It’s probably fair to say that Alex Binnie has been fast-tracked into the captaincy of Cirencester Cricket Club.

At the age of just 22 he is preparing for his second season in charge of the club which play in the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England Premier League, which is a very decent standard of cricket.

And while he may have been fast-tracked into the lead role of the club’s flagship team, he is hoping that his side can make a faster start to the season than they have done in the previous two years.

“We’ve made a poor start to the last two seasons,” said the wicketkeeper. “Last season we lost our first four games and we found ourselves in the relegation zone.”

Those poor starts didn’t prove costly – two seasons ago they recovered to finish third while they ended in mid-table last time out.

“We won six of our last seven games last season,” said Binnie, “that really helped us out.”

That run included a spectacular last-day over victory Gloucester City Winget – now known as Gloucester Cricket Club – which denied them promotion back to Gloucestershire/Wiltshire Premier Two.

“We made an average score of about 140 and then we ripped them out for 50,” said Binnie. “Tom Fullalove and James King tore through them.”

Binnie will be hoping for more of the same from two of his main bowlers this season along with seamer Billy Breen with Binnie adding: “We’ve got quite a good bowling unit.”

Brothers Jono and Jock Jamieson-Black make up the spin department – sadly they’re not twins! – while Jono also bats at the top of the order.

“In terms of all-rounders he’s one of the best in the league,” added Binnie.

And he’ll need to be at his best if Cirencester are to push on this season.

“We’re hoping to get up into the top half this season,” continued Binnie. “If all goes well we’d like to challenge for promotion.

“We showed with our run at the end of last season that we can compete with the best teams, what we need to do is start strongly as well as finish strongly.”

Binnie was happy with his own performances last season – “I don’t think being captain massively affected my game,” he said – and is happy to skipper the side again this season.

“The highs are a lot higher and the lows are a bit lower,” he said, “and there is a lot of stuff to do off the pitch.

“But it’s good fun, it’s very rewarding when things go well. I enjoyed the first year, the team made it easy for me.

“Last year I thought I’d see how it went and evaluate it at the end of the season but I want to do it for as long as I can. I’ve got no plans to stop doing it.”

It helps Binnie, a former Deer Park School pupil, that the players are all good friends.

“We’re a tight-knit group,” he said.

Cirencester begin their league campaign at home to Frocester 2nds on Saturday 4th May.