Former Kent wicketkeeper Geraint Jones has spoken of his delight at joining Gloucestershire on the eve of earning his 50th ODI cap.

The 38 year old ended his almost fifteen year association with Kent at the end of the season with Sam Billings having been preferred with the gloves for 2014.

Out of contract and looking at all options available to him, Jones has been snapped up by Gloucestershire and will join them as captain of the four day side and will play as a specialist batsman.

Jones will commute to Bristol for the next two seasons, taking him past his 40th birthday and he told KSN of his delight as being able to carry on his professional playing career:

“It was a little bit out of the blue if I’m honest. Once Kent had told me they weren’t going to be keeping me on, it was a good few weeks of being in limbo and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

“It was a while waiting for the phone to go, but when it did Gloucestershire rang and when the offer came up with the captaincy and a two year deal, I jumped at it.”

“It’s mainly because I was excited by the role and I still have a big feeling that I can contribute. There wasn’t an awful lot of thinking to do, but once I had cleared it with my wife, it was an easy decision to make.”

“Playing past forty was something I had always thought about and I have always felt I would be able to do it. I have just got to make sure I am able to do it, the mind’s willing and I just need to make sure the body follows suit!”

One stumbling block that laid in the way of Jones joining Gloucestershire was the eye problem he picked up whilst on loan at Bristol earlier in the summer, but after tests and a medical, Jones is glad all of that is now behind him:

“I had to go through the medical to sign the contract and that was a relief as much as anything. The scans I’ve had have showed that it’s cleared up to the point that it’s not going to affect my cricket.”

“The eye is absolutely fine and there’s no issues whatsoever, so that gives me a lot of peace of mind and allows me to carry on playing cricket.”

The move to Gloucestershire will see Jones hang up the gloves for the foreseeable future and will ultimately mean a change in fielding position with the former Kent keeper keen to looking at where he will fit in best for his new team:

“I’ve got to work hard to work out what’s my best fielding position. Obviously I have been behind the stumps with gloves on. Quite a few people have said about being in the slips to me, but it’s quite a specialist position.”

“Yes I’ve caught all my life, but I’ve caught with gloves on, so it’s quite a bit different. That will be one thing I will be working on during pre-season. A big part of me thinks I will end up somewhere like mid on or mid off.”

Not having the gloves on, Jones is also looking to have a more elevated role in the batting order and it’s something he is looking at getting his teeth stuck into:

“I’m only there as the back up keeper if anything happens to Gareth Roderick, so my role will be to bat in the middle order, potentially at four or five.”

“Even that’s a new challenge because I have only really ever kept and batted together, so to have plenty of hours out in the field to think about my batting will be a different scenario.”

“It’s a different challenge that’s got my excited and yes there will be more pressure on my batting, but I have always liked that.”

Jones has had plenty of experience in captaining a side over the years, covering for the injured Rob Key a few years ago, filling in for James Tredwell in 2013 and led the Kent Second XI for large parts last season and he is hoping that experience will stand him in good stead for 2015:

“Over the last three of four years I have captained a fair bit with Keysey having his injury and when Treddy was away. I have got some decent ideas and I have just got to work out what tools I have got down there at Gloucestershire.”

“I know they have got some young bowlers that do well. In terms of captaining, I know what sort of character I want to be. I am very level and tend to keep my emotions in check.”

“No matter what form I am in, my captaincy can’t be dictated by my emotions. As to what weapons I have, that will dictate how attacking or how defensive I will need to be.”

“The squad down there is a young one, but they have all got great attitudes and over the winter I will need to learn all about the different individuals. All of that will go towards building a good team and that’s something I want to have, not a group of individuals coming together and playing a game of cricket.”

“I want a good dressing room environment, one that’s together and one that’s enjoyable. That’s a big factor, I’ve been playing a long time now and at the highest level as often as we do, you have got to enjoy it.”

“There has to be an underlying enjoyment of the game and that will allow the lads to relax and play their best cricket.”

Part of Jones’ role at Gloucestershire will be to help John Bracewell bring through the next generation of cricketers in the county and help his replacement as captain and that’s something the Ashes winner is looking forward to:

“That will be a big part of my role and there’s only two of us there over thirty, me and Hamish Marshall. That was a big reason why Gloucestershire wanted me to go there, because of my experience and passing that on to the group.”

“There are some candiadtes in the pack that could potentially in the next two or three years come in and captain the side. That’s why I want to help forge a good leadership group and identify which ones can take the team forward in the next ten to fifteen years.”

“I will work with them, give as much knowledge to them and give them some leadership. Although they are young, they have got lots to offer and my plan is to make it a real group effort with everything we do and not me at the top dictating.”

Before joining up with Gloucestershire team-mates in a few weeks time to begin pre-season training, Jones has flown out to Australia to join up with the Papua New Guinea squad ahead of their historic first ever One Day Internationals against Hong Kong.

The two sides go head to head against one another in Townsville on Saturday with Jones to earn his 50th One Day International cap having played for England 49 times, the last of which came in July 2006 against Sri Lanka.

With so much time between them, Jones is very much looking forward to playing in such an important game for the country of his birth:

“It’s been quite a while! It will be a good visit though as I get to spend time with family over there and celebrate my dad’s birthday.”

“To play in such an historic game will be special and I’m looking forward to playing in PNG’s first ever One Day International. Both us and Hong Kong got our ODI status at the same time, so it’s quite apt that we are playing each other.”

“We have the two One Day games and then a three day friendly. The guys don’t get the chance to play much multi-day cricket, so it’s a great chance to have a look and see how they cope with three day cricket.”

“Generally, Twenty20 and 50 over cricket is all they have done, and in the past 50 over cricket had been hard to maintain over the full fifty overs, so three day cricket will be completely different, but a really good challenge for them.”

Jones will return home in little over a week’s time after his stint in Australia and is already planning out his first trip to Bristol upon his return:

“November is quite a busy month and I will have the last week of the month down there. The plan is to spend a week in every month down there, to learn about the group, be part of the group.”

“There will be quite a few visits over the winter and come March time I will be down there full-time, so going to Australia will kick start my pre-season plans for Gloucestershire.”