Worcestershire pace duo Joe Leach and Adam Finch are on course to return to action for the Vitality County Championship match with Kent at Visit Worcestershire New Road later this month.
Head Coach Alan Richardson is confident the pair will be available for the four-day game which gets underway on Thursday, August 22.
It is a major boost for the County after being decimated in the bowling department by injuries to senior players during the past few weeks.
Leach required an injection in his troublesome knee after winter surgery and Finch also suffered a knee setback in the home Championship game with Surrey.
But they are both back to bowling and making good progress.
Richardson said: “We’ve got guys returning. We are pretty confident that Joe and Adam will be back for that first game (against Kent).
“Joe and Adam are back to bowling and progressing nicely and we will see how they go in the lead up to that.
“We will take our time with those guys and make sure they are in as good a spot as possible.”
Matthew Waite (side strain) and Ben Gibbon (back) have been amongst the other casualties in the bowling department while Nathan Smith (hamstring) has returned home to New Zealand.
But batter Kashif Ali, Worcestershire’s leading Championship scorer this summer, has started hitting balls in the nets after his side strain.
Richardson said: “Obviously, we are waiting a little bit on Matthew Waite and Ben Gibbon.
“But we have to try and make sure we have got as many people available as we can for those last five games.
“We have taken real care of Brett D’Oliveira and Tommy Taylor during this period as well. We won’t rush anyone back because we can’t afford to really.
“Kashif Ali (side strain) has started to hit balls again, so that’s good, but it is low intensity at the moment and again we are going to make sure we take as much time as we can and make sure Kash is in a good spot when he gets back.”
