Charlie Morris is excited by the crop of young pace bowling talent which will be competing for places in Worcestershire CCC’s red ball line-up next summer.
Morris is now part of the experienced group of bowlers alongside Club Captain Joe Leach and last season’s Vitality Blast captain, Ed Barnard.
The trio between them have taken more than 700 first-class wickets – including a combined 51 last summer when Worcestershire impressed in the Bob Willis Trophy.
But Morris has also identified the potential and promise in Josh Tongue – himself with 124 first-class wickets already – Dillon Pennington, Adam Finch, Vitality Blast 2018 and 2019 hero Pat Brown and Mitchell Stanley.
He said: “I joined Worcestershire at the age of 20 and remember looking up at the likes of Alan Richardson and other senior guys like Gareth Andrew and David Lucas.
“In the same way, it is up to the more experienced members in the current group to lead the way and set the example for the younger guys now coming through.
“We’ve got a great crop of bowlers and the young guys coming through are outstanding.
“Adam showed that. Just to miss out on playing for us last year, but to go away to Surrey and do what he did, just really shows the strength of the squad.
“Dillon is coming on leaps and bounds. He’s an outstanding bowler who can produce a wicket-taking ball out of nowhere – whether it’s a new ball or an old ball.
“He stands the seam up so well and has good pace.
“Adam has got good pace and bounce, Josh’s record speaks for itself with what he’s achieved and Pat, although he has played a lot of white-ball cricket, his potential to be a very good red-ball bowler speaks for itself.
“I saw him bowl in a pre-season game in July, and he swung the ball beautifully. His red-ball potential shouldn’t be under-estimated.
“Mitchell Stanley has got a yard of pace when it clicks and is getting better and better as he trains in his second full winter with us. He’s got a lovely action, again another tall bowler with some pace.
“There is going to be a lot of competition come the start of the season, and that’s a healthy place to be.”
