ALEX GIDMAN has been taking captaincy advice from Australian legend Shane Warne.

The 27-year-old led Gloucestershire for the first time as club captain in the County Championship match against Surrey at the Oval yesterday.

Since his appointment, Gidman has been listening to ideas from the man widely regarded as the best leg spinner of all time as well as Gloucestershire’s most successful ever captain, Mark Alleyne, amongst others.

Gidman approached Warne during a rain break when playing against the Australian’s former club Hampshire and after a long chat they have kept in touch ever since.

“I’ve been lucky to have a few chats with Shane Warne,” revealed Gidman.

“I plucked up the courage to ask him and never looked back. He’s always on the end of a text message or e-mail regarding ideas.”

“He’s very aggressive, very positive, always tries to win cricket matches and never even talks about losing.”

Gidman added: “Mark Alleyne was one of the best captains England has seen for a long time so to play under him both as a player and coach I learnt a huge amount. He’s been very forthcoming with speaking on the phone. He was a very laid back but thoughtful captain.

“Craig Spearman has got a fantastic cricket brain and Jon Lewis has done it for a couple of years so I’m very lucky with the guys I’ve got around me.

He added: “It’s too early to say what sort of captain I am.

“I’ll keep things simple, try and lead by example off the pitch with preparation and training and I believe that if I do everything right off the pitch things will go right on the pitch.”

Gidman endured a difficult time last season as he struggled for form with the bat and injury prevented him bowling often, while there was also the off-field distractions of several other counties fighting for his signature before he committed himself to Gloucestershire.

He feels all that is behind him now and that captaincy will help rather than hinder his performances although he admits, “as long as we’re successful on the pitch then I couldn’t care less about my own form.”

Gidman said: “I wouldn’t have taken the role if I didn’t think it would help me and I didn’t think I could produce on the pitch.

“Captaincy is an all-round job - it’s not just about scoring runs and taking wickets any more.

“In a positive way I’ve got more to fall back on. If I don’t bat and don’t bowl well then I’ve got the captaincy to help me try and win games and if the team is successful I’m a happy man regardless of how many runs I score or how many wickets I take.”

Gidman is enjoying working closely with Director of Cricket John Bracewell, who enjoyed unparalleled success in his previous spell as head coach, and says he is excited about the future at Gloucestershire.

“It’s almost like he hasn’t been away,” said Gidman. “Before he was a very good county coach, now he’s an international coach. We’re all very excited about playing under him.

“In the short-term we want to get confidence up and compete for every single ball.

“We want to build this team and kick on with some of these younger players, build some momentum and see where it takes us.”