Richard Jones is eager for his side to “enjoy the experience” as his Worcestershire team prepare for the 2nd XI Championship final that gets underway tomorrow afternoon.
After cruising past Sussex in last week’s final group game, the Pears qualified for the Championship final by virtu of topping the group and staying unbeaten across the five four-day matches this season.
Their reward – a trip to Loughborough to play Surrey for the trophy.
Jones, is keen for his side to maximise their opportunity after such an encouraging season of red ball cricket.
“It’s a great achievement for the lads in what’s been a really promising season in red-ball cricket. To play in a four-day final will be a brilliant occasion, one that doesn’t come around often, so I’ll be encouraging the team to enjoy the experience.
“The Championship campaign has been a real team effort, with lots of players contributing match-winning performances throughout the season.”
In a frantic end to the season, Worcestershire’s two senior sides are in action simultaneously, with the first XI undertaking their penultimate County Championship assignment away at Durham, whilst the second XI make their final charge for silverware.
With both fixtures scheduled to finish less than 48 hours before the start of the Metro Bank One Day Cup final at Trent Bridge on Saturday, Jones is pleased that his younger players and trialists have a chance to show their skills in the at Loughborough across this week.
“A very pleasing aspect has been the fact that Academy players and trialists have come in and performed very well, which says a lot about the environment that our senior players have created – something that is very important to us at Worcestershire and is a big part of our culture.
“Another pleasing aspect is the fact that the 3 games we won were all different types of victories. We beat Essex by an innings, bowled Leicester out in the 4th innings, and chased a small 4th innings total vs Sussex after making them follow on and bowling them out twice.”
MATCH DETAILS:
Fixture: Worcestershire v Surrey
Venue: Haslegrave Ground, Loughborough
Scheduled start time and dates: 10:30am, September 16th-19th
Head Coach Richard Jones has named the following squad for tomorrow’s final:
Ed Pollock
Isaac Mohammed
Henry Cullen
Ximus du Plooy (trialist)
Seth Essenhigh
Alfie Higgins
Tom Hinley
Fateh Singh
Sam Greer (trialist)
Harry Darley
Tom Davis (trialist)
Ramon Bailey (trialist)
