“Special” and “unique” are just two of the many words used to describe the Cheltenham Cricket Festival, which this year gets under way on Thursday 17th July.

Gloucestershire supporters love it, of course, but so do the players, past and present, for whom it remains one of the highlights of the summer.

“When I first came to Gloucestershire in 2016, Maxi Klinger told me I had to get to Cheltenham,” said Gloucestershire’s current red-ball captain Cameron Bancroft.

“He said it was so much fun and he was bang on. The fans love it, everyone embraces it.

“It’s such a completely different atmosphere and feel to playing at Bristol, Cheltenham’s such a special place.

“As players we get a lot of confidence going to play there. We relish it, we love and we can’t wait for it.”

The waiting is almost over for the one-time Australian Test player, with this year’s Festival kicking off with a bang with men’s and women’s T20 Blast games against Sussex.

Other highlights include County Championship games against Lancashire (Tuesday 22nd July) and Middlesex (Tuesday 29th July) before the Festival ends on Tuesday 5^th August with a One-Day Cup game against Derbyshire.

Wicketkeeper/batsman James Bracey is certain to feature across all formats for Gloucestershire and he too is a massive fan of the Cheltenham Festival.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “You get told when you break into the side how great it is to play there. We had two great wins in my first two games at Cheltenham.

“We’ve had some great wins there since, too. It’s always been a great ground, we love to play there.

“It is possible to score quickly but it’s important to get the first part of your innings right. It can do something early on and later in the game it can spin.”

Bancroft and Bracey are two of Gloucestershire’s biggest names, of course, but even they have some way to go to match the exploits of former skipper and current head coach Mark Alleyne, who, as an all-rounder, enjoyed such success at the Festival that he was known as ‘The King of Cheltenham’.

“Cheltenham always delivers,” he said. “Batters and bowlers are always in the game. You never know what’s going to happen, there’s lots of jeopardy.

“There are runs for the batters and wickets for the seamers and spinners.

“It’s how we want to play cricket, I’ve loved it from my very first game and I still love it now.”

So does Alleyne’s former team-mate and captain David Graveney, who these days is Gloucestershire’s vice-chairman.

“It’s a lovely place to play, players like playing in front of a good crowd,” he said. “Zaheer Abbas used to say that it was his favourite ground because he never had to run, he just hit the ball for four… and he hit a lot of fours.

“Zaheer would have dug that wicket up and taken it back to Karachi and batted on it for the rest of his life.” 

The slope down towards the hospital side of the ground makes it that much more accommodating for batsmen and Bancroft is certainly a big fan.

“That slope makes it unique,” he said. “The ball runs away very quickly. As a batsman you think it’s Christmas, but as a captain it can be quite challenging.”

Bancroft is in his first season as Gloucestershire’s red-ball captain and he continued: “As a captain you’re trying to build pressure.

“Third man is important because the ball can run away. We’re lucky to have bowlers with good air speed and if you can get the fielders in the right place and stop the boundaries you can build pressure that way, but it’s a really unique ground.”

And it’s a unique ground that this year will host the Cheltenham Premier T20 final for the first time. The popular tournament involves some of the best club sides in the region – Dumbleton Dynamite are the holders – with the final taking place on Friday 18^th July (6pm).

Thirteen days later a celebration dinner to mark the 25^th anniversary of Gloucestershire’s treble-winning one-day success will be held at the ground with a good number of those heroes from yesteryear expected to attend.

The Boundary Hub Marquee, the brainchild of long-time Gloucestershire supporter Chris Coley, will also be a popular attraction this year.

It will be located on the hospital side of the ground next to the Old Patesians marquee – the traditional white-framed tents will return this year – and will play host to the team from TV show Bargain Hunt on Tuesday 29^th July, a day that is being called ‘Cricket, Antiques and Antics’.

Richard Madley, a former pupil at Stouts Hill, near Uley, will be at The Hub alongside  Izzie Balmer, Charles Hanson and Charlie Ross, and cricket fans are encouraged to bring along some of their family treasures and jewellery for valuation by the experts.

There will also be a cricket society day on the 22^nd, a football day involving Cheltenham Town Community Trust on the 24^th and a cricket memorabilia market day on the 31^st.

So there’s plenty going on at this year’s Festival both on and off the pitch, but the last word should go to Cameron Green, who followed in the footsteps of fellow Australians Klinger and Bancroft by making such a big impression in his spell with Gloucestershire earlier this season.

Asked if he’d return to the county, the 26-year-old said: “After hearing all the tales about Cheltenham I think I have to come back!”