Tom Allcoat has taken over as captain of Tewkesbury Cricket Club and he’s in upbeat mood ahead of the new season.

And it’s easy to see why because Tewkesbury enjoyed a standout campaign in the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England Premier League last year, winning 10 games and losing only three.

That was good enough to see them finish second place, just five points behind Dumbleton, who will play in Premier 2 Glos/Wilts this season.

Only one team is promoted from the 10-strong Gloucestershire Division, which includes the likes of  Corse and Staunton, Bourton Vale and Gloucester, but Allcoat insisted: “Our ambition is to go one better than last season.”

And there will be plenty of people believing they can finish on top of the table because for much of last season it looked like Tewkesbury were going to take the title, only being overtaken when Dumbleton won a crucial rain-affected game between the two sides at the end of August.

“It was gutting to miss out on promotion,” said Allcoat, an all-rounder. “We’d led the way for most of the season but made a couple of mistakes towards the end.

“But maybe it was a blessing in disguise because we’ve got a young team.”

And Allcoat certainly  believes that his young charges have got what it takes to build on their 2023 showing.

“All of our young players are a year more experienced and have worked tirelessly on improving their game,” he said.

“Players  such as James Whitmore, Josh Barnes, Louis Whitmore, Matt Stevens, Tom Stevens, Harry Low and Brandon Coates to name just a few.”

At the age of 30, Allcoat, who is a schoolteacher, is one of the older heads in the side and he’s looking forward to taking on the captaincy for a second time.

He was skipper for two or three years in his early to mid-20s before work took him away to Somerset where he played for Bridgwater in Premier One.

Last season was his first one back with Tewkesbury and he said: “I grew up in Tewkesbury and had always played for Tewkesbury Cricket Club.

“It’s great to come home and play for the club I love.

“The team is very different to when I was last captain which is refreshing.”

He has taken over as skipper from Wade Ridsdale, who will continue to play and coach, and Allcoat hopes that a change in the way that league points will be allocated in 2024 will benefit Tewkesbury.

“It’s 20 points for a win this season,” he said. “Only the losing teams will get bonus points.

“Tewkesbury is a bowler-friendly wicket so it was always difficult to get maximum batting points.

“Hopefully the new structure will reward teams who win most games.”  

Allcoat bowls medium pace but regards himself as predominantly a batsman and will bat four, five or six this season.

He will obviously be a key player over the coming months and he wants his team to play on the front foot.

He’ll set the tone with his captaincy, of course, and he said: “When you’re chasing a league you have to be an attacking captain.

“I've named Tom Stevens as vice-captain. He joined us last year for his first season and was a standout all-rounder on the field.

“He has a similar attacking style to myself and I'm excited to work alongside him.”

Allcoat is keen to stress that it will be very much a team effort both on and off the pitch.

“Our director of cricket Mark Tompkins has done a brilliant job,” he said. “He’s worked tirelessly off the field over the past few years.

“We now run four men’s teams on a Saturday, we’ve got a women’s team and the youth set-up is growing all the time.

“The 2nds won promotion last season and will now be playing at a very good level in Division Two of the County League.

“The 3rds were also promoted as well. That’s what we want, we are trying to close the gap between all our teams.”

Tewkesbury’s flagship team begin their league campaign at home to Langford on Saturday 4^th May.