I'VE never been back in the classroom before the last Test match has started nor with the County having 15 days of cricket still to play.

I'd never been to Lord's before either to watch a final, but I will go again despite the anti-climax. Lord's is a wonderful venue even when enduring what was a humiliating defeat.

There was understandable dismay at how the side underperformed -- and after such a good start.

Supporters invest a lot of time, money and emotion in following any side. They are entitled to feel let down; to go further, though, is to suggest that there is something deliberate about the mistakes which are made through the anxiety of trying too hard if anything.

Such was the all-enveloping momentum of Worcestershire's decline that even Andrew Hall was caught up in it. His aura of invincibility could not protect him as Ian Harvey showed him the meaning of the 'rusty gate'.

Steve Rhodes' injury gave a final, bitter and painful twist to the team's agonies. Yet even here was beginning the next cycle in cricketing fate.

Bumpy's replacement, James Pipe has suffered his own injury this year, a horrible blow to the eye which kept him out for over two months. However, his maiden championship hundred has set Worcestershire on their way to a winning position against Hampshire with a draw enough to confirm promotion, and a win promising a championship showdown with Northants.

I've said all along that Worcestershire's success will be measured by their four-day success, though the gloss will still be lost if they are relegated in the NCL.

The last four-day game of the season offers a chance to go head-to- head with their closest rivals at Wantage Road in another final of sorts which will offer the chance to eliminate the memory of Lord's.

Relegation, though, is a real threat. As I write, all three games need to be won for Worcestershire to have a chance of staying up, given that Leicestershire and Kent, the teams directly above them, play each other as one of their two remaining games.

So it could be all over, or we might be looking at a fiercely difficult day night game at Edgbaston to carry the issue on to the final game at home to Essex.

The fact that three of Worcestershire's victories to date have been against the top three sides can be of little comfort now.

Lord Maclaurin is talking again of the need for a reduction in counties in the face of falling television revenues.

Worcestershire want to be one of those who are strongly placed in the top division of both leagues and their cricket is certainly deserving of that status.