After setting the match up in almost perfect fashion, Head Coach Alan Richardson says he couldn’t have asked for more from his bowlers, as their search for seven-wickets on a docile day four pitch went largely unrewarded.
After Callum Parkinson made the away side’s initial breakthrough in an excellent spell before lunch, there was renewed vigour amongst Worcestershire in the field that something special was on the horizon.
The combination of a flattened surface and some middle-order resistance meant the Pears were unable to force any further wickets – but after persisting in the field for over two days, Richardson was delighted with his side’s perseverance.
“It was an outstanding effort, I think ultimately, one that we should be really proud of. I think just a little bit disappointing that we didn’t quite get the breaks, but it won’t be through lack of trying or through lack of skill, either.
“A really good effort – we played so well over the first three days, it felt like, you know, we definitely deserve the win but just couldn’t quite get over the line.
“The whole idea with the Kookaburra ball is probably that you have to be a little bit more creative and inventive when needed, you know, and it’s it tested the bowlers and certainly the captains.
“They probably have to try and think slightly differently than normally with the Dukes ball, so it’s nice to see, and you see slightly different skill sets.
“We watched Callum Parkinson get through out of a lot of overs for us, Adam Finch bowl with some real hostility and those field settings were just trying to find different ways to take wickets.”
Coming into the match at the Utilita Bowl on the back of a sobering defeat at the hands of reigning champions, Surrey, the Pears batting unit responded in fine fashion.
Jake Libby, winning the toss and electing to bat, certainly vindicated his faith in the top-order, as the skipper himself secured a career-best score of 228*, batting for over 10 hours in his mammoth stint at the crease.
For all of Libby’s discipline shown throughout, the headlines were stolen in scintillating fashion by his counterpart, Adam Hose, who shattered day one records with a sublime 266 from just 253 balls, as the pair broke the back of their side’s imposing 679-7 declared.
The Worcestershire Head Coach expressed his delight for the batting unit after a challenging year in the red-ball format.
“Jake Libby and Adam hose putting on 395 it was quite an exhibition.
“I think on the first day, certainly for me, it was a real honour to be here and watch certainly the way that Adam went about his business, in terms of the tempo that he batted at and then you saw Jake, in a completely different tempo.
“It all set us up to put ourselves in a really strong position for the game. The boys have had it tough this year as a batting group and unsurprisingly there’s been some real questions asked amongst the group.
“They’ve been really trying to work as hard as they can to get some positive results for themselves. It’s been really difficult at times, but they can all play without shadow of a doubt and they’ve never lost faith in that.
“It’s just been really nice for them to show what they can do.”
While the match will be remembered for the record-shattering first innings from the visitors, many will be hard pressed to see a more impressive collective bowling effort go unrewarded, as the Pears attack combined across two days to take 14 wickets in the most extreme of batter-friendly conditions.
With Tom Taylor starring in the first innings, Adam Finch impressed on his return to the side with some aggressive short-pitched bowling, while Callum Parkinson bowled relentlessly for almost 70 overs in the heat.
Ben Allison and Matthew Waite can count themselves very unfortunate to come away wicketless, but Richardson says collectively this will only help the unit when the Rothesay County Championship returns.
“It was a very different challenge for the bowlers in this game, we had some pretty extreme heat in day two and day three, and they coped with it really well.
“They came up with some real nice plans, kept it really simple for as long as they could, which was really impressive.
“Tommy will take the plaudits for the first innings and bowled really well, as he has done throughout the season, but he would have needed everyone else to help him out as well.
“We saw some real hostility from Adam, some real control and threat from Callum and everyone else contributed as well. I think Benny Allison, as always, bowled well without his rewards.
“We continue forward and will be a better side for this experience.”
