is the magical, unexpected moments that it throws up.

Cricket is certainly no exception and, in fact, the individual pursuit of excellence within the team framework tends to lend itself even more to those champagne moments.

And wicketkeeper James Collins, the new chairman of Stroud Cricket Club, can certainly remember his champagne moment out on a cricket field.

“It was when I was keeping wicket to my son Aaron,” he said. “He bowls at quite a good pace and he caught the batsman’s inside edge and I took the catch down the legside. It was an absolute joy.”

What made it even more memorable was that Collins senior had only just returned to the sport, playing his first match after a long break from the game because he wanted to play with his now 18-year-old.

They were playing for the 3rd XI at the time and Collins senior still is. He joined the club three years ago and has certainly been a welcome addition at Stroud because as well as taking on the role of chairman he is also captain of the 3rd XI.

And that’s not all because the 49-year-old also took on responsibility for the club pavilion and external events.

“Before I knew it, I was involved in everything” he laughed. “Stroud are a fantastic club and I was overjoyed to be asked to be chairman.”

And he’d like nothing more than to see Stroud’s flagship team climb out of the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England League this season.

“We finished second to Dumbleton last season which was pretty good,” said Collins. “We very much hope that is the foundation from which we can get promotion. That is the ambition.”

Will Golding will again captain the team. He has been in charge for the past couple of seasons and while his leadership skills will obviously be important, so will his performances with bat and ball.

“He’s a very useful cricketer,” said Collins. “He’s a quick bowler and good batsman. I was facing him in the nets the other day and I managed to get one down to where fine leg would have been.

“The next ball he bowled at me I didn’t even see before it smashed into all three stumps!”

He’s obviously a decent cricketer, so what sort of captain is he?

“I think I’d describe him as youthful and energetic,” added Collins.

Golding will again be able to call on the skills of Dominic Thompson, the overseas all-rounder from New Zealand who enjoyed plenty of success in 2017.

“He scored a lot of runs and got a reasonable number of wickets as well,” said Collins. “He bowls off-spin at a good pace but he is more of a batsman. He was good with the youngsters at the club too.”

New recruit Tom Furley, a pace bowler, is another who the club are looking to for big things this season.

But while the flagship team is just that – the flagship team – there is much more to Stroud CC than just the 1st XI.

“We run four men’s teams on a Saturday,” said Collins. “It’s a really big season for the 2nds because they got relegated last season. An administrative oversight cost them penalty points and that was enough to send them down. We were very, very disappointed by that.

“The aim is very much promotion for them this season and we expect that to happen.”

The higher the level at which the 2nd XI play, the more prepared their players are when they get called up to the 1st XI of course, and the 3rds and 4ths, too, have a big role to play in the overall success of the club.

“We want our youngsters to continue to progress through to the higher teams,” said Collins.

“This season youngsters such as Ryan Boucher, Innes Pierce and Aaron Collins will all be in the 2nds and instrumental in trying to get them back up.

“And we’ve got plenty of youngsters coming into the senior teams from our youth set-up, we’re good at that.

“Last year we had a number of 14 or 15-year-olds – including Alex Freeman, Jacob Wheatley and Reuben Scott – playing in the 3rds and 4ths.”

The youth set-up, including the All Stars programme, is very strong and Collins added: “It’s a joy to go down to the club on a Saturday morning and see the field covered by boys and girls starting out on their cricketing life.”

And Collins is keen to stress that there is plenty of opportunity for girls to learn all about England’s number one summer game.

“We’ve set up a ladies’ softball team and they played in an indoor league in January,” Collins said. “There are a number of softball festivals in the summer and we’re hosting our own on Sunday 20th May.”

It promises to be a busy time at the club and you can be sure that Collins, a consummate clubman, will be there driving everything forward.