IT’S hard to know where to begin when looking to dissect Worcestershire’s 2009 campaign.

Do you start with the loss of Simon Jones before a ball was bowled or the loss of Kabir Ali after just two games? Or do you go back even further and look at the lack of player recruitment over the winter?

Director of cricket Steve Rhodes made only one signing over the close season last year and that was a player who was rejected by Gloucestershire, a team that finished 18th out of 18.

But Ian Fisher was not signed to be a first-class player, he was wanted for his one-day atttributes, yet he was a player deemed not good enough for the Nevil Road side.

Having lost their most iconic star for more than 30 years in Graeme Hick, Rhodes took the gamble to go with the players that he already had in his ranks.

We all know how good hindsight is and if Rhodes could make that decision again, then perhaps the outcome would be different.

But what is done, is done.

Yes, Worcestershire hit rock bottom and the lowest point of the season was becoming the first County side not to win a championship match in 81 years, although being bowled out for just 58 to Ireland in the Friends Provident Trophy comes a pretty close second.

What is important for everyone at New Road is where do they go from here.

Home-grown wicketkeeper Steve Davies has left for Surrey along with Gareth Batty. Jones, while not playing a single match this season, has been released and will join Hampshire.

Kabir is unhappy and wants out, although the deadline for his move has now past, while Stephen Moore is likely to activate his relegation get-out clause in his contract.

Also, there will not be an overseas player next year, but they may be a good thing considering the quality that is on offer these days.

Money at New Road is not in great supply and the recruitment of Alan Richardson from Middlesex hardly sets the pulses racing.

Even more worryingly though, is what the 34-year-old injury-prone former Warwickshire bowler said last week.

“If the body holds up, then there’s no reason why I couldn’t have two good years at Worcester,” Richardson said.

Sounds like Worcestershire’s much-maligned inexperienced attack could be in for another busy season and they will need another experience pair of shoulders to come in if Kabir gets his wish and leaves this winter.

The County know that they need at least one wicketkeeper. Ben Cox made his first-team at Somerset, but the 17-year-old is still at Bromsgrove School.

He made an impressive debut, there is no doubt about that, and he will, given more opportunities like he had at Taunton, become the County’s number one gloveman in the future.

So Rhodes, a shrewd judge of wicketkeepers, needs someone to come in and replace Steve Davies for the short-term.

Former County gloveman Steve Adshead has been linked with the move, as has Surrey’s Jonathan Batty.

Worcestershire will also need a new batsman, maybe even two if Moore opts to leave.

Alexei Kervezee has improved beyond all recognition in the first team this season and 20-year-old has stepped up impressively too.

The final two weeks of the campaign has given the long suffering New Road supporters hope, but don’t expect too much too soon.

The potential of some of the youngsters in the squad is vast, but potential is no good unless it is realised.

Senior players too, also need to step up to the plate next season. The cycle of yo-yoing between the divisions needs to be broken.

If that means a consolidation season or two then so be it. Those extra years might just give the likes of Kervezee, Wheeldon, Cox, Richard Jones and Jack Shantry a solid base for them to return to the top flight, whenever that might be, as stronger and better players.

It has been a year of doom and gloom, but the light is still flickering — just.