FOUR consecutive defeats for Gloucestershire made it a dismal last week.

After a bright start to the cricket season fortunes have slumped, although Tuesday’s brilliant Royal London One-Day Cup victory at the Brightside Ground over Hampshire has brought a ray of sunshine through the dark clouds.

We won that match against Hampshire with two inspired innings from Thornbury’s Chris Dent and Australian Michael Klinger.

Dent made 142 from only 116 balls and his fellow opener was unbeaten at the end with a brilliant 166, his highest List A game score.

That offset the dismal start the holders of the Cup have made in losing the first three matches. So, I ask, what went wrong during that time?

My solution is that, firstly, we are not the same team. Two players who starred on that stunning September day at Lord’s when we won the Cup have left.

Batting hero Geraint Jones has retired and James Fuller, whose fizzing fast bowling unsettled Surrey in the final, has moved to Middlesex.

Worst of all, man-of-the-match Jack Taylor has been banned from bowling over a suspect action.

This has upset the balance of the side in every competition.

Taylor’s ban came at a time when his career was taking off.

My highlights recording of last season’s cup win shows his arm quite straight so he can bowl properly.

The ECB are thorough in sorting out transgressions but I am sure Jack will be bowling again. I hope it is soon!

Our opposition have spotted our bowling weaknesses and are targeting Tom Smith, while Dent, outstanding with the bat, is an inadequate spin back-up.

Their figures at Glamorgan last week demonstrate this clearly. Smith’s seven overs went for 61, Dent’s three overs for 31.

You cannot give away runs like that and you don’t win.

The demoralising defeat at Taunton did not help.

After losing to a 61-run last wicket stand our subsequent cricket has not had the zeal and zest of our marvellous May. It has been a joyless June – until Tuesday, of course.

Of course, having to play on eight days out of ten in three different competitions was a hindrance.

Captain Michael Klinger summed matters up after our fourth defeat, saying: “We have not been executing our skill sets properly.”

This cricket speak means we have been playing badly. I cannot disagree.

In all aspects of the game we are below par.

What needs to be done? I offer some suggestions.

First, include Graeme van Buuren in every game.

The young South African is a capable batsman and useful bowler. He would offer the captain extra options.

Hopefully, the players will have been called in for a squad brunch and a motivational team meeting before the Hampshire game, with everyone reminded of their responsibilities.

There is no more room for excuses. Let’s hope that that ten-run win over Hampshire sparks a revival in fortunes.

Meanwhile, the departing Hamish Marshall would love nothing more than for the season to end successfully. He deserves this.

A few years ago. cash was tight and Hamish and another senior batsman were offered contracts on reduced terms.

Hamish accepted saying sometimes you have to put something back. “Cricket and Gloucestershire have been good to me,” he said.

The other batsman declined the offer, perhaps expecting to sign for another county. He never played first class cricket again.

Make no mistake, Hamish is one of the game’s good guys. Everyone should wish him well.

We should do the same with Henry Trinder. Gloucester RFC’s promising centre who is to undergo yet another operation.

He was injured in the end-of-season game at Sale and will miss the start of next season. A true local lad, Henry shows undoubted potential and deserves to be able to fulfil it.

A fine career surely awaits him. Get fit soon, Henry.

I am excited by Mark Cooper’s on and off-the-field signings at Forest Green Rovers. Most importantly they are of the correct age.

He is assembling a squad that can mature and grow up together. But do not expect miracles straight away.

We would all like Forest Green to go straight up to the Football League automatically next season and, after this year’s play-off final heartache, that is what chairman Dale Vince has called for.

But we must be patient if there are teething problems. Yet, the future looks bright.

Mark has bought into the chairman’s plan of moving to League Two and beyond. The players are back from their summer break on June 29. Is there ever a break from football?