Four cricketers from Gloucestershire are set to represent England next week in the Transplant Ashes, a three-match series against Australia which will get underway at Chipping Campden on Monday (1pm).

Tom Coote, of Hatherley and Reddings, is a stem cell recipient who will be making his fourth appearance for the England and Wales Transplant Cricket team.

And he is set to line up alongside Blockley’s Robin Watson, Liam Ward of Kingsholm and Ryan Penfold, of Westbury-on-Severn, who have had kidney transplants.

They’re all members of a very special club that celebrates a ‘second innings’ thanks to the generosity of donors who have offered a new chance of life.

And, in Tom’s case, he owes everything to older brother Sam who was a direct stem cell match after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in 2020.

The 33-year-old said: “I woke up one morning with big black bruises on my legs... I didn’t feel unwell in any way but it was obviously something that I could not ignore.”

Blood tests very quickly revealed the leukaemia and the same day he was diagnosed Tom was in hospital at Cheltenham Oncology receiving his first round of chemotherapy, and told he would be in hospital for the next six weeks.

He was then referred to the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre where he faced three more rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy before finally getting a life-saving stem cell transplant, staying in isolation for more than 100 days.

He added: “It was a crazy, surreal time. Because of Covid, I wasn’t allowed visitors for pretty much the entire process until my blood counts started to improve.”

Cricket had always been a massive part of Tom’s life. He began playing for Hatherley under-9s, while father Ian is club chair and Sam, a former first-team captain, is now the West of England Premier League club’s director of cricket.

Tom made his playing comeback in 2021, celebrating with a couple of centuries for the 4ths, and is currently fixture secretary and skipper of the 3rds, in the Gloucestershire League.

He said: “Because of the various drugs I was given and the intensity of the treatment, my lungs have been damaged and I struggle to keep up with the game now, especially the fielding and running between the wickets.

“Before, I was someone who used to try and push the twos, now I ‘stand and deliver’, and it definitely helps that we play our home games at South Park which has short boundaries!”

While he loves playing for Hatherley, the chance to appear for the Transplant team makes him very happy.

Tom added: “I’ve played at a reasonable level and taken it seriously in the past, but after everything I've been through the Transplant team matches mean more to me.

“We’re not the fittest and we’re definitely not the best fielders! But it’s a lot of fun and very enjoyable to be a part of.”

After Monday’s match at Chipping Campden, there are two further clashes with the Aussies at Haxey CC, in Doncaster, on 11^th June, and then at New Farnley CC, in Leeds, on 13^th June.

There is also another game on 10^th August to look forward to.

On 30^th July, Tom will have been in remission from his leukaemia for five years. And to mark the occasion, Hatherley will host the England and Wales Transplant team in a special fundraising match.

He said: “We’re partnering with the charity Linc [The Leukaemia and Intensive Chemotherapy Fund] to raise as much money as we can. We’ve already sold around 100 tickets for the day and are hoping for a big turnout.”

England and Wales Transplant Cricket is open to all transplant recipients, living donors, donor family members, those awaiting transplant and dialysis patients.

Players have received all forms of transplants including kidney, liver, lung, heart, stem cell, bone marrow, cornea and bowel. More than 70 players have now been capped.

For more information, email Englandtransplantcricket@outlook.com