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Worcestershire County Cricket Club

County Champions: 1964, 1965, 1974, 1988, 1989

2017 Season

After a fairly routine innings victory over Loughborough MCCU, the Pears begin their 2017 campaign this Easter weekend with a trip to Glamorgan in the County Championship. The last couple of years have brought varying degrees of disappointment for the county in both red-ball and white-ball cricket, and in the autumn the bold move was taken to relieve club veteran Daryl Mitchell of the captaincy in favour of the younger Joe Leach, in the hope that Worcestershire could put the failures of the past behind them and make a fresh start.

While the chances of promotion in the County Championship last year were always slender, it was hoped that the Pears might replicate the astounding success of Northants in limited-overs cricket with a crop of talented local youngsters.  However, it wasn't to be: despite a strong start in both the One Day Cup and the T20 Blast, an appalling run of form in June saw Worcestershire limp out of the fifty-over competition at the quarter-finals and fail to qualify from the group in twenty-twenty.  Consistency was too often lacking, and strong leadership with it, and it's these ghosts that the club hope to banish now those young heads are a year older and have a new captain to guide them.

With capable openers in the form of Mitchell and the increasingly impressive Brett D'Oliveira (whose match-winning performance against Them Lot Up The Road at Edgbaston last May was a genuine highlight of 2016), the Pears' batting line-up is further augmented by the exciting Joe Clarke and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.  Meanwhile, Aussie international John Hastings has been brought in to help bolster the team's bowling attack, and Leach will look to build on his excellent form last season.  Kiwi all-rounder Mitchell Santner, who broke his finger in the opening game of last year's T20 blast and played no further part in the campaign, will also try and make up for lost time when this year's tournament commences in July.

Expectation for this still-young team may not be especially high, but there's plenty to hope for in 2017.  Come on you Pears.

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vs Glamorgan

County Championship, Division Two

Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Day One: Pears put Glamorgan in to bat.  On a topsy-turvy day, Worcestershire seemed in complete command at lunch after taking 8 wickets for just 105 runs (with three for Hastings, and a reasonable County Championship debut from nineteen-year-old Josh Tongue).  However, the second session belonged to Glamorgan, who effectively doubled their tally before the last two wickets fell, finishing the innings on 207 and proceeding to dismiss both Mitchell and Dolly for a silver duck each.  With the Pears 1 for 2 and reeling, Tom Fell and Joe Clarke succeeded in steadying the ship before Kohler-Cadmore and Ben Cox put on a further hundred.  Worcestershire close on 180 for 4, trailing by 27.  Pears have the advantage now, and just need a good solid start tomorrow: the aim should be to take a 100 or 150-run lead in what promises to be a fairly low-scoring match.

Day Two: The good solid start came as required, with Tom Kohler-Cadmore completing his century before being dismissed off the very next ball, and John Hastings adding a half-century of his own.  Worcestershire were all out on the stroke of tea with a good lead of 196, and every reason to be happy with the state of play, but the Pears bowlers found themselves toiling a bit against the Glamorgan openers in the final session.  The Championship debut of Josh Tongue became an even more memorable one as he finally got the breakthrough with two wickets in a single over, and Hastings added a timely third, but even so, Glamorgan finished the day on 141 for 3, trailing by just 55.  Ideally, fair weather and a bit of bowling magic are needed early tomorrow; it's almost certain that the Pears will have to bat again, and will want to restrict Glamorgan to as small a lead as they can.

Day Three: And again, all of Worcestershire's overnight dreams came true as Glamorgan collapsed in the morning session.  Josh Tongue completed a very impressive debut by taking 5-45 (including two in two balls), with one further wicket apiece for Hastings and Leach and two for Jack Shantry.  The Welshmen narrowly avoided an innings defeat, but set a target of just 28 for the Pears to chase down.  A slight concern on the batting front as both Mitchell and Dolly were again dismissed quickly and cheaply, but Fell and Clarke completed the victory with ease.  A fine start to the season.

Worcestershire WIN by eight wickets

Star Performer: Though teenager Josh Tongue's five-fer on debut warrants an honourable mention, it was the first-innings century of Tom Kohler-Cadmore (his second in consecutive matches) that really tipped the balance decisively in favour of the Pears at a point when the pendulum could still have swung either way. The twenty-two-year-old batsman made a strong start to 2016 only for his form to fade as the season progressed; hopefully this year, with a little more experience under his belt, we can see a lot more of this from Pepsi.

Next Match: Worcestershire welcome Northants to New Road in the County Championship, with the visitors having won their first two Championship matches for the first time since 1987. The Pears will look to end that run as the race for promotion begins in earnest.

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vs Northamptonshire

County Championship, Division Two

New Road, Worcester

Day One: Unsurprisingly, Northants put the Pears in to bat on a gloomy, overcast day.  A green pitch and bowlers' conditions led plenty of wickets to tumble, starting with Dolly dismissed early again for just five runs.  Moeen Ali, making his first appearance of what could be his last season at New Road, put on a half-century during useful partnerships with both Daryl Mitchell and Joe Clarke, but a respectable total of 117-3 at lunch crumbled away with a second-session collapse to an eventual 188 all out.  Nevertheless, Northants fared little better on the tricky pitch as the Pears bowlers went to work, taking six wickets in the evening session with four for big Joe Leach, including two in two balls. At close of play, with Northants 102-6 and trailing by 86 runs but with opener Ben Duckett still not out, it all feels finely poised.  Sunny weather forecast for tomorrow: if Northants weather the early storm and put on a late flurry of runs for the last four wickets then they could yet have their noses in front, but collapsing to a first-innings deficit would put the Pears right in the driving seat.  Getting Duckett out early doors will be crucial for Worcestershire.

Day Two: A fine and sunny day, but this was still a bowler's match, and a remarkable one at that. Ben Duckett was caught behind off John Hastings as Northants finished their first innings by crumbling to 157 all out, but the Pears were no better at the crease, with the top order collapsing completely, the middle order faring little better and only a last-wicket stand of 45 from Josh Tongue and Ed Barnard dragging Worcestershire up to a competitive total, setting Northants 185 to win.  In a real cat-and-mouse run-chase, Northants tried to play cautiously and see off the new ball, getting their noses in front once or twice with useful contributions from Newton, Holden, Rossington and Levi, but every time they threatened to get a solid partnership together, Worcestershire struck.  Another five-fer from Joe Leach to match the one he got in the first innings paved the way for victory, with Josh Tongue also on song with four utterly crucial wickets. It still went down to the wire, and there was a good deal of tension around New Road as the Northants tail tried to wag with a few boundaries, but when a final Leach delivery got Andy Carter plumb LBW in the late evening sunlight, the Pears claimed their second successive win with 20 runs to spare. What a day, and what a game!

Worcestershire WIN by twenty runs

Star Performer: In a low-scoring game, the first-innings half-century from Moeen Ali proved decisive, and Josh Tongue's four-fer in the second innings also swung the pendulum firmly in Worcestershire's favour at a point when it looked like the match might slip away. But taking ten wickets in a match for the first time, it was a true captain's performance from Joe Leach, and the big man can be proud of his part in leading the Pears to back-to-back wins.

Next Match: With a month's break from the County Championship, the One-Day Cup gets underway this Thursday as Worcestershire welcome a strong Nottinghamshire side to New Road.

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vs Nottinghamshire

One-Day Cup, Northern Group

New Road, Worcester

The road to Lord's begins a little earlier than usual, on an overcast April day in Worcester.  Though the Pears were quarter-finalists in last year's competition, progressing from the group stage will be a tougher ask this year with only the top three teams from North and South qualifying for the tournament's later stages.  There are eight matches to be played in four weeks, and it's likely that the Pears will need to win over half of them; it will be a big statement of intent if they can get the ball rolling by snatching victory today against Notts.

Notts innings: Pears won the toss and put Notts in to bat.  After a steady start, England opener Alex Hales was trapped LBW by Joe Leach before a brief stoppage for rain.  On resuming play, the dangerous Wessels holed out to Ross Whiteley off a ball from Ed Barnard, and Patel was similarly dismissed with a Jack Shantry catch after a tempting delivery from Moeen Ali.  However, Notts continued to score at a decent lick even as the wickets tumbled, with Michael Lumb putting on a crucial century before he finally edged a Leach ball behind into the gloves of Ben Cox.  The East Midlanders finished their innings on 273-6, which could well prove a winning score on a ground with a slow outfield, taking into account the formidable seam attack that Notts possess.  Worcestershire will perhaps rue the lengthy struggle to dismiss Lumb, in addition to leaking a few too many boundaries from sloppy balls, but if the Pears batsmen can make a solid start and keep the scoreboard ticking over without too many risky shots, then they can still make a tight game of this.

Worcs innings: The rain hit New Road during the break and stayed for a full two hours.  Play was resumed at 5.15pm with Worcestershire chasing an amended total of 168 runs off 22 overs; effectively a bit of T20 batting practice.  In what proved to be a nailbiting run-chase played in gloomy conditions with dark clouds pushing in and the hand of Messrs Duckworth and Lewis hanging heavy over Worcestershire heads, Moeen Ali and Tom Kohler-Cadmore got things off to a handy start with a few boundaries before each got overexcited and lofted up easy catches to the boundary, gone for 14 and 13 respectively.  In came Dolly and Joe Clarke to steady the ship, the latter in particular having a great knock with a rocket of a slog-sweep for six, plus two audacious ramp-shots for four in the utterly abysmal light and a couple of boundaries hit down the ground for good measure, taking him to 40 off 26 balls.  When those two wickets fell in quick succession it seemed that things had swung Notts' way, but Ben Cox and Ross Whiteley had other ideas. Pinch-hitter Whiteley illustrated precisely why he remains Worcestershire's secret weapon in white-ball cricket with a fine array of sixes and fours in quick succession to banish the spectre of Duckworth-Lewis and take the required rate to less than a run a ball; and though Cox lost his wicket somewhat cheaply at the death, captain Joe Leach kept a cooler head and managed to see things over the line with two full overs to spare.  Another cracking win for the Pears under pressure, continuing the winning streak to start this season.  Let's keep that ball rolling, lads.

Worcestershire WIN by five wickets (D/L)

Star Performer: In many ways it could (and perhaps should) be Joe Clarke, whose deft and skilful batting in dire conditions emphasised his promise as a young England hopeful. But while Clarkie provided a springboard for the win, it was unquestionably Ross Whiteley who quite literally knocked it out of the park with 41 off just 19 balls, including four fours and two sixes.  It may not be sophisticated and it's certainly not graceful, but Whiteley on song is an absolute wrecking ball of a batsman.

Next Match: The One-Day Cup continues on Sunday with the Pears visiting Grace Road to try and continue the winning streak against Leicestershire.

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vs Leicestershire

One-Day Cup, Northern Group

Grace Road, Leicester

Two relatively unfancied teams who nevertheless snatched impressive wins in their respective opening games come head to head at Grace Road today.  It's all about who can turn that solid start into an very impressive one, and after Albion sank to defeat against Leicester City yesterday, fingers crossed the Pears can restore a bit of pride to the West Midlands.

Worcs innings: Leicestershire won the toss and put the Pears in to bat.  On a bright and windy morning, Worcestershire made an eager start with a run-rate well above six an over from the very off.  Moeen Ali was the key man, forming handy partnerships with Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Fell and Joe Clarke before edging a ball behind on 90.  Brett D'Oliveira and Ben Cox kept the scoreboard ticking over with a good middle-order partnership, but when they lost their wickets in quick succession, and Joe Leach and Ross Whiteley also fell soon after with the Pears just short of 300, it seemed that things might fizzle out.  But John Hastings and Ed Barnard were in a slogging mood, and they carried Worcestershire to 361-8 off the fifty: the club's highest-ever total in the modern One-Day Cup, their fourth-highest of all time in List A cricket and their second-highest of all time in fifty overs (having notched up 365-7 against Scotland ten years ago).  The Foxes clearly love a chase, and their exploits at Old Trafford in the week should be a reminder to the Pears that they have a deep batting line-up easily capable of 300 plus; it's a good pitch with a quick outfield at Grace Road today, but this is a commanding score from Worcestershire, and now they need to make it count.

Leics innings: In an exciting and tense chase Leicestershire got off to a destructive start, scoring well ahead of the run-rate for the first fifteen overs or so, but the Pears pegged their opponents back with crucial wickets at regular intervals. Ben Cox made what might be the stumping of the season with an underarm throw from twenty yards back when Cameron Delport dithered outside his crease, and the key wickets of Pettini, Eckersley and Cosgrove before the halfway mark appeared to put the match firmly in Worcestershire's favour. However, a great knock from Aadil Ali kept Leicestershire's hopes alive until the death, and after some great spin from Dolly and Moeen to stem the flow of boundaries and pile on the scoreboard pressure, the last few wickets tumbled cheaply and in quick succession. This proved harsh on Ali, who deserved a century for his performance even in a losing cause but was instead run out on 88 to bring the match to a close; but for Worcestershire the winning streak just goes on and on, with a 100% record in all formats stretching back to last September.

Worcestershire WIN by forty-two runs

Star Performer: This was very much a team performance, and it could well be argued that the partnership of 45 at the death between Hastings and Barnard proved the real difference between the two sides.  But on a day that the Pears posted their biggest-ever fifty-over score against another county, you have to hand it to Moeen Ali for his contribution of ninety crucial runs as well as a very economical nine overs with the ball. After the next match the all-rounder will be off on England duty for much of the summer, and a question mark still hovers over his future at New Road, but if this is one of his last games for the Pears, then it was one to remember.

Next Match: Worcestershire ride into Northampton on the crest of a wave on Wednesday, and Northants will look to bring the winning streak to an end.

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vs Northamptonshire

One-Day Cup, Northern Group

Wantage Road, Northampton

Worcestershire go into this match in second place in the group, facing Northants who are winless after two and need a victory to give themselves any real hope of qualification. After his heroics at Leicester on Sunday Moeen Ali is out for the Pears, replaced by former captain Daryl Mitchell.

Worcs innings: Northants won the toss and put the Pears in to bat.  A chilly afternoon and an awful, awful start.  Wickets were thrown away very cheaply by the Pears top order, only Mitchell distinguishing himself with a good solid knock of 75.  Once the former captain went, it was wicketkeeper Ben Cox who seized the mantle, steadily turning a slow and tottering innings into a respectable (and crucially, defendable) score before one ramp-shot too many saw him caught on 82, his best-ever score in List A cricket.  Still the tail continued to wag, and there was time for Ed Barnard and Jack Shantry to smack a few boundaries between them in a spirited last-wicket stand that took Worcestershire to a handy total of 277-9 off the fifty.  After a stinker of an innings that saw us at one point on 118-5 with five of our best batsmen failing to make double figures, 278 to win is a far better score than I dared hope we'd set, but even so, the reigning T20 champions are perfectly capable of biffing their fair share of sixes beneath the lights and will fancy their chances of chasing this down.  The pitch was offering a little bit earlier on, and the Pears bowlers are going to have to make it work for them big-time, because I suspect they'll need to skittle Northants if they're to defend this score and keep the winning streak going.

Northants innings: A cagey and cautious run-chase turned into a bona fide thriller in the death overs as Northants, cruising comfortably towards victory following a 123-ball ton from Rob Newton and a useful half-century from captain Alex Wakely, slipped from 198-4 to 238-7 in a few overs leaving wicketkeeper Adam Rossington carrying their hopes of a win on his shoulders. For Worcestershire, unable to dismiss the stubborn Rossington, it boiled down to a containment game with skipper Joe Leach bearing the pressure of an immense final over in which Northants required 14 to win. After conceding a boundary off the first ball, Leach struck back with a pair of yorkers right in the blockhole, leaving the equation at 10 off 3 balls. But not to be beaten, Rossington smacked back-to-back boundaries off the fourth and fifth balls, and needed only to beat the infield off the last delivery to snatch the win for the Steelbacks. Up stepped big Joe Leach, and up charged big Adam Rossington... with a swing and a miss. Northants claimed the single as the ball rolled through to Ben Cox, and finished their innings on 277-7, levelling the scores and sharing the spoils with a point to each team. A fair result from a tense, exciting and utterly remarkable day of cricket at Wantage Road.

Match TIED

Star Performers: How do you even begin to decide, in a game where every run scored, every delivery bowled and every ball fielded proved vital, in its own small way, to avoiding defeat? Former captain Daryl Mitchell deserves credit for providing something of an anchor in the difficult first half of the Pears innings, and likewise Ben Cox for doing the same in the second half. Both Hastings and Leach were right on the mark with their death bowling, and Dolly was economical throughout the middle overs when the match could have drifted away from Worcestershire. But ultimately, it was the last-wicket partnership between Ed Barnard and Jack Shantry that hoisted the Pears up from 250 to the magic number of 277 which Northants couldn't quite overcome. The former's 42 off 27 balls is a knock that any number ten can be proud of, while the latter's tally of 12 encompassed two vital boundaries off the final two balls of the innings. As they say at Tesco, every little helps.

Next Match: Still unbeaten (by the skin of their teeth), Worcestershire face their toughest challenge of the season so far when they welcome Yorkshire to New Road on Friday.

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With seamer John Hastings in the Australia squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in June, Worcestershire have secured the services of Aussie Test spinner Nathan Lyon as a replacement for the duration of the tournament. A great signing for a few weeks in early summer when a world-class spinner could prove a real boon. Fully expect Lyon to play the Championship matches against Sussex and Glamorgan, and perhaps the ones against Northants and Kent on either side of the Champions Trophy too, depending on the arrangements of the Australia squad.

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vs Yorkshire

One-Day Cup, Northern Group

New Road, Worcester

A warm and sunny day in Worcester brings us the biggest game of the season so far for the Pears, as first plays second in the Northern Group of the One-Day Cup.  Yorkshire, who have won all of their three games so far, will be a tough challenge; however, if Worcestershire can get the better of them then qualification will be very much within reach with only half of the group games played.

Worcs innings: Yorkshire won the toss and put the Pears in to bat.  A terrific start to the game for Worcestershire saw openers Daryl Mitchell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore race to a partnership of 135 before Mitchell was caught by Leaning.  As a succession of partners came and went, Pepsi continued to pile on the runs on his way to a grand century before being caught by Adam Lyth on 118.  Unfortunately, that was the beginning of a middle-order collapse for Worcestershire around the forty-over mark, but the big men Joe Leach and John Hastings came in and steadied the ship admirably, whacking fours and sixes for fun at the death before captain Leach was bowled for 41 and Hastings caught on 33 in the penultimate over.  There was enough time for Ed Barnard to send a cheeky ramp-shot to the boundary for four before being caught off the next ball, leaving Worcestershire all out for 342; their highest-ever List A score against a county side at New Road.  Bit disappointing in the end that the Pears couldn't see out the last seven deliveries and get the psychological boost of hitting 350, as every run may count on a good pitch with a fast outfield.  Yorkshire chased down 335 at Durham on Wednesday with a couple of overs to spare, though two hundred and thirty of those runs came from the absent Bairstow and Root; it'll all be on the likes of Lees, Lyth, Ballance and Bresnan today.  Worcestershire will need wickets to see this through.  Interesting game in store.

Yorks innings: A bright start from Yorkshire, but Worcestershire chipped away nicely and took wickets at crucial times.  After Lees and Rhodes were caught from the bowling of John Hastings, the free-scoring Adam Lyth was trapped LBW by Joe Leach and Yorkshire were in trouble.  As in previous matches, there was very little panic or alarm from the Pears through the middle overs as Dolly and Daryl Mitchell gave us some lengthy spells of economical spin.  When Ed Barnard bowled Yorkshire's last set batsman Peter Handscomb it was effectively all over, but there was time enough for the White Rose County to put on a few more runs before youngster Josh Tongue bowled Patterson and sealed the win.  Worcestershire, still unbeaten in all formats of cricket since last September, now top the northern group with seven points after claiming this scalp.  Plenty of work still to be done, but this side of young underdogs are looking very, very promising.

The future's bright.  The future's Pear-shaped.

Worcestershire WIN by fifty-one runs

Star Performer: Another team performance from the Pears with both bat and ball, with a score of 118 from "Pepsi" Kohler-Cadmore (his second century of the season in all formats and his first List A ton since last July) a solid springboard for victory, ably augmented by a fine partnership at the death between Joe Leach and John Hastings.  But as part of the opening partnership of 135, and delivering 3 crucial wickets during the Yorkshire innings, the key man in this Worcestershire victory was almost certainly former captain Daryl Mitchell, whose experience remains a vital ingredient in a relatively young team.

Next Match: Worcestershire travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday to play a Lancashire side who have tended to be tough opposition in seasons gone by.

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vs Lancashire

One-Day Cup, Northern Group

Old Trafford, Manchester

Always a tough road trip, Worcestershire visit Old Trafford today with Lancashire on their last throw of the dice, needing to win every remaining game to have a hope of qualifying.  Meanwhile, the Pears will be hoping to reclaim top spot in the group.

Lancs innings: Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat on a warm and sunny morning.  A great first half of the innings for the Pears had Lancashire on the ropes with just 153 for 5, including an extraordinary spell of bowling from Dolly who saw out his ten overs without conceding a single boundary, finishing with figures of 1-32.  However, it all fell apart from there as Jordan Clark and Dane Vilas proved unbeatable and uncontainable at the crease, chalking up Lancashire's highest-ever sixth-wicket partnership against Worcestershire in List A cricket, taking the Red Rose County to a solid score of 313-5 off the fifty with a century for Vilas.  I said before this game that I think we're due a defeat, and heads are certainly going to be down after those last ten overs or so.  It's a good pitch with a fast outfield, but the scoreboard pressure is going to be right on the Pears from the word go, and even with a deep batting line-up we'll need one or two players to really excel at the crease this afternoon.

Worcs innings: As I feared, getting tonked through the last ten overs of the Lancashire innings set heads a-spinning in the dressing room, and the Pears just never got going at the crease.  Jimmy Anderson and Kyle Jarvis made the new ball work for them from the word go, taking the early wickets of Moeen and Pepsi, and though Daryl Mitchell and Joe Clarke put a decent half-hour's partnership together, Mitchell then lobbed an easy catch to Brown and precipitated a middle-order collapse just as a recovery was starting to look possible.  The four wickets that fell to Jordan Clark effectively ended the game as a serious contest, though John Hastings did his best to make the score halfway respectable, finishing on 30 not out as the Pears were skittled for 161.  Worcestershire well beaten in the end, and worse still, it's the kind of emphatic defeat which last year tended to send the side into a prolonged slump.  With three matches still to play in this group stage and the table growing ever-tighter, Joe Leach now faces the first significant challenge of his captaincy, as he'll need to lift the team's confidence again and make sure they don't blow qualification altogether.

Worcestershire LOSE by a hundred and fifty-two runs

Star Performer: Frankly, no one comes out of this one looking shit-hot with a bat in their hand (though Joe Clarke was unlucky to be dismissed by a Jimmy Anderson wonder catch and John Hastings biffed a few big sixes when the game was gone).  On the bowling front those last ten overs proved an embarrassment to the Worcestershire attack, and so it's really only Brett D'Oliveira who emerges with credit from the Lancashire innings, having bowled himself out before the fortieth with a hugely impressive 1-32 and not conceding a single boundary.  Sadly, the Pears are left scratching their heads and wondering how it all went wrong from there.

Next Match: The first Bears-Pears derby of the season comes on Friday, and it's going to be huge as Worcestershire look to bounce back against their arch-rivals.

[themaclad]

313-5