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vs Durham

T20 Blast, Northern Group

New Road, Worcester

After limping to yet another miserable defeat at Wantage Road on Thursday night, the onus was on Worcestershire to come up with the goods on their return to home soil.

Durham innings: Pears won the toss and put Durham in to bat on a sunny Sunday afternoon with only brief showers threatening.  A wicket went within seven balls as Josh Tongue caught Cameron Steel off a delivery from John Hastings, but any hope of a sea-change in the fortunes of the Worcestershire bowling attack were ground slowly and painfully into dust after that. The only other Durham wicket to fall in the entire innings came courtesy of Dolly, who was by a country mile the most impressive bowler on the pitch all match. With a Collingwood century on the board Durham posted 201-2 off the twenty, and it was going to take Something Very Special for the Pears to win.

Worcs innings: There's nothing quite like watching Joe Clarke when he pulls off Something Very Special. The young England hopeful carried his bat through the twenty overs, surpassing Collingwood's efforts for the visitors to make it to 124 not out as Worcestershire cruised home with eleven balls to spare. If it had been Jos Buttler at work you'd be hearing about it for weeks to come, but things tend to pass pretty unnoticed at New Road. Still, this was a special performance, and though it may have only papered over the gaping cracks of a bowling attack not fit for purpose in this format, it was a much-needed ray of light in a dire campaign.

Worcestershire WIN by eight wickets

Star Performer: And the Lord said "on the seventh day, let there be 124 runs off 53 balls with twelve fours and eight sixes", and lo, there was Joe Clarke.

Next Match: The Pears bowlers have five days to get their ever-loving shit together before Worcestershire visit Edgbaston on Friday night for the final derby of the season.

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vs Birmingham

T20 Blast, Northern Group

Edgbaston, Birmingham

A glorious Friday evening in Birmingham saw the Pears in town to try and avenge last month's disappointing defeat on home soil, and finish the season's encounters with the noisy neighbours on a high.

Worcs innings: Bears won the toss and put the Pears in to bat in the fine amber sunlight.  Again Worcestershire opted to put their faith in John Hastings and Joe Clarke as openers, and for the first time it really paid off with a big-hitting partnership through the powerplay.  Where Clarke brought the cultured shots Duke brought the brute biffing, and a short legside boundary was peppered with five sixes in a row before both batsmen holed out in the deep to leave the Pears 89-2 a little over six overs in, with Hastings having amassed a nineteen-ball half-century.  The going got trickier from thereon with Birmingham taking pace off the ball, and only Dolly really distinguished himself with a patient and intelligent knock of 35 not out.  A number of misfields from the Bears helped Worcestershire's cause, not least five penalty runs from the ball hitting the keeper's helmet at the death as they fought their way to 190-7 off the twenty; a score which felt under par given our bowling troubles, but better than nothing.

B'ham innings: The Worcestershire bowling attack has had some stick in this competition, not least from me, but tonight was a shining example of how it needed to be from day one.  Dolly and Mitchell Santner were crucial to reining the Bears in with wickets and tight overs (the latter dismissing Bell, Hain and Elliott and taking a stupendous diving catch to see off Sibley too), while Joe Leach regained a little of the form we expect from him and John Hastings took the high-pressure overs on his own broad shoulders and delivered.  Youngsters Josh Tongue and Pat Brown were expensive, though a touch unlucky, but there's no doubting how well the visitors bowled against a team who've taken all comers in this format so far, and who took it right down to the wire.  In the end, the five penalty runs off the keeper's helmet proved the difference between the sides.  The underdogs came out on top, and what a way to do it.

With that win Worcestershire live to fight another day in this competition, and though it's disappointing not to have done the clean sweep against the Bears this year, you can't turn your nose up at an Edgbaston victory two years in a row.  Magnificent stuff from the Pears.

Worcestershire WIN by five runs

Star Performer: In many ways it's harsh not to give the nod to Mitchell Santner, whose three wickets and diving catch went a long way to taking Birmingham apart, but his somewhat indifferent performance with the bat was overshadowed by a quickfire 51 and match-winning death bowling from John Hastings, and if the Pears are to stand any hope of qualification then they'll need more of the same from the Aussie in every match to come.

Next Match: No rest for the wicked as Worcestershire welcome champions Northants to New Road tomorrow in an absolute must-win game.

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vs Northamptonshire

T20 Blast, Northern Group

New Road, Worcester

Northants innings: Pears won the toss and put Northants in to bat.  From the word go there was a whiff of "after the Lord Mayor's Show" about Worcestershire's bowling and fielding.  Where everything was on the mark at Edgbaston last night, this afternoon was right back to the bang-average standards of the early campaign, and though Northants didn't punish it for half of the innings, when Ben Duckett clicked into gear everything went disastrously wrong.  Debutant George Scrimshaw was thrown headlong into the mix only to go for 19 off his solitary over; worse still was the over which saw the infinitely more experienced (and last night downright heroic) John Hastings go for 25.  To allow the opposition, even the defending champions, to go from 89-4 after twelve and a half overs to 195-4 off the twenty is shocking, and the reason why Worcestershire won't be progressing in this competition for the second year running.

Worcs innings: Was little more than a formality.  Northants put on an exemplary display of disciplined T20 bowling, giving little to nothing away and making the Pears work for boundaries.  Scoreboard pressure forced risks from the players, and one by one their wickets tumbled.  171-6 might be a decent score on many days, but not when you've let the visitors rack up almost two ton.

With 15 points the maximum the team can now reach, and the fourth-placed team on 13, that's as good as the nail in the coffin.  Let the post-mortem commence.

Worcestershire LOSE by twenty-four runs

Star Performer: With a bowling economy of seven and a half plus a wicket, and the team's top score of 38 at the crease, a belated nod is due to Mitchell Santner, who on balance deserved it much more last night.  Worcestershire brought him in to be the missing piece of the jigsaw in this format, but sadly it's the rest of the jigsaw which is missing.

Next Match: With a sigh of relief the Pears can turn their backs on this tomorrow as they welcome Sussex to New Road for the last Championship match of high summer.

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vs Sussex

County Championship, Division Two

New Road, Worcester

Day One: Sussex won the toss and elected to bat.  It took just three balls of the match for Joe Leach to dismiss debutant Angus Robson caught behind, and within fourteen overs the visitors had sunk to 49-3.  However, there was little to shout about for the Pears after that, as successive partnerships piled on the runs to make this Sussex's day.  Ed Barnard shone with three wickets, but the visitors close on 342-7 and have every hope of making 400+ with Chris Jordan looking good at the crease.  The forecast is mostly clear for the next three days, we're likely to get a result from this one; Worcestershire need to get a grip and make it theirs.

Day Two: From bad to considerably worse for the Pears as Sussex strolled to 430 all out, with Ed Barnard twice bowling the dangerous Jofra Archer only to see him reprieved by a no ball decision. When Worcestershire came to the crease the troubles intensified, only Joe Clarke putting together a decent innings of 77 as the top order collapsed. At close of play the Pears were 231-8, fifty runs short of saving the follow-on, and it seems likely they'll be batting again in the near future. The forecast for tomorrow is bad, and everyone at New Road will be doing a raindance come the morning. Lose most of the day's play and there's a chance of steering this one to a draw on Wednesday, but otherwise the Pears are staring down the barrel of a defeat they can ill afford.

Day Three: The rain came, but not heavily enough to save Worcestershire from themselves.  Despite the best efforts of Ed Barnard, who dragged the Pears almost single-handedly to within 13 runs of saving the follow-on, they were dismissed and obliged to bat again. Cue an utter shitshow once again as the top order bottled it, and by early afternoon it was merely a question of whether the innings defeat could be avoided. Worcestershire had Barnard to thank again on that score as the number seven made 46 to accompany his first-innings tally of 65 not out, and the Pears managed to stumble to a lead of eight runs; half of what they set Glamorgan back in June in a match which played out similarly. As in the Glamorgan match there was also time for a Sussex wicket to fall, and who should take it but that man Ed Barnard? But there's no positive spin to be put on this. Sussex deserved the win, but Worcestershire's woes continue. Inability to see off middle and lower order batsmen coupled with batting collapses of our own at every opportunity; this is not the look of a side that warrants a place in Division One.

Worcestershire LOSE by nine wickets

Star Performer: By some considerable distance the only man at New Road who can hold his head up high this week is Ed Barnard, with four wickets and 111 runs in the match. More of the same, young man.

Next Match: God help us, it's back to the T20 on Friday with a trip up to Durham.

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Worcestershire will lose John Hastings for the remainder of the season due to a foot injury sustained against Sussex. There's talk of Mitchell Santner staying on as overseas player after the T20 Blast, but ideally I think we need a proper fast bowler to wreak havoc going into September.

There were times earlier this season when I felt the big man was a key figure in what was then a winning team, but as the months have worn on things just haven't clicked. Friday's performance at Edgbaston was a blinder, but with a Championship average of 34.38 and innings-best figures of 3-44 (not a four-fer or five-fer under his belt in six matches), he just hasn't been the consistent wicket-taker under pressure that we desperately need.

Good luck for the rest of 2017, John.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Following the loss of "the Duke" John Hastings, Worcestershire have signed Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the remainder of the 2017 season. This will be his first spell in the English domestic game, and if snapping up the world's third-ranked Test bowler can't save the county's crumbling season then nothing will. I'd hoped for a decent fast bowler, but in all fairness the Pears do need someone who can threaten with an old worn ball, because too many times this summer they've found themselves biffed all round the ground by stubborn tail-enders.

All things being equal, the new man will make his New Road debut against Gloucestershire next Monday.

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vs Gloucestershire

County Championship, Division Two

New Road, Worcester

Day One: Pears won the toss and elected to bat in front of a capacity crowd on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday in years.  Despite the early loss of Mitch, it was all smiles and sunshine for Worcestershire as their batsmen shook off the appalling form of the T20 campaign and put runs on the board on a pitch prepared for spin.  Dolly, fresh from signing a new contract, distinguished himself in particular with 93, though there were also good spells at the crease for debutant Ravi Ashwin with a 36 that oozed Test quality, and the out of form Tom Fell who made his highest score of the season so far with 38.  An unbeaten half-century for Ben Cox capped the day off nicely, though it was immensely frustrating to lose a settled Ed Barnard to a run-out in the last over of the day.  The Pears close on 338-7, very much the home side's day on a tough, slow wicket.  Anything above 350 will be a good first-innings score, and with three wickets standing and Cox still at the crease, the onus is on Worcestershire to crack on in the morning.  Then it's time to let Mr Ashwin loose on a pitch that was made for him, and see whether he is the man to save this crumbling season.

Day Two: A considerably cooler, cloudier affair, with early stoppages for drizzle.  The visitors made short work of the last three Pears wickets, dismissing the home side for 363, but had a huge wobble in the afternoon as they collapsed to 93-5.  Still, stubborn lower orders remain the norm this year in Championship cricket, and Gloucestershire staged a minor recovery to reach 258 all out in the end, with young Ed Barnard again the pick of the Pears bowlers grabbing a four-fer, and Ravi Ashwin opening his account with a creditable three wickets.  There was time for Mitch and Dolly to reach 10-0 before close of play, giving the Pears an overnight lead of 115.  Could perhaps have been better, but could also undoubtedly be worse.  Worcestershire now need to put a stranglehold on this tomorrow, if the weather stays clear.

Day Three: The autumnal weather continued, as did the home side's dominance.  A quick fire half-century for Dolly and a ton for Mitch sent the Pears well on their way to a score of 295-8 declared, and a lead of 400.  Gloucestershire will require the highest fourth-innings chase in their history to triumph here, and though with Worcestershire's current record there's no writing them off, three wickets before close of play steadied the nerves a little.  After his first-innings taster Ravi Ashwin is now clicking into gear, and the Pears need both him and the weather to be on top form tomorrow to seal this vital, must-win match.

Day Four: All wrapped up, and with time to spare.  A five-fer from Ashwin, taking his haul to eight in the match, ensured a much-needed triumph for the home side. A Sussex victory sadly keeps the pressure on, but for now Worcestershire are holding their own in the promotion race.

Worcestershire WIN by a hundred and eighty-nine runs

Star Performer: Another fine century from Daryl Mitchell can't quite take the place of eight crucial wickets from Ravi Ashwin, doing exactly what was needed on his Pears debut. He may only be at New Road for a short while, but from this point on the county's hopes are resting squarely on his shoulders.

Next Match: Worcestershire travel to Trent Bridge on Tuesday for the toughest test of the season against leaders Notts.

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vs Nottinghamshire

County Championship, Division Two

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Day One: Pears put Notts in to bat on a wretched day all over the country.  The morning session was entirely lost to the weather, but when the ball finally got rolling in the afternoon Worcestershire were treated to a great start with Steven Mullaney being bowled by Joe Leach.  However, despite a green pitch and thick cloud overhead, the Pears bowlers toiled a little after that, perhaps guilty of trying a bit too hard in a vital match; it took a further rain stoppage for our attack to regroup, and when at last the players returned to the middle, it was the Ed Barnard Show for the remainder of the session. The young seamer bulldozed through the Notts top order, claiming the scalps of Libby, Pujara, Patel and Wessels as the home side crashed from 79-1 to 127-6. Though Notts recovered a little with the seventh-wicket partnership, young Josh Tongue made a vital couple of breakthroughs after tea to set them reeling again and Barnard got in on the act once more with a run-out before the rain returned to curtail the fun. Notts 188-9 at close of play and wondering what hit them. With Northants merking Sussex at Wantage Road, this has been Worcestershire's day in every respect, and now the onus is on the Pears to polish off that last wicket in the morning and produce an innings worthy of Division One in what are forecast to be better, brighter conditions. Of course, Worcester being Worcester, it won't be anywhere near that easy; but why not enjoy the ride?

Day Two: What a ding-dong day it's been. The last Notts wicket fell quickly to Joe Leach, leaving the home side 193 all out from the first innings, and when the Pears openers put on a few dozen for no loss all looked fine and dandy on Planet Worcestershire.  But when facing quality bowlers a batting collapse is never far away, and the visitors found themselves in an alarming position at 89-6, on the verge of throwing yesterday's work down the drain. It took a solid partnership from man of the hour Ed Barnard and the highly impressive Ben Cox to drag the Pears out of that particular hole on their way to a 50-run lead after being bowled out for 243. The pendulum swung still further in Worcestershire's favour when Joe Leach and Josh Tongue went like a steam train through the Notts top order, taking four wickets before the home side had even reached parity, but opener Jake Libby and Riki Wessels did a good rebuilding job, and though the latter was dismissed in the penultimate over of the day, a position of 138-5 with a lead of 88 at close of play leaves the match very finely poised. Libby remains unbeaten at the crease and there's batting still to come for Notts, so tomorrow morning's session may prove decisive. Worcestershire need to find the magic touch to get the home side out with less than a 175 lead if possible; once they get past 200 every single run will take the win further and further from our grasp. The forecast is clear till 4pm. It's going to be a nailbiter.

Day Three: This see-saw match just goes on and on. The day started well for the Pears with Jake Libby falling to Ed Barnard without adding to his overnight tally, but Worcestershire hearts sank from there as Brendan Taylor, Brett Hutton and Jake Ball pushed the lead past 175, past 200 and then up to an eventual 226 to win.  On a difficult pitch it looked a daunting total, but a good opening stand between Daryl Mitchell and George Rhodes got the Pears off to a solid start which Tom Fell, after a slow beginning and a few minor scares, added to. By close of play Worcestershire had battled to 123-2, and require just 103 more runs to chalk up a win which is looking more and more necessary as Sussex drag themselves back into contention at Northants. Mitchell remains unbeaten overnight on 63, and the Pears really, really need him to stay there and add to that score tomorrow, to take pressure off the lower order. Worcestershire go into final day in a strong position, but they'll be facing the division's best bowling attack refreshed and regrouped, and are horridly prone to sudden collapses. On paper there should be enough clear weather tomorrow to get a result one way or the other. Come on you Pears: we need this.

Day Four: After three days of this topsy-turvy match with all of its many twists and turns, my only hope this morning was that Daryl Mitchell and Joe Clarke could stick together at the crease for long enough to halve the deficit and make life easier for the middle order. But as it happened, they'd set their own sights a bit higher. Scoring at just under a run a ball, with another fine century from Mitchell as he became the second batsman of the season to reach a thousand Championship runs, the Pears knocked off the necessary 103 in under ninety minutes to record their first Championship victory at Trent Bridge since 2000, inflict Nottinghamshire's first defeat of the season, and do it all at an absolute canter. A Northants win against Sussex to boot leaves Worcestershire in pole position for promotion, and one more victory next week may just seal Division One cricket for the Pears in 2018.

Worcestershire WIN by eight wickets

Star Performer: While Ed Barnard continued to mature with yet another influential performance, there's no doubting for a minute how different this match might have panned out but for the assured batting of Daryl Mitchell. To be second only to Kumar Sangakkara in reaching a thousand runs for the summer is no mean feat.

Next Match: The Pears welcome winless Leicestershire to New Road next Tuesday in the hope that promotion can be wrapped up double-quick.

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vs Leicestershire

County Championship, Division Two

New Road, Worcester

Day One: Leicestershire won the toss and elected to bat on a glorious early autumn day.  The Pears had a dream start when they reduced the Foxes to 25-3 within fourteen overs, but as the day wore on it became increasingly apparent that this was a bad toss to have lost. Mark Cosgrove led the recovery until he was dismissed by Ed Barnard, but Neil Dexter took up the baton on his way to a century. The visitors finished the day on 325-7, undoubtedly the happier of the two sides.

Day Two: The Pears bowlers couldn't keep the Foxes from claiming maximum batting points, but did eventually manage to bring their first innings to a close at 404. In reply, Mitchell and Dolly put together a solid opening partnership of 119 to give Worcestershire a solid platform, with the latter eventually chalking up another fine century. A few soft dismissals kept the visitors in the match, but in his first outing as a nightwatchman Josh Tongue did well to guide the Pears safely through to close of play on 270-4, clear of the follow-on and trailing by 134 runs.

Day Three: A day that's probably decided the result of the match, and may well have decided the outcome of Worcestershire's season in the process. Though Dolly went early in the day for 138, the ever-impressive Ben Cox kept things ticking over for the remainder of the innings, making 77 as the Pears finished up 493 all out with a lead of 89 runs midway through the afternoon session. But in an astonishing spell with the new ball before tea, Joe Leach and Josh Tongue went like a steam train through the Foxes top order, reducing the visitors to 10-4 in the space of just twenty-seven balls. Though Leicestershire managed a minor recovery, three more wickets fell before close of play - including the dangerous Dexter - to leave them 111-7 overnight, with a lead of just 22 runs. From looking like a nailed-on draw, this match is now tantalisingly close to a maximum-points Pears victory which would put Sussex and Kent out of contention for promotion, and even slightly extend the lead over Northants. Just three more quick wickets needed in the morning, and a smart bit of batting to knock off whatever total the visitors set. Surely, *surely* even Worcestershire can't blow it from here?

Day Four: All credit to the Foxes, they made a fight of it in the end. The eighth-wicket partnership added over a century to the overnight score, and it was gone midday before young Pat Brown made the crucial breakthrough. Disappointingly for the visitors, having dragged the lead up to three figures they couldn't set a seriously tough target for Worcestershire, as the last two wickets went quickly and cheaply. Nevertheless, in a fourth innings of two hours, Leicestershire did manage to take four Pears wickets before Ravi Ashwin hit the winning runs and secured twenty-four precious points. Kent and Sussex are now mathematically adrift of the men from New Road, and Northants can only keep their slender hopes of pipping us if they beat Notts next week. Fail to do so, and Worcestershire will once again be a Division One side.

Worcestershire WIN by six wickets

Star Performer: There were few all-round great performances over the full four days, but ultimately there's no doubting that an innings of 138 from Brett D'Oliveira on Wednesday went a long, long way to swinging this match in Worcestershire's favour.

Next Match: After a fortnight's break, the next match of the season will be the last. What began on Good Friday will come to a conclusion with the Pears welcoming Durham to New Road, hoping to see themselves into Division One in style.

[themaclad]

You should win Leicester are poor