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Worcestershire County Cricket Club

County Champions: 1964, 1965, 1974, 1988, 1989
One-Day Champions: 1991, 1994
T20 Champions: 2018

2022 Season

It's that wonderful time of year again. Peter's cathedral soars, Severn gleams blue and wide beyond the score-box, and with the fierce midday sun upon the ground, through heat-haze comes the wary sound of bat on ball. The Bob Willis Trophy - well-intentioned but unnecessary after 2020 - has been scrapped, the County Championship has been restored in its two-division glory, and for the first time in three years Worcestershire will be fighting for promotion.

2021 was a disappointment across the board, with few redeeming moments in any format.  Moreover, with departures galore - the retirement of Daryl Mitchell, the triple-exit of Riki Wessels, Ross Whiteley and Alex Milton - the county will be embarking on this campaign with a markedly different side to that which last competed in Division Two way back in September 2019. At the top of the batting order, Jake Libby will now take Mitch's place as the first to the crease each innings, and though the returning Ed Pollock has partnered him through the warm-up games, it's highly likely that Pakistan veteran and overseas signing Azhar Ali will fulfil that role in the season proper. Despite a very iffy first summer at New Road, it would appear that Gareth Roderick is currently favoured as number three in place of the struggling Tom Fell, while Jack Haynes should continue developing into a fine top-order batsman at four. In the middle order, new skipper Brett D'Oliveira will have a lot to prove, but Ed Barnard seems set to continue his evolution into a batting all-rounder at number six. As a back-up option, Taylor Cornall arrived from Lancashire last autumn and will have the chance to impress in the seconds with one eye on the first XI in future.

Batting was far from the only problem in 2021, with the county simply struggling to take twenty wickets week in, week out. Now relieved of the captaincy, it'll be up to Joe Leach to lead from the front and better his tally of 38 this time round, supported by Dillon Pennington as he continues to evolve into a prime new-ball bowler, the canny Charlie Morris and young Adam Finch. How much we'll see of yesteryear's wunderkind Josh Tongue - utterly plagued by injury in his career to date - remains to be seen, but spin revelation Josh Baker will undoubtedly be looking forward to his first full campaign after emerging with tons of promise in midsummer 2021. After losing Wayne Parnell the attack looked somewhat samey last year, and the county have sought to address that issue by signing left-armer Ben Gibbon from Lancashire; of course, once his IPL commitments are done we can also expect Moeen Ali to parachute in for a few high summer cameos.

The white-ball game will see another chance to shine for Pat Brown, who missed the 2021 Blast with back trouble. When he departs for Birmingham Phoenix, there'll be ample opportunity for Mitchell Stanley in the One-Day Cup. It's a tough division this year with some big dogs in the race, but after last summer, expectations are fairly moderate to say the least. Promotion is probably a pipe dream this time around, but if Dolly can inspire the team to cobble together a few wins and put 2021 well behind them, that'll be a start. Come on you Pears.

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Thursday morning sees Worcestershire open their campaign with a first Championship visit to Grace Road since April 2019. There was very little between the teams in 2021, with Leicestershire's final-day defeat at New Road allowing the Pears to leapfrog the Foxes into 3rd place in the third division, but after a poor summer for both sides there was nothing except pride at stake. Not so at the beginning of 2022: while the two counties are clear outsiders for promotion, there's nothing like a winning start to the campaign to build momentum and kindle a few ambitious dreams.

Whenever there are rumblings about reducing the number of first-class counties, Leicestershire are one of the first names mooted for the chop, but it appears they're making serious efforts to build a competitive red-ball team: captain Colin Ackermann leads a batting unit featuring former Pear George Rhodes, last season's top-scorer Lewis Hill and South African all-rounder Wiaan Mulder in an overseas slot, while Hassan Azad at the top of the order boasts an imposing first-class average of 39.33. With the ball, overseas man Beuran Hendricks will spearhead the Foxes attack, backed by veteran Chris Wright, while right-arm quick Will Davis impressed with 3-37 against Leeds/Bradford UCCE. 2021 was also the summer that Matt Parkinson's lesser-spotted brother Callum finally made his mark on the Championship with a 50-wicket haul: it effectively doubled his first-class career tally, and Simon Harmer was the only spinner to bag more. While it may be a bit early in the year to see Parky in full effect, he'll remain an asset to the hosts with an old ball in hand.

It'll be a week of firsts for Worcestershire, with Dolly leading the Pears as full-time skipper for the first time, while Azhar Ali looks set to make his debut and Ed Pollock may join him for a first-ever Championship appearance, having been utilised purely as a white-ball player in his Edgbaston years. There's no place in the squad for Tom Fell or Josh Tongue, but otherwise everything is as you'd expect for this all-important curtain-raiser.

Probable Worcestershire XI: Libby, Ali, Roderick, Haynes, D'Oliveira, Barnard, Cox, Baker, Leach, Pennington, Morris

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County Championship, Division Two

vs Leicestershire

Day One

Morning: Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bat on a blustery, wet and unconscionably chilly Thursday morning in Leicester; a day that screamed April 7th from the grey Midland rooftops. There were eyebrows raised among the Pears faithful at the decision of Brett D'Oliveira to bat in the most thunderingly obvious bowling conditions since the Spanish Armada persuaded Francis Drake to hit the lawn and lob a few underarmers, but with the first session lost entirely to rain, there was a chance it might prove a wise and far-sighted choice later on.

Afternoon: Yet more frustration as the showers came and went with vernal regularity, prompting many an optimistic pitch inspection after half an hour's sunshine and a few promises that play would commence in fifteen minutes, only for the rain to sweep gleefully over Leicester again. No play possible, and an early tea taken.

Evening: At long last, the players took the field at ten past four, and at long last, the decision to bat transpired to be as infinitely deranged as it had seemed at half past ten. Ed Pollock was the first casualty of conditions, his Championship debut curtailed by a wicked ball from Chris Wright that swung back and beat his belated defence for just 5. But it wasn't just the weather against Worcs, as highly anticipated new man Azhar Ali demonstrated an early penchant for suicidally risky singles that proved his undoing at the second attempt, run out for 2 in a distinctly Laurel & Hardy fashion. With the dark clouds massing once more, there was time for Jack Haynes to be rather harshly adjudged LBW for 7 on the final ball before rain intervened yet again, and at 32-3 the teams left the field. The resumption at half past five saw Jake Libby foxed by a Wright delivery that he edged to third slip for 27, and with the visitors 45-4 it all seemed like an old familiar tale. But in spirited defence of his decision to bat, Dolly pulled out a captain's innings in the remaining ninety minutes of play to steady the ship with Ed Barnard, reaching stumps - with a couple of deserved lucky escapes - on a slightly healthier 118-4.

That partnership just about nudged the balance of play towards equilibrium after a storming Leicestershire start, but the rebuild must continue well into tomorrow if Worcs are to seize the initiative in this curtain-raiser.

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Day Two

Morning: Friday was a little sunnier and milder than its predecessor, and Ed Barnard was able to complete his half-century with a cover-drive off Beuran Hendricks before being pinned LBW by Ed Barnes for 57. Barnes then doubled up with the quick wicket of Ben Cox, caught behind for 6, and with the Pears 155-6 the innings felt fragile again. It was again down to Brett D'Oliveira, soldiering on to his half-century, to rebuild alongside the incoming Joe Leach who showed no shortage of counter-attacking intent at the crease. That partnership successfully brought up the first batting point and survived to lunch on 205-6; a session that Worcester shaded with 87 scored for the loss of 2 wickets, but with plenty still to do to put a good score on the board.

Afternoon: As the ball and pitch alike slowly lost all menace, the partnership accelerated and made Leicestershire toil hard in the field. Having shown due caution playing himself in, Dolly was increasingly happy to exhibit his natural game as the session wore on, skipping down the wicket to club Callum Parkinson down the ground for six before completing the hundred partnership with a splendid four off the back foot. For his part, Leach showed no shortage of aggression in reaching his fifty, but with a century very much there for the taking, he attempted to sweep Colin Ackermann and was caught rather tamely at deep midwicket for 70. Dolly pressed on regardless, slashing Hendricks for four through cover-point to complete his ninth first-class century - and, in the circumstances, probably his finest - but new man Josh Baker never looked comfortable against the new ball, and after a string of questionable shots he eventually departed to a somewhat harsh LBW decision for 15. Tea was taken with Worcestershire 326-8, having put on 121 runs for 2 wickets in an afternoon that was comfortably theirs.

Evening: The new ball continued to talk, proving too much for Charlie Morris when he was bowled by Ben Mike for 8 shortly after the interval. It was a signal for Dolly to find the boundary as much as he could, and the visitors were within two runs of a fourth batting point when Dillon Pennington was caught behind for 2 off Mike, breaking the lexically-satisfying Dilly-Dolly partnership and bringing the Pears innings to a close on 348. And under greying skies, with the temperature merrily plummeting, the new ball was no less lethal for the Worcs attack than for their opponents; attempting a leave, Sam Evans was bowled for 1 by Joe Leach in the third over of the reply, bringing George Rhodes to the crease. The former Pear may have wanted a memorable innings, but it proved memorable for all the wrong reasons when Charlie Morris found the edge off Rhodes's forward defensive, catapulting a sharp chance to third slip where it bounced off a set of cold fingers, looped up, and drew a cat-like reaction dive from Ben Cox, who snaffled it one-handed at full stretch barely an inch from the ground. Gone for a third-ball duck, Rhodes's erstwhile partner Hasan Azad then perished for 5 when Leach sent an edge straight to fourth slip, leaving Leicestershire 6-3. Like Worcs a day earlier, the Foxes then found a bit of stability in the remaining overs, closing on 42-3 when bad light intervened; a ray of light for them on what was indisputably their opponent's day.

The current partnership of Colin Ackermann and Lewis Hill is a huge one in the context of the match, and the Pears need to make the early overs count in the morning. If the first innings is any indication, wickets will prove hard to come by as the ball ages, so remaining patient and getting the ball in the right areas as the day wears on will be key.

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Day Three

Morning: Overnight frost heralded a nippy Saturday morn, though the sun was on show once again. The day wasn't three overs old when Joe Leach added to his Friday tally, rapping Colin Ackermann's pad just outside off-stump with no shot offered from the South African, who was obliged to depart LBW for 12. Lewis Hill continued to rattle along with a high strike rate, reaching his half-century off sixty-one balls as he attempted a rebuild with Harry Swindells, but the latter gifted a first wicket of the season to Ed Barnard when he got himself in a muddle and was bowled off an inside edge for 16, before the all-rounder struck again in his next over, drawing a false shot from Ben Mike that was caught at mid-on for 4. Lunch was taken with Leicestershire 128-6, having scored 86 for the loss of 3 wickets in the session; a fairly even morning in most circumstances, but a good one for the Pears in the context of the game.

Afternoon: The prize scalp came hot on the heels of the restart, and it was a first of the season for Dillon Pennington when Lewis Hill - who'd done enough at the crease to deserve a century - chopped on to his off-stump for 93. The home side's resistance crumbled somewhat from there, with Callum Parkinson LBW for 7 to Charlie Morris off the final ball of his over, then Ed Barnes leg-before for 23 to Leach off the final ball of the next. As the Foxes slumped to 165-9, still 34 short of the follow-on, Chris Wright and Beuran Hendricks did an admirable job of digging in over the next hour, frustrating the Worcs attack with some rock-solid defensive shots and a few assured boundaries. Having saved the follow-on with their heroic last stand and brought up a batting point to boot, Chris Wright got a touch greedy and tried to hoist Josh Baker down the ground on the stroke of tea, only to hole out for 32 and grant the young spinner his first scalp of the summer. Tea was thus taken in the innings break, with Worcestershire sitting on a handsome lead of 135.

Evening: If ever there was a show of intent on this cold Saturday, it was the sight of Ed Pollock slapping three deliveries to the boundary off the very first over of the second innings. It took just eight and a half overs for the Pears openers to compile an unbeaten partnership of fifty, and Pollock was the more aggressive of the pair, reaching his own half-century off forty-five balls with a back-to-back six and a four. Worcs were 125-0 by the time Jake Libby completed his fifty, and still the onslaught continued in the thin evening sunshine. Only when trying to force the run-rate higher still did Libby end up bowled for 75 by Ben Mike; that opened the door a little, and an attempt to sweep Callum Parkinson shortly after resulted in Azhar Ali perishing LBW for 1 in a debut to forget. There could scarcely have been a greater contrast as Pollock marked his own Pears and Championship debut by completing a 112-ball century minutes later, before holing out to Mike for an eventual 112. With no declaration in sight, Jack Haynes was caught at mid-on for a brisk 29, and new man Ed Barnard copped a golden duck as he was bowled attempting to make room for a square cut, leaving the Pears 234-5 as bad light forced a premature close.

The lead stands at 369 heading into the final day, and Dolly has the pleasant headache overnight of deciding whether that's a defendable total on a surface that might be growing a trifle placid, or if it's worth having five overs in the morning to put the win well beyond the reach of the hosts.

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Day Four

Morning: Sunday dawned with clear blue skies, and as 370 was deemed a sufficient target, the declaration came with no further ado. Bowling from the Pavilion End, Charlie Morris was the first to make the new ball talk, taking the edge of Sam Evans who was caught behind for 11, while from the Bennett End Dillon Pennington had George Rhodes caught at cover-point for 12. But it was the early introduction of Josh Baker that paid dividends for the Pears as the young left-armer accounted for Colin Ackermann edging to slip for 11, Lewis Hill LBW for 1 and Harry Swindells chopping on for a duck, leaving Leicestershire 82-5 at lunch and seemingly on the ropes.

Afternoon: Throughout a turbulent first session, opener Hassan Azad remained utterly composed, and completed his half-century shortly before two o'clock. His only concern was the possibility of running out of partners, as Ben Mike edged to first slip for 9 off Dillon Pennington, and then Josh Baker achieved career-best figures with his first four-wicket haul as he struck Ed Barnes on the back pad and dismissed him LBW for 15. But already there were signs of the pitch growing a little benign and the old ball offering little assistance; when the eighth-wicket partnership was an hour old, Dolly showed an inspired bit of captaincy in bringing Azhar Ali into the attack, and the Pakistani promptly redeemed his iffy contribution with the bat by having Callum Parkinson caught behind for 14 off his third delivery, sending the sides in for tea with the score 147-8 and the victory tantalisingly in reach.

Evening: But when the Grace Road wicket flattened, it flattened for good. The Pears enjoyed one final bit of luck at half past four when a Pennington delivery rapped Chris Wright on the pad and the tail-ender was adjudged leg-before for 15 despite the ball looking distinctly leg-sidish, but new man Beuran Hendricks - who had already looked a competent and assured batsman in the first innings - proved an immovable object at number eleven. The one half-chance he offered came when a quicker, shorter ball from Joe Leach hurried the South African into a mistimed defence that spooned up into the air, but landed safely on the leg-side between three stranded fielders. As Hassan Azad completed a magnificently tenacious six-hour century, one bowler after another tried their luck with the second new ball, and Azhar Ali nearly got the party started with an unexpected grubber that Hendricks barely slammed the bat down onto in the nick of time. Yet ultimately, the 154-ball last-stand heroes for the home side did more than enough to earn the handshake and the shared points when time finally ran out for Worcestershire at a quarter past six on a fantastic Sunday of Championship cricket.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: To draw a match from a position where just five more wickets were needed at lunch - then two more at tea, and one more for the final hour and three-quarters of the day - is never a good look, and there can be no doubting that Worcestershire were as disconsolate as Leicestershire were delighted at the close of play. If there are lessons to be learned or fingers to be pointed, the lack of some true pace in the attack to counter the increasingly lifeless pitch is up there, and too many of the Pears bowlers were guilty of some pretty aimless deliveries outside off as the overs ticked down, not forcing the Foxes batsmen to play at the ball and not even giving the tail-enders a bit of top-and-toes treatment now and then. But the loss of game time to rain and bad light, while unavoidable, is a legitimate excuse alongside the trouble-free last-day wicket; equally, it would be churlish not to praise the efforts of Hassan Azad and the Foxes tail-enders in occupying the crease when the chips were down. All in all, there were signs of promise in these three and a half days of cricket, with plenty for Dolly to be proud of in his first outing as captain, and a few indications that Worcestershire might just have what it takes to be in the mix this summer.

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Leading Run-Scorers

1. Brett D'Oliveira - 125 (N/A)
2. Ed Pollock - 117 (58.50)
3. Jake Libby - 102 (51.00)
4. Joe Leach - 70 (70.00)
5. Ed Barnard - 57 (28.50)


Leading Wicket-Takers

1. Josh Baker - 5 (16.80)
2. Dillon Pennington - 4 (18.25)
3. Joe Leach - 4 (20.25)
4. Charlie Morris - 3 (30.33)
5. Ed Barnard - 2 (41.00)

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After being given the entire Easter weekend off rather unnecessarily (and I think we can take a moment here to appreciate whatever genius at the ECB scheduled those counties who *did* play over Easter to start their matches on Maundy Thursday rather than, say, making the four days of play coincide with the four full days of public holiday), the Pears are back in action this week with a first fixture of the season at New Road. Sussex are the opponents, and going one better than a fortnight ago is the aim.

2021 was a notoriously controversial year for fans of the great seaside county, as they saw the big guns like Ben Brown, Phil Salt and Chris Jordan depart - hot on the heels of Danny Briggs, Michael Burgess, Laurie Evans, Reece Topley and Luke Wells - while their replacements were sourced from the local creche. With ten of their players at university age and three still at school, it was a brave statement of faith in the next generation, but also one that failed at least as often as it succeeded: last autumn, this same fixture saw Sussex dominate Worcestershire for three days only to fold like soggy chip-paper on the fourth. But at the age of 23, with 1000+ runs last summer and 300-odd in two weekends this year, new captain Tom Haines is already looking like a potential England saviour, and he's supported by incoming veterans Steven Finn and Fynn Hudson-Prentice alongside overseas men Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammad Rizwan. And if their season opener against Notts was a familiar old tale - Sussex were holding their own right up to the point when they suddenly weren't - a battling draw in Derby over Easter will undoubtedly have given the youngsters a bit of self-belief.

Meanwhile, in Peartown there's not too much of a post-mortem to be done on the Leicestershire draw; after hours and hours lost to rain and bad light - and here's as good a place as any to ask why on earth the ECB insists on extra overs being made up at the end of a day's play rather than the beginning, especially in April - Worcestershire just couldn't take the final wicket as the overs ticked away in the East Midlands. Moving forward, Azhar Ali will need to make amends with the bat to make up for a forgettable debut, but we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that Ed Pollock can go on exactly as he started. The weather's currently set fair all weekend, and the toss could be crucial, as there's no doubting the run-scoring potential of the Sussex boys if they get in early on a good wicket.

Probable Worcestershire XI: Libby, Pollock, Azhar, Haynes, D'Oliveira, Barnard, Cox, Baker, Leach, Pennington, Morris

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County Championship, Division Two

vs Sussex

Day One

Morning: Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bat on a sunny Thursday morning with a breath of summer in the breeze. The visitors, depleted by half a dozen injuries, had plenty of cause to rue the bad call as the Pears openers saw off the new ball with little concern and piled on the early runs. Ed Pollock had a let-off when a lusty leg-side blow was tipped over the rope at fine leg, but ultimately that six simply helped the new boy on his way to a 47-ball half-century. It was a more sedate showing from Jake Libby in contrast, who'd contributed barely an eighth of the partnership's tally when he was caught at first slip off Tom Haines for 11 at the end of the seventeenth over. That breakthrough proved the opening the Sussex captain needed, and he followed it up in his next over when an awkward back-foot forcing shot from Pollock was caught at backward point for 77. Then just before the twenty-over mark, it became three wickets for ten runs with Jack Haynes caught for 2 at square leg off George Burrows, and at 95-3 there was a familiar sinking feeling over New Road. For the second time this month, skipper Brett D'Oliveira had to lead from the front in shepherding the Pears to lunch, helped by Azhar Ali; when the interval came at 118-3 it was the end of a fairly even session, though the steadied ship and volume of runs perhaps shaded it a little in Worcestershire's favour.

Afternoon: Hope remained alive for the visitors courtesy of their captain, as the afternoon was scarcely a few overs old when Azhar was adjudged LBW to Haines for 20, bringing Ed Barnard to the crease. It could have been worse as Dolly was dropped at first slip on 19 by Tom Alsop, and the skipper went on to punish the seasiders for the error, completing his half-century by three o'clock, with Barnard reaching the same milestone shortly before tea was taken on 254-4. 136 runs for just 1 wicket and two batting points in the bag, in a session that unquestionably belonged to the Pears.

Evening: More of the same in the gentle evening sunlight, and if Sussex were perhaps guilty of waiting for the new ball to go on the attack, then it's a testament to the skill of the set batsmen and the weakness of the away side's armoury - reliant as it was on two emergency loanees and some sub-par spin from Delray Rawlins - that they were forced onto the defensive so long before the eighty-over mark. But the new nut reaped a reward on the fifth delivery when Barnard fell LBW to Grant Stewart for 75, visibly annoyed with himself for not sticking out the day. That scalp perhaps forced Dolly to grow a little more circumspect in the final hour, and the captain stretched his nervous nineties out for an unconscionable time in the face of tight bowling and excellent close fielding by Sussex, but a few minutes after the cathedral's bourdon bell tolled six, the skipper flicked Henry Crocombe off his pads for a single and commenced a Forrest Gump-esque celebration sprint down the wicket in honour of his tenth first-class ton. There were no further alarms as the Pears ambled to a comfortable close on 338-5; by far the most prolific scorers in the country on a generally run-starved Championship day, and very well set to take maximum batting points on Friday.