One-time Gloucestershire captain and current vice-chairman David Graveney has heaped praise on the club’s T20 Finals Day heroes after their two stunning performances.

They didn’t just beat Sussex and defending champions Somerset at Edgbaston, they absolutely dismantled them, winning both games by eight wickets with 38 balls and 30 balls remaining respectively.

“To beat those two sides, it was just outstanding,” said Graveney, who won two one-day Lord’s finals as a player back in the 1970s. “The team were unbelievable.”

They certainly were, as they bowled out Sussex for 106 in 18.1 overs and then dismissed Somerset for  124 with two balls remaining.

Those performances came just eight days after they had restricted Birmingham Bears, who needed 139 to win, to 124-9 at the quarter-final stage, a game that was also played at Edgbaston.

“That was an extraordinary achievement,” said Graveney, who played a big part in bringing head coach Mark Alleyne back to the club at the start of the season.

One of the first things that Alleyne did was to re-appoint Jack Taylor as white-ball captain – he stood down midway through last season and was replaced by Miles Hammond – and they've certainly worked very well together over the past few months.

“They identified the way that the power plays – both batting and bowling – are so key in these games,” continued Graveney.

“The decision for David Payne to play just white-ball cricket has really paid off. It’s helped him physically and he’s playing a high level of T20, his expertise is outstanding.

“Payne and Matt Taylor are the best-ranked bowlers in the competition this season and Cameron Bancroft has got runs galore, but everybody has played their part.

“Josh Shaw has bowled brilliantly. The opposition would target him because they thought Payney was the best bowler but he’s been really outstanding.”

And 23-year-old off-spinning all-rounder  Ollie Price, who has already played for England Lions, is another who has enhanced his reputation, so much so that Graveney believes he could get a full England call-up some time in the future.

“If he develops his spin bowling he could have a stellar career, both for us and for England,” said Graveney.

“I’m a great believer in having as many strengths to your game as you can.

“Jack Taylor had a lot of bowling options and I think he surprised a few people with how much he used Ollie Price.”

And Ollie’s older brother Tom, a seam bowling all-rounder, was another key performer.

He has struggled with a back problem for much of the season but Graveney said: “He’s a very important player. He got 19 in the quarter-final, that’s not a massive amount of runs but it helped give us something we could defend.”

Graveney also praised wicketkeeper James Bracey - he made an unbeaten 49 from 28 balls against Sussex – and there are obvious similarities between this side and the one that Alleyne captained around the turn of century.

That team, coached by John Bracewell, included the likes of Ian Harvey, Jack Russell and Jon Lewis, and won one-day titles for fun, and Graveney said: “One thing they have in common is that they both were/are well led and well coached.

“But in both instances you have to have the raw materials. They have different qualities, the old team was a fantastic fielding unit but this team is developing into a fantastic fielding side.”

The common denominator is Alleyne, of course, an all-rounder who Graveney played alongside in the 1980s.

This is Alleyne’s second spell as head coach at Gloucestershire, after taking over the reins in the mid-noughties after he’d retired from playing.

He guided Gloucestershire to the T20 final in 2007 but Graveney said: “It was a difficult time for him back then, it was probably too soon after he’d stopped playing.

“But it’s the right time now, he’s done very well.”

And while Graveney is obviously delighted for the players and coaching staff, he’s also delighted for the club’s supporters.

“The fans have been unbelievable, never more so than in the quarter-final when they were heavily outnumbered,” he said.

“They deserve it, we haven’t had any sporting success for a while, Saturday was for them.”

It was also a very special day for club president David Lawrence, who was at Edgbaston to watch the drama unfold.

In June it was announced that the one-time Gloucestershire and England fast bowler had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease and Graveney added: “It was great that Syd could be there and see us win.”