Ben Charlesworth

Ben Charlesworth announced on the eve of the 2026 season that he would leave Gloucestershire, his boyhood club at the end of the year. The timing of the decision was unusual, but owed to the club's experience of losing several players at once the previous year and the reluctance of director of cricket's Jon Lewis to suffer a repeat.

It marked the end of a chapter for a homegrown allrounder who was first introduced into the Gloucestershire side as a teenager and developed into a consistent top-order batter. Charlesworth was granted time off from his A-Level studies by St Edwards School in Oxford to play county cricket as a 17-year-old and made a bright early impression, though playing regularly at a young age meant his overall stats took some time to recover. He also became a regular for England's Under-19s, and made 82 against Australia at the 2020 World Cup.

Charlesworth became a reliable Championship opener in 2024, scoring his maiden first-class hundred against Leicestershire then adding a maiden double against the same opponents later in the season, and built on his progress in 2025. He also became a regular in Gloucestershire's white-ball teams, making his first List A century against Hampshire in the Metro Bank Cup.
ESPNcricinfo staff