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Day Three

Morning: As Surrey came out swinging, runs and wickets alike came quickly; Dan Lawrence holed out for 87 to Ben Gibbon, Jordan Clark fell LBW for 98 to Matthew Waite, who then removed Gus Atkinson almost identically and set up Yadvinder Singh to bowl Sean Abbott and Dan Worrall, dismissing Surrey 427 all out. But with 513 the impossible target, Worcestershire were already 11-1 by lunch.

Afternoon: It became a full-blown collapse after the interval; 28-2, 30-3, 34-4, 50-5, 69-6, 75-7 and then 102-8 before Nathan Smith and Gibbo mustered enough resistance between them to withstand the Surrey charge and make it to tea on 145-8.

Evening: There was time for Smith to complete his half-century before he perished for 60, and even then Gibbo motored on to his own maiden first-class fifty, en route to a career-best 75. But it made no difference to the match situation, only delayed the inevitable, as Surrey marched home with an hour and a day to spare.

Worcestershire LOSE by two hundred and eighty-one runs

The Verdict: Our campaign was never going to hinge on the two encounters with Surrey, so the only sensible response to this setback is to take the positives - our strong spells of bowling against some of the country's best batsmen - while allowing some self-critical reflection on the softer dismissals among the batting line-up, and perhaps questioning the possibility of further overseas recruitment to bolster our attack. But one undeniable consequence of this weekend is the increased importance of our long-awaited return to New Road next week, because with the T20 break on the horizon and our two midsummer fixtures pitting us once more against the two teams who've beaten us so far, a failure to beat Notts - or worse, another defeat - could potentially see us remaining winless until the autumn's five-game run-in. It seems a horrendous demand to make of a team undoubtedly still reeling from the tragedy that's hit the club this month, but if we're hoping to remain a Division One side in spite of everything, then Notts need to be firmly in our crosshairs.

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County Championship, Division One

vs Nottinghamshire

New Road, Worcester

Day Two

Morning: Notts won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on Saturday morning after the first day, despite bright sunshine, had been lost to a wet outfield. Alas, the extended wait for the first home cricket of the summer was rewarded with Worcestershire collapsing in a single session to 80 all out, our worst total at New Road in nearly a decade.

Afternoon: The phenomenon of Worcestershire's batsmen making the pitch look like a minefield shortly before our bowlers make it resemble a road is far from new, and Notts had nearly reached parity before the first breakthrough was made, Nathan Smith having Ben Slater caught for 41. Smith then immediately followed up by bowling Will Young for 2, but it was a consolation prize in another session that belonged to the visitors, who reached tea on 89-2.

Evening: Again, there was little but toil for the Pears bowlers as Notts racked up the runs, and Matthew Waite dismissing Haseeb Hameed LBW for 100 shortly before close was the only consolation. 234-3 at stumps with the lead at 154, Sunday's thunderstorms were destined to do Worcs a favour by washing out the third day, leaving the hosts with a prayer of making it through the final day if the weather intervenes and/or we prove capable of batting for more than a single session.

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Day Four

Morning: No play possible due to wet outfield.

Afternoon: No play possible due to rain. Match abandoned.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: A highly fortuitous stalemate, though one I daresay we karmically deserve after drawing three matches already this season from winning positions; and certainly it couldn't happen to a nicer opponent. But the nature of the abandonment has drawn plenty of comment coming so hard on the heels of talk earlier this season about the Pears leaving New Road, and you can't help but conclude that if recent levels of rainfall are indeed the new normal, then the clock is well and truly ticking on England's most floodable ground. For the team, meanwhile, who contrived - just about - to not lose this must-not-lose encounter, a month of T20 offers relief from the demands of the Championship.

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Lancashire

New Road, Worcester

Lancs innings: The Pears won the toss and put Lancashire in to bat on a somewhat cloudy Friday teatime in Whit Week. After a catastrophic start to the campaign up at Headingley, a strong showing on home soil was what the doctor ordered and Nathan Smith set about delivering with a double-wicket maiden first up. Tom Taylor struck with his maiden Worcs wicket to leave the Red Rose 13-3 halfway through the powerplay, and Brett D'Oliveira opened his white-ball account for the summer to reduce the visitors to 70-4 by the midway mark. But there was only one more casualty in the innings, Taylor claiming his second victim as Lancashire recovered to post 169-5.

Worcs innings: Having collapsed so pathetically the previous night, it was a more judicious powerplay that saw the Pears put on a half-century before Matthew Waite was bowled for 29 off the last ball of the powerplay. The visitors then applied the brakes somewhat, and dismissed Josh Cobb for 13 in the middle overs, but Adam Hose kept the scoreboard ticking with an explosive 23 off 9 balls. Dolly seized the momentum from there, making a vital 61 under a sky of deepening blue before he was caught in the deep, and though some tight Lancashire bowling took things deep, a horrendous misfield off the final delivery of the penultimate over granted Worcs the boundary that reduced the equation to a run a ball, and to a chorus of heartening cheers, Taylor supplied the straight six that notched up the county's first victory of the 2024 Blast.

Worcestershire WIN by five wickets

The Verdict: After the spring washouts, the name of the game in this year's Blast was always going to be delivering home wins in front of the packed houses Worcestershire need just to stay financially afloat (and, in the process, honouring the memory of Josh Baker; something Pat Brown touchingly did the following evening after taking his first wicket for Derbyshire). Mission accomplished on that front, though it's a fortnight's wait now until our next block of home fixtures; in the meantime, the conversation about New Road's future rolls on and on, raising the poignant thought that these happy midsummer nights should be made the most of while they last.

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Nottinghamshire

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Worcs innings: The Pears won the toss and put the Outlaws in to bat on a pleasant Thursday evening in early June. An early assault on the boundary from the openers got Worcestershire out of the blocks, but also cost us Matthew Waite to a top-edge for 11, closely followed by Ed Pollock bowled for 16 and Josh Cobb holing out for 11, resulting in a dubious 50-3 off the powerplay. And there was time for it to get rapidly (pun intended) worse, as Ethan Brookes was run out, Rob Jones caught and Tom Taylor bowled in consecutive overs, leaving the visitors 58-6. It took a brisk half-century rebuild from Adam Hose and Nathan Smith to get the innings back on track, and when the former was bowled for 36, Smudge managed to stick at the crease and complete his half-century as he pushed the Pears up to an unconvincing but vaguely competitive 154-8.

Notts innings: What's better than a knuckle ball off a length? A knuckle ball off a length that has Joe Clarke caught and bowled for 9 by Tom Taylor, of course! When Alex Hales flicked Smudge off his pads to deep square and Adam Finch nailed a yorker that removed Jack Haynes LBW for 11, things looked very promising with Notts restricted to 32-3 off the powerplay. Their gameplan from there was clearly to keep wickets in hand and take no unnecessary risks, but a promising partnership broke when Matt Montgomery smacked Taylor straight to midwicket for 20, and when the ex-Northants man got his fingers to a straight drive and ran out non-striker Will Young for 25 off the very next delivery, the fat lady was already clearing her lungs. Hayden Walsh struck at just the right time with his maiden Worcestershire wicket to remove Lyndon James for 7, and Calvin Harrison's run out with a throw from Hose condemned the hosts to limp through the last couple of overs with their tail between their legs and nowhere near enough Worcestershire rejects to save them from yet another richly-deserved spanking.

Worcestershire WIN by twenty runs

The Verdict: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Furthermore, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaa, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. And may I add HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA. The Worcester boys are happy, the Worcester boys are we.

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County Championship, Division One

vs Durham

Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

Day One: The Pears won the toss and put Durham in to bat on a cool, overcast final day of June that somewhat reflected Worcestershire's fortunes in the last three weeks. But those fortunes looked to be changing in a first session that began with Nathan Smith removing Scott Borthwick LBW in the first over, the first of two scalps for him as the hosts were reduced to 100-5 at lunch. But the presence of Ben Stokes in the Durham line-up caused problems in the afternoon as the England skipper racked up an aggressive half-century before Ben Allison had him top-edging a short ball behind; that opened the floodgate which saw Durham's remaining wickets fall in quick succession as they were skittled for 190 in time for an early tea. However, despite a fairly promising start, the Pears ultimately fared no better at the crease, especially after a rain break disrupted the rhythm of the innings and then left our batsmen toiling against pinpoint bowling under floodlights. Kashif Ali managed a battling half-century in a defiant rearguard action, but ultimately ran out of partners as the last five wickets fell for just thirteen runs, leaving Worcs all out for 112, trailing by 78. And yet there was still time for the Durham top order to fold a second time as they finished an astonishing twenty-three-wicket day 33-3.

Day Two: After a washed-out morning session, Worcestershire got right back to work with Durham's two nightwatchmen, Peter Siddle and Matthew Potts, removed by Tom Taylor and Nathan Smith respectively, leaving the hosts five down as rain halted play until well after tea. Upon resumption, the Pears kept chipping away with wickets until a stubborn partnership between Colin Ackermann and Ben Stokes - a fairly ludicrous pair to be batting for the eighth wicket - pushed the home side's lead up above 200. However, with the overs ticking down to close, Taylor struck decisively; first finding Ackermann's outside edge and having him caught behind for 40, then concluding the day by banging in a short ball that simply failed to bounce, instead rocketing at shin-height into the stumps, leaving all three sticks splayed and Ben Stokes on his hands and knees, his team 148-9 at close, the lead 226.

Day Three: Worcestershire needed the early breakthrough, and got it courtesy of Ben Allison with just four runs added to the overnight total, leaving Durham 152 all out and the target at a daunting 231. Another bright start hit a brick wall when Stokes and Siddle got into a groove in the half-hour before lunch, removing Gareth Roderick, Jake Libby and Rob Jones to leave the Pears 87-3 at lunch, requiring 144 more to win. The state of the pitch hitherto and the quality of the Durham attack still rendered that a big ask, and though it became slowly apparent that the track was offering a bit less to the bowlers, it still required terrific concentration and application from Kashif Ali and Adam Hose - making a half-century apiece - to whittle the equation down to 37. But with Hose then caught behind, a somewhat jumpy Ethan Brookes had to come out and weather an early examination before tea was taken on 208-4, with just 23 needed. After the interval, Durham gave it their last throw of the dice; Stokes and Siddle at either end, targeting Brookes and drawing outside and inside edges which whizzed through gaps in the slips and past the stumps to the boundary. Lady Luck was, for once, wearing Pear-green; and having made his highest first-class score, the young man struck the winning runs to give the Pears their first ever Championship win at Chester-le-Street.

Worcestershire WIN by six wickets

The Verdict: It may have taken a little longer than we initially hoped, and come about with the aid of some good fortune - the pitch flattened out just in time for the chase, the Durham bowlers spent the final afternoon sending down a shocking array of no-balls and other extras, and one or two close LBW shouts at crucial moments might well have gone the other way - but make no mistake; for their trials, their tribulations and their sheer hard bloody graft over the last three months, Worcestershire deserved this win. It is, of course, only half of the job done with regards to the broader Championship campaign, but it's also the best possible springboard into the run-in seven weeks from now. There's life in the old girl yet.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Leading Run-Scorers

1. Kashif Ali - 613 (61.30)
2. Jake Libby - 521 (40.07)
3. Gareth Roderick - 491 (35.07)
4. Adam Hose - 327 (25.15)
5. Rob Jones - 314 (22.42)


Leading Wicket-Takers

1. Nathan Smith - 27 (21.14)
2. Matthew Waite - 15 (35.60)
3. Joe Leach - 14 (39.87)
4. Adam Finch - 13 (38.38)
5. Jason Holder - 9 (44.33)

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Leicestershire

New Road, Worcester

Worcs innings: The Foxes won the toss and put the Pears in to bat as another unnecessarily grim July day nevertheless spared us rain long enough for a game of cricket. A dead rubber for Worcestershire after a campaign of oh-so-nearlys and how-did-they-bottle-thats, the side nevertheless came out swinging to entertain the diehard crowd; Josh Cobb and Brett D'Oliveira were casualties of a powerplay that racked up 61-2, while in the middle overs Gareth Roderick was bowled for 17 and an excellent 41 from Kashif Ali ended with an LBW on the brink of the halfway mark. A fine reverse slog-sweep was the highlight of the 18 from Ethan Brookes, and his departure brought about a slump that cost two further wickets to leave the Pears 136-7 with 26 balls remaining. But Adam Hose had been seeing it like a beachball from the moment he strode out to the middle, and he completed his half-century while peppering the boundary and forcing extras from a sloppy Leicestershire attack; holing out on 63 in the final over, there was still time for Tom Taylor to go big and push the innings up to a handsome 184-8, one run (and wicket) more than our total in the equivalent match last summer.

Leics innings: In the powerplay from hell, anything that could go wrong did for the visitors, who lost Rishi Patel to Taylor in the first over before young Harry Darley - who was pick of the Pears bowlers in the fifty-over warm-up versus Herefordshire this time last year, and against the New Zealanders in the late-summer T20 tour match - marked his second senior appearance with his maiden wicket, closely followed by his second two balls later. Taylor proceeded to see off Sol Budinger for 9, and when Matthew Waite made it 28-5 there was a paradoxical hush around the ground, as if the long-suffering faithful who'd paid their entrance money suddenly decided that a home win would be an anti-climax. But they needn't have worried, as an over or two of slack bowling and somewhat dozy fielding invited Louis Kimber and old boy Ben Cox to have a swing with nothing to lose, and suddenly the middle overs were disappearing for 12, 14 and 16 a pop. Both men made half-centuries and the Foxes were back in the running by the time Kimber holed out off Brookes for 53 with seven to go, needing 72 more off 41. A short stay from Ben Mike was ended by Matthew Waite, who then doubled up to have Lewis Goldsworthy caught behind superbly off the next ball, yet even eight down, Coxy went for it with able support from Scott Currie. Needing twenty to win off the final over, Coxy was at last bowled by Pingu, who completed his five-fer and the victory by having Currie caught off the penultimate ball, securing his best-ever T20 bowling figures to boot.

Worcestershire WIN by sixteen runs

The Verdict: Alas, too little and too late in the context of the Blast campaign, but taken on its own merits an enjoyable few hours nevertheless, offering as it did some stellar batting under pressure from both sides, a spirited fightback from Leics and a happy ending. More of the same this weekend, please, lads?

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, North Group

vs Birmingham

New Road, Worcester

Worcs innings: The Pears won the toss and elected to bat on a cloudy Friday night at Edgbaston. With no win against the Bears in any competition in over two years - since the Queen's Jubilee in early June 2022, in fact - there was an air of death-and-taxes inevitability about the second-ball duck of Ed Pollock, whose feast-or-famine Worcestershire career continues its distinctly Ethiopian tilt. But the second-wicket partnership went at ten an over through the powerplay until Josh Cobb holed out for 24, and with some magnificent leg-side hitting, Kashif Ali looked nailed-on for a half-century till he bottom-edged namesake Moeen into the keeper's gloves for 46. 94-3 at the halfway mark, the Pears instantly ran face-first into a brick wall with the loss of Adam Hose caught behind for 8, followed three balls later by Gareth Roderick top-edging for 1. But with Ethan Brookes studiously anchoring the innings and supplying some fine reverse sweeps into the bargain, Nathan Smith came in and gaily peppered the boundary until he departed for 33 off 16; the highest strike-rate of the Worcs innings up to that point. But the best was yet to come, as Matthew Waite came out to face eight balls of the weather-curtailed innings; the first two singles offered no inkling of the final-over fireworks to come as Worcestershire sat on a sub-par 153-6 and the Bears entrusted the ball to George Garton, only for raw Pingu Power to smoke him over the short leg-side boundary for 6-4-6-6-6-6, pushing the Pears up to a magnificent 187-6.

Birm innings: Right from the off, Tom Taylor had the new ball swinging round corners, and it was a wicked inswinger aimed at the blue wide-line that pitched two feet outside off and then swerved to clatter off-stump which removed Alex Davies for a golden duck, before Cobb drew a leading edge from Yates in the next over to take the return catch for a silver duck. It got worse still for the hosts in the third over when Pingu bowled Sam Hain for 14, but there was always going to be a fightback, and a partnership subsequently developed between the enterprising Dan Mousley and Moeen Ali, facing his former club for the first time since rejoining the Bears. Whether the occasion got to him or it was just an old-fashioned Mo off-day, the latter managed only a run-a-ball 16 before Pingu rearranged his stumps with a scorching yorker that had Mo swiping across the line in vain. But with Chris Benjamin coming out swinging, the nauseating in-house commentary team on the live stream found plenty to chirp about, and Mousley - who apparently "lives for these derby days" - wasted no opportunity to showboat and play to the crowd. Even when Benjamin holed out for 21 off Brookes, the hosts were keeping pace with the Pears innings on 100-5, which became 126-5 three overs later as the commentators urged "just one big over." And that was what they got, though not the way they'd have wished; Taylor was the hero who first had Jacob Bethell caught for 7, then mopped up Zak Foulkes for 1, and finally showcased his footy skills to great effect in running out the annoying Mousley, who subsequently looked to be blubbering his way off the field. It was all done bar the shouting, but the fat lady always appreciates seeing some icing on her cake before she opens her lungs, and it was absolutely fitting that Pingu should bowl George Garton and then remove Jake Lintott LBW for a golden duck with the next ball to skittle Birmingham for 132 and bring the Norman Gifford Trophy back to New Road in style.

Worcestershire WIN by fifty-five runs

The Verdict: With nothing else to play for but pride and a desire to dodge last place, derby day was always going to be an important one this time around, and as frustrating as this hit-and-miss Pears side can be, they came up trumps when it mattered. We can probably draw a line under the T20 for this summer now, but more of this in other formats would be hugely appreciated.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

One-Day Cup, Group A

vs Middlesex

New Road, Worcester

Worcs innings: Middlesex won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a cloudy Wednesday with play delayed by an unexpected shower of rain, knocking two overs off each innings before a ball was bowled. But Worcestershire, winless against the Londoners in List A cricket since a forty-over Sunday League encounter in May 2012, made up for lost time as the opening partnership battered the boundary on all sides of the ground, motoring to a new highest one-day first-wicket stand for the county of 259 with centuries apiece of Ed Pollock and Gareth Roderick, who finally became the first casualty after thirty-five overs when he was bowled for 115. Polly stuck it out for a career-best 180 before being caught, and Ethan Brookes managed a cameo of just 10, but a run-a-ball 44 from Rob Jones was enough to lift the Pears to a formidable 371-3.

Middlesex innings: While the batting heroics had all been done by Pears stalwarts, for the reply the ball was tossed to a mixture of club youngsters and minor counties loanees or triallists, with no fewer than six debutants to the full List A format. But those who've been paying attention for the last twelve months already knew what Harry Darley is capable of, and he wasted no time in demonstrating it as Sam Robson fell for a golden duck to the third ball of the innings and Joe Cracknell two overs later, both men bowled by identical deliveries that pitched outside off and nipped back wickedly to clatter the stumps. Darley then saw off Nathan Fernandes with a steepling top-edge caught by the keeper, leaving the visitors 41-3 and relying heavily on an all-out assault from Mark Stoneman to keep the match alive, but Jack Home - who made his senior debut in the T20 Blast - put paid to that slender hint of a recovery with three quick wickets of his own, having both Stoneman and Jack Davies caught behind before Martin Andersson holed out on the boundary. Ethan Brookes dismissed Ben Cullen for 8 after a brief lull, but it fell to Cornishman Tommy Sturgess, currently playing for Berkshire, to cap a tidy showing by mopping up the three wickets of the tail and skittle Middlesex for 188.

Worcestershire WIN by one hundred and eighty-three runs

The Verdict: An absolute shellacking of one of our lesser-encountered bêtes noire to get a new campaign underway, though the happy result would, within a day or two, be overshadowed by the announcement of Joe Leach's retirement from the game. Perhaps it's for the best that Messrs Darley, Home and Sturgess have this opportunity, because there are going to be some big shoes to fill at New Road in the summers to come.