[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

I suspect experience will prove the difference on the day, but it's great to be there at all. Looking forward to it.

If we were offered a guaranteed win in one game and a guaranteed defeat in the other, I don't know whether I'd sacrifice this week's Championship game against Lancs for a spot in the T20 final or not...

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Lancashire

Day One

Morning: Worcestershire won a contested toss and elected to bat on a cool, overcast morning in Southport. Runs on the board on a likely-to-deteriorate out-ground pitch was clearly the plan, but it remained a questionable decision for a good part of the day as wickets tumbled. Both Tom Fell - steadily regaining form since being promoted to opener - and Joe Clarke provided useful knocks before departing, but it was Dolly who supplied comfortably his best innings of the season, having dropped himself down to the middle-order, battling to get the Pears through to lunch on 98-4.

Afternoon: As the skies brightened, Lancs continued to chip away with disciplined bowling on a pitch offering movement, and when Dolly was caught at first slip for an excellent 65 it was up to the tail to push the visitors up to a respectable score. Ed Barnard dug in to act as the anchor as Worcs reached 199-8 at tea.

Evening: With a few classy shots from Josh Tongue, Worcestershire earned a much-needed batting point and clawed their way up to 220 before being bowled out; a score that put pressure on the bowling attack to perform from the word go. Fortunately they did just that, with young Tongue again the hero as he struck twice in his first over to remove Haseeb Hameed and Rob Jones for a duck apiece, leaving the home side 4-2. Steven Croft followed shortly thereafter, with Wayne Parnell performing his now-habitual trick of taking a wicket right at the end of a sustained spell of god-awful bowling, but from there Lancashire counter-attacked with a strong fourth-wicket partnership. It required a moment of supreme good fortune for Tongue to deflect a straight drive onto the non-striker's stumps and thus run out Dane Vilas, before supplying two in a single over for the second time in the session by removing Alex Davies LBW just two balls later. There was no further excitement as Lancs closed on 96-5 with honours more or less even, though Worcestershire perhaps shaded the day with the two late wickets. Jordan Clark will be the prize scalp to take in the morning, as Lancashire will come out knowing that one good partnership in this cat-and-mouse game will wrest the momentum right back in their favour.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: Another bright day at Trafalgar Road, another bonanza of falling wickets. Worcestershire mopped up the remainder of the Lancs batting order as Josh Tongue continued his triumphant return from injury, completing his five-fer with Jordan Clark the last man to fall. The home side were 161 all out, giving the Pears a more-than-handy lead of 61 on a tricky pitch, but there were twists aplenty to come. Before the interval, Daryl Mitchell was trapped LBW, Joe Clarke was bowled and Tom Fell caught at point, all off the bowling of Tom Bailey, leaving Worcestershire 44-3 at lunch and in danger of letting the advantage slip.

Afternoon: There was time for things to get a little worse as Dolly edged one behind just minutes into the afternoon session, reducing Worcs to a troubling 56-4. However, the going got a fair bit easier as the day progressed, and a handsome 61-run partnership between Alex Milton and Ben Cox, before both fell to the spin of Maharaj, helped lift the visitors to 159-6 at tea with a lead of 220 and counting.

Evening: And the tail wagged for Worcestershire in the final session, not with any great fireworks but rather with some gritty and dogged knocks. Foremost among them was a half-century from Wayne Parnell, who sadly lost his concentration and departed the ball after the milestone. Ed Barnard was a bit guilty of going into T20 mode when there was no real need, falling on 24, while Josh Tongue (who really can do no wrong in this match) unleashed some fine shots which suggest he's evolved into a very handy tail-ender since last season. The Pears were eventually bowled out for 252, setting Lancashire a total of 314 to win. The Red Rose made it through the last three overs in the dying light to reach stumps on 8-0, needing 306 more. Worcestershire have to be favourites from here, but there's some suggestion that the pitch might be flattening out, with less to offer the seamers. Lancs gave Surrey a real run for their money last week, and though the Pears will back their spinners to come good on a third-day wicket, this could yet prove a close call.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: In a chaotic first session, the run-out of nightwatchman Toby Lester was the first blow to be struck by the Pears, but it wasn't until Ed Barnard removed both Hameed and Jones in a single over that the pendulum began to swing in Worcestershire's favour. Davies was caught behind off the bowling of Dillon Pennington shortly after, and with the hosts four down at the session's end, everything looked rosy.

Afternoon: But sadly, the pitch was losing all of its bite and spark from the first two days, and the Pears toiled for wickets after lunch. Croft was dismissed by Josh Tongue as he began to look dangerous, and after taking some real punishment, Ben Twohig coaxed Jordan Clark into one too many big shots. Sadly, that was to be the last wicket Worcestershire would take in the match, as Dane Vilas and Josh Bohannon settled into a dogged and match-winning partnership.

Evening: Desperation crept in after tea, with four wickets still needed and the lead whittled down to double figures. Daryl Mitchell was brought into the attack for little apparent reason other than a sheer throw of the dice, but leaked boundaries left, right and centre. Half-chances came and went: a slip-catch didn't go to hand, a top-edge fell between fielders in the deep, a top-edge was adjudged to have been off the forearm of Vilas, and when the new ball was taken, it simply made the boundaries so much easier to come by. Something of a blessing, in the end, for the Pears to be put out of their hours-long misery.

Worcestershire LOSE by four wickets

The Verdict: A heartbreaking and demoralising defeat for Worcestershire, who dominated for large spells of the match and finished each of the previous two days on top, only to see it slip away in the last two sessions as the bowling attack simply ran out of ideas against an admirably stubborn Lancashire middle-order on a dead pitch. If relegation ensues, the team have to look at this match and the one against Essex in May as two games when defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory, costing a turnaround of dozens of points, and all for the want of one or two cannier heads on the field.

The last word belongs to Kevin Sharp, who says the boys will sulk for an hour or two and then go again versus Hants next week. Here's hoping they can learn to press home a narrow advantage before then.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Hampshire

Day One

Morning: Hampshire won a contested toss and elected to bat on a gloomy autumn morning at New Road. The visitors made a cautious start, but equally, Worcestershire were guilty of not making the best of the conditions as Joe Weatherley was the only wicket to fall in the first hour. Josh Tongue removed Jimmy Adams around the stroke of noon to even things up a little, but Hants would have been happy at 80-2.

Afternoon: Just like the corresponding fixture in April, the Pears hit their stride after lunch, and the visitors collapsed. Ed Barnard was the undisputed hero of the hour, bulldozing the Hants middle-order with no less than six wickets - his second six-fer of 2018 - as the southerners collapsed from 83-2 to 126-8. Frustratingly, and not for the first time, the tail wagged right in Worcestershire's face from there, and before Wayne Parnell claimed the last two wickets, the score had risen to a highly competitive 191.

Evening: And the Pears learnt just how competitive a score 191 was upon commencing their innings after tea. Of the top-order batsmen, only Daryl Mitchell made it into double figures, but was caught and bowled by Fidel Edwards shortly before bad light stopped play. Worcestershire were 68-4 at close with Dolly and Coxy at the crease, and desperately need just one big partnership tomorrow to get within touching distance of parity.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: The weather improved, but the pitch didn't, and when three wickets fell in the space of nine balls early doors, the jig was up for Worcestershire. Wayne Parnell provided a quickfire 21 to help the Pears up to 120 all out, but Hants emerged for their second innings with a lead of 71. Both openers went early to the bowling of Josh Tongue to give Worcs a glimmer of hope at lunch.

Afternoon: When the home side reduced Hants to 25-4, there was a chance of staying in the match, but sadly a knock of 64 from Tom Alsop carried the visitors to a safe margin as the Pears failed to press the advantage. By tea, Hampshire were all out for 176, setting Worcestershire 248 to win.

Evening: And it just got worse and worse as Daryl Mitchell was caught at slip for a golden duck off the first ball of the innings, prompting a full-on collapse. In truth, there was little the Worcs batsmen could do against some wicked fast bowling, and though a hard-fought 33 from Joe Clarke was the only double-figure score in the top order, most of the players really did their damnedest to survive the onslaught. At close the Pears were 120-8 with Ross Whiteley unbeaten on 37, and it'll require something utterly miraculous from him and Wayne Parnell to chase down the 128 still needed. Realistically, it's game over and season over.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: And, despite a bit of wet weather and the finest efforts of the tail-enders, it was all done within an hour.

Worcestershire LOSE by one hundred and fourteen runs

The Verdict: That thumping win at Scarborough now feels so much longer than a fortnight ago, and sadly, these last two results have pretty much condemned Worcs to relegation. It's more or less reached the point where three wins from three are required, and the first up is Surrey next week.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Surrey

Day One

Morning: Worcestershire won a contested toss and elected to bat on a mildly overcast morning. Surrey bowled incredibly well, and when Daryl Mitchell was caught at third slip for 13 early on, it looked like a familiar story for the home side. However, in difficult conditions Tom Fell and Ollie Westbury shepherded the Pears through to lunch with nine wickets still in hand.

Afternoon: Sadly, there was a minor collapse after the interval that saw Westbury bowled, Joe Clarke come and go for a three-ball duck, and Fell finally depart for a gritty and well-made 69. When Alex Milton was caught behind for 7, Worcestershire were 165-5 and struggling. However, Ross Whiteley and Ed Barnard got the Pears through to tea without further loss.

Evening: The partnership flourished in the final session as the two set batsmen took an aggressive approach to the old ball, and though Whiteley departed to a leading edge at gully for 91 - his highest score at New Road in any format of cricket - Barnard remained 63 not out when bad light stopped play. Worcestershire were 288-6 at close, having had the better of the day, and will look to break 300 tomorrow and push for 350+; however, some good bowling will nevertheless be required to maintain the advantage over a Surrey side on an eight-game winning streak since they last played Worcs.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: No play possible due to rain.

Afternoon: When the match finally resumed, Ed Barnard was dismissed without adding to his overnight score before Worcs could limp over the 300 mark. With three batting points in the bag, Wayne Parnell scored a decent 42 to help lift the Pears up to 336 all out before reducing Surrey to 4-2 in two balls of his first over. However, despite Ollie Pope being dropped at slip, there was no further loss as the visitors steadied the ship and made it to the interval 36-2.

Evening: An enthralling final session ensued as Surrey attempted to pull away, only for Worcestershire to hit back with occasional wickets. Wayne Parnell continued his good performance by having Ollie Pope caught behind for 48, and an hour later Ben Twohig removed Will Jacks to leave the visitors 135-4. However, Rory Burns continued to score freely as he made his way to a hard-fought century, and it was looking like Surrey's day overall until Worcestershire evened it up with the two late wickets of Rikki Clarke and Tom Curran. 213-6 at close, with Burns still at the crease and Ben Foakes yet to bat, the game is very much in the balance. The weather's set fair from here on, and no prizes for guessing what the prize wicket will be in the morning. Any first-innings lead at all would be a boon for the Pears.

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Day Three

Morning: An exquisite early autumn morning at New Road, and despite a poor start, Josh Tongue made the breakthrough after a quarter of an hour by bowling Morne Morkel as Surrey slumped to 268 all out, granting Worcestershire a handy first-innings lead of 68. That lead was extended as Daryl Mitchell and Tom Fell made it through to lunch without loss.

Afternoon: Mitch was caught at slip shortly after the interval for 15, but the session belonged to Tom Fell, who played his best innings of the season to reach 89 before he was bowled by Morkel just before tea. At 157-4 things still looked healthy for the Pears, but sadly it was the beginning of the end.

Evening: If (or rather when) relegation comes, it'll be a result of those isolated sessions when catastrophe struck and undid all of the good work. The evening session was precisely one of those moments, as the Pears collapsed to 203 all out under the onslaught of Morne Morkel. Any hopes that the pitch might have grown more difficult to play on were frustratingly dispelled as the Surrey openers made it to stumps without loss. 70-0 overnight, with just 202 runs needed for the visitors, Worcestershire have yet again gone from having the advantage in a match to needing a miracle to win.