George Garratt is in his seventh season as captain of Great Rissington Cricket Club.

He’s only 26 now so that means he was 19 when he took charge of the club’s flagship team.

And his time as skipper has coincided with a big upturn in the club’s fortunes with three promotions meaning they are now in the top division of the County League.

Garratt is quick to say that it’s not all down to him, of course, and it’s fair to say that the club have been moving in the right direction for a good while now.

“When I made my 1^st XI debut at the age of 13 we only had one team,” recalled Garratt, who grew up in the village.

“Now we’ve got a Saturday 1^st and 2^nd XI, a Sunday friendly XI and a midweek T20 team. We’ve also got a strong youth set-up.”

All-rounder Garratt was one of those who came through the club’s juniors.

His dad Pete is a former 1^st XI captain and his older brother Charlie was captain of Bourton Vale for many years before linking up with Dumbleton this season, so cricket has always been a big part of his life.

“I started playing for club’s under-11s and under-13s, and I played district cricket at under-15s,” said the one-time Cotswold School pupil.

“I did a bit of captaincy for the club age group sides and I was captain of the Sunday friendly team for a couple of years before taking on the Saturday side.”

So what sort of captain is he?

“I’d like to think I’m pretty laidback off the pitch but on it I’m quite intense,” he said.

“I like to think I’m good at motivating the players if they need it although they do it themselves for the most part.”

Garratt is helped by the fact that his dad, who still plays for the 1^st XI if required, is now the club’s coach.

“This is his third or fourth season, it’s great to have a proper coach,” said George. “He’s coached at district level.”

Garratt senior is an opening batsman and his son readily admits that he’s a better bat than him.

“I bat at seven,” he said. “I’d like to say I come in and give it a bit of a slap but it depends on the match situation.

“I can give it a whack but I can hold an end up as well.”

And what about his bowling?

“I bowl left-arm seam, first change,” he said. “I try to swing it about a bit. I’m a bowling all-rounder.”

And he’s certainly played his part since taking on the captaincy.

They won promotion after finishing runners-up in Division Two last season and Garratt said: “It’s going from strength to strength, it’s been good fun.

“I’m happy doing the role, it’s very rewarding, it’s great to see the lads going up the divisions.”

And Garratt doesn’t want to stop climbing the divisions.

“We’ve won promotion every other year since I became captain,” he said.

“The plan is get into the West of England Premier League.

“We want to be challenging, we like to think we’re good enough to be up there competing for promotion.”

The team have been strengthened by the arrival of Ollie Burney and Sam Buckfield this season.

Both are top order batsmen and Burney also bowls a bit and Garratt, who lives in Bourton, continued: “You’ve got to be in it to win it. It’s nice to see us going onwards and upwards.”

And what about the captaincy, how long does he think he’ll continue in the role?

“That depends on how long the club want me to do it,” he said.

On current form, he could be doing the job for quite a few years yet!