Ethan Brookes’ composed 80 not-out and a controlled half-century from Captain Brett D’Oliveira saw Worcestershire close on 262-8 after a testing opening day of Rothesay County Championship cricket against Warwickshire.
With rain lingering in the air throughout and the floodlights on for the duration of the day’s play, Worcestershire benefitted from a staunch show of defence in the first hour of the match, that laid the platform for the middle order to prosper as the day went on.
Brookes batted with superb temperament after a flurry of top-order wickets, as he and skipper D’Oliveira added 66 for the fifth wicket, having come together at 109-4 after Adam Hose (40) was run-out.
D’Oliveira showed excellent patience for his 57 off 148 deliveries, but it was Brookes who continued his resistance deep into the evening session, making his way to 80 not-out in Worcestershire’s day one total of 262-8 at Edgbaston.
Returning to red-ball action for the first time since the start of July, Worcestershire travelled to Edgbaston searching for their second Rothesay County Championship win of the season.
Winning the toss under gloomy skies and with moisture in the air, skipper Brett D’Oliveira elected to bat first, in the hope his side could get an early foothold in the game and steal a march on their rivals, in a crucial fixture in the wider Worcestershire quest for their retention of Division One status.
Gareth Roderick and Jake Libby began with caution in the early exchanges, showing patience and a resolute defensive nature as the pair were worked over by Ethan Bamber and Oliver Hannon-Dalby.
14.1 overs had passed when the clock edged past midday and the first wicket fell, when Roderick’s defences were breached as he feathered behind a testing delivery from former Pear, Ed Barnard, having faced 42 balls for his gritty 11.
With the floodlights now in full effect and the Kookaburra ball offering some rare assistance off a dark-brown pitch, it was Libby who followed soon after in identical fashion, this time off the bowling of Bamber, with the Worcestershire openers hard-work undone exactly six-balls apart from one another.
Kashif Ali’s stay at the crease was a brief one, after punching two boundaries early on, he could only manage 11 before being trapped LBW, with his side 50-3.
In need of some stability, it was June’s PCA player of the month Adam Hose, who came together with captain D’Oliveira and set about the task of seeing their side through to lunch without any further damage.
After a short delay for rain, the pair navigated another difficult spell with assertiveness, as the Pears took lunch 67-3.
Resuming in similar conditions, the attacking instinct of Hose began to come to the fore, as he accessed the readily available and noticeably short boundary towards the Hollies stand, displaying an array of attacking shots when a rare bad-ball was on offer.
D’Oliveira continued his disciplined repost, rotating the strike as Warwickshire continued to make run-scoring hard for the visiting side and the contest edged forward.
The pair added 59 for the fourth-wicket, before disaster struck, with Hose beginning to find his groove on 40, a mix-up between the pair saw him hesitate to leave his ground, where not even a full-length dive could save him from a despairing run-out, with Worcestershire meandering at 109-4.
Ethan Brookes joined his captain in typically busy fashion, looking to rotate the strike and access the full dimensions of the ground wherever possible, as the Pears middle-order pear set about another re-build.
The duo raised their fifty partnership in 95 deliveries, batting astutely with their no risk cricket shots keeping the bowlers at bay, with the tea interval successfully reached at 159-4.
D’Oliveira went to his half-century shortly after the break, freeing his arms with a lusty blow down the ground, reaching the milestone from 137 balls and hitting six-boundaries in the process.
11 balls later and the visitors were pegged back once again however, as the captain was caught behind from a Beau Webster ball that did enough to catch D’Oliveira’s edge for 57.
Brookes continued and was joined by Tom Taylor, but he mistimed a shot off the back foot and was given out LBW, as Worcestershire slipped to 196-6.
Shortly after Taylor’s dismissal, Brookes made his way to a fine fifty, raising his bat after 82 balls at the crease and with his side not long past the 200-mark.
Ben Allison played a valiant support role in the meantime, buying Brookes some time as they accumulated a vital extra 46 for the seventh wicket, before Allison was caught for 16 in the 84th over of the days play.
Loan-signing Bertie Foreman fell shortly after, as Worcestershire faced a tricky period to end the opening day with eight overs lying in wait for Brookes and new partner Adam Finch.
Brookes pressed on in balanced and controlled fashion, easing the ball to the cover boundary on multiple occasions with the clock creeping towards 6:30pm and the Worcestershire all-rounder 79 not-out, keeping his side in the contest.
With three overs remaining in the day, bad light brought a premature end to the day’s action, with Brookes not-out on 80 and Worcestershire 262-8 after a rigorously testing opening day of Division One cricket.
