GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Cricket Club Chairman John Light has vowed to work with clubs in the local area to help make the World Class West campaign a success, writes Rob Iles.
Gloucestershire plan to increase permanent seats in the County Ground at Bristol to 10,000 with much-improved spectator, media, player and corporate hospitality facilities, and Lord's style pitch drainage in order to host more international cricket.
The campaign was launched at Westminster last month, and Gloucestershire have also held meetings at Bristol, Gloucester, and Cheltenham to generate support.
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The county are looking to widen the scope of interest across the county, and Light says he has been impressed with clubs in the local area and he wants to work closely with them to ensure the county progress at the highest level.
He said: "I was pleased to be invited to the Frocester cricket club pre-season lunch.
"We want to show our faces around the county, and be involved for the cricket clubs of the county.
"I have seen the youth sections at various clubs and I think Cam and Dursley are extremely good at it.
"I want the county club to mean something to these youngsters and to be a centre at Bristol to where they can go.
"It's got to be a meaningful centre of excellence for the young cricketers of Gloucestershire."
"We are working in partnership with Bristol University to make that the headquarters for our youth, and we can only do that if we stage internationals at Bristol, which makes us money."
Light emphasised that for Gloucestershire to find hidden gems for the future, they need support from across the county.
He believes there is plenty of talent in the surrounding areas of Bristol, and he wants to make sure that the county can pick up on these.
"Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is a club for the whole of the Cotswolds, the Severn Vale, and the Forest of Dean," he said.
"These areas we value support from and we want to show what we can offer them.
"Our best cricketer in the last 20 years Jack Russell came from Stroud.
"We know that the cricketers are there and we want to find them. We can only find them by showing them that we are the county club to them."
Light is also aware of the increasing consumer need for the twenty over game.
The English and Welsh Cricket Board are currently discussing ideas to play more of the short format of the game, although city franchises appears to have been ruled out, meaning the county is likely to keep its identity.
Gloucestershire's chairman would like to see a big twenty20 league with more weekend and floodlit games so that people throughout the county can attend.
The World Class West Campaign could give them a great platform to be ready for that.
Light said: "We need a 50-over cup competition and I think a twenty20 league - there is the interest there let's cash in.
"The spectators like it, the television like it, let's use the one-day game to pay for the Championship which produces England players.
"I would like to see a season-long league of twenty20, not just in the middle of the season, but played at the weekends and in the evenings under floodlights.
"The ECB are going to help us establish floodlights at Bristol and I'm delighted about that."
What does Gloucestershire CCC mean to you and your club? Post your views below.
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