Alex Gidman is relishing the chance to lead Gloucestershire out of the doldrums and to prove he was the right choice as the county's new captain.

Five years have passed since Gidman's captaincy potential was recognised by former Australia wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh, who, in his role as England's academy director, appointed him skipper of the England A tour to India and Malaysia.

And now, having spent the past three seasons as second-in-command to Jon Lewis, Gidman has been handed the chance to lead the county and work alongside recently-returned director of cricket John Bracewell, who did so much to help his career during his first spell with Gloucestershire.

"I feel I'm ready for the captaincy," said Gidman. "It's been very different already to vice-captaincy.

"I've learned a huge amount in the last two months and the role is different to how I thought it would be.

"I feel I'm the best man for the job and am confident I can lead the team and do a good job.

"I'm very lucky with the guys I've got around me. John's officially a world-class coach now (following his five years as New Zealand coach) and then there are guys like Craig (Spearman), who has a fantastic cricket brain, and Jon (Lewis), who has had some good experience of captaincy."

After he scored 1,000-plus first-class runs in 2006 and 2007, Gidman's batting dipped last summer when he managed only 481 at an average of 24.05. But it is not something he is worried about going into the new campaign.

"Everyone has a little blips in their career," he said. "It doesn't bother me in the slightest. I would obviously have liked to have had a better year in 2008, but it's nothing I'm concerned about.

"I've had seven good years and one poor one. It's not a massive issue. I'm very confident the captaincy will help my cricket. I see captaincy as an all-round job, so in a way I think it will take pressure off my batting and bowling."

Gloucestershire off-spinner Richard Dawson will be sidelined for the first few weeks of the season due to a leg injury.