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Worcestershire County Cricket Club

County Champions: 1964, 1965, 1974, 1988, 1989
One-Day Champions: 1991, 1994
T20 Champions: 2018

2023 Season

It's that wonderful time of year again. Peter's cathedral soars, Severn gleams blue and wide beyond the score-box, and with the fierce midday sun upon the ground, through heat-haze comes the wary sound of bat on ball. The County Championship remains, for the time being, a two-division and fourteen-round competition, and though the ECB has seen fit to reduce the points on offer for a draw, Worcestershire will again be battling for a long-awaited promotion.

Not that all is smiles and sunshine at New Road.  The perpetual "period of transition" rolls on with all the transience of the Hundred Years War, this winter resulting in the replacement of head coach Alex Gidman with former bowling coach Alan Richardson - not the first time the county has ended a "global search" for a successor by miraculously unearthing the right bloke at the back of the Graeme Hick Pavilion - and a hunt for a dedicated director of cricket which remains ongoing, as Ashley Giles apparently had more sense than to say yes. Worse yet, 2023 is our first campaign in many a long year without the homegrown talisman that was Ed Barnard; replacement Matthew Waite has shown plenty of wicket-taking potential, but little sign so far of plugging the 800-runs-a-year gap that Barney leaves behind, and the rock-solid dam that stood firm after so many top-order collapses is simply no more. Perhaps the current top order is simply stronger than those of previous years: between them, Jake Libby, Ed Pollock, Azhar Ali and Jack Haynes proved a solid combination in 2022, and the second coming of Gareth Roderick in the autumn, beside the strong middle-order hitting of skipper Brett D'Oliveira, flooded the run-charts with extra tons.

All the same, Barnard outscored them all, and will be sorely missed.

Having struggled so much with bowling in 2021, there were signs of improvement last summer, and though Joe Leach may be starting to feel the years as he ploughs into his mid-thirties, Dillon Pennington is in the perfect position to capitalise on his annus mirabilis last year, while a simple Botox injection may have salvaged the career of Josh Tongue in 2022 just at the point when complications with an arm artery had him struggling with day-to-day life and looking to quit cricket altogether. Left-arm spinner Josh Baker is reportedly fit for the season's start after missing out on the back-end of 2022, while fellow cuddy-wifter Ben Gibbon showed immense promise and relentless application last summer even in the most thankless conditions, and will hopefully kick on this year.

The return of Yorkshire to the division will present its own difficulties this year, but with the White Rose not on our radar until high summer, there's plenty of chance for Worcestershire to get off to a strong start. Come on you Pears.

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With temperatures slowly rising and the sun even putting in an occasional cameo, April is upon us, and the Championship with it. Worcestershire's campaign begins tomorrow in Derby, where last season's surprise package look to improve on their resurrection under Mickey Arthur.

They'll be doing so without the talismanic Shan Masood, so crucial to their top order last year, who'll be captaining Yorkshire when he returns from international duty; into his shoes steps young Haider Ali. Yet Wayne Madsen remains, having finished 2022 as Division Two's top scorer with other 1,200 runs to his name, while Anuj Dal - who became only the fourth Derbyshire player to score first-class centuries home and away versus the Pears in one season last year, in addition to taking five-fer at New Road - may well continue to be a thorn in Worcestershire's side. The weather may also have its say: drizzle is forecast overnight, with a further band of heavy rain due to hit Derby around 11am, but if the outfield can be dried quickly then the outlook is good for the remainder of the weekend.

There's an early frustration for the Pears as Dillon Pennington has been omitted from the squad as a precaution, while Gareth Roderick is preferred to Ben Cox as gloveman. Alan Richardson has stated an intention to assess the wicket before settling on a starting XI, and his decision will more than likely involve a choice over whether to include Josh Baker as a spin option, or hand an immediate debut to Adam Hose to address the runs shortfall left by Ed Barnard.


Probable Worcs XI: Libby, Pollock, Ali, Haynes, D'Oliveira, Roderick, Hose/Baker, Waite, Leach, Tongue, Gibbon

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County Championship, Division Two

vs Derbyshire

Racecourse Ground, Derby

Day One

Morning: No play possible due to rain.

Afternoon: The Pears won the toss and put Derbyshire in to bat as a grey, drizzly Maundy Thursday brightened up around two o'clock and the green-tinged pitch began quickly drying to biscuit-brown. Certainly, it looked a mistake for the first half-hour as the Derbyshire openers raced away, though the bowlers (undoubtedly affected by a paucity of pre-season preparation) carried a large degree of the blame as they struggled to find a consistent line and length. Only after the hosts had brought up their 50 within seven overs did Matthew Waite get the season rolling for the Pears, tempting Haider Ali to flash at a full delivery outside off which he dragged onto the stumps for 22. The following over Joe Leach nipped the ball back off the seam and beat the drive of Brooke Guest, bowling him for 4, and at 61-2 the poor start seemed to be behind Worcestershire. But Billy Godleman, who'd been the architect of Derbyshire's Bazball assault, continued to score at above a run a ball with aggressive and creative shots finding the boundary on all sides, while Wayne Madsen supported with gusto. Their partnership was broken on 77 when one too many cocky shots saw Godleman caught at mid-wicket for 70 off Leach, but the big man was denied the scalp of Leus du Plooy when the batsman was dropped at backward point shortly before the interval. Derbyshire thus went in to tea 156-3, claiming the session on sheer preponderance of runs.

Evening: Du Plooy thankfully only managed ten more runs after the drop, as Ben Gibbon opened his account for the season drawing an outside edge and seeing the number five caught behind for 16. It was symbolic of a vast improvement in the bowling overall, as Worcestershire finally began to find their radar and exert control; triggering some uncertainty in the batsmen for the first time all day, Waite pinned Madsen LBW for 87 shortly after six o'clock, and a fantastic piece of fielding from Jake Libby ran out Matt Lamb for 27. The dreaded Anuj Dal was next to fall to Waite, edging to third slip where debutant Adam Hose took a blinder diving low to his right, but with the tail exposed, an early drop of Zak Chappell proved costly. An aggressive half-century partnership was broken by Gibbon having Ben Aitchison caught in the covers for 26, but Derbyshire closed at quarter past seven on 300-8, with the counter-attacking Chappell still at the crease. It's doubtless a score they'd happily have taken after losing the toss and being put in, though also one the Pears must welcome after staring down the barrel at 189-3. Everything now hinges on how quickly the tail can be mopped up in the morning, and whether Worcestershire get to bat on the pitch at its best.

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Day Two

Morning: Good Friday dawned as warm and sunny as anyone could wish for, and a decision to keep faith in the somewhat out-of-sorts Josh Tongue very quickly yielded a reward as he found some extra bounce to bamboozle Zak Chappell, aiming for his half-century but only being caught at third man for 46. A few more runs flowed, with one particularly unfortunate inside-edge zipping to the boundary, but Matthew Waite capped an excellent first innings by enticing a steepler from Conners to deep mid-on, completing his second Pears four-fer and dismissing Derbyshire 321 all out. The reply could hardly have presented a greater contrast to Derbyshire's approach at the crease, eschewing Bazball for Boycottball as the Pears ground a watchful path through the first fifteen overs. So it was hard not to have some pity for Ed Pollock, having restrained his natural instincts so admirably, when Sam Conners set a simple leg-side trap that the opener duly pulled a short ball straight into for 22. Still, Worcestershire took lunch on 66-1, and with the tail mopped up and only one wicket down, could comfortably claim the session as theirs.

Afternoon: There were harder times to come, of course. With the run rate remaining well below three an over and the scoreboard ticking at a fly's crawl, all it took was one good ball or a lapse in concentration to break a partnership cheaply, and having played a few expansive shots to the boundary, Azhar Ali's attempt to force Conners off the back foot only resulted in him edging behind for 23. With his nagging line and length, Conners then drew a careless flick from Jake Libby that was caught at midwicket for 42, and another attempted rebuild came to a premature end when Adam Hose, playing his first red-ball innings since September 2019 and manifestly struggling to settle during a probing over from Suranga Lakmal, was trapped LBW for 15 off the final ball from the Sri Lankan (perhaps a little unluckily, having got a stride in and with the ball angling to leg). At that point, 139-4 looked a concerning score, if not an alarming one; steering safely to tea on 152-4 was a minor moral victory for the Pears, seeing out a session whose 86 runs for 3 wickets was fairly even on paper, but felt overall like a drift of momentum to Derbyshire.

Evening: Finally, with the Easter sun lingering long in a clear sky, Worcestershire upped the tempo after the break. Jack Haynes, who'd played a measured innings, brought up his half-century en route to a hundred partnership with the skipper, until he fell pulling Zak Chappell backward of square leg for 62. In contrast, Gareth Roderick's stay at the crease was short as he departed LBW to Chappell for 1, but there was no stopping Brett D'Oliveira as he picked up exactly where he left off in 2022, finding the boundary with ease and swatting Anuj Dal down the ground for a thumping six. His fifty came on the way to batting Worcs into a slender lead of 10 as stumps came on 331-6, with Dolly on 87 and Waite providing sterling support on 34. With lower-order hitting still to come, it would be disappointing not to extend that lead to at least 50 in the morning, and while there are undoubtedly twists and turns still to come, this was very much Worcestershire's day.

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Day Three

Morning: More Easter sunshine to get Saturday underway, but disaster struck early as a total breakdown of communication saw a furious Brett D'Oliveira run out for 89 as he darted for an iffy third and was turned back. Matthew Waite, who refused the skipper's call, had to redeem himself by marshalling the tail, and did so admirably, reaching his half-century and then a new first-class best as he surpassed the previous 59. He was supported with a few handy boundaries from Joe Leach until the big man was caught at leg-gully for 16, a short cameo from Josh Tongue who perished the same way for 4, and finally by Ben Gibbon in a stubborn last-wicket stand that lasted the best part of two hours. Gibbon, caught on 4 but reprieved by a no-ball, punished Derbyshire by sticking to the crease tenaciously while Waite played a patient and judicious knock worthy of Ed Barnard, reaching his maiden first-class century by cutting Leus du Plooy through third man for four. By the time Gibbon was finally caught at midwicket for 30, Worcestershire had racked up 473 and a lead of 152.

Afternoon: If there was one point of concern in the morning session it was the relative ease with which the Worcestershire tail wagged, suggesting that the pitch might, as in previous years at Derby, have grown placid. Sure enough, there was little to trouble the Derbyshire openers as they saw off the new ball, and Worcestershire were again guilty of some loose bowling which allowed Billy Godleman and Haider Ali to go on the attack. The hosts had reached 134-0 and very nearly wiped out the deficit before Dolly made the breakthrough shortly before tea, sending down a quick, flat delivery which pinned Haider LBW for 65. With the door wide open, Leach was able to bowl Brook Guest for a duck with a ball that nipped away, and Derbyshire had tea on 136-2, trailing by 16.

Evening: Though the deficit was soon wiped out, a vast improvement in the bowling slowed the scoreboard and threatened the batsmen after the interval. The reward came with another wicket for Leach, dismissing Wayne Madsen LBW for just 16, and though Gibbon dropped Godleman at slip shortly after, he then made amends by bowling the opener for 86 in his next over. The middle order subsidence continued as Dolly bowled Matt Lamb through the gate for 16 and Waite sent Dal back to the pavilion LBW for 1, before Zak Chappell was agonisingly dropped at backward point. Derbyshire closed on 269-6, leading by 117, and the match very much hinges on the current partnership of Du Plooy and Chappell. With the new ball due sometime near noon on Sunday, the Pears have to look to skittle the hosts by lunch and hopefully chase a total not too far in excess of 200 on a pitch that may yet misbehave.

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Day Four

Morning: Easter Sunday's skies were a little cloudier, though with sun breaking through now and then. But an early breakthrough proved elusive, and with time almost as important as runs, it was frustrating for Worcestershire to concede an hour of the former and 65 of the latter without a wicket. It took an inspired moment from Gareth Roderick, standing up to the stumps, to take a Joe Leach delivery down the leg-side and whip off the bails one-handed in a heartbeat, dismissing the off-balance Zak Chappell for 45. A slightly less glorious moment followed for Leach as he put down a simple caught-and-bowled chance from Ben Aitchison, but it cost the Pears nothing as Josh Tongue had the newcomer caught at mid-on for a duck in the next over. Having had a miserable match so far, it was a balm to Tongue's confidence and his figures to coax a reckless drive from Sam Conners that flew to first slip for 4, and after a protracted game of cat-and-mouse with the last-wicket partnership - all fielders back on the boundary to foil Leus du Plooy as he hunted for a century and sought to protect Suranga Lakmal - the young man made it three wickets in a row as he pinned the Sri Lankan LBW for a duck with a full inswinger. Chasing 192 to win, with 126 the county's highest successful chase at Derby, there was time for Ed Pollock to plunder a few early boundaries and nick Aitchison behind for 13 before the Pears went in to lunch on 17-1.

Afternoon: 175 remained to knock off, and if there were any nerves out in the middle, Azhar Ali showed no sign of it; indeed, his trademark square drives and wonderfully-timed leg-glances were soon skimming to the rope as the Pears scored freely through the afternoon. There were half-centuries for both batsmen, and the deficit was reduced to 35 when, as before lunch, the final over brought a wicket. Azhar was the one to go, LBW to Chappell for 62, but with Worcestershire 156-2 at tea, the result was all but assured.

Evening: If the outcome was beyond dispute, the question remained whether Jake Libby could complete his first ton of the season in the time remaining. With Jack Haynes providing solid support but allowing his partner to lead the charge, it was never really in doubt; Libby blitzed through the nervous nineties by skipping down the track and hoisting Matt Lamb for six, before taking the quick single that brought up the hundred later in the over. The finish line was in sight by then, and Libby duly polished off a record chase for the county in Derby when he glanced Anuj Dal to the boundary at twenty past four.

Worcestershire WIN by eight wickets

The Verdict: For the first time since 2019 Worcestershire kick off a full-length campaign with a victory, and a deserved one at that, against a team tipped by many to be dark horses this summer. It's also a first red-ball win in Derby since 2017, and if there were weaknesses on show here and there - the top-order subsidence in the first innings, the wild lines and lengths employed by our bowlers at times against aggressive Derbyshire batsmen - they were dwarfed by the obvious strengths. Jake Libby, Azhar Ali and Jack Haynes continue to show their class, and becoming skipper has been nothing but a boon to Dolly; while no one expected Matthew Waite to step directly into Ed Barnard's shoes, his century and five wickets this weekend were no less than Barney would have contributed. Josh Tongue may have some way to go before hitting his peak again, but is heading in the right direction, and with Dillon Pennington still to add to the attack, there's no reason why the Pears shouldn't be taking twenty wickets every week. Whisper it quietly, but the future may once again be Pear-shaped.

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Leading Run-Scorers

1. Jake Libby - 146 (146.00)
2. Matthew Waite - 109 (N/A)
3. Brett D'Oliveira - 89 (89.00)
4. Azhar Ali - 85 (42.50)
5. Jack Haynes - 72 (72.00)


Leading Wicket-Takers

1. Matthew Waite - 5 (21.20)
2. Joe Leach - 5 (32.60)
3. Josh Tongue - 4 (53.00)
4. Ben Gibbon - 3 (38.33)
5. Brett D'Oliveira - 2 (28.50)

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The first weekend of the season has thrown up a rather topsy-turvy state of affairs, as three counties who've struggled to one extent or another in recent seasons - Worcestershire, Leicestershire and Sussex - sit atop Division Two gazing down at more fancied sides below. One of those teams is Durham, edged out in a close encounter on the south coast last weekend following a second-innings collapse. Perpetually tipped to be there or thereabouts since their controversial relegation in 2016, it's never quite happened for a variety of reasons, and the departure of Chris Rushworth has only made matters worse for the northerners. Wicketkeeper Sean Dickson's exit has been more than compensated for by the signing of Ollie Robinson (without whom the disastrous second innings last weekend would have been far worse), and until England come calling for Matthew Potts again they retain a reliable wicket-taking threat, but a lot of pressure will fall on Ben Raine, Brydon Carse and overseas man Matthew Kuhnemann to make good on the Rushworth shortfall at some point.

For Worcestershire, after a near-perfect performance at Derby the team almost picks itself. Again, the option will be open for Josh Baker to come in for Adam Hose depending on pitch conditions, the former Warks man having provided an all-too-brief cameo last weekend that will hopefully be improved on in future showings, but makes him the most likely sacrifice for a bit of early-season spin right now. We're also liable to see a return for Dillon Pennington, possibly in place of Josh Tongue, but with the weather threatening much of the first two days, a positive result could be hard to come by.


Probable Worcestershire XI: Libby, Pollock, Ali, Haynes, Hose, D'Oliveira, Roderick, Waite, Leach, Gibbon, Pennington

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County Championship, Division Two

vs Durham

Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

Day One

Morning: The Pears won a delayed toss and put Durham in to bat on a chilly Thursday with clouds above and rain in the air. And yet for the second weekend in a row, the opposition's openers scored freely in an opening partnership that wasn't broken until the lesser-spotted Adam Finch was rewarded for a tight spell by having Michael Jones caught behind for 25. Nevertheless, despite a few more testing deliveries and close shouts from the young man, it was the only wicket to fall in a session that Durham concluded on 79-1.

Afternoon: In his first Championship match for eleven months, Finch continued to be the pick of the bowlers after the break, snaffling his second wicket when he dived down the pitch to grab a leading edge from Scott Borthwick, seeing him off caught and bowled for 13. More toil followed, but having delivered an admirably disciplined performance all day, Ben Gibbon earned his reward with a ball that jagged in to remove the middle stump of Alex Lees for 70, then had Ollie Robinson caught behind on the drive for 15. Tea came with the hosts 207-4; a more even session, but still advantage to Durham.

Evening: Not for the first time, a combination of lax bowling and aggressive batting drifted the innings out of Worcestershire's grasp for above an hour at teatime. A short rain delay at quarter to six, just as the new ball was due, proved a lifeline; no sooner had play restarted than Gibbon was again in the wickets, David Bedingham playing across the line to the left-armer and perishing LBW for 118. With the final ball of the same over, the young man then had Jonathan Bushnell caught at backward point for a five-ball duck, and in the following over Graham Clark edged Joe Leach behind to leave Durham seven down with their three hundred only just up. But there was to be no further breakthrough as the home side closed on 363-7; to what extent the pitch is to blame for Worcestershire's struggles remains to be seen, but having won the toss and put Durham in, the score at Thursday's end is far from ideal. Much work to be done on the morrow.