Stroud Cricket Club chairman James Collins describes the club’s new 1st XI captain Tom Horrell as a “bullish and positive character”.

And as you’d expect he’s not wrong although he may have been erring on the side of caution because talk to Horrell for just a few minutes and it’s clear that he is in fact ‘very’ bullish and ‘very’ positive.

His enthusiasm for life, cricket and, in particular, Stroud Cricket Club, is apparent with his every word and there surely won’t be a dull moment at the club over the coming four or five months.

Not there were any dull moments at the end of last season because Stroud came from almost nowhere to clinch promotion to Gloucestershire/Wiltshire Premier Two Division.

That promotion means they will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Frocester, Dumbleton and Goatacre in 2019 and the recently-turned 28-year-old Horrell can’t wait.

And it is those games against Frocester that Horrell is particularly excited about and it’s easy to see why.

Last season Stroud were playing Frocester’s 2nd XI in the Gloucestershire Division, a division that Frocester actually won, but they were unable to go up a level because their flagship team, who were Premier One champions as recently as 2015, were relegated from the top flight.

Even then Stroud needed a spectacular collapse by Gloucester City Winget – now known as Gloucester Cricket Club – at Cirencester on the final day of the season to snatch the runners-up spot and with it a place in the second tier of the West of England Premier League.

“To be playing Frocester is very exciting,” admitted Horrell. “We’ve been their understudies for a long time and it’s a chance for us to set the record straight.

“We respect them but we’ll give it our best shot, it’s a real local derby.

“On paper they should go straight back up and we probably should get relegated, but there’s everything to play for.”

There certainly is and while excited by the two dates with Frocester, Horrell is certainly not taking his eye off the other eight teams in the division.

“There are some very good sides in the division,” he continued, “but we want to be competitive and consolidate our place at this level.

“We’re in a brilliant position, nobody expects Stroud to do anything. I love it, I’m happy with that. Write us off at your peril and we’ll have a chat in September.

“Hopefully we’ll be sitting down with something to be proud about.”

And Stroud’s prospects have certainly be enhanced by the arrival of Mike Alley from Redmarley.

“He’s never played WEPL cricket before but he should have,” said Horrell. “He’s a seam bowling all-rounder and can hit the ball a long way.”

Tom Furley is another key player with Horrell adding: “He was Frocester’s opening bowler when they won the Premier One title, he was their go-to player with the ball. We grew up together.”

And while Furley will be in his second season with the club, there are others who have been there a lot longer who will have just as important roles to play.

“Paul Frape is a batsman who can bowl a bit,” said Horrell. “His attitude is impeccable, as he gets older he gets even more committed.”

Attitude is very, very important to Horrell who clearly is going to lead from the front this season after taking over as skipper from Will Golding.

Golding, who is in his mid-20s and can bat and bowl, will be a key player again with Horrell saying: “He’d been captain for four seasons and he felt it was the right time to concentrate on just playing cricket.

“He’s still a young lad and to have captained a club of Stroud’s stature at his age is a big achievement. His attitude has been absolutely amazing.

“I could go through all the players, everyone’s united.

“After we won promotion last season Gav Dean told us he was going to retire. Six weeks later he was hounding me about player recruitment, fundraising and said he couldn’t wait to play again next season!

“Words can’t describe how much work he has done for the club over the winter. He’s been ‘Mr Stroud’ for the past few months, he’s got a great mindset, just like James Collins.

“I think we’ve got an incredible bunch of guys. Everyone who has been to pre-season training has been really positive which is brilliant.”

That’s very much Horrell’s way too and he added: “I’m quite a bullish guy, if you’ve got a feeling for something you’ve got to see it through.

“I’m going to set my stall out and say ‘follow me’. I just want us to do well.”

It should be fun but while the 1st XI is clearly going to take up a lot of Horrell’s time, it is by no means the only area he will be focusing on in the coming campaign.

“My biggest goal is to get the 2nd XI on the move,” he said.

The team, who will be captained by Tom Richings this season, play in Division Six of the County League and Horrell wants that gap to close.

“That’s nine divisions below the first team,” said Horrell. “We’ve got a lot of exciting youngsters at the club. They want to play and we want them to play at the highest level possible.

“It’s really important to get competition for places throughout the club.”

The club run four adult teams on Saturday afternoons and Horrell was able to see the 3rd XI in action quite a lot last season when they played on an adjacent pitch at the club’s home ground at Ryeford Industrial Estate.

“We’ve got some seriously talented young guys at the club,” said Horrell. “They don’t realise how good they are, it’s time to hit the button and say ‘let’s go for it’.”

Horrell will certainly be going for it, a player who James Collins describes as “a real fearsome hitter of the ball” who also bowls effective off-breaks which he can vary by bowling seam up.

He’s been playing cricket pretty much all his life having originally joining Stroud as a nine-year-old.

He was good enough to play age group cricket for Wiltshire and played for Tetbury, where he lives, before rejoining Stroud.

This will be his third full season back at the club and he can still remember those very early days when he was learning to the hit the ball as far as he could, take wickets and make catches.

“I was coached by Rick Carman who still plays for Stroud now,” said Horrell. “He’s an incredible guy and still a very good player. He’s at nets every week, he’s in his 70s but he’s still doing the same drills as 15 and 16-year-olds.”

Those 15 and 16-year-olds are the next generation of players for Stroud, of course, and Horrell is very much looking forward to his two sons – Jacob, 9, and Harley, 6 – taking their first steps on the Stroud cricketing ladder.

Horrell says he wants Stroud to be “a family club” and he is certainly doing his bit because when he spoke to The Local Answer young Jacob was about to have his first training session at the club.

“I’ll be a super-proud dad,” said Horrell, who will become a father for a third time at the end of the season.

“My vice-captain Chris Job and batsman Matt Smith are also about to become dads for the first time at the end of the season, it’s all very exciting. We’ve got a group of lads in a great place, the morale in the club is brilliant.”

Stroud open their Premier Two campaign at home to Corsham on Saturday 4th May. They host Frocester on 15th June before travelling to Pounds Close on 17th August.