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Worcestershire County Cricket Club

2022 Season Review

A weather-affected final-week draw against Middlesex brought 2022 to a conclusion at New Road; a bittersweet summer that delivered a slight red-ball improvement alongside a severe white-ball decline, and ultimately no promotion despite some strong showings in September. Four wins in the year was our best return since 2017, and it could easily have been six or seven if rain hadn't intervened in several matches where the Pears were on top.

The greatest blow to the county was the midsummer news that Ed Barnard, now entering the prime of his career, was taking the opportunity to defect to Edgbaston. Though his bowling performances arguably suffered in the last couple of seasons, his steady transformation into a batting all-rounder propelled him to the top of the run-scoring stakes for the Pears, and this departure leaves an immense hole in the middle order that won't be easily plugged. But the arrival of Adam Hose in the other direction - an acquisition that had Bears fans spitting fury online - at least offers the prospect of a white-ball revival next summer. And ultimately, with the top-order shored up and some much-needed variation in the attack, it feels like the Pears are only one gun bowler short of a highly competitive Championship side.

Batsmen

Ed Pollock arrived with the promise that he wouldn't rein in his white-ball instincts when replacing Daryl Mitchell, and to his credit, his 645 first-class runs at an average of 32.35 was a perfectly adequate haul for an opener in its own right, and an improvement on Mitch's latter seasons. His season and career best of 113 against Middlesex in July - a match-winning knock that garnered widespread praise - was the pick of his innings at the crease, though his feast-or-famine style delivered plenty of early ducks along the way, each one inviting honks of disapproval on social media. On paper, the "Bazball" addition of Pollock is a gamble that's worked, though it remains to be seen whether the young man can continue to grow his game going forward, as well as recovering his white-ball form.

A quieter year than 2021 for Jake Libby, who nevertheless surpassed his opening partner with 688 runs at 34.40, finishing the season as the county's fourth-best batsman. The slight drop-off in Libby's form after topping 1000 in 2021 is offset by the fact that he's no longer carrying the team on his shoulders, and his late-season burst of good nick indicated that good times may lie around the corner again, especially given that his 332 runs at 66.40 in the One-Day Cup made him the pick of the Worcs batsmen in that competition.

One final appearance in Pear-green for Tom Fell brought 17 runs, before his departure was announced in August. Nothing remains but to thank Tom for his efforts and wish him well in his future endeavours, in the hope he can find a return to form elsewhere.

2022 was the year when Jack Haynes truly made his name, finally bagging a maiden first-class century en route to 811 runs for the summer at 47.70, vastly improving on previous seasons. His reward for this showing - rather concerningly for Worcestershire supporters - was a place at Oval Invincibles for the Hundred, as yet another young Pears player gets a glimpse of how the other half live. As one of the principal jewels in the crown now that Ed Barnard has departed, the county simply has to hold on to Haynes for as long as it can.

Kashif Ali was a promising addition to the batting line-up this summer, making a half-century on debut as his sole Championship appearance yielded 58 runs at an average of 29.00. The One-Day Cup was where Kash really shone, clocking in as the county's fifth-best batsman with his 206 runs coming at 51.50. Hopefully the beginning of a promising career at the highest levels of English cricket.

Taylor Cornall likewise turned a few heads in his first full season at this level; his patient anchoring knock of 31 not out carrying the Pears to victory against Middlesex in July was his best showing in the Championship, where 89 runs at 14.83 was his final haul; however, his eye-catching straight drives lit up the One-Day Cup, in which he was the county's second-best batsman with 280 at 40.00.

Wicketkeepers & All-rounders

More trials for Ben Cox with the bat, as a stop-start season brought him 167 Championship runs at a slightly improved average of 23.85, along with 253 at 84.33 in the One-Day Cup. But his glovework remains second-to-none, and all being well, Coxy will continue to play a vital part at New Road for some time to come.

The final summer at New Road proved somewhat controversial and acrimonious for Moeen Ali. Having been knocked out of the IPL early enough to join up with the team for the beginning of the T20 Blast, Mo nevertheless stuck to the pre-agreed schedule as Worcs ploughed through a disastrous opening week, before assuming the captaincy as the campaign went down in flames, and publicly blaming the efforts of the other players for this catastrophe, seemingly oblivious to his own half-arsed contribution. In the middle of this debacle, he found time to appear on social media grinning in Bears colours as his departure was announced. It's a terrible shame for a man who'd been a much-loved icon and ambassador at Worcestershire in the last decade or so, but he leaves under a cloud as a result.

Forgotten man Gareth Roderick roared right back in 2022, upping last year's haul of 167 runs at 18.55 to a far more impressive 447 at 74.50, the highest average of any Pears batsman this summer, including an unbeaten 172 in September. Roderick's fighting spirit was never in doubt, and his glovework made him a more-than-capable deputy to Ben Cox during the latter's absence.

The best summer in years netted new skipper Brett D'Oliveira 768 runs at 59.07 in the Championship - a vast improvement on recent years - as well as continuing excellence in T20 with 315 runs at 24.23, and 12 wickets at a highly impressive 17.91.

It's farewell to Ed Barnard, who once again surpassed his career-best haul with the bat, topping the run-scoring stakes with 895 Championship runs at 59.66 including three centuries, alongside an improved 31 wickets at 39.83 (though this return remains far short of his pre-pandemic efforts). It can't be overstated how big a gap the young man leaves in this Pears side, and if he should find himself at a loose end in a few years, I'm sure a return to New Road would be welcomed by fans.

Bowlers

Another year on the clock for Joe Leach, and while his 266 Championship runs and 34 wickets were down on last season (albeit at an improved average of 22.55), he remains a lynchpin of the Pears attack with his ability to swing the new ball and take wickets in clutches. In the long term Worcs may need to think about a possible replacement, but there remains life in Big Joe yet.

A welcome return from injury for Josh Tongue, who contributed 5 wickets at 43.20 at the back end of the campaign; important overs under the belt as the young man targets a full-time return to the first team.

Adam Finch remains a bit-part player at Worcs, his 5 wickets in the season coming at 68.60, which shouldn't be judged too harshly in light of the early-summer flat tracks and bad Dukes balls. He also finished second among the One-Day wicket-takers with 8 scalps at 48.25. Nevertheless, there's a growing question mark about Finch's place in the pecking order, with so many names seemingly ahead of his.

Though perhaps not as explosive as Jack Haynes, it was no less important a season for Dillon Pennington, who finished the season as the county's top wicket-taker with 44 scalps at 22.63; a comfortable career-best haul. Now finding a more consistent line and length, his 10 One-Day wickets at 38.20 were also enough to top the wicket-taking charts for the county.

Charlie Morris seemed to drop out of contention somewhat as the summer progressed, but nevertheless improved on his 2021 return with 21 wickets at 30.57, though he played little part in the white-ball side of things.

In his first full season, Josh Baker might be remembered for coming within a few feet of being hit for six sixes in an over by Ben Stokes - an incident which led to some unnecessary Twitter sneering from Kevin Pieterson about the quality of Division Two bowling - but thankfully, there's more to the young man's ability to that. 23 wickets at 44.60 was a decent contribution to the campaign before injury struck, and hopefully there'll be plenty of improvement in future years.

Ben Gibbon didn't always have things go his way during the long flat-track slogs of the early season, but he himself was the first to say that a hard day in the middle wasn't a patch on working as a brickie, and 20 wickets at 35.65 were a deserved reward. Gibbon's stump-to-stump left-arm deliveries offer crucial variation to the Worcs attack, and there's no reason why the young man shouldn't go from strength to strength.

Overseas Players & Loanees

Azhar Ali took some time to settle in, but soon showed his class, stroking his way to 656 runs at 41.00 with a top score of 225; a haul which goes a long way to solving Worcestershire's years-old problem at number three and earned Azhar-bhai a return in 2023.

Matthew Waite was a big hit on his arrival in May, so much so that the move became permanent later in the summer. With 16 wickets at 33.25 and 34 runs at 17.00, Waite is more likely to fill Barnard's shoes with the ball than the bat. However, in the prime years of his career, there's high hopes that Worcs have unearthed another gem amongst the forgotten men of the bigger counties.


Highlights of the year? Some strong early-season showings against Sussex and Leicestershire. A maiden first-class century for Jack Haynes. A Jubilee win against the Bears at New Road in a royal run-fest. A ding-dong low-scoring victory at Merchant Taylors in the oven of a July heatwave. And a thoroughly deserved thumping of Nottinghamshire in the autumn, that gives us a sliver of hope that good times lie round the corner.

And so until 2023, it's a fond farewell to New Road.