[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

County Champions: 1964, 1965, 1974, 1988, 1989

2018 Season

Difficult as it is to believe after six weeks of ice and snow and relentless rain, the domestic cricket season is once more upon us, and I suspect that many at New Road will breathe a sigh of relief at its arrival.  For the champions of Division Two, autumn's glory gave way to a winter of woe which saw young bowler Alex Hepburn charged with rape, and director of cricket Steve Rhodes dismissed from his position for failing to notify the county of the arrest, bringing to an end some thirty years of involvement with Worcestershire as a player and coach.  Our new chief executive launched a "global search" for a replacement, which seems a lot of effort to have gone to simply to establish the whereabouts of second team coach, Kevin Sharp, who was eventually given the job; but before he's seen a single ball bowled, Sharp has the headache of dealing with the perennial New Road problem of a flooded pitch, which may see the Pears re-routed to the traditional out-grounds of Worcester Grammar School and Kidderminster for home fixtures this spring.

There's a certain degree of trepidation surrounding affairs on the field too, as Worcestershire are notorious for short stays in Division One, and the present eight-team format promises to be tougher than ever.  However, there are grounds for cautious optimism in the fact that the Pears had an excellent 2017, beating all comers through April, May and September, and only losing form at the height of summer due to the sudden departure of Tom Kohler-Cadmore.  The team has a solid mixture of promising youth and proven experience, and if they hit the ground running, there's every chance of dodging another yo-yo year in the Championship while aiming for the latter stages of the One-Day Cup, and hopefully not embarrassing ourselves too badly in the T20 Blast.

A lot will depend on the performances of veteran opener Daryl Mitchell, who passed the thousand-run mark comfortably in 2017 and will need to be knocking on the door of it again this summer; he'll be partnered by Brett D'Oliveira, who was first promoted to opener in the dying days of 2015's Division One campaign and now gets another bite of the cherry with two more summers' experience under his belt, having earned himself call-ups last month to the ECB North side and the MCC.  It remains to be seen whether the Pears will keep faith with Tom Fell at number three after a truly awful 2017 from start to finish, but Tom was certainly a stand-out player in the 2015 season, and fingers crossed he can regain form.  No such question mark hangs over Joe Clarke, but a great many eyes are going to be on the youngster this year as he tries his talented hand on a bigger stage.  With England's number three spot potentially up for grabs, any Division One batsman who can impress through April and May stands a chance of a cap, and after two years of hovering around the England Lions set-up, Joe has to see this as the first of many chances to get a foot in the door.  Aussie international Travis Head will presumably step in to the role vacated by Kohler-Cadmore as fulcrum of the batting order, which is a big statement of faith in the homegrown bowling attack, led by captain Joe Leach and last year's hugely impressive debutant Josh Tongue, and bolstered by the increasingly effective Ed Barnard and the experienced Steve Magoffin.  Moeen Ali will, as ever, be a contributor when other duties permit (the IPL keeps him out until late May, but if England keep faith with Jack Leach then the Pears may be able to snaffle him for a chunk of midsummer), and Ben Cox remains, for my money, the best pure wicketkeeper in the country for his reaction times and glovework.

It'll be a tense ride, but Essex showed last year what can be done with a bit of confidence.  It's all up for grabs.  Come on you Pears.

[themaclad]

Suspect early season wickets will be green tops considering it's been flooded and another stack of rain apparently in the next few days, one day hope to get to New Road

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

New Road is a lovely ground. Proper cricket venue. Just a shame nowt can be done about the flooding when the weather's like this, but have to admit I've got my fingers crossed they'll play a game up at Kidderminster this year; nice and easy for me to get to.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Worcestershire get the ball rolling tomorrow with a trip to the south coast to face Hampshire. Despite only being reprieved from relegation two years ago thanks to Durham's financial penalty and dodging the drop by two points last summer, Hants have strengthened significantly during the winter, and signings like Hashim Amla and Sam Northeast together with Vince and Roussouw give them one of the strongest top-orders in the division.

The good news is that conditions will favour the Pears bowling attack big-time. Whether we'll get any actual cricket on Friday remains to be seen, but if Worcestershire can steer their way to a draw this weekend, it'd far from the worst start to the campaign.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Hampshire

Day One

Morning: On a gloomy, overcast day the Pears unsurprisingly put Hants in to bat. A quick wicket from captain Joe Leach put Worcs in business, but for most of the session thereafter the bowling attack toiled against a dogged second-wicket partnership of over a hundred runs that saw James Vince hit a quickfire 75. It was Steve Magoffin who eventually saw off both set batsmen just before lunch to even things up a little just as the innings was starting to get away from the visitors.

Afternoon: From struggling with line and length all morning, the Pears suddenly hit their stride after lunch, and in response, Hampshire collapsed. Josh Tongue's first Division One scalp was one to remember in the form of Hashim Amla, while Daryl Mitchell, who only bowled seven full overs in red-ball cricket in 2017, ended the session with two wickets in two balls.

Evening: If there's one thing likely to relegate the Pears this season, it's spells of complacency when they take their foot off the pedal, and this evening was a fine example. With Hants on the ropes at 242-9, they proceeded to allow the home team nearly a 50-run tenth-wicket stand, pushing them just shy of 300; a score which could prove all the difference in these conditions. Coming in to bat, the visitors then lost Dolly early doors, prompting a fight for Daryl Mitchell and Tom Fell to reach stumps, only for the latter - still desperately out of luck - to cop an absolute jaffer in the last over of the day. With Josh Tongue in as nightwatchman, Worcs are 40-2 overnight, and honours are just about even after a topsy-turvy day. A couple of big partnerships needed on the morrow.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: Saturday gave us the first proper cricket weather of 2018 and an improving pitch, but the Pears still contrived to play like they were batting on a minefield in a thunderstorm. A first-hour collapse left the visitors on 83-6 and looking unlikely to even avoid the follow-on.

Afternoon: It was Ben Cox to the rescue for the Pears after lunch, as the wicketkeeper played the innings of the day to guide the visitors past the follow-on target and within a hundred runs of parity. Unfortunately, his excellent knock of 65 (aided by 40 from Ed Barnard) came to an ignominious end when Cox threw his wicket away with an unnecessary pull to square leg. This sparked a fresh collapse, with the final two dismissals equally soft. Hants were granted a first-innings lead of 79; a lot less than it could have been, but still more than it *should* have been...

Evening: Dropping an absolute dolly at slip on the first ball of the innings didn't bode well, but to their credit, Worcestershire plugged away in the long final session and got their reward with eight wickets falling, including the late prize of Hashim Amla being run out with a direct hit from Tom Fell. Hants close on 163-8, a lead of 242, with only Kyle Abbott still remaining as a capable run-scorer. Worcs have to look to knock the tail over pretty sharp in the morning and keep the total needed under 250. Sadly, with the way the pitch has played and the weather conditions forecast, Hants have probably got enough on the board already, but after a shocker of a day the Pears have done well to keep this one vaguely alive.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: Desperately poor stuff from the Pears bowling attack, who toiled against the tail-end and permitted Hants to raise the lead well above 300 before taking the last two wickets. There was still time to lose Dolly to the new ball before lunch.

Afternoon: No play possible due to rain.

Evening: The sun returned and permitted sixteen overs at the day's end, and Worcs promptly lost both Tom Fell and Joe Clarke. The visitors close on 59-3, needing another 265 on Monday to win. Nightwatchman Josh Tongue is likely to fall early doors, so effectively the Pears have six partnerships with which to chase down the total. It's not quite miracle territory, but I fear we need either torrential rain to guide us to the draw or else blazing sunshine to flatten the track and permit us an unlikely victory.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Morning: And rather predictably, a Pears collapse to 127 all out meant it was all over by lunch.

Worcestershire LOSE by a hundred and ninety-six runs

The Verdict: Dreams of "doing an Essex" can go back on the shelf. Tempting though it is to find excuses for this first match in the new eight-team Division One against a side who might well challenge for the title this year, the fact is that the margin of defeat - a comprehensive one - could have been wiped off the board if the Pears had been at the races every minute of every session. Halve the second and tenth wicket partnerships in the first Hants innings, you knock off 75 runs. Keep Cox, Leach and Barnard from throwing their wickets away in the first Worcs innings, you could potentially cobble together another 50 runs between them. Take the straightforward catch at slip from the first ball of the second innings and get Kyle Abbott out quickly, you save a further 75. Worcestershire undoubtedly worked hard and showed flashes of inspiration on all four days of this contest, but lapses in concentration together with spells of being lightweight with the bat and toothless with the ball added up to some 200+ runs that were simply ungettable. Sadly, I fear we'll see a lot of similar weekends in 2018, but for now at least, we have the chance to improve on Friday at Somerset.

[themaclad]

At least you got to three figures twice

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

If we'd been playing at Old Trafford I think we'd have struggled to make two figures once