Season 'disappointing' despite trophy - Alleyne

Gloucestershire won their first trophy in nine years under Mark Alleyne this season

Gloucestershire head coach Mark Alleyne says the season has been "massively disappointing" despite the club winning a first trophy in nine years.

Alleyne's side lifted their first T20 Blast title in September after 20 years of trying, beating West Country rivals Somerset in the final.

But Gloucestershire finished seventh out of eight sides in Division Two of the County Championship, 75 points behind second-placed Yorkshire.

"I thought we were good enough to be in the top two of this division this year so I'm massively disappointed that we weren't challenging in the last two or three games for that position," Alleyne told BBC Radio Bristol.

Alleyne is Gloucestershire's most decorated player and the former all-rounder returned to the club for a second coaching stint at the start of this year.

They became surprise winners of the T20 Blast last month, having narrowly qualified from the Southern Group in fourth place, and went into Finals Day as the underdogs.

But while the 56-year-old said the trophy would forever belong to the club, he felt it was still not enough.

"It's brilliant, there are not many trophies up for grabs and to win one where all 18 counties take part is a tremendous achievement," Alleyne said.

"We thought getting out of the Southern Group would be quite tough, so that was a massive achievement in itself - then to go on and win it the way we did is a massive achievement too.

"I did say to the players that is indelible, that will be theirs forever - but [seventh in Division Two] it's not where we want to finish."

Gloucestershire were relegated from Division One in 2022 and did not win a County Championship match at all in 2023.

This season they finished with two wins, six draws and five defeats, plus one tie.

Alleyne said he would be challenging his players to come in for the start of next year in the same form and condition they ended this season in.

"We want to be a team challenging for Division One over the next three years, so we've got some work to do," he said.