[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

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.