Thursday, September 7th, 2023

ASSISTANT COACH DELIGHTED AS SECONDS CONTINUE WINNING STREAK

Worcestershire Assistant Coach Richard Jones was delighted with the performance of the Seconds in continuing their winning sequence in Championship cricket by defeating a strong Nottinghamshire side at Kidderminster.

Keeper Henry Cullen picked up 10 catches in the game, Ben Gibbon finished with six first innings wickets and Olly Cox, Taylor Cornall and Josh Baker all made key contributions with the bat.

It enabled the Seconds to triumph for the fifth time in the last six games in the four day format.

Jones said: “They were brilliant again, played really good cricket over the course of the three days.

“I’m proud of their efforts. It felt like a good toss to win and we bowled well and then scrapped with the bat to get a bit of a lead which was handy in the context of the game.

“The third innings was the one that pleased me most to be honest because it was tough conditions, very hot, the ball was getting a little bit soft and out of shape and we had to change that a couple of times.

“The pitch was flattening out and slowing up a little bit but we stuck to our task well. We spoke about that, and the fact we needed to control the scoreboard as much as we could.

“They had one big partnership, where two of their young lads batted really well, but they never got too far ahead of us.

“The change bowlers came on and did a really good job and it happened for us pretty quick in the end once we had broken that partnership.

“To then go about what could have been a tricky chase, against two good spinners on a pitch that was starting to turn a bit more, was pleasing.

“We chased it positively, punished any bad balls, ran well and when you are chasing a small total and get a good start, with a healthy opening partnership, it goes a long way to steadying the ship a little bit.

“Josh (Baker) came in at a potentially tricky time, when it was just starting to spin a little bit, and he played very well.

“He spoke himself in the dressing about making sure you had a method, and trusting your method, and he did that really well with some strong shots down the ground.”

The Seconds finish their season with an away trip to Somerset starting on Monday.