STEVE Dent has been named Gloucestershire Coach of the Year.

The former Thornbury and Cleeve player, who coaches the county's under-13s side, received his award from former England batsman Mark Ramprakash in front of a packed crowd at the Oval during England’s recent Test against India.

Dent said: “It is not what you do it for but it was really nice to be recognised. It was a real surprise when I got the letter and found out I had won but it is great that other people think you are doing a good job.”

As well as picking up the award on the outfield during the lunch interval, Dent was also treated to one of the best seats in the house and lunch in a corporate hospitality box as part of his prize.

He began helping out with coaching at his local club Cleeve when his son – Gloucestershire batsman Chris – started playing.

Steve followed Chris to Thornbury and continued to assist coaches there before deciding to become qualified himself.

In 2011 he joined the Gloucestershire Cricket Board's (GCB) performance programme, running the Stroud and South Gloucestershire under-13 team.

He followed this up by taking over the Gloucestershire under-13 squad a year later and he has continued working with that age group ever since.

GCB chief executive Steve Silk, who put Dent forward for the award, paid tribute to him, saying: “Steve is a worthy winner of this award. He has been a huge asset to the GCB ever since joining our performance programme and is responsible for supporting the development of a growing number of our young players.

“Steve is utterly professional in his attitude and standards and he is tirelessly committed to bringing the best out of the young people he works with.

"One of Steve’s great strengths as a coach is that he encourages players to think for themselves and find their own ways to be successful.”

Over the last few years Dent, who is a training manager in his day job, has also become a qualified ECB tutor, helping to coach the county’s coaches.

In addition to delivering coaching courses he has recently become Gloucestershire’s lead tutor, taking over responsibility for the overall running of coach education in the county.

Speaking about his own approach to coaching, Dent said: “My philosophy is about developing people and allowing them to create their own meaning and find what is of relevance to them.

“There is not one way to do things and I like to encourage players to think for themselves and explore different methods. I like to give people choices in a session.

“For example, I did a batting session on power hitting where I started by telling the players, 'I’m not going to tell you how to do it. I want you to experiment with different positions in the crease. Come back and tell me what which one works best'.

“Depending on the group you are working with and their maturity it can be really effective.”