Captain Brett D’Oliveira says Worcestershire are committed to playing entertaining cricket in all formats as the Rapids look to create history when they take on Northamptonshire Steelbacks in Sunday’s Vitality Blast match at New Road (2.30pm start).
Another full house is set to watch the Rapids who have thrilled their supporters with the attacking and exciting approach evident in the first block of Blast matches this summer.
They will be bidding on Sunday to become the first Worcestershire side to win the opening five matches in a T20 season since the competition got underway in 2003.
The Rapids triumphed in games one, two, three and four on one other occasion – in 2018 when they went on to to lift the title for the first time.
D’Oliveira said: “With T20 especially, but cricket in general, we are here to entertain and that’s something that falls nicely into this group of players.
“They want to entertain, they want to be aggressive, so it’s about giving them the freedom and confidence to be able to do that.
“Luckily so far we’ve been able to do that and with Richo (Alan Richardson), Kadeer (Ali) and Richard Jones at the top, it’s been a nice way to play cricket.
“I think the lads have been absolutely faultless, and I can’t ask for anymore really.”
Head Coach, Alan Richardson, said: “We are very lucky; we have a very good base of supporters that come and watch us in numbers.
“They are always very supportive, so it is fantastic that we can repay them with some good cricket.”
D’Oliveira highlighted how the performance against Notts Outlaws on Friday evening at Trent Bridge saw excellent batting and bowling was backed up by superb fielding.
Adam Hose pulled off two stunning catches on the cover boundary, and on the other side, Pat Brown covered every blade of grass in making some stunning stops.
D’Oliveira said: “Fielding is a crucial part of T20. We identified that in the winter and worked really hard on that, and it is nice to see that come to fruition now.”
The Rapids have named an unchanged 14-strong squad – the 11 in action against the Outlaws plus Matthew Waite, Taylor Cornall and Ben Gibbon.
