Stroud Cricket Club have a new captain and some new faces as they look to make an impression this season.

Angus Gegg has taken over as 1^st XI skipper from older brother Louis and he’s hoping to make a fast start in the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England Premier League.

Stroud begin their campaign at home to Chipping Sodbury on Saturday 4^th May and 26-year-old Gegg said: “Promotion is definitely the aim.

“The start of the season is very important. We haven’t started well in the past couple of seasons.”

Stroud finished seventh in the 10-strong Gloucestershire Division in 2023 after being relegated from Premier 2 Glos/Wilts the year before but Gegg is approaching the new season in confident mood.

He believes Tewkesbury and Bourton Vale will be strong – only one team will be promoted – but he is happy with the new players who have joined the club.

“Rueben Shehean has joined us from Winterbourne who were relegated last season,” he said.

“He’s an all-rounder who bats in the top four and is a very good fielder. He’s in his early 20s and wants to continue to play at a good level.

“We’ve also signed Devon Ferreira who is originally from Sri Lanka but who has lived in this country for a while.

“He’s a top-order batsman who bowls off-spin, he looks a very good player.”

The club have also brought in Chiranjeevi Soundararajan, who is originally from India and like Ferreira has been in this country for some time.

“He’s a top-order bat who bowls seam,” said Gegg, who will again be a key player with bat and ball this season.

“I consider myself an all-rounder,” he added. “I open the bowling and I bat in the middle to lower order – 7, 8, 9.”

He’ll still be able to call on the services of his older brother Louis, who will continue in his role as club captain, although he won’t be available for every game due to family commitments.

Louis is a top-order batsman who played for many years in Premier One with Frocester and Angus said: “It will be nice to have Louis out there when he plays.

“He’s a very intelligent cricketer and his input will be important.”

And Angus won’t be short of fraternal support because brothers Callum and Ewan are as committed to the cause as he is.

And they’re key players too because Callum bats four or five and keeps wicket while Ewan, who has been playing in New Zealand in the winter,  opens the batting and bowls seam up in the middle overs.

“Callum, Ewan  and I didn’t miss a game in any competition last season,” said Angus.

That’s some commitment because the club play in three other competitions besides the Saturday League – the WEPL T20, the County Cup and a midweek cup competition.

Angus was captain for the midweek Frocester Fayre Knockout Cup games last season while Callum was in charge on Sundays  for the WEPL T20 and County Cup matches.

But this season Angus will skipper the side in all formats.

“If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it all in,” he explained.

So what sort of captain is he?

“I’m quite a laid-back person, incredibly relaxed, but when it comes to a match I’m very serious,” he said.

“I’m very tolerant but very competitive. I’d love to say I’m an attacking captain but I’d say it depends on the game situation.”

Gegg at least knows what it takes to win this division because he was part of the Frocester 2nds side along with Ewan that won the title six or seven years ago.

“It’s pretty much the same teams competing now that were competing back then,” he said.

“There’s a huge step up to Premier 2 Glos/Wilts so quite often the team that wins promotion will come back down and there’s also a big gap between the Gloucestershire Division and the County League which means the relegated clubs soon come back up.

“But the standard of the league has improved so much with overseas players, it’s a lot more competitive.”

Stroud’s flagship team has seen a bit of a rebuild over the past couple of years or so but stalwarts such as Luke Benneyworth and James Job remain key players.

“We had a good side last year but didn’t have the squad depth,” explained Gegg, who lives in Tetbury.

“We shouldn’t have got relegated a couple of years ago. We had one of the best sides but played terribly, we just didn’t click.”

Gegg will certainly be hoping things click in 2024.