Worcestershire Head Coach, Alan Richardson, has stressed the importance of the Rapids maintaining their confidence and belief ahead of Friday’s Vitality Blast derby with Birmingham Bears at Visit Worcestershire New Road (5.30pm start).
Richardson says it is crucial to retain those qualities despite the Rapids having lost their last four matches in the T20 competition – all by narrow margins.
He is mindful of the Rapids putting together a four-game winning sequence last summer in the competition on their way to the quarter-finals.
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Richardson said: “That is important for us to remember. In any league, you talk about momentum being important and none more so than in the T20 one.
“It is where confidence plays a huge part and belief in how you want to play your cricket.
“The biggest challenge for us all is to make sure we maintain that confidence and belief despite having some results that haven’t quite gone our way.
“If we get a defensive or survival mindset then that makes it very difficult to perform well in T20 cricket.
“I think you always have to be mindful that there is a performance around the corner.
“The games come thick and fast and every one is an opportunity to get a win under our belt and play some good cricket.
“It is no different than anything else except with the nature of the game that that confidence in your own ability and strengths, and team’s abilities and strengths, is more important than ever.”
Assistant Head Coach, Kadeer Ali, says the Rapids now have to play “knockout cricket” and look to win every game if they are to qualify for latter stages.
He said: “We wanted more wins and the close games we have lost recently have been disappointing.
“But we are into effectively at the knockout stage now where we’ve got to try and win every game.
“It is what it is. There have been plenty of tournaments around the world where teams haven’t started great but have still managed to qualify.
“That has got to be our attitude, go out and try and win every single game we can now.
“We’ve got to try and keep that believe because if you lose three or four on the bounce you can win three four or four in a row
“It can happen in T20 cricket and it’s important that we stay positive.
“It has come down to one ball, a couple of boundaries against Leicestershire and Northamptonshire and DL v Notts where lost by one run.
“A couple of those go your way and you are flying in the table. The lads will be hurting upstairs but they will come back harder.”
Josh Cobb and Kashif Ali are both named in the 15-man squad for derby day.
Worcestershire Rapids
2 Jake Libby
3 Josh Cobb
6 Matthew Waite
7 Ed Pollock
9 Gareth Roderick (w)
12 Tom Taylor
15 Brett D’Oliveira (c)
20 Nathan Smith
27 Kashif Ali
31 Shoaib Bashir
54 Adam Hose
61 Adam Finch
77 Ethan Brookes
86 Hayden Walsh
88 Rob Jones
