At 24 years of age, Thomas Cotterell still has a lot of time to make a name for himself. Spotted playing for his club side, Stroud, the left-arm spinner was fast-tracked into Gloucestershire's County Board XI. Shortly afterwards he was picked for the first team. He made a successful debut, picking up three wickets relatively cheaply. He was subsequently offered a contract for 2000.

Although Gloucestershire already had two front-line spinners, Cotterell found himself playing in eight first-class matches last year. His bowling did not trouble opponents too much however; he managed just eight wickets for the season at an average of 72. With the best will in the world, he is an appalling batsmen (as shown by a first-class average of one over 11 innings). He is not likely to feature in the one-day side this year, and should focus his attentions on playing decent Second XI cricket and grasping all possible opportunities in the first team. (Sean Beynon, Copyright CricInfo April 2001)