Joe Leach will be striving next summer to move closer to becoming the first Worcestershire player to reach 500 first class wickets for the County this century.
Leach will begin the campaign on 442 first class scalps for Worcestershire – and 450 in total – after a decade of sterling service with the ball.
He has finished as Worcestershire’s leading wicket-taker on six occasions, including 59 wickets in Division One of the County Championship in 2015.
A similarly prolific summer would take Leach within striking distance of the 500 mark in what will be his testimonial year with Worcestershire.
The last player to reach the 500-wicket milestone for Worcestershire was another all-rounder in Stuart Lampitt during the 1999 season.
He achieved this feat against Sussex at Horsham when dismissing left-hander Toby Peirce during the home side’s first innings.
Lampitt, who is now the administrator of the Worcestershire County League, ended his career with 600 first class wickets for Worcestershire.
He is 18th on the all-time list of Worcestershire wicket-takers in red ball cricket and their leading wicket-taker in List A cricket with 370 victims.
