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County Championship, Division Two

vs Glamorgan

New Road, Worcester

Back to back defeats against New Zealand and Hampshire - the latter a desperately close-run thing that hinged on an ill-judged big hit from Jake Libby with thirteen balls to go - brought the white-ball summer to a sad conclusion, and nothing now remains but to go great guns in our three remaining Championship matches.

Day One: Glamorgan won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a baking Sunday morning that heralded an unlikely early-September heatwave. Perhaps mindful of how early moisture assists bowlers on the banks of the Severn at the season's extremes, and how many first-innings collapses New Road witnessed in the One-Day Cup (including their own), the Welshmen got to work and were rewarded with three quickfire morning wickets as the Worcs top order struggled against the movement of the new ball, but Gareth Roderick survived a drop at slip to shepherd the Pears to lunch on a respectable 72-3. Yet he departed LBW immediately after the resumption for 43, while Kashif Ali and Adam Hose fell to poor shots on 9 and 43 respectively, again tilting the balance in Glamorgan's favour early in the session. It required a patient rebuild by returning skipper Brett D'Oliveira and Logan van Beek - the latter making his first Championship half-century for the county - to take the Pears to tea on 202-6, pulling the match right back to even stevens. The sun perhaps gave the century partnership a helping hand, but there was enough in the pitch to continue causing problems for the tail, and Van Beek fell caught and bowled to Kiran Carlson for 53 immediately after the milestone, leaving Essex loanee Ben Allison (playing in his home county's trousers, emblem and all) to support Dolly to his fifty in the course of a half-century stand, before he chopped on for 37. From there the end came rapidly, and Dolly was stranded on an unbeaten 74 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 284, with Glamorgan weathering two overs to close on 3-0.

Day Two: An indian summer continued to roast the West Midlands, but the morning moisture at New Road played its part as ever; Joe Leach set the tone with the second ball of the day, producing some outswing from a full ball to have Eddie Byrom caught at first slip for 1, then had Zain ul Hassan caught behind. James Harris went LBW to Dillon Pennington to put the shine on the first half-hour with the new ball, and the departing quick had Sam Northeast caught at slip for 7 to keep Glamorgan on the ropes before Logan van Beek wrapped up a productive session with his first Pears Championship wicket, Colin Ingram edging to slip for 30. 101-5 at lunch, the score continued to mirror Worcestershire's innings with a first for Ben Allison after the break seeing off Carlson for 24 and reducing the visitors to 101-6, followed by a rebuild; however, Glamorgan's middle order couldn't extend their recovery as far as Worcestershire had, and after making the breakthrough on 163-7 with Chris Cooke caught behind for 44, Van Beek ran through the tail like a steam train, skittling the Welshmen for 170 and finishing with four-fer. But the Pears weren't to have everything their way in the three-hour evening session; losing Rodders LBW to the first ball, the hosts went slow and steady until 81-2, which soon became 90-3, 97-4, 116-7 and 121-8 as the middle order collapsed against a lively bowling spell from Harris and Ul Hassan. Closing on 127-8 with a lead of 241, all question of killing the game off with a huge total was gone; it only remained to be seen whether the pitch would continue to offer enough assistance to make the current target enough.

Day Three: With pears ripening symbolically on the trees during another day of rich sunshine, a couple of early boundaries were enough to carry Worcs to 145 all out, setting Glamorgan a stiff 260 to win. Just how stiff became apparent when Leach had Eddie Byrom LBW for a duck, Van Beek had Colin Ingram caught at slip for 14, Allison bowled Zain ul Hassan and Van Beek had the incoming Kiran Carlson LBW for a duck, leaving the visitors 49-4 at lunch. A couple of middle order partnerships in the afternoon threatened to make a game of it, but each time a stand got going, a crucial wicket fell; the huge wicket of Sam Northeast was snaffled low at first slip for 30 off Leach, while Allison had Chris Cooke caught for 12 at third slip making it 129-6. That became 130-7 courtesy of Van Beek - or rather, courtesy of Ben Kellaway's dubious footballing skills as he tried to kick away a ball trickling back towards the stumps and completely miscued, earning himself a pair for the match - and while Billy Root continued to fight with the highest innings of the match, he simply ran out of partners as Pennington had James Harris caught at second slip for 14 and Leach saw the injured Timm van der Gugten caught at first slip. One wicket short of victory but behind on the over rate, a slightly ludicrous passage of play followed as the Worcs spinners came on to rattle through a harmless ten minutes of swift deliveries batted back to the bowler - the County Championship par excellence - but it was only a matter of time until victory came, and with his second four-fer of the match, Logan van Beek was, fittingly, the man for the job.

Worcestershire WIN by eighty runs

The Verdict: Glamorgan have been a sharp and persistent thorn in Worcestershire's side for many a year now, and this first win against them for four years is also our third on the trot in the Championship, leaving us in 2nd place 24 points clear of Leics (who have a game in hand). It's far from job done, with Durham and a resurgent Yorkshire our last two opponents of 2023, but this has already been Worcestershire's finest red-ball campaign since 2017, and like the belated heatwave, we're just basking in every minute of it.

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Leading Run-Scorers

1. Jake Libby - 955 (53.05)
2. Gareth Roderick - 639 (31.95)
3. Azhar Ali - 575 (26.13)
4. Matthew Waite - 565 (35.31)
5. Adam Hose - 562 (31.22)


Leading Wicket-Takers

1. Joe Leach - 46 (27.02)
2. Adam Finch - 28 (25.71)
3. Matthew Waite - 26 (31.34)
4. Dillon Pennington - 23 (23.43)
5. Ben Gibbon - 18 (40.27)

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Leading List A Run-Scorers

1. Jake Libby - 397 (66.16)
2. Rob Jones - 366 (45.75)
3. Kashif Ali - 353 (50.42)
4. Gareth Roderick - 253 (42.16)
5. Azhar Ali - 211 (42.20)


Leading List A Wicket-Takers

1. Josh Baker - 17 (23.88, econ 5.33)
2. Dillon Pennington - 13 (27.30, econ 5.71)
3. Logan Van Beek - 10 (22.50, econ 5.37)
4. Pat Brown - 9 (23.44, econ 6.39)
5. Brett D'Oliveira - 7 (20.28, econ 5.60)

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County Championship, Division Two

vs Durham

New Road, Worcester

Day One

Morning: No play possible due to rain.

Afternoon: No play possible due to rain.

Evening: Durham won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a thoroughly autumnal Tuesday in the Midlands. But any assistance they hoped to gain from conditions was blunted by positive play from the Worcs openers, and Gareth Roderick helped himself to a 73-ball half-century before perishing to the very next ball from Bas de Leede, playing across the line to a yorker that rearranged the stumps. Nevertheless, he was the only casualty of a session in which Jake Libby became the sixth Pears batsman this century to reach 1000 Championship runs twice, though he had a stroke of fortune surviving a narrow run-out on the way. 104-1 at close, the truncated day belonged to Worcestershire, and though further play is highly unlikely tomorrow, the quest for bonus points will be pressing when the innings is resumed; with Leicestershire pushing hard against Yorkshire, nothing can be taken for granted this week.

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Day Three

Morning: With Wednesday entirely washed out, Worcestershire resumed on 104-1 on a sunny Thursday morn and kicked off with a Jake Libby half-century completed off the fifth ball of the day; alas, the opener departed on 57, and in what could be his final New Road innings, Jack Haynes made a brisk 35 before being bowled by Paul Coughlin. Adam Hose managed only 4 before a blow to the forearm forced his retirement, and the curse of the umpires then struck as the men in white coats kept the teams out in a gathering shower for just long enough to lose Azhar Ali for 25, caught at cover. An early lunch was taken with the Pears 179-4.

Afternoon: No play possible due to rain.

Evening: As Leicestershire polished off Yorkshire at Grace Road and then set about taking a first-innings lead, frustration grew at New Road until at last play resumed at half past three. The boundaries flowed till Worcs were on the verge of their first bonus point, when Kashif Ali edged Bas de Leede to first slip for 22, and the same bowler proceeded to see off new man Logan van Beek LBW for 6. The Pears stuck at it, with another dogged and occasionally dashing fifty from Brett D'Oliveira notching up two bonus points before the skipper was bowled by a corking leg-break from Matt Parkinson on 63. With the new ball taken the end came in the space of four balls, Ben Allison going for 22 and Dillon Pennington for a duck to finish the innings on 313 and close off the last few permutations that might have allowed Worcs to deny Durham their well-earned title. They closed on 10-0, and Friday promises to be a fascinating day of possibilities around the country; if Yorkshire can shut out Leics for at least a couple of sessions, then Worcs should be happy to chase the bowling points on offer and take the draw that will put promotion just a rubber stamp away. But if the Tykes collapse and hand the Foxes a low-scoring win to put the cat among the pigeons, we might just see some gentlemanly declarations made at New Road in aid of reaching a positive result...

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Day Four

Morning: On the eve of the equinox, sun and rain were evident in equal measure across the Midlands, and an early run-out of Michael Jones gifted Worcestershire a much-needed breakthrough. But only one further wicket fell, Ben Allison continuing his excellent loan spell as he dismissed Alex Lees LBW for 60 to send Durham in 114-2 at lunch.

Afternoon: Allison again struck to end a lengthy partnership when he bowled David Bedingham for 39 to secure the first bowling point, but again it was Durham's session, and tea was taken on 324-3; the consolation around New Road being that early Yorkshire resilience and rain at Grace Road vastly reduced the need for the Pears to accomplish anything of significance on this lazy Friday.

Evening: And indeed, nothing further was added to the points column for Worcestershire in the shortened final session, though there was time for Kashif Ali to take his maiden first-class wicket as Ollie Robinson attempted to smash him down the ground. At 371-4 the louring clouds let loose on Worcester, and handshakes were sensibly taken between the two counties who will almost certainly meet again in Division One in 2024.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: The news from Leicester of the weather denying the Foxes a win leaves Worcestershire 22 points clear going into the final week, and it would require not only a total Frank Spencering from the Pears at Headingley, but also a highly unlikely maximum-points win for Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street, for us to miss out on what would be a well-deserved return to top-flight cricket. Roll on Tuesday.

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County Championship, Division Two

vs Yorkshire

Headingley, Leeds

Day One: Yorkshire won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a rainy Tuesday lunchtime which, in combination with Leicestershire's decision to bowl at Chester-le-Street, promised little chance of the required permutations for promotion being satisfied at any time today. And indeed, the early signs were that Worcs might not get anywhere near one batting point, let alone the required two, as Ben Coad had both Gareth Roderick and Azhar Ali caught in the slips, while a battling 32 from Jake Libby ended with the opener LBW to George Hill, who then had Jack Haynes taken at third slip for 14. 67-4 on a green pitch was the kind of position the Pears have found themselves in many a time this season, and in the spring it might have led to an abject collapse, but our runner-up place in the division has been built this summer on the kind of middle-order resilience provided by Brett D'Oliveira and Kashif Ali, whose partnership reached tea on 130-4. And it continued long into a bright and fruitful evening with the September shadows pointing east, as if in promise of better days to come; the fifth-wicket stand set a record for Worcs vs Yorks as it surpassed the 144 by Don Kenyon and Martin Horton at Kidderminster in July 1956, but with a second Championship fifty of the season already under his belt, Kash fell agonisingly short of his maiden first-class century when he offered a return catch to Dom Bess on 93, a harsh reward for the range of effortless front-foot shots he'd produced at the crease. Dolly remained, his fifty completed and 5,000 first-class runs passed, and had support once again from the impressive Ben Allison, who pulled the boundary that secured the first of the two necessary bonus points. This first Championship visit to Headingley since April 2009 was a partial reminder of why Scarborough is the superior venue for county encounters - the shouts and exhortations of the fielders echoing round deserted stands, as they do at all Test grounds in September, the plainchant of cricket's empty cathedrals giving this season closer the feel of a knockabout training session - but the consolation was a glamorous floodlit finish under darkening skies, albeit with no alarms for Worcestershire. The Pears closed on 280-5, and the only question now is whether we can score the 20 runs in the morning that will confirm our promotion before Durham rubber-stamp it for us by declaring against Leicestershire with wickets in hand. All things considered, it'd be nice to cross the line under our own steam.

Day Two: An overcast Wednesday but a prompt 10.30 start, and six years to the very day since the county's last promotion, Worcestershire decided the wait had been long enough; seven runs off the first three balls of the day signalled the batsmen's intent, and back-to-back boundaries through the covers in the following over carried Dolly to his twelfth first-class century and first of the season. Nothing could have been more fitting than for the skipper to strike the promotion-winning runs, but it wasn't to be; with just a single required, Matt Milnes sent down a fullish straight ball that struck his back pad and closed his innings LBW for 103. In the circumstances, few would have complained had Ben Allison done the honours instead, but whether through prudence or propriety, the loanee watchfully saw out a couple of maidens and allowed Josh Baker the consolation (after a season largely spent as a spectator) of pinching the double from Milnes that brought the rubber stamp thumping down on our Division One status, before departing to a leading edge off the next ball for 2. But Allison and Joe Leach decided to celebrate the occasion with an hour of assured boundary-finding that brought another batting point, the former completing his half-century with three off-side fours off one Milnes over and continuing to buckle his swash until he chopped on from Dom Bess on 75, the spinner coming from around the wicket and cramping him for room. Ben Gibbon was then caught behind for 3, but Leachy succeeded in heaving Dom Bess over long-on for a mighty six before skying one, taking Worcestershire to a total of 389; before rain curtailed the day at lunchtime, Yorkshire had reached 24-0 in reply, their quest to avoid a first wooden spoon in precisely forty years (and only the second in their history) to resume on the morrow.

Day Three: Thursday dawned with the bitter grey cold of an impending October, and after a delay until quarter past eleven, Worcestershire got stuck into the Tykes top order under floodlights. Joe Leach got the ball rolling with Adam Lyth somewhat dubiously caught behind for 11, before Ben Gibbon came roaring back to bowl Finlay Bean for 31 with a ball nipping in off the seam and have Shan Masood caught at second slip for 19 off a similar fullish length. Dillon Pennington then went straight at the stumps with a vengeance and was rewarded with the off-stump of James Wharton for 8, and Yorkshire went in for lunch on 93-4. The early afternoon continued in the same course, Pennington homing in on off stump to york Jonny Tattersall for 21 and Leachy reaching 450 first-class wickets by bowling George Hill for 51, but a counter-attack from Matthew Revis and Dom Bess took the hosts to 262-6 before an enterprising declaration came with the deficit at 127. The first ball of the Worcs second innings resulted in a duck to end the season of Gareth Roderick, while Azhar Ali was caught at slip for 7, but bad light intervened to prevent further damage, and rain brought the day to a close on 18-2 with a lead of 145. Whether Yorkshire's declaration was in the spirit of cricketing entertainment or simply desperation to avoid the wooden spoon, it would be nice to see the Pears - with all our affairs and achievements now in order - reciprocate by setting a quick score in the morning and having a bowl with a couple of sessions left.

Day Four: A sunny Friday to see out the season, and as hoped for, the captains put their heads together to come to an amicable arrangement over the day's play. Part-timers Finlay Bean and James Wharton sent down some ripe and juicy pies for Jake Libby and Jack Haynes to tuck into during an hour and twenty minutes of mayhem, the former completing his fourth century of the season, passing 6,000 first-class runs and smashing his previous season-best haul of 1,075 as he finished 109 not out and 1,153 up for the campaign. The declaration on 232-2 set a fair target of 360 in seventy overs, and Dillon Pennington made Bean his final wicket for the county with a low one-handed return catch before lunch was taken on 26-1. The remaining three scalps of the day went to Josh Baker, but it was a batsman's day at Headingley, and Yorkshire knocked off the runs with a couple of overs to spare and successfully consigned Gloucestershire to the wooden spoon.

Worcestershire LOSE by six wickets

Worcestershire are PROMOTED to Division One

The Verdict: It was always about the bonus points this week, and for two of Worcestershire's three Championship defeats this season to have come in noble final-day efforts to make a game of an otherwise meandering match is decent going from the lads. When a Pears team next takes the field some 190 days from now, it'll be scarcely recognisable from this line-up, and that'll pose a challenge in itself; but for the minute, it's enough that Richo and Dolly have delivered what we've waited five years to see. The Worcester boys are happy; the Worcester boys are we.

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Leading Run-Scorers

1. Jake Libby - 1,153 (57.65)
2. Gareth Roderick - 696 (30.26)
3. Brett D'Oliveira - 661 (36.72)
4. Azhar Ali - 612 (24.48)
5. Jack Haynes - 573 (30.15)


Leading Wicket-Takers

1. Joe Leach - 48 (29.45)
2. Adam Finch - 28 (25.71)
3. Dillon Pennington - 26 (27.61)
4. Matthew Waite - 26 (31.34)
5. Ben Gibbon - 20 (43.05)