PHIL Jaques admitted his 202 for Worcestershire yesterday in County Championship division two was hard work.

Jaques' innings against Northamptonshire took his Championship aggregate to 921 runs in six matches at a fantastic average of 102.3.

But he said: "There was a little bit of assistance for the bowlers early on and it was hard to score.

"There wasn't much pace in it and it was just a matter of trying to be patient, hang in there and hopefully cash in during the last session.

"It was another great day for the side with almost 400 runs and hopefully we can kick on today.

"It was definitely the hardest I have had to work for a while and it was one of those days when nothing hit the middle of the bat. Graeme is an absolute legend of the game and to get a chance to bat with him for a long period of time was really good fun.

"I was a little bit surprised he took the light at the end, but he was probably looking after Davo (Steven Davies) a little bit.

"But I'm sure there'll be a big crowd in today to watch him get his 100th hundred."