11/09/00 - WORCESTERSHIRE are about to set off on the final lap of a season which has had its fair share of trials and tribulations.

On Wednesday Northamptonshire visit New Road to launch the last County Championship Division Two match while on Sunday the Norwich Union National League Division One campaign comes to an end with a home game against Kent.

After that it will be a case of reflecting on the plus and minus points that have emerged from a long, hard season which has often produced a mixture of highs and lows.

And one man in particular who will be taking stock of an eventful summer will be New Road coach Bill Athey.

He has already turned his sights on next season in terms of what will be needed to strengthen the squad and how the current up-and-coming youngsters can be developed further.

Firstly, though, it's a case of dwelling on the various positive points that have been evident during the campaign.

He said: "Obviously, one of the big plus points is Kabir Ali. He's come in and done a very good job for a 19-year-old kid.

"Kadeer, whose 17, has got a lot of runs in the second eleven and also come in and played a little bit in the first team. He did well on his National League debut and he looks a really good prospect.

"Ryan Driver has also shown glimpses of what he's capable of while Elliott Wilson had a very good first third of the season.

"He's only a young player and inexperienced, so there's a definite possibility of a good player emerging there.

"Especially in a game like cricket we probably expect a little bit too much of the young players.

"It takes times, everybody knows that, but James Pipe is another youngster who has come in and done very well."

Athey also highlights the more seasoned professionals at New Road like David Leatherdale, Paul Pollard, Steve Rhodes and Stuart Lampitt who have all played a major role this season.

"Pollard has come on pretty well in the last half of the season after struggling a little bit in the first half.

"Leatherdale has also done very well this season and Rhodes has continued to keep wicket well and chipped in with some useful runs.

"Lampitt is our second most successful bowler. He keeps chugging away as he always has done, so there are a lot of good points to come out of the season.

"It doesn't help when you haven't got Graeme Hick on a regular basis, but we knew that that was going to be the case right from the start.

"Missing Glenn McGrath when he went back to Australia was a big blow to us.

"When he was away we lost matches and if he'd been in our side I'm sure that in one or two of those games there might have been a different result.

"But he's been an unbelievable asset to us and thank goodness we have had him.

"He will be a big miss next year when we can get some other overseas player, but whoever it is he will have some massive boots to fill."

Athey, however, knows only too well that finding a suitable overseas player is not easy.

"There are so many international teams playing at that time of the year.

"Their overseas tours, and what have you, have started to go into our summer, so it's difficult."

Athey, however, is convinced that the County will find the pieces of the jigsaw they will need to bolster their ranks next year.

Various names are already being banded about, but the search is far from over.

New Road Cricket Committee chairman Martin Horton said that Worcestershire have been in touch with the ICC suggesting they should their sort out their tours at least two years in advance so that counties know exactly who would be available.

"But there are so many little tournaments now that you don't know when you are going to miss a player for perhaps a fortnight or three weeks," Athey said.