Gloucestershire’s young guns will be refreshed and ready when they head down to Arundel on Monday.

Chris Dent’s in-form team take on Sussex in a County Championship Division Two clash on Tuesday having had a break of close on two weeks since the rain-affected drawn game against Lancashire at Cheltenham College.

The Sussex game is the first in a run of six four-day games that will go a long way to determining how close the club will go to regaining their place in the top flight of English cricket next season.

And while Gloucestershire fans are not getting too carried away there is certainly cause for optimism based on the performances of the first couple of months of the 2019 campaign.

The county just missed out on the knockout stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup on net run rate after winning five of their eight group matches and are currently unbeaten in the county championship after winning one and drawing three of their first four games.

“We played some very good cricket in the One-Day Cup,” said Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson.

“It’s a fantastic competition, I really enjoyed it. It’s challenging and demanding mentally and physically because of all the travelling but we improved a lot on last season and to miss out in the way we did was very unfortunate.

“Our last two games against Sussex and Essex, both of which we won against good sides, showed just how far we have come.”

And if they have made undoubted progress in the 50-over game, their county championship form has merely been a continuation of the form that they produced at the back end of last season when they signed off with three wins and two draws.

“I said to the team at the end of last season not to look at the winter break as five months off,” said Dawson. “I said it was just a short break and that we should look to keep up the momentum that we built up in August and September.

“I said we need to keep on going, look to keep winning and make it habitual.”

Gloucestershire’s unbeaten start in the championship has left them in fourth place, just one point and one place off the final promotion spot – three teams will go up this season – a position that is currently occupied by Worcestershire.

“The next six games are very important,” added Dawson. “They will be a test of how good we are. It’s an exciting challenge and we’ve played some very good cricket already this season.

“But Division Two is very tough. It’s very competitive because we all want to get into the first division.”

Gloucestershire were holding their own a couple of weeks ago against table-topping Lancashire who included the likes of Jimmy Anderson, Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed who are all current or very recent Test cricketers.

Dawson’s side doesn’t contain any England players but what it does have is young, hungry players who are eager to make their mark in the game.

The likes of James Bracey, Miles Hammond and George Hankins have all featured regularly this season while there have also been opportunities for George Drissell and Harry Hankins.

Opening batsman Hammond is the oldest at 23 and Harry Hankins the youngest at just turned 20 and Dawson is delighted with their progress.

“One of the things we like to do is give opportunities to young players if they’ve earned the right,” Dawson said.

“Ben Charlesworth made his debut last season aged 17. He’d done well in the 2nd XI and he earned his chance.

“We’re not one of the richest clubs, we have to develop our talent from within with players coming through the academy, that’s what the academy is for.

“My philosophy is to always to give young players that opportunity. If I look back at my own career, I was given an opportunity by Yorkshire when I was 21.”

Dawson, an off-spinner, went on to play seven Tests for England in an era when the five-day game was indisputably the game’s number one format.

These days the one-day game enjoys a much higher profile with T20 cricket in particular proving very popular with players and spectators alike even allowing for the fact that many eyes are currently trained on the 50-over World Cup.

Gloucestershire’s own T20 campaign begins on Friday 19th July when they take on Glamorgan at the Cheltenham Festival when Australian Michael Klinger will again return to lead the side.

Klinger’s compatriot, meanwhile, pace bowler Chadd Sayers, is expected to arrive in this country over the weekend in time to make his county championship debut against Sussex.

After Sussex, Gloucestershire have championship games against Leicestershire (at Grace Road), Glamorgan (at Bristol), Middlesex (at Northwood), and Leicestershire and Worcestershire (both at Cheltenham).

Just five points separate second-placed Derbyshire and sixth-placed Sussex in the 10-strong County Championship Division Two.