Kapil set to return (From Worcester News)

Kapil set to return

9:30am Tuesday 5th June 2012 in News By Steve Carley, @stevecarleyWN

WORCESTERSHIRE Royals head to Old Trafford today looking to continue their fine start in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group ‘A’ (1.45pm).

With two wins from their first three matches already in the bag, the New Road side take on Lancashire Lightning under the gaze of the Sky Sports cameras bidding to strengthen their position in the table.

Although it is early days in the 40-over format, adding to the 56-run victory against Middlesex and seven-wicket triumph at Essex would represent an excellent return for Steve Rhodes’ men.

It would also be the perfect start to a busy week which sees the County follow the Lancashire clash with a visit to group leaders The Netherlands, who inflicted Worcestershire’s only defeat so far, on Friday before hosting Gloucestershire on Sunday.

Director of cricket Rhodes said: “We have got three one-dayers coming up and then the Twenty20s so it gives us an opportunity to focus on our one-day skills and, hopefully, we will be able to carry them out at Old Trafford.

“It’s a tough place to win, but if we can it puts us in a good position with three victories from four.

“We have won our two games pretty convincingly but we have carried out our game-plans and executed them well and when you do that you tend to do well.

“We lost the first game against Holland but we didn’t play that badly. Holland are a better side than people think and they have got some quality players — so perhaps it wasn’t that bad a result.

“The other two, Middlesex and Essex, are good sides so to beat them was good.”

Teeange all-rounder Aneesh Kapil and slow left-armer Shaaiq Choudhry return to the fold as part of a 12-man squad as the County revert to their one-day set-up.

Paceman Richard Jones and left-handed batsman Matt Pardoe drop out following the LV= County Championship Division One draw against Somerset, the last four-day match until July 10.

Australian batsman Phil Hughes will be looking for a repeat of the 111 he scored in the Middlesex victory, his Worcestershire debut in the CB40.

While Rhodes recognises the importance of the next few days, he insists that success in the one-day arena is no more a target than doing well in County Championship Division One.

He added: “We don’t put any real focus on one competition and try and prepare as best we can for all of them.

“It’s just another week in a crucial season and all our energy is on that.”

Worcestershire (from): Solanki, Hughes, Moeen, Cameron, Mitchell (c), Kapil, Kervezee, Andrew, Scott, Lucas, Choudhry, Shantry.