Match Details VS Northamptonshire
Rothesay County Championship Division Two: Northamptonshire v Worcestershire
Venue: The County Ground, Northamptonshire
Date: Friday 1st May
Scheduled start time: 11am
Match preview sponsored by MSN Pharmacy Group.
After a stellar start to 2026, Worcestershire travel to Northamptonshire this Friday looking to make it three wins in a row in Division Two of the Rothesay County Championship.
Currently sat third in the table, Alan Richardson’s side are hoping to extend their bright start to the season against a Northants outfit who will leapfrog the Pears if they can secure a first win of the season.
The Latest
It was all smiles at New Road last weekend, with Brett D’Oliveira inspiring Worcestershire to a comprehensive three-day win over Kent in what was the Pears’ most complete performance of the season to date.
Adam Hose, Matthew Waite, and Jake Libby will be keen to continue their fine recent form, having all scored half-centuries during the round three clash, with Waite topping the batting charts, holding a team-high average of 56.66.
Tom Taylor, fresh off a superb five-wicket haul, has shown signs of hitting his best form ahead of a trip to his old stomping ground, whilst fellow seamer Beyers Swanepoel impressed on his debut by taking five wickets in the match last week.
With a settled side traveling to the County Ground, Worcestershire will have to be at their best against a Northants outfit also aiming for promotion back to Division One come the end of the season.
Inside The Camp
“Why change a winning recipe?”: Roderick ahead of Northants clash
Gareth Roderick says his Worcestershire side will stick to what has worked so well for them this far in the Rothesay County Championship season, with the Pears heading to Northampton this weekend high on confidence.
A pillar of the side across the last five seasons, Roderick has shown glimpses of his class at the start of the 2026 campaign, with two valuable knocks in recent games against Middlesex and Kent.
Despite playing his part in a batting unit that was responsible for posting a mammoth 447 against last weekend’s opposition and helping out his side in a position to secure a three-day victory, the wicket keeper is keen to highlight the basics that have been done so well in the early exchanges of the Division Two season.
“One of the goals was to start well, start quickly, and get some results on the board, because that makes the end goal so much easier, which is ultimately promotion and challenging for the title, so that makes things a little bit easier.
“I don’t think it is down to anything special. Obviously, you want to put big runs on the board and bowl as a unit, and you need the 20 wickets to win the game.
‘The bowling unit, I thought they did really well on a wicket that offered a little bit with the new ball, but then when the ball got a bit softer, they stuck together really, really well. So we talk about sticking the ball in areas, and they did that consistently throughout the whole game, and then we reap the rewards of the other 20 wickets.
“So, thankfully, we were able to do that in the first couple of games and wrap up a three-day win.”
Head Coach Alan Richardson expressed his content with the side’s professional and clinical display in their opening home fixture of the season, with the three-day win providing the side with a crucial extra rest day in amongst a busy block of four-day matches, which sees the Pears play four times in as many weeks.
With the group now into their stride, a settled squad has been largely unaffected by injuries and unavailability, keeping selection and team balance consistent.
Despite the positivity within the dressing room, there has been no time to rest on any laurels since last week’s result.
Roderick says his Worcestershire teammates identified a few areas for improvement, leaving no stone unturned as preparations for their next assignment away at Northamptonshire took another step up.
“I think one of the things we highlighted afterward was the fact that no one went on and got a really, really big score and got that score over 500, if we are ultra-harsh on ourselves. Moving forward this week, I think we’re looking for a couple of lads to stick some big figures up there, go big, and get 120-plus.
“It’s just more of the same. Why change a winning recipe? We’ve been doing some really, really good stuff, and it’s about seeing if we can keep doing it for long periods.
“Hopefully we get a good start in Northampton, put them under pressure and you’ll be in the game at the end of day one, and ideally in a position to drive the game forward.”
The Opposition
Captain: Luke Procter
Table position: 4th
One to watch: Nathan McSweeney
Three draws in succession has left Northamptonshire mid-table in the second Division, unbeaten but unable to so far open their account for the campaign.
Darren Lehman’s side have already shown signs of improvement after a disappointing 2025 season that saw the County Ground outfit finish seventh, with a roster of new additions looking to have made their mark in the early forays of this season.
South Australia batter Nathan McSweeney, just the second skipper to lift all three trophies in Australian domestic cricket, has made an eye-catching start to life in the 2026 Rothesay County Championship, with two hundreds in the opening three matches of the season.
Peeling off tons against Middlesex and Kent, the top-order batter has registered 246 runs at an average of 82, on his way to becoming one of the most important cogs in the Northamptonshire batting wheel in the opening three rounds.
Squad vs Northamptonshire
