Nick Evans will captain Cheltenham Cricket Club again this season and he readily admits: “There is work to be done.”

The flagship team were relegated from Premier One of the West of England Premier League at the end of the previous campaign but the good news is that Evans is determined that the club make a speedy return.

Evans was as disappointed as anyone when the club’s three-year spell in the top flight came to an end but while he accepts they did not play well enough, he also believes there were extenuating circumstances that contributed to their eventual relegation.

“We were really unlucky with injuries,” said Evans. “Our overseas player Josh Breed was out for a large part of the season, I was out for quite a long time and our all-rounder George Pritchard was also out for a while.

"I thought there were two worse teams than us in the division last season but ultimately we didn’t play good enough cricket, we didn’t score enough runs.”

That is something Evans is very keen to put right this season and if they do it’s a fair bet they’ll be up there challenging for promotion from Premier Two Glos/Wilts.

“We didn’t have the best preparation ahead of last season what with Covid and the conditions but then it was the same for everyone,” said Evans.

“It’s a shame that we were relegated – it was very disappointing at the time – but now we want to get back into Premier One. Going down has given us that extra motivation.”

Evans was a key player when Cheltenham were last in Premier Two under the captaincy of Will Simmons, a season that saw Cheltenham hold off the challenge of Thornbury to win the title.

“That was a cracking year,” said Evans. “We’re used to playing in this division and there are some good sides, it will be a helluva job to get back.”

Those sides include Hatherley and Reddings, Stroud and Frocester and Evans added: “The unwritten rule is that we want promotion.”

Kieran Smith is again likely to be the go-to man when it comes to the batting with Evans saying: “He’s been with the club for years but he’s still only in his mid-20s. He scores so many runs, he’s a brilliant, brilliant cricketer.”

And Evans is hoping that two of the club’s younger players, who are both in the Gloucestershire Academy, build on their impressive showings in 2021.

“Max Shepherd was new to us last season,” said Evans. “He bowls left-arm orthodox and he was brilliant for us. He’s a brilliant fielder and a really good batsmen.

“Stan Brown also had a great season for us. He won’t always be available in the first part of the season because of his school commitments but he’s a top all-rounder – he’s brilliant with the bat, brilliant with the ball and he’s a good fielder.

“He bowls medium pace but he’s put on a yard of pace as he’s got bigger, his lengths and lines are impeccable.”

And while a cricket club, as in most sports, are often judged by how their flagship team are doing, it’s fair to say that Cheltenham have other targets beyond just their 1^st XI.

“We want to run more than three adult men’s teams on a Saturday,” said Evans. “Other clubs in the area are running four, five or six teams. We are a big club and attracting more players and running more teams is pretty high on our radar.”