Gloucestershire have appointed 49-year-old Army man Tom Richardson as their new chief executive.

Richardson, from Shrivenham in Wiltshire, has spent all his working life with the Royal Corps of Signals and will take up his Gloucestershire duties on August 1.

The post has been vacant at Gloucestershire since early March when Colin Sexstone, who transformed the club during his five years at the helm, left to take over the same position at Bristol City Football Club.

Richardson was a keen cricketer in his younger days and spent three seasons in the late 1970s playing in the same Hong Kong side as Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson.

"Peter skippered me and I used to open the bowling for him or come on first change," he recalled. "I'd like to say I was a bowling all-rounder, but anyone good found me out when I was batting."

Richardson had already bought a ticket for Sunday's NatWest Series match between England and Australia in Bristol, an occasion that reflects the steps Gloucestershire have made to attract big games.

Richardson said: "I'm looking forward to building on the tremendous progress Gloucestershire have made on and off the field in recent years. There are a lot of challenges there for me."

© CricInfo Ltd.