Owen Price refers to himself as the ‘dad’ of the team and as role models go he’s doing a pretty good job as captain of Hatherley and Reddings Cricket Club’s flagship side.

The recently-turned 39-year-old is in his fourth season as skipper and the club have been flying high in the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England Premier League in 2019.

“Yes, I’m the dad figure,” laughed Price, who is in his seventh season with the club. “We’ve got quite a lot of young players, they’re like my kids!

“I’m always one of the designated drivers because they all drive tiny cars!”

Price is easy to talk to and clearly enjoys playing for Hatherley, having joined the club from Brockhampton in Herefordshire.

“I moved to Cheltenham in 2007 but I continued playing for Brockhampton until the travelling got too much with a young family,” explained Price, an off-spinner.

“We used to play at Cannock, Shrewsbury and Telford so I decided to find a club that I could wobble home from.”

He was pointed in the direction of Hatherley by Brockhampton team-mate Callum Stewart, whose dad Rich was chairman of Hatherley, and it’s fair to say that Price has never really looked back.

Callum Stewart is also now playing for Hatherley, a club where there is certainly no shortage of ambition.

“Yes, we’d like to win promotion,” said Price, “and ultimately we’d like to be playing against the elite teams in the West of England Premier League.”

Hatherley had a season in Premier Two Gloucestershire/Wiltshire a couple of seasons ago but came straight back down. Price reckons they are much better equipped to perform at the higher level should they win promotion this time around and looking further ahead he’d love to have another crack at Premier One cricket.

That may bring with it the odd problem or two for Price though.

“I joined Hatherley to cut down on the travelling so if we did get into Premier One I might have to renegotiate with my good lady,” he laughed.

That’s a way off yet, of course, but if they did get to rub shoulders with the likes of Bath and Clevedon any time soon, it’s a fair bet that Price’s off-spin – if not his batting – will play a big part in that success.

Not that he’s always been a frontline bowler.

“I cut my teeth as a cricketer with Kington in Herefordshire and up until about the age of 23 I was an opening batsman,” said Price, who these days bats almost exclusively at number 11.

“I was a part-time offie but as time wore on I became a more accomplished off-spinner while dropping down the batting order.”

Mind you, Price reckons batting at number 11 is tougher than it’s made out to be.

“It never easy because you’re either looking for quick runs or the team are up against it,” he insisted. “You never go in in a good situation and the other thing about it is that once you’re out everyone is walking off!”

So while the batting isn’t his thing these days, the bowling most definitely is, so how would he describe himself as a bowler?

“Very competitive,” he said. “I find the bigger challenge, the better I tend to bowl although I don’t want that to sound arrogant. When people get on top of me I fight very hard. I try to mix it up and vary it a lot.”

And what about his captaincy?

“I try to stay relaxed,” he said. “I try not to get caught up in the moment. When tempers flare and you become too passionate that’s when mistakes get made.

“I try to take a step back. I’m very easy going and don’t let too much bother me.”

It’s a great mindset to have, of course, and Hatherley and Reddings are certainly reaping the benefits.