[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Taunton is the destination tomorrow, with considerably better weather forecast than we "enjoyed" last week. It's difficult to know what to make of Somerset, having just missed out on the title two years ago and just missed out on relegation last year, but there's no doubting the quality of a side that boasts the Overtons, Dom Bess and Jack Leach, to say nothing of Trescothick and Hildreth anchoring the batting line-up.

If Worcestershire have any intention of making a fist of it this season, the one thing they can't afford is back to back defeats at any point, least of all the first two games. The errors and lapses in concentration that marked last weekend's opener have got to go, and quickly. I imagine the toss will be contested, and winning it will be vital. A draw would be a platform to build from; come on you Pears.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Somerset

Day One

Morning: Rather surprisingly, the Pears elected not to contest the toss and put Somerset straight in to bat on a green top pitch which the visitors obviously believe will only improve. At first, the decision from captain Joe Leach seemed to be vindicated with the quick removal of both openers, but as occurred last week, the home side steadied the ship with a long partnership that the Pears struggled to break. It would be harsh to point fingers, because the bowlers beat the bat time and again without reward, and the only two clear-cut chances were tricky catches dropped behind. Nevertheless, on a tough pitch Somerset made it through to lunch just three down.

Afternoon: After a desperately unlucky morning, the Pears got their reward after lunch with a Somerset collapse, and Ed Barnard was the man of the hour with a first five-fer in first-class cricket, richly deserved after terrorising the home side with any number of variations. Without the century from overseas debutant Matt Renshaw, Somerset would have been in deep trouble. As it was, 202 on a tough pitch with wickets tumbling all over the country seemed like a worryingly decent score...

Evening: And predictably, at the crease the Pears fell to pieces. Only Travis Head could cobble together a respectable 49 as eight wickets fell in the long final session. At close of play Worcs are 153-8, with Ed Barnard the only man left capable of piling on a few runs and dragging us anywhere close to parity. Once again, Worcestershire are already chasing the game with the prospect of batting last. Some real fireworks needed with both bat and ball tomorrow.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: No play possible due to rain.

Afternoon: With just two wickets standing, it was the Ed Barnard show in Taunton as the young all-rounder made a half-century and guided the visitors within twenty-three runs of parity.  The Pears then successfully knocked over the first couple of Somerset wickets in short order, but by tea the home side had begun to consolidate.

Evening: Plenty of frustration for Worcestershire again as James Hildreth made an unbeaten century, but when it looked like the game was getting away from the Pears, up stepped Ed Barnard yet again to deliver a second five-fer of the match - his first ever ten-wicket haul - to reduce Somerset to 255-9 by close, with a lead of 278.  It's absolutely imperative that the Pears get that last wicket early tomorrow and keep the total needed below 300. It'll still take a titanic batting performance on a third-day pitch to get anywhere near that, but psychologically, we need that crucial boost.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: With just the second ball of the day, Ed Barnard took his eleventh wicket of the match to dismiss Somerset without adding to their overnight score, but sadly, that was as good as it got for the Pears on an awful Sunday. No less than six batsmen came and went before lunch as the ball zipped around and claimed one victim after another. Some of it was pure bad luck, such as a dubious LBW decision against Joe Clarke, but some of it was very, very poor shot selection in the circumstances.

Afternoon: The tail wagged a little for Worcestershire - enough to reduce the deficit to two figures - but sadly, not enough to save a game that was gone with the new ball.

Worcestershire LOSE by eighty-three runs

The Verdict: To look at the scorecard, the simple difference between the two teams was Somerset having two batsmen - Renshaw in the first innings, Hildreth in the second - who stuck at the crease for long enough in difficult conditions to cobble together a century. For the second weekend in a row the Pears top order has been blown away in both innings, and that bodes very, very ill for the season ahead. Add to that the fact that Hildreth was dropped no less than four times in the match, and it's clear where the problems lie. We can bemoan bad luck, and there was plenty of it this weekend, but a team who get the basics wrong will be punished for it.

The sole ray of light is the one-man cricket machine that is Ed Barnard, showing some serious Division One pedigree. The young man is currently flying high in the wicket-taking table for the division, being kept off top spot only by Jake Ball and Harry Gurney. If the rest of the team can up their game to his standard, there may yet be hope.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The first home fixture of the season has been given the green light after tireless work to drain and clean up the flooded New Road pitch, and so on Friday, Worcestershire welcome Nottinghamshire to town.

Fellow returnees to Division One, Notts have made a slightly better start to 2018 than the Pears, though their opening win against Lancs was followed by defeat against Yorkshire last weekend. Though it's been a tricky winter for the East Midlanders with Chris Read and Michael Lumb retiring, Alex Hales dedicating himself to the white-ball game and Paul Coughlin suffering an injury that puts him out of contention, Notts have the strength in depth to cope, and both Ball and Gurney have been devastating for them in the last fortnight.

For Worcestershire, points are the order of the day. We need at least a draw to get the wheels turning, but preferably a win. We can dream of a team of Ed Barnards, but until we get the cloning machine up and running, a few Pears players simply need to take a leaf out of the young all-rounder's book.

We're forecast torrential rain on Friday, and there's a strong possibility of no play. The rest of the weekend is, to say the least, likely to be as unpredictable on earth as it is in the heavens.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Nottinghamshire

Day Three

Morning: After two full days were washed out, the Pears wasted no time whatsoever in diving head-first into a hole on Sunday morning as they collapsed to 110 all out in a single session. Joe Clarke came out with a little credit, playing good counter-attacking shots in tricky conditions to make his 42.

Afternoon: And yet again, on a pitch that Worcestershire made to look like a minefield, the opposition excelled. Some of it was probably bad luck - many an edge was flying high or falling short rather than going to hand - but some of it was also sloppy line and length, handing out easy four-balls where the Notts seam attack had ruthlessly hit the mark time and again. By tea, Notts were five runs short of first-innings parity and only two wickets down.

Evening: A better final session from the home side, who managed to take four more Notts wickets for less than a hundred runs, including three for skipper Joe Leach, leaving the visitors 204-6 at close of play, with a healthy lead of 94. Tomorrow will be a long game of cat-and-mouse with the weather, but I'd expect Notts to come out swinging in the morning with the aim of piling on as many as they can before lunch, before backing themselves to see off the Pears in the last two sessions, rain permitting. I wouldn't bet against them managing it, too. Some guts, some spine and a whole lot of precipitation needed on the morrow.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Morning: As expected, the Notts tail started biffing shots all over the shop, and though three further wickets fell in the first hour, the innings ended with a declaration on 300-9, with a lead of 190. With only ten overs left before lunch, the Pears desperately needed to see off the new ball and end the session unscathed, but instead the first three wickets fell in quick succession, leaving Tom Fell and Travis Head to try and clean up the mess.

Afternoon: And it was all over by tea, with the last seven wickets falling in one session.

Worcestershire LOSE by an innings and forty-one runs

The Verdict: There's really no papering over the cracks of a match where the home team slides to an innings defeat with a session to spare after the first two days were washed out. The Notts bowling attack was tremendous, but Worcestershire right now can't buy a decent partnership at the crease. Every wicket we take seems to require a load of toil, and every wicket we lose goes cheaply. With Surrey up next, it's genuinely difficult to see where the first win of 2018 is going to come from.

[themaclad]

Don't worry still have to play us and it will get drier, Notts have a useful fast attack will exploit conditions like we have now

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Problem is, these conditions should theoretically favour our seam bowlers too, but they're already making hard going of it. Drier pitches in weeks ahead will give our batsmen a better chance, but at the cost of blunting our bowling attack even more.

Hey ho, there's always the one-dayers

[themaclad]

Ah the law of sod kicks in