There was certainly an air of confidence at the County Ground this morning where the final preparations were being made ahead of the Cheltenham and Gloucester semi final against Kent on Thursday.

The first team squad were continuing with their build up out on the ground, whilst inside the office staff were continuing to deal with callers who were still trying to obtain tickets for the match, which is a sell out.

During a break from training seasoned campaigner Peter Bowler told me: "I'm looking forward to the game immensely, and we have a great chance of winning. The tie against Worcestershire in the last round was a tough one, and now we have got Kent here we have got to fancy our chances of getting through to Lords. With people returning from injury we are just getting stronger and stronger.

The veteran batsman's confidence is mirrored by the number of people who have taken out club membership over the last few days, to ensure that they get their tickets for the final on August 31st.

Membership secretary Jo Betsworth told me: "Its quite amazing, people are still contacting us chasing for tickets, in fact we have taken a number of memberships for this year, some of which are renewals, at full price just so they are guaranteed to get final tickets, the fans are that confident."

The full house of 7000 will stretch the county's resources and in anticipation of the large numbers extra stewards and gatemen have been taken on for the day.

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