Kashif Ali admits words of encouragement from Club Captain Brett D’Oliveira to “play your natural game” helped him to successfully adapt to his first full season of Vitality County Championship cricket at Visit Worcestershire New Road.
Kashif was handed the number three role in the Championship and finished as Worcestershire’s leading scorer in red ball cricket.
It was a big step forward for someone who had previously played only five first class matches spanning two seasons for Worcestershire but he ably filled the gap left by one of his cricketing heroes in Azhar Ali.
Kashif said: “At the end of last year (2023) when we had appraisals and meetings with coaches, they did ask me where I would be comfortable batting and I said anywhere from top to bottom!
“I really couldn’t pick where I wanted to bat and said if you want me to open, three, five, wherever, I’ll happily bat there and handle the situation as well as I possibly can.
“That’s all I said and this year Dolly came up to me and said ‘you’re batting at three’ and he encouraged me quite a bit.
“He said ‘play your natural game’ and ‘play how you feel best’ and that was a big help to have that support and backing.”
Azhar spent two seasons at New Road and was as big an influence off the field as on it with his imparting of knowledge to members of the squad
Kashif said: “Azhar left big shoes to fill. He is a legend in Pakistan and I learnt a lot from him.
“I’ve had some really good chats about batting which were really beneficial. “
Kashif got off to the perfect start to the campaign with hundreds in both innings of the opening game with Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
He said: “It was amazing and really pleasing. It gave me really good confidence going into the season and obviously the boys and the coaches believed in me.”
The South Asian Cricket Academy product also produced a vital knock to help secure victory over Durham at the Seat Unique Riverside, Worcestershire’s first of the summer in the Championship.
Kashif said: “As the game went on, the wicket was quite tricky but myself and Hosey (Adam Hose) didn’t really think about that.
“We just thought ‘just watch the ball and react and bat as long as we possibly can and, if they bowl a bad ball, put it away.’ That was our plan and it came through.
“That game gave us big confidence as a team as well, beating a team that had something like six internationals on their own ground.”
Like his team-mates, Kashif was delighted to help Worcestershire secure a second successive season of Division One cricket in the Championship.
He said: “At the start of the season we had goal of 1) staying up and 2) finishing in the top six.
“We achieved that and had a really good year in Championship cricket and played some really good stuff.
“At the start of the season we were affected by rain when we were in a really strong position to win a couple of games.
“But beating Durham and then Kent and Essex showed how well we play as a team together.
“Staying up is a great achievement and I don’t know how many people outside of the club would have expected that.
“We’ve become a team that isn’t easy to beat and in the future sides will think of us ‘they can compete.”
“Now we want to try and build on things for next season and hopefully settle in Division One for a long time.”
