Assistant Coach Alan Richardson says Worcestershire CCC will be striving to celebrate Daryl Mitchell’s superb career in style during the season’s finale.
Worcestershire legend Mitchell announced his retirement on Tuesday evening after 17 seasons as a first-team player, including six as captain.
The opening batsman has only two games left before he hangs up his spikes against Middlesex at Lord’s and Leicestershire at what is sure to be an emotional New Road.
Tributes have come flooding in since Mitchell’s announcement, and Durham’s record-breaking paceman Chris Rushworth summed up the feelings of many in the game.
He tweeted: “Literally one of the best you will get. Hell of a career, but what a bloke. As far as county cricket is concerned, this guy is a legend.”
Now Richardson says his teammates will want to ensure Mitchell bows out on a memorable note.
Richardson said: “He is a legend of the club. The numbers are tremendous. I can’t remember all of them, but there are runs and wickets galore, countless appearances, captained for a long time.
“He has been a huge part of the club, so, for us, not only are we trying to win games of cricket but make it a real celebration for Daryl going into these last two games.
“A game at Lord’s is a nice fitting last away game for him with us, and then to get to play at New Road one last time will be hugely emotional for everyone who has been involved in the club for a long time.
“For us as a club, we really need to make it a celebration of Daryl’s career and the impact he has had on the club.”
Worcestershire kept Kent waiting for victory at Canterbury after fine knocks from Club Captain Joe Leach and all-rounder Ed Barnard.
It followed on from a six-wicket win over Sussex after a superb last day run chase, and Richardson says it is important to keep the ups and downs in perspective.
He said: “Joe and Ed especially showed some real good character. It was asked for at the start of the day by Joe, and he led by example brilliantly in terms of that, but ultimately it was too little, too late really.
“We got ourselves into a situation where we were so far behind the game that ultimately it was always going to be a real struggle.
“For the guys, a lot of them have played enough cricket to understand it is going to have those ups and downs.
“Cricket is our passion and our livelihoods, and we are going to win games, and we are going to lose games.
“It is about trying to show that consistency in how we react to both, so we are not going to get too carried when we win a game and also not be too down when we lose games, to accurately and honestly debrief at the end and be able to move on.
“This result isn’t going to go away, but ultimately we’ve got another game coming up in three or four days, and we have to deal with that and the challenges it will present.
