Nick Evans will captain Cheltenham next season when they return to the top flight of West of England cricket for the first time in 10 years.

Evans takes over from wicketkeeper/batsman Will Simmons who stood down at the end of the 2018 campaign after a decade in charge.

The new captain, a top order batsman, has been with the club for the past couple of years and was a key part of the side that won the Premier Two Glos/Wilts title last season and with it a place back in Premier One of the West of England Premier League.

And Evans, who is in his mid-20s, certainly comes with a good pedigree because he has played with and against some of the biggest names in the world of cricket.

“He grew up in Barbados,” explained Cheltenham player/coach Luke Sellers. “He went to school at King’s College in Taunton where he was vice-captain to Jos Buttler.

“He also knows a lot of the current West Indies team because he grew up with the likes of Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich. A lot of the West Indies team who beat England in the recent first Test are Bajans.”

Fellow top order batsman Kieran Smith will be Evans’ vice-captain and new-ball bowler Sellers is certainly looking forward to playing under Evans.

“I think he’ll be a fantastic captain,” he said. “He’s an excellent player, he was a key part of our success last season.

“It’s a great time for him to be taking the job on. We’ve just got back to Premier One and I know he’s really excited by the challenge.

“I think he will transfer that to the players, he will embrace the challenge rather than be worried about it.”

Cheltenham will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bath, Bristol and Clevedon next season and Sellers believes that Evans’ forward-thinking outlook is just what is required at the new level.

“He is very enthusiastic,” continued Sellers. “Being a club cricket captain can be seen as being something of a burden, but he sees it as a privilege which is very refreshing.

“He’s a positive character and is a positive player on the field. My job is to support him in any way I can.”

And Evans can count on the support of all his team-mates because he was voted into his new role unanimously.

Will Simmons, meanwhile, is determined to be part of the 1st XI and Sellers said: “He’s fully behind Nick, he sees him as the right person to take things on.”

As for the team’s prospects as a whole, Sellers added: “It will be interesting to see how we go. We all feel that we can be competitive. We’ll take it one game at a time, we’ve not been at this level for 10 years.

“But no one is scared of the challenge, we’re looking forward to it.”

Evans isn’t the only new captain at the club because the 2nd XI and 3rd XI will also have new skippers in 2019. And like Evans, they were voted in unanimously.

Stuart Houghton, who during his time in the Army played at Lord’s, will lead the 2nds, while John Cropper, who heads up the club’s junior set-up, will take charge of the 3rds.

Peter Simmons, the father of Will, is the club’s new president.

Cheltenham are keen to hear from any new players who might be interested in joining the club – they begin their pre-season training this month. Email lukesellers@hotmail.co.uk or call 07866 882601.