[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

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

2024 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 squeezed on all sides by the ubiquitous white ball (bringing us another T20 World Cup this summer on top of the T20 Blast, the Hundred and the faded-yet-glorious One-Day Cup), yet for faithful Pears from Staunton to Dudley, from Tenbury to the lost lands of Stechford, Yardley, Moseley and Acock's Green, there's only one game in town this spring as Worcestershire tackle Division One cricket for the first time since 2018.

2023 became the annus mirabilis that no one expected, certainly after a miserable first six weeks in which the Pears had to thank the weather time and again for delivering us from defeat.  Only when the climate turned for the better in May did the Pears find their mojo in a dogged chase against in-form Leicestershire, and they never looked back. 20-over and 50-over quarter-finals followed, with Adam Finch going Carlos Brathwaite on Yorkshire one memorable Friday night in May, while the Championship wins continued to come courtesy of runs from the bat of Jake Libby and newly-promoted opener Gareth Roderick, while Matthew Waite proved the best replacement for Ed Barnard we could ever have hoped for. With the ball, Joe Leach had his strongest campaign in years, and Finchy got the chance to show for the first time how many scalps he can take.

Yet no sooner had the team started going places than its youngest, most promising members decided to go to other places entirely. Or rather, one place: Trent Bridge. It could be argued that on their 2023 returns alone Worcestershire have already proved they can do without Jack Haynes or Josh Tongue (though there's no escaping the fact that Dillon Pennington's wickets will be missed), and the exits of Pat Brown, Mitchell Stanley and Ben Cox are more of a white-ball concern; but nevertheless, the Pears have to roll up at Edgbaston this Friday and hit the ground running somehow with a team of whom half will be new faces. Not that the recruitment has been lacklustre - there are reasons to be cheerful over the arrival of Rob Jones from Lancashire, Tom Taylor and Josh Cobb from Northants, Ethan Brookes from Warks and Yadvinder Singh through the SACA pathway, with Nathan Smith and Jason Holder as the primary overseas complement - but the newbies have no time or leeway to bed in during a campaign which will be half over before midsummer.

The thankless slog of 2018, when we had a more settled side, lingers long in the mind, and we may well be in for more of the same this summer. But having done the unexpected last year, here's hoping we have a few tricks up the sleeve yet. Come on you Pears.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Warwickshire

Edgbaston, Birmingham

Day One

Morning: The Bears won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on an early April Friday morning when the West Midlands was an oasis of patchy sunshine in a desert of rained-off games. Indeed, it was a credit to the Edgbaston ground staff that the pitch was bone-dry after overnight rain, though the air was damp enough to justify Warwickshire's decision to bowl; perhaps it was simply the Kookaburra ball being used for this first round of matches, but a near-perfect first hour followed in which Gareth Roderick took the game to Warks, scoring at a run a ball with some well-judged boundary shots on a slow outfield as well as one or two lucky edges. The introduction of Michael Booth for his first over of Championship cricket provided the first real element of danger for the Pears as the debutant began swinging the ball and drew two edges from those first six balls, but the runs continued to flow until the stroke of noon, when the short leg-side boundary tempted Jake Libby into an ill-judged pull off Booth which resulted in a top-edge caught in the deep for 38. Early signs that Kashif Ali wasn’t going to die wondering about any ball outside off, with two streaky boundaries through the slips, gave way to a positive-yet-judicious innings which took him to 33 off fifty balls before lunch, which was taken on 123-1 after the heartwarming sight of the home side resorting to an over of spin to close the first session of the season.

Afternoon: The floodlights came on, the bowling tightened up and the Pears batsmen were required to dig in for their runs as the day wore on. Nevertheless, both Rodders and Kash completed their half-centuries in good time, and looked entirely comfortable at the crease until the former was surprised by a delivery of extra lift from Will Rhodes and edged to slip for 68. Rob Jones duly saw out the remainder of the curtailed session, with tea taken slightly early due to a rain delay on 183-2.

Evening: Having picked up exactly where he left off last autumn, Kash deserved every last run he milked out of Warks as he completed a fluent maiden first-class century with a majestic six over long-on off Danny Briggs; the first ton to be scored by a SACA player, and surely not the last. It came to an end all too soon, alas; whether it was the fading light, the rain in the air or the umpires handing Warwickshire a Dukes ball by mistake after eighty overs, the Pears wobbled severely in the last ninety minutes of the day, losing Kash to a one-handed catch on 110 between the wickets of Jones, Adam Hose and Brett D'Oliveira as the ball began swinging and seaming. Matthew Waite countered with some characteristically crunching fours through the on-side before edging behind on 37, and the return of the rain then closed play on 316-7. Still just about Worcestershire's day on balance, and the late collapse may even offer encouragement to our bowlers that the Kookaburra isn't a busted flush, but it's a slight disappointment that our sights have been adjusted downward from 400+ at tea. As things stand, we'll have to aim for 350 plus interest on the morrow, and remind ourselves that we'd have jumped at a first-innings score like that at 10.59 on Friday morning.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: A sunny spring Saturday with a stiff breeze, and despite losing Nathan Smith softly for 4 when he chipped a half-volley straight to short midwicket, and Joe Leach to a Chris Rushworth short ball which flew off the shoulder of the bat and was caught high at second slip for 11, Jason Holder stuck to the crease with Adam Finch and supplied a crucial 29 that lifted the Pears to 360 before slicing an attempted wallop to deep backward point. Handed the new ball, Worcestershire then produced some menacing overs which the Bears openers somehow weathered to make it to lunch 35-0.

Afternoon: Reward for their luckless early efforts came in the first over after lunch with a classic Joe Leach dismissal that swung in to the driving Rob Yates and removed off-stump for 26 via an inside edge. Unfortunately, as the Kookaburra softened it offered vanishingly little to the bowlers from there, and it took a banged-in short ball from Adam Finch to remove Alex Davies on the pull for 26, before Nathan Smith closed the session by tempting Will Rhodes into an uppercut straight to slip for 64. 189-3 at tea, the Pears had the three wickets they'd have wanted but the 150+ runs conceded in the process allowed Warwickshire to shade the session.

Evening: Although the bowlers tightened up a little, runs were still a little too easy to come by and wickets a little to hard. Staring down the depressing barrel of an Ed Barnard century, Adam Finch nevertheless earned himself the freedom of Worcester by dismissing the turncoat all-rounder LBW for 89, and in the dying overs of the day when it looked like the fifth-wicket partnership would carry the Bears through to close, Smith superbly fielded a messy Jacob Bethell sweep that spooned up aerially behind the wicket, and pinged it in to Gareth Roderick who whipped off the bails to beat the batsman's desperate dive. 292-5 at stumps, it was marginally Warwickshire's day, but the Pears remained in the running with the new ball due first thing in the morning.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: A gusty, overcast Sunday in the teeth of Storm Kathleen brought the early wickets Worcestershire required. The Bears added just 41 runs to their overnight total as the back half of their batting order was bulldozed in the first hour; Dan Mousley the first to go for 62 as he clipped an angled-in Joe Leach delivery to short midwicket, followed two balls later by Michael Burgess, beaten on the drive by Nathan Smith who clattered his off-stump for 7 and left it stuck like a stake in the turf five yards away. The Kiwi followed it up by pinning debutant Michael Booth LBW for 1, and was unlucky to have Oliver Hannon-Dalby dropped at slip, but Danny Briggs was safely pouched for 2 off Adam Finch, and Jason Holder wrapped things up on triple Nelson when Chris Rushworth fell to a top-edge for 3. 333 all out, the 27-run lead was better than anyone had dared hope on Saturday night, and despite Gareth Roderick being strangled down the legside for 4 early in the second innings, Worcestershire survived to lunch on 46-1.

Afternoon: When Moeen disrespectfully defected two years ago, a lot of salty Pears - myself included - joked that they'd poached the wrong Ali, without truly believing it. But after this weekend it's hard to argue against the impact and the potential of Kashif Ali, who simply took the Warwickshire bowling attack to pieces as he peppered the boundary on all sides with textbook strokes. Both he and Jake Libby made effortless half-centuries in a near-chanceless afternoon (and the latter's contribution in anchoring the partnership and occasionally offering a word of advice shouldn't be overlooked), but the accelerating Kash simply left the opener in his wake as he raced to his second century of the match; the first twin ton for a Pear since Daryl Mitchell versus Lancashire in 2018, the first against Warwickshire since Glenn Turner in 1981, and the first ever in the season's opening match. The milestone being brought up with a six off Ed Barnard was the icing on the cake, and it's a wonder that the cheers rippling up the M5 didn't cause an earthquake. The fun came to an end on a career-best 133, with the the Bears players offering sporting handshakes to the SACA graduate on his way back to the pavilion, but on a Nelson-tastic 222-2 at tea with a lead of 249, Worcestershire were back in control of the match.

Evening: Alas, there was time for Jake Libby and Rob Jones to make just 15 more runs before rain curtailed the day's play on 237-2, the lead standing at 264. Worcestershire's day all ends up from start to finish, and our greatest enemy is now the weather, which looks likely to put an end to the match at teatime on Monday. An hour's happy hitting, a declaration and a forty-over dart at the Bears top order? Sounds like a plan.

[themaclad]

It is today's you tube match choice

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Well it was delayed start

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Apparently the problem's a mopping-up job, which is all a bit suspicious to me as the ground staff had no problem on previous days when there was more overnight rain. Weather's clear right now, and looking at the Met Office radar we're all good for the day to come except for a possible shower around 16:45. Very frustrating.

[themaclad]

Couldn’t put the covers on yesterday due to the wind

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Ah, right. I expect there's some highly technical reason why they can't just stick a load of bricks on to weigh them down.

Early lunch and a mooted start time of 13:25, with 28 overs lost from the day. It'll be interesting to see how Dolly plays it if we get out there, because the Kookaburra's been weird all match, goes through spells of being as good as a Dukes and then whole sessions of turning into a tennis ball. Don't think we can afford to dangle the carrot too generously, still need a ten over bash to get to 330-350 and then treat it as a one-dayer from there.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Morning: No play possible due to poor ground conditions.

Afternoon: After an early lunch, play got underway around half past one, but in contrast to last season's declaration derring-do, it was quickly evident that Worcestershire had no intention of forcing the issue in the match. There was time for Rob Jones to depart for 18 to a return catch from Oliver Hannon-Dalby, and for Jake Libby to complete his seventeenth first-class century, and twelfth in Pear green, at a leisurely pace (though reached with a lofty six), but there was never any pretence of its being in a greater cause. It was all a moot point as the rain set in to curtail both session and match with Worcestershire 295-3, leading by 322.

Evening: No play possible due to rain.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: We'd all have settled for 14 points in the bank before a ball was bowled, and as frustrating as it is to see an advantageous position against the old enemy go to waste, a combination of weather and Kookaburra made it unavoidable. If the Aussie balls are to be used in the County Championship at all then I can see the argument for it being in spring in autumn, as they do tilt the balance a little back towards the batsmen; however, we saw the flip side this weekend in the inability to force a result in a weather-affected match. Still, with Worcestershire Rejects getting hammered by Essex today, there's plenty to smile about, and a chance that if Kashif Ali can keep up his current spell of form we might just be smiling even more at Trent Bridge next weekend.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Nottinghamshire

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Day One

Morning: Notts won the toss and elected to bat on a Friday morning of patchy sunshine. Haseeb Hameed was the first casualty of Nathan Smith, who removed two of the opener's stumps for 11 with the new ball, and the Kiwi proceeded to have Ben Duckett caught behind for 9; but despite some tight bowling with the softening Kookaburra, there were no further wickets as Notts shaded the session and reached lunch on 83-2.

Afternoon: The Kookaburra offered nothing to the bowlers as the day wore on, and even reining the batsmen in proved increasingly difficult as Ben Slater and Joe Clarke filled their boots. After much toil, Adam Finch eventually had the former caught down the leg-side on 70 and Smith claimed his third scalp when Matt Montgomery flashed at a delivery outside off and drew an excellent diving slip catch from Jason Holder for 11. But again, just two wickets in the session and trouble stemming the run flow left the Pears well behind the game at tea on 223-4.

Evening: There was time for Joe Clarke to complete his century to a general rolling of eyes, but no such landmark for fellow turncoat Jack Haynes as he departed LBW to Joe Leach for 15 early in the session. Clarke himself then edged behind on 105 trying to cut Josh Baker, who'd taken some serious tap through the afternoon and deserved his reward. But despite taking the second new ball in the last hour, Notts made it to stumps without further loss on 305-6, and Worcestershire have it all to do on Saturday morning to claw their way back into the game with the Kookaburra now softening once more.