IT WAS said of Christopher Wren – ‘if you want to see his monument, look around you’.

The same can be said of Tom Richardson who on Friday retired as chief executive of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.

The handsome new development at the Nevil Road ground owes much to the drive and determination that Tom brought to every aspect of his job.

An army colonel with a distinguished military record, Tom left his military rank at the Nevil Road gate.

He had time for everyone and was known to all by his christian name.

Loyal to the club and inspiring loyalty from his team, or as he called them ‘the boys and girls’, Tom worked unstintingly for our county club. He alone will know the personal cost, but now everyone can see the value of his efforts.

Part of his retirement will see him sharing pub lunches with me at various venues in the Cotswolds. One of the six chairmen he served with, I am proud to have him as a mate.

Tom was proud of a couple of young cricketers on Friday. In the match against Essex we had been very much second best, looking certain to follow on.

Craig Miles and Graeme McCarter had other ideas, taking part in a last-wicket stand of 78, with Craig scoring his maiden 50.

Only five other Gloucestershire players have scored a half-century while batting at No.11, so well done, Craig.

More praise, however, for your 41 championship wickets. You are well ahead of anyone else in your wicket haul. Will Gidman with 29 is your nearest competitor.

Staying with statistics Alex Gidman and captain Michael Klinger reached 1,000 championship runs during the Essex game.

The loss of 15 overs to bad light on the evening of the third day robbed us of a nail-biting finish. At the close, we needed 55 runs with four wickets in hand. It will come as no surprise to readers of this column that the main man in taking the game to Essex was Gareth Roderick with another century.

I missed the last day at Bristol as I was invited to support Paul Furley in the BBC Radio Gloucestershire online commentary at The New Lawn.

In the first half, FGR were outstanding scoring three fine goals without reply, eventually winning 3-1.

My end of month report reads, ‘Shows signs of extreme promise. If inconsistency is overcome the desired results can be achieved’. Watch this space.

Local cricketers now know their league positions and congratulations to Birdlip and Brimpsfield (1st), Poulton (2nd) and Cirencester (2nd). These positions are from various divisions in the County League and may, or may not, result in promotion. All depends in what happens in the divisions of the West of England Premier League.

Special praise for Lechlade, winning the County Cup and coming second in the league (Glos/Wilts). They play at the highest level of all our local clubs and winning the County Trophy is a triumph.

Now for a warning! Cirencester Rugby Club are producing a ‘bare all’ calendar. It seems that club chairman Bob Spackman may be featured. I was at school with Bob and have shared a changing room with him. In the interests of accuracy, I must inform readers this was 55 years ago. Bob’s calendar potential was minimal then and I doubt very much if it has improved with age. Do not expect too much.

Driving to Bristol this week I noticed a banner on the outskirts of Tetbury.

It invites youngsters of five to 14 to join the local rugby club, which seems an exciting opportunity.

Seeing the banner reminded me there were no opportunities for youngsters of that age when I was growing up.

The sports pages of this newspaper are always filled with reports of youth activities, and every sport is catered for. Firmly in my memory is the display by the Cirencester Gymnastics Club witnessed last year, visits to The Whiteway and Cirencester Park. Do the same and you will realise that not all our young people spend their time with modern electronic gizmos.

Those who coach, train, organise and supervise youth sports are the unsung heroes of our sporting world, although this weekend we can add to the list the cricketers of Lechlade.