Gloucestershire have spent just one season in Division One since 2005, but have historically had more in the way of white ball success. They became the first Division Two side since 2020 to win the Vitality Blast, the last time that Gloucestershire made it to Finals Day. It was the county’s first Blast trophy and their first silverware since the One Day Cup in 2015. It went some way to make up for another disappointing display in the County Championship.
Following relegation from Division One at the end of the 2022 season, Gloucestershire went winless in 2023 and this season managed two wins and a tie, losing five matches. One of the draws was the game against Northamptonshire at Bristol, which was abandoned on day two because of a pitch deemed to be dangerous. Gloucestershire did not take any points from the game, but quite rightly, no further penalties were imposed. Northants’ medium paced bowlers had not raised any concerns on day one, but Gloucestershire’s bowlers are more of a handful and the pace of Ajeet Singh Dale extracted some sharp bounce that was too much for some of the batters to handle. The hybrid pitches laid at the County Ground were intended to counter the placid surfaces that had become the norm and enhance the potency of the pace they had in Singh Dale and Marchant de Lange. Hopefully quick bowling will still be allowed to cause the batters some discomfort?
Unfortunately de Lange was only fit for six Championship games due to a hamstring tear, having missed most of the 2023 season with a thigh injury. He still topped the Championship wicket taking for the Shire, reflecting the surprising lack of potency of the other bowlers available. Singh Dale took 23 wickets at a pricey 46.65 and Zaman Akhter 19 at 45.36. Injury concerns around Matt Taylor meant he was primarily restricted to white ball cricket.
Gloucestershire were also hampered by injury to Zafar Gohar, their leading wicket taker in the Championship in 2023 with his left arm spin. His 19 wickets from six games at an average of 29.15 indicated what they missed out on, although his contract has not been renewed after four years with the club. Ollie Price took just 13 Championship wickets at an expensive 62.07.
On the batting front, James Bracey bounced back from a disappointing 2023, scoring 1089 Championship runs at 60.5, with four centuries. Miles Hammond continues his progress as a top order batter, making 868 runs at 41.33. When one looks at his first class career average of 32.35 it is worth remembering that he started off life as an off spinner who batted a bit. Cameron Bancroft also had one of his better seasons in county cricket scoring 832 runs at 48.94, while Ben Charlesworth looks an excellent prospect. Gloucestershire supporters will be hoping that Bancroft can repeat his efforts in 2025 having been re-signed.
Gloucestershire certainly would not have been many people’s pick for Vitality Blast Champions at the start of the season and they only just scraped into the quarter finals, finishing fourth in the South Group, ahead of Essex on net run rate. They won their last two group games and then played the North Group winners Warwickshire. Their two main run scorers in the competition, Bancroft with 534 and Hammond with 487, opened the innings and made the only significant scores in a total of just 138. It was then down to the bowlers and David Payne had an excellent tournament, finishing as top wicket taker. Payne took four for 23 and Ollie Price three for 32. It was the bowlers who clinched it on Finals Day, bowling Sussex out for 106 in the semi final and Somerset for 124 in the final. As well as Payne, Matt Taylor kept taking wickets, ending joint second with 29 at 14.37, while Josh Shaw secured 19 wickets.
They were less successful in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, finishing in the middle of in their group. Hammond again had a profitable time with the bat alongside Bancroft, but performances were inconsistent. Singh Dale kept things tight with the ball, ending as their top wicket taker and an excellent economy of 4.63 runs per over. Dan Goodman took 12 wickets at 29.58.
Results
Vitality CC: Seventh in Division Two
Vitality Blast: Winners
Metro Bank ODC: Fifth in Group B
Leading run-scorers
Vitality CC: James Bracey 1089 at 60.50
Vitality Blast: Cameron Bancroft 534 at 33.37; Strike rate 127.14
Metro Bank ODC: Miles Hammond 354 at 44.25; Strike rate 97.52
Leading wicket-takers
Vitality CC: Marchant de Lange 30 at 26.93
Vitality Blast: David Payne 33 at 12.75; Economy rate 6.29
Metro Bank ODC: Ajeet Singh Dale 13 at 18.53; Economy rate 4.63
Player of the season
There have been excellent contributions with the bat from Bancroft and Bracey, but Miles Hammond led the way across the three formats with a total of 1709 runs. He has turned himself into a top class batter and has scored over 800 Championship runs for the third year in a row. He also scores runs in the shorter formats as demonstrated by his 157 off 113 balls in the One Day Cup against Nottinghamshire, an innings that included 22 fours and five sixes, as Gloucestershire comfortably chased down 333.
He recently signed a one year contract extension, which suggests that the 28-year-old is maybe looking to keep his future options open.
Breakthrough Player
Ben Charlesworth is not a new name, but he has certainly come of age in 2024, scoring 723 Championship runs in 11 games at an average of 48.20. He posted his maiden first class century and then added a second. He was less successful in the One Day Cup than he has been previously, but scored useful runs in the Blast, including a six to win a game off the penultimate ball against Somerset.
The 23-year-old was involved with England at under 19 level and will be hoping for another good season in 2025 to demonstrate the consistency needed to move up to the next level.
Could have done better
The two main bowling threats in the Championship, de Lange and Gohar were unavailable for much of the season because of injury. The hope would have been that the exciting duo of Ajeet Singh Dale and Zaman Akhter could step up and take the wickets needed. Both have qualities that England are looking for, Singh Dale able to bowl at 90 mph and the formidable physique of the South Asian Cricket Academy product, Akhter. However neither was able to take wickets cheaply enough to put pressure on the opposition, both averaging over 45 runs per wicket.
Nevertheless England remain interested in Akhter, following a promising display for the Lions against Sri Lanka A back in August, when he took seven wickets. He has now been selected as part of the England Lions squad travelling to South Africa this winter.
Need to work on
The red ball bowling is clearly something that needs improving. There will be no Gohar next year, but the hope is that de Lange will stay fit and the other members of the attack can bowl with more control. They certainly look more of a potential threat than most of the other attacks in Division Two.
What’s next?
On paper Gloucestershire should have the players to be challenging for one of the top spots in Division Two, but have fallen short since they were relegated in 2022. While they might not be expected to repeat their T20 heroics, they will surely improve their Championship performance.
Season Rating
Head coach Mark Alleyne has described the season as “massively disappointing” despite the Blast success. The winning of a trophy is always going to lift a club and they will hope to feed off that.
Mark: 7/10