Worcestershire season preview

County: Worcestershire

Ground: New Road

Director of Cricket: Steve Rhodes

Captain: Daryl Mitchell

2012 in a nutshell: Last season was a huge disappointment for Worcestershire, experiencing relegation to division two of the LV= County Championship, winning just one game, and finishing bottom in their Clydesdale Bank 40 group. Both aspects of their game weren’t at the level Steve Rhodes would have liked; summed up by Phil Hughes being the only batsmen to average 35 in the LVCC. The Friends Life t20 gave the side a much welcomed break and a considerable improvement on previous seasons, making it to the quarter final stage, only to lose out to Yorkshire at Headingly.

How they finished:

County Championship Division One: 9^th (relegation)

CB 40 Group A: 7^th (bottom)

Friends Life t20: Quarter Final stage

Ins: Graeme Cessford (2^nd XI), David Lucas (Northamptonshire) Michael Johnson (Western Australia), Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka), Jacab Oram (FLt20)

Outs: Vikram Solanki (Surrey), James Cameron, Ben Scott (released), Phil Hughes (Australia)

Overseas Players:

Thilan Samaraweera recently retired from international cricket, with an average of 48.76 in Test cricket, displaying the quality that Worcestershire have captured. The 36 year old will bring much needed experience to the side, collecting 81 caps for Sri Lanka. Despite failing on the 2009 tour of England, Samaraweera has the game and technique to dominate the county circuit. There will be huge pressure on the Sri Lankan, coming in to replace Australian Phil Hughes, who impressed last season in all formats. Worcestershire will look to the middle order batsmen to guide the relatively young side back to division one at the first attempt. Samaraweera will be a huge influence on the productivity of their campaign and will hope to strike up positive relationships with the experienced batsmen Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali.

Michael Johnson has also agreed a deal for the 2013 season. The Australian wicket keeper who holds a duel passport and will not count as an overseas player, hasn’t played first class cricket since late 2011, representing Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, but is seen as competition for Ben Cox. The 24 year old played for Kent 2ndXI last summer and will want to make his mark and break into the first team.

For the t20 competition Jacab Oram will link up with the club which will be a huge boost to their chances of making it through the group stage. The Kiwi is somewhat of an expert in the format, travelling the world playing it. He will improve the bowling with his medium pace and slower balls and the batting line-up with his big hitting.

Key player:

Moeen Ali will have a big role to play with bat and ball

Moeen Ali– The England Lion will have more responsibility on his shoulders this season with former skipper Vikram Solanki leaving new Road for Surrey. He will want to get back to business after a quiet 2012, averaging just 26.08 in the LVCC. Ali showed he had the quality to dominate division two in 2010, hitting 1260 runs at 48.46. If Ali collects those kind of figures Worcestershire could bounce straight back to division one. It’s not just the 25 year old’s batting that will be a threat, his off spin claimed 33 victims last season at an average of 27.30, but the bowling attack may lean on veteran seamer Alan Richardson once again.

The 37 year old collected 57 first class wickets at 19.52 in just 14 games, but Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes and captain Daryl Mitchell will be wanting younger members of the bowling attack to step up and support Richardson.

One to watch:

Ben Cox– The 21 year old will have the chance to claim the gloves a New Road, after the county released Ben Scott after three years service. Cox will have competition with the signing of Australian Michael Johnson, but has shown glimpses of his quality with the limited chances he has been given, making 61, as a 17 year old school boy in 2009 on debut against Somerset. In 17 county championship matches the youngster has claimed 44 victims with the gloves, while having a batting average of 17.28, and he will be hoping to development and improve on those stats.

How they’ll fare:

The losses of Vikram Solanki and Phil Hughes could have been a season defining moment, especially with their preseason training being disrupted by flooding at New Road, forcing them to move to Kidderminster’s Chester Road ground, practising under a marquee on the square.

The signing of Sri Lankan Thilan Samaraweera was crucial for their season and should give the team consistency with the bat as well as experience, which is what they missed last year. Worcestershire’s primary objective will be to bounce straight back up to division one of the county championship, which would be the fifth time in 11 campaigns. It won’t be as easy as past years with Lancashire, Kent and Hampshire all having the same ambition and it could go down to the wire between the four of them.

In the Friends Life t20, Jacab Oram is a huge addition to the side, as he has become a specialist in the format and they will be hoping to improve on last season’s quarter final defeat. It will be a struggle to get through the group stage this season and the same could be expected in the Yorkshire Bank 40.

Odds:

LV= County Championship 7/1

Yorkshire Bank 40 33/1

Friends Life t20 33/1