Worcestershire looking to County Championship as final pre-season game ends in win

The side wrapped up their victory by 141 runs on the final afternoon at Chester Road, Kidderminster after star performances from Jake Libby, Ed Barnard, Brett D'Oliveira and Josh Baker.

With preparations complete, attention now turns to the County Championship opener against Leicester at Grace Road tomorrow (April 7).

The Worcestershire players have put in 14 days of valuable match practice across five games with only minimal interruptions by the weather.

Jake Libby, Ed Pollock, Gareth Roderick, Jack Haynes, D’Oliveira and Ed Barnard of the top six batters have all scored at least one half-century in pre-season.

The new ball attack of Joe Leach and Dillon Pennington has also looked in fine fettle during the past two weeks.

Speaking after the prep was wrapped up, coach Kadeer Ali highlighted young spinner Josh Baker as a role-model for young players to break into the first team.

He said: "Josh was on the Academy 18 months ago, so he has been fast-tracked very quickly, and he deserves it.

“He has come into the environment full of confidence and has done what he has done since he was a young kid. He has bowled consistently.

“A great example and anyone on the Academy should be encouraged by what he has done. I’m sure they will have opportunities to play, exposure to Seconds cricket, and, with hard work, they can start pushing.

“There are a few talented lads. Oli Cox last season showed some encouraging signs. Reeve Evitts, Ben Parker, Ismail Mohammed, Rehaan Edavalath, there are quite a few of them.

“If you look at Jack Haynes early last season, he came into the second team, got some big scores, put the pressure on, and got into the side.

“That is the same for everyone else. Batters or bowlers, they’ve got to try and perform and keep pushing Alex (Gidman) for a first team place.

“It is really exciting for me, trying to get guys back into the first team alongside the young lads coming through the Academy.”