Graeme van Buuren will take a deep breath to control his emotions before leading Gloucestershire out as captain for the first time in the County Championship match with Northants at Northampton, starting Thursday.
What a difference a year has made for the diminutive South African, who 12 months ago was facing the frustration of losing his place in the side due to a change in the regulations regarding Kolpak players.
Having played in the first two Championship games, scoring a century in the opener against Surrey, van Buuren missed the next eight during a frustrating wait for his eligibility to appear as a non-overseas player to be sorted.
His wife is a British citizen. But the fast-tracking service that would normally have allowed him to resolve his own passport situation was not available after the Covid-19 outbreak and that resulted in an unexpectedly long delay.
While he still travelled with the team, the immensely popular van Buuren was confined to playing second XI and one-day cricket until the problem was resolved ahead of the last four Championship matches.
Now, with that unfortunate experience behind him, his appointment as Gloucestershire captain for four-day cricket and the Royal London Cup, in his sixth season at Bristol, has completed a dramatic transformation in fortunes.
“I still can’t believe it,” he told me. “I had a chat with Steve Snell when he first arrived as our Performance Director and the captaincy was mentioned, but I didn’t really have it on my radar.
“I then spoke to Chris Dent, who did a fantastic job over four years as skipper. I still thought he was the right man for the job, but he found things a bit tough at the end and wanted to stand down.
“Head coach Dale Benkenstein approached me after a training session about taking it on. I felt humbled at being asked and didn’t have to think twice.
“It’s an exciting time to become captain because we have a very strong squad and there is a really tight bond between the players. It feels like a brotherhood.
“We will be coming up against some strong sides that we haven’t faced in recent years, but we are all looking forward to testing ourselves.
“The club has such a great history and has produced so many great players, but if we could win the County Championship it would be massive for everyone.
“I intend to be a calm captain, exuding a quiet belief in what we can achieve. But I will bring a lot of energy to the role, without changing who I am as a person.”
How will be feel walking out at the head of the team for the first time? “There will be some goose bumps and a lot of emotions, particularly after what happened last year,” he said. “It has been quite a journey.”
