Academy and Pathway Round-up: May 2026

With the cricketing summer at New Road in full swing, it has been another bumper month of action for the Club’s Academy.

May saw the Worcestershire Academy and Pathway season step up a notch, with action in the T20 County Cup as well as juggling a host of friendly double-headers.

We also sat down to catch up with exciting seam bowling prospect, Jeet Varaich, in our new “Inside the Pathway” feature.

“May played host to a step-up in intensity for our Senior and Sub-Academy, across a variety of formats of cricket.  

“I was involved in my first ever super over during my 14-year coaching career at Worcestershire, which certainly kept things interesting during out thrilling showdown with Somerset in the Academy T20 County Cup fixture.  

“May can prove a challenging month from both a playing and coaching standpoint, with academic commitments through exams making availability slightly less consistent, but with a full schedule, it is imperative we give those young guys a space to be able to stay focussed.  

“School cricket is also prominent at this early point in the season; therefore, we must be careful managing player workloads, ensuring they get an appropriate balance of support and a chance to be humans first and foremost. 

“Our Academy completed the T20 County Cup group stage phase, playing five group games played, losing three, winning one and experiencing one tie. We went into Friday on the final day needing to win both matches but missed out on qualification.  

“The challenge of playing without some of our more senior names is never easy, but it is always an excellent test of our Academy depth when players are absent through injury, unavailability or for rotation purposes.  

“In 14 years of doing this, I can name probably three occasions where the same side has been fit to play together successively. This is an individualised development program; we must become adaptable. 

“It doesn’t make the challenge of going up against the best counties any easier, and often when it comes to selection, we have to pose the question, is it best for the individual development of that person? Generally, the opportunities presented to test themselves against other aspiring young cricketers makes it a straightforward decision. 

“It also underlines the importance of getting as many of our 17–18-year-olds playing in the Birmingham Premier League as possible, as that exposure to high level Men’s cricket is invaluable.  

“Looking forward, the first round of U18 One Day Cup, is set to take place on Sunday June 28th against Staffordshire. Last year we made it to the semi-final, and this year presents a good benchmarking exercise for us. If availability is strong, this group should be targeting a similar competition.  

“From the 24th-31st May, 20 games of cricket took place, from U10s-U13s in the foundation phase of the Pathway. 

“The last week of June saw our Sub-Academy feature in the Worksop College T20 festival of cricket for a competition against Lancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Durham, Nottinghamshire.  

“Playing five games in two days provided great experience for the players and coaches, who were able to to start the identification process for 2027.  

“The high-quality cricket meant the players were challenged by the coaches, with the tournament culminating with us beating Yorkshire in the final on the last day.  

Plenty of names have made their way into the headlines during May, with the season in full swing and the mixture of competitive and friendly cricket presenting a host of opportunities to Worcestershire’s next generation of stars.

In a month heavily centred around T20 cricket, Seth Essenhigh showed signs of his best in his return to the top order with his injury struggles from last year seemingly behind him, starring for Worcestershire and BPL outfit Ombersley.

Pathway product Joe Porter is another who has shone in the early season action, whilst spinner Asad Azami contiunes to build a reputation for himself as one of the most exciting young players in the Worcestershire system.

All eyes have been on young gun Finn Jones, with the 16-year-old’s sparkling form for Shrewsbury converting into Academy colours, in an eye-catching run of form.

May saw the Academy complete their T20 County Cup campaign, struggling to gain any momentum in the competition after an opening round loss to Warwickshire at Harborne Cricket Club.  

The competition continued a week later, on Sunday 10th May, when Worcestershire faced off against Glamorgan at Bromsgrove.  

Fortunes improved for Elliot Wilson’s side that day, coming out on top by six wickets, in a game where teenager Finn Jones starred with 46 from just 32 balls as the hosts chased down 156 to win the game by five wickets.  

An impressive spell of 2-16 from left-armer Jeet Varaich was the standout for the home side with the ball. 

Gloucestershire were the next opponents for the Academy, a week later, in a remarkable game that saw a rare tie, with the sides competing in a super over to decide the winner of the contest.  

Restricting the opposition to 151, Worcestershire fancied their chances of making it two wins from two at the halfway stage, in no small part thanks to an excellent spell of 3-29 from N Taylor.  

Seth Essenhigh’s stunning 67 from just 38 balls set the Pears on their way, but three late runouts in succession swung the game back in Gloucestershire’s favour.  

In a stunning turn of events, it was Evans who plundered the final ball of the match for six, to tie the game and force an unprecedented super-over.  

Defending just seven however, the visitors were unable to hold on, as Gloucestershire snatched a thrilling victory.  

Attentions then quickly turned to a double-header instalment of County Cup action, on Friday 29th May, against Somerset and Northants at Bromsgrove.  

An enterprising first fixture saw Worcestershire go down by three wickets in the days’ first match, where Wilson’s side were unable to defend a competitive 182.  

There were plenty of contributions across the card, with Toby Cox (37 off 23) and Sam Williams (41 off 26) helping the hosts up to an impressive total. 

Spinner Asad Azami led the way with a brace of wickets, but despite claiming six Somerset scalps in total, the visitors edged to victory on the penultimate ball of the innings.  

Northants were up next, in a game where Henry Hardinges starred for Worcestershire with both bat and ball. 

The youngster returned figures of 2-24 from his four overs, as his side were forced to use eight bowlers in a match dominated by Northants’ opening batter Fox, who slammed 92 from just 42 balls to power the visitors beyond 200. 

Hardinges top-scored in a valiant chase, blitzing 47 from 31 with seven boundaries, but under the pressure of an ever-increasing required run rate, the chase fell away after a tough start.  

The 56-run defeat meant Worcestershire missed out on qualification to the knockout stages, with attentions now shifting to 50-over cricket and the start of the One Day Cup competition.  

In a busy month of T20 cricket, the Academy also featured in four friendly matches, winning three of those fixtures against Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire. 

In this month’s edition of “Inside the Pathway” we caught up with exciting Academy prospect Jeet Varaich, who is enjoying a stellar start to 2026.

The 6ft 5in left-arm seam bowler has caught the eye during an action packed start to the season, and we sat down to hear from him about his journey into cricket, balancing life on the pitch with exam commitments, Birmingham Premier League cricket and chasing the big dream.

You can watch our conversation with Jeet by clicking the link below.