Taylor Cornall is delighted to be making his mark in List A cricket after adjusting to the demands of opening as he inspired Worcestershire Rapids to a second win in 48 hours in the Royal London Cup.
The left-hander struck a List A best 97 during the impressive seven-wicket success over Essex Eagles at New Road.
It followed on from his 58 versus Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford and 61 against Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Wednesday as the Rapids chased down a 280 target with eight balls to spare.
Cornall, who batted in the middle order earlier in the competition, said: “Do I enjoy opening in white ball cricket? It has been really good exposure. It took me a little while to work out my tempo and to find which ways are easier to score up top.
“We played on a couple of wickets where it has not been too easy, with the ball nipping around, but I’ve really enjoyed it.
“You’ve got more boundary options up top, but you can’t walk in and rotate from the word go, so you’ve just got to be prepared to sit on a few dots and hopefully catch up later.
“I was a little bit conscious of not getting a boundary in the 50 at Old Trafford, and it was nice to get a few away early on today.
“Myself and Ben (Gibbon) share an apartment, and we both speak about making a little bit more of a permanent role in the team. It’s been really nice.”
Cornall was pleased to help the Rapids clock up another win, adding 158 for the second wicket with Gareth Roderick, although disappointed just to fall short of three figures.
He said: “It has not been an easy couple of weeks for the team, but it is really nice to get a couple of wins on the board, especially at New Road.
“It is gutting to fall just short of a century, but I’ve learnt a lot from the coaches, and everyone and this exposure to first team cricket has really helped me.
“How hard is it to develop as a first-team player? There are definitely challenges, but the environment makes it really easy to learn and grow. It is a fantastic dressing room.
“Ed Pollock played really well and got us off to a flyer. With myself and Gareth, it was about small targets, keeping it really simple, keep rotating the strike with the right-hander and left-hander.
“Gareth is an incredible cricketer, and he has helped me a lot in this first year. He has been a little bit unlucky as well, but there is definitely more to come from Gareth, and it is definitely coming out.
“We are more at this point doing it for the fans. We are not happy as a group with how the first five games went.”
