Head Coach Alan Richardson praised the “character, team-work and team ethic” of the Worcestershire players as they secured a third successive win in the Vitality County Championship against Essex at Chelmsford.
A 43-run triumph put the icing on a superb comeback after Worcestershire had been 10-4 on the opening morning as Essex were bowled out for 140 on the final afternoon.
It followed on from another equally impressive showing in the victory in the previous away game against Durham with victory over Kent at Visit Worcestershire New Road sandwiched in between.
Richardson said: “I said to the lads that in all my time as a player, I don’t think I won a four-day game at Chelmsford.
“They’ve always been historically very strong there and they’ve got better and better, a phenomenal four-day side over the last five or six years.
“For us to go there, play as good cricket as we did, compete for as long as we did, stay in the game and show belief and character, I think it’s right up there.
“They were second in the table before the game for a really good reason: they are a very good side, and for the boys, a huge amount of skill set was shown, but more importantly, the character, teamwork and team ethic.”
Richardson added: “It was a real team performance and I don’t just say that in terms of performance, but more so in how they went about it, how they approached it.
“We always talk about it a lot: if we want to be in a game, we want to be the best team we can be and the best team in the game.
“If we do that collectively, then we give ourselves a chance of doing really well.
“It shone out no more than in this game really. Sometimes, you rely on those individual performances, but the guys are stuck at it. There were lots of really good performances with the bat and the ball and outstanding fielding.
“It wasn’t so long ago that the performance against a very strong Durham team at their place was also fantastic.
“We did just did it this time in slightly different ways in different conditions and we should take great pride in that.”
The victory lifted Worcestershire to fifth place in the table. With three games remaining, they are 28 points above the bottom two.
