Pat Brown is part of the Worcestershire Rapids squad for the Vitality Blast opener against Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley and is in contention to play his first game in the competition since the end of the 2020 campaign.
The pace bowler was the star performer with the ball for the Rapids on finals day in their 2018 title triumph and when finishing runners-up 12 months later.
He did not participate in last year’s tournament because of injury, but the encouraging news is that he has been back playing T20 matches for the Seconds during the past two weeks and has been named in a 13 strong squad.
Big-hitting opener Ed Pollock is in line to make his Blast debut for Worcestershire after featuring in the opening six LV=Insurance County Championship matches following his move from Warwickshire-Birmingham Bears.
Wicket-keeper-batter Gareth Roderick is also in contention to make his first Blast appearance for the Rapids. His last appearance in the tournament was for Gloucestershire against Worcestershire in the 2018 quarter-final at New Road.
Jack Haynes hopes to make his mark after an ankle injury ruled him out of all but the final two Blast games in 2021.
He will be aiming to continue the form which has seen him hit three centuries in successive Championship games.
Matthew Waite, who impressed with six wickets on loan from Yorkshire in the Championship win over Leicestershire, is not available to face his parent club.
Opener Taylor Cornall is included after a series of impressive performances for the Seconds, including three centuries.
Ben Cox will captain the side in the absence of Moeen Ali, who will be back available on June 1.
The Rapids face four successive away games with the Vikings, Notts Outlaws, Lancashire Lightning and Durham, but Head Coach Alex Gidman is looking for the squad to “flip this on its head” and secure a couple of wins.
He said: “It’s always an exciting competition to start. We are thrown in the deep end with less preparation and four away games on the bounce.
“But it is what it is; we just get our heads down and crack on and look forward to getting the campaign underway.
“We don’t fear anyone with any cricket, and in T20 cricket, we’ve taken on some of the big hitters and beaten them in the last few years.
“But we are under no illusion that when we play some of the bigger clubs, it is always a very tough test.
“We are looking forward to it. We’ve got to flip this on its head and look at the positives of winning a couple of these first few games against some very good teams.
“If we do that, it sets up our campaign very nicely.”
WORCESTERSHIRE RAPIDS (from):
Ed Pollock
Brett D’Oliveira
Jack Haynes
Jake Libby
Ben Cox (c and w)
Ed Barnard
Gareth Roderick
Josh Baker
Dillon Pennington
Charlie Morris
Pat Brown
Adam Finch
Taylor Cornall
