Gloucestershire Cricket is looking to back up its 2024 Vitality Blast success in 2025 with more white ball victories and a promotion to the County Championship.
The 2024 victory was a completely unexpected one as they were without a finals day appearance since 2007 and only managed to scrape into the quarter-finals due to a defeat for the Essex Eagles on the last day of the regular season.
With Jack Taylor captaining the side they managed to defend 138 at Edgbaston against the Birmingham Bears in the quarter-finals before a dominant finals day against the Sussex Sharks and Somerset brought home the title for the first time.
In February, Cameron Bancroft was named as the new red ball captain after his return to the Gloucester outfit in 2024. Last season he was the leading run-scorer in the County Championship with an average of 33.37 as they finished in seventh place, a fair distance off promotion.
Head Coach Mark Alleyne has now named his side for their 2025 pre season tour to Stellenbosch in South Africa with academy players Alfie Johnson and Zaman Shafi named in the squad.
The team for South Africa does not include Bancroft or Jack Taylor, but does include multiple first teams players such as Matt Taylor, James Bracey and Miles Hammond amongst others.
Whilst overseas they will play in two red-ball fixtures at the Paul Roos Gimnasium, one against Northamptonshire and the other against Durham University.
On Friday, the county announced the introduction of Adidas as their new teamwear supplier for all three formats and the women’s side, alongside LED Studio as a new front-of-shirt partner for the County Championship.
The red-ball side has been bolstered this year by the addition of former Australian test all-rounder Cameron Green who will become part of the County Championship set-up for the first seven matches of the season. The move will be a first step into English domestic cricket for the 25-year-old as he looks to make his claim for a return to Australia’s test side.
That campaign kicks off on Friday, April 4 when they travel to the County Ground to take on Derbyshire in division two before the attempt to attempt to hold onto their T20 crown starting with a home matchup against the Kent Spitfires on Friday, May 30.
Whilst the importance of the Metro Bank One Day Cup has diminished since the introduction of The Hundred, the 2015 winners will still be hopeful of success in that format this year with an opener in Cheltenham also against Derbyshire on Tuesday, August 5.
