Alastair Bressington

Alastair Bressington is one of a number of young, Bristol-born players on the fringes of the first team, and made the most progress in 2001. The 22-year-old played five CricInfo Championhip matches, though he would likely concede that this had much to do with the injury situation at the club. He performed steadily throughout the season, bowling his seamers tightly and with purpose. He possesses no real pace, but bowled economically.

Job security is not one of the perks for professional cricketers. Bressington survived the annual cut of players, and will need a solid season next year if he is to do so again. First team opportunities may not be so easy to come by, and Bressington will do well to challenge James Averis (and potentially Ben Gannon, Roger Sillence and Mark Hardinges) as fourth seamer behind Mike Smith, Jon Lewis and Ian Harvey.

Bressington has youth on his side, and an improvement in his already solid batting will help him continue to forge his place in the squad and in the hearts and minds of the Gloucestershire cricketing public. (Sean Beynon, Copyright CricInfo January 2001)