[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Group One

vs Nottinghamshire

Day One

Morning: Pears won the toss and put Nottinghamshire in to bat on a murky Thursday morning with the weather already a clear and present threat. Beneath the floodlights, an early LBW shout was denied and the openers showed some fairly breathtaking aggression to the new ball, and for a while it felt like the same old story of Worcestershire struggling after electing to bowl. But the introduction of Alzarri Joseph changed the momentum, with Haseeb Hameed undergoing a thorough examination as he played and missed multiple times during the West Indian's opening over, and fellow opener Ben Slater was the first to go from a fast Dillon Pennington length ball angled into the body which Slater edged behind for 15 with an attempted block. That wicket fell on the cusp of a heavy shower, and the morning came to an early end on 38-1.

Afternoon: After a short spell of play and another brief rain delay, Joseph got his man with a touch of extra pace and bounce from the ball surprising Hameed, who nicked behind for 24. Joe Clarke then faced one delivery before another rain break, and his first after the resumption saw him back in the hutch for a silver duck courtesy of a Pennington delivery that seamed away from the batsman and was caught behind. More rain followed, curtailing both the session and the day on a satisfying 51-3. With barely half a session played in total, those three wickets and accompanying bonus point are a welcome relief after the troubles Worcs have had with ball in hand; though the forecast for tomorrow is arguably worse, the Pears need to pick up where they left off whenever play is possible, and make every point count in this tight group.