WORCESTERSHIRE first and second team players will embark on three days of full scale practice - weather permitting - at New Road this week.

Director of cricket Steve Rhodes and his coaching staff will put the squad through their paces as part of their preparations for the Specsavers County Championship match with Gloucestershire at Bristol starting on April 24.

Worcestershire have found themselves with a 10-day break from action after the complete wash-out of the opening Championship match with Kent at New Road.

Rhodes said: "Fingers crossed, we've got three days here, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, when we will be doing some practice in the middle.

"By all means if anyone wants to come along and watch, the gates will be open.

"We are going to be doing some match type practice and on one or maybe two of the days we will have a game between ourselves so there will be cricket going on here.

"But it will be full practice for us and then we will be preparing and trying to get ourselves ready for Bristol."

The Seconds will also not return to action until April 25 when they face Sussex in a three-day match at Kidderminster.

Rhodes said: "We did that on purpose because we knew we had this gap in the fixtures.

"I wanted some practice for our first team and to have our second team around to enable us to play games between ourselves was always what we planned."

Worcestershire picked up just the five points from the wash-out against Kent.

Rhodes said: "We would have loved to be playing a game simply because it is costing us points and we all know how important those points are when you tot them up at the end of the year and we've got a goal in mind to try and get up so it is more difficult now.

"We've got 15 games left and sadly no bonus points, just draw points in the table."