Worcestershire Head Coach Alan Richardson and captain Jake Libby have praised the impact made by Ethan Brookes in filling a key role with the ball during their flying start to the Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign.
Brookes seized his opportunity when bowling in various challenging situations during the Vitality Blast and is now a vital component for the Rapids during the middle overs of the One Day Cup.
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He has challenged the batters but also proved difficult to score against and 10 over spells versus Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Kent produced figures of 1-31, 0-36 and 0-42 at a time when opposing teams are looking to accelerate.
Brookes will be looking to continue his good form when Worcestershire take on Somerset at Taunton on Friday as they bid for a fifth win in six group games (11am start).
Richardson said: “We always felt, myself, Kaddy (Kadeer Ali) and Richard (Jones), who’ve all got history of working with Ethan, that he could be a three dimensional cricketer.
“One of his strengths is that he can adapt quite a bit. He is a clever cricketer, a thoughtful cricketer and someone who will find ways of being successful however he can.
“His bowling has always been there and thereabouts and I certainly think he is a batter who can bowl and he has to then have a look at how he is going to bowl in red ball cricket and the impact he needs to try and make in white ball cricket.
“I think he did really well in T20 when we put him in some sticky spots this year and in the 50 over competition he has shown what a good job he can do in those middle overs.
“The performances with the ball against Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Kent were of a very high level.”
Libby said: “Ethan has been brilliant with us all competition. He puts it in the right areas, just does the basics really well.
“Moving forward, he is going to be a key player for us, both with bat and ball.
“We spoke to Ethan pre competition about his skillset. He did well in the Blast and showed glimpses of what he could do and I think this competition suits him.
“He just bowls his best ball for as long as possible and bowls a really good line and length and ultimately, with the field set as it is, it is tough work for the batters.”
Worcestershire Rapids will end the group campaign with three games in six days with Hampshire at Visit Worcestershire New Road on Sunday and Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford next Wednesday to follow on from tomorrow’s encounter.
Richardson said: “We’ve already had games coming thick and fast and that continues throughout this competition and it is a real test of your squad.
“We had about 10 fit bodies just before we went to Wales for the National Counties Showcase game so it’s trying to make sure we rotate those players as well as we can and try and keep everyone as fresh as possible so they can perform well.
“The majority of batters will play all the games and then we will see where we get to.”
Worcestershire Rapids
1 Fateh Singh
2 Jake Libby (C)
7 Ed Pollock
9 Gareth Roderick (W)
10 Tommy Sturgess
11 Rehaan Edavalath
12 Tom Taylor
13 Henry Cullen
24 Jack Home
25 Hishaam Khan
41 Harry Darley
42 Tom Hinley
77 Ethan Brookes
88 Rob Jones
