Friday, July 26th, 2019

GIDMAN: RAPIDS WILL FIND T20 RHYTHM “AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE”

GIDMAN: RAPIDS WILL FIND T20 RHYTHM “AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE”

Alex Gidman felt the start-stop-start nature of Worcestershire Rapids Vitality Blast campaign may have contributed towards their performance against Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford.

He said the Rapids would look to “find our rhythm as quickly as possible” starting with Sunday’s home encounter with Durham (2,30pm start).

Unlike other counties, Worcestershire found a Specsavers County Championship match at the Cheltenham Festival sandwiched into their programme after the opening two Blast matches last week.

The Rapids went down by 21 runs under the Duckworth Lewis Method against Lancashire after being restricted to 130-9 and then seeing their opponents reach 71-1 off nine overs when rain intervened.

First Team Coach Gidman said: “I thought Lancashire were right on the money. You probably saw the difference between a team who had already found their T20 rhythm and one that had started, stopped and started again, and that’s how we felt.

“It almost felt like tonight was our first game, and we were a little bit off the pace. But we’ll come back on Sunday and try and find our rhythm as quickly as possible.

“We struggled to time the ball and had a couple of guys caught on the boundary.

“On another day we get those and they go for six – and then perhaps that game’s slightly different.

“I don’t actually think the margin (of victory) was as big as it might look. I don’t think we were a million miles from being in the game.”

Worcestershire paceman Dillon Pennington was struck on the helmet when batting by a fierce drive back down the pitch from Wayne Parnell during the Rapids innings.

He was assessed by the County’s medical staff before allowed to continue batting and was able to take the new ball when the Lightning started their innings.

Gidman said: “He was definitely cleared by the medical staff. There is a very strict process they have to go through and he is okay.

“I think it shook him up a little bit more than any damage being done.”