Worcestershire’s 2025 Rothesay County Championship campaign will start with three consecutive away fixtures, and opener Jake Libby has challenged his team to solidify their place as a Division One mainstay after last season’s impressive performance.
The season begins in April with trips to Somerset, newly promoted Yorkshire, and Essex. Following these matches, Worcestershire supporters can look forward to a strong home schedule, with three of the next four fixtures taking place at Visit Worcestershire New Road before the first block of red-ball cricket concludes in late May.
Worcestershire will host Durham in their home opener on Friday, April 25. After an away game against Sussex at Hove, the team will return for back-to-back home clashes against Essex and local rivals Warwickshire. The matches against the Bears remain highlights of the calendar, with Worcestershire holding the upper hand in two rain-affected draws in 2024.
All seven games in the opening block of the Championship season will begin on a Friday, offering a consistent schedule for supporters. Championship cricket will continue through the summer, with two rounds of matches scheduled for both June and July and three more in September. Notably, reigning champions Surrey will visit New Road for an enticing encounter starting Sunday, June 22.
Worcestershire will enjoy home advantage in two of their final three fixtures, including the season finale against Sussex on Wednesday, September 24. The team is set to play five counties twice – Essex, Durham, Sussex, Warwickshire, and Hampshire – and face Somerset, Yorkshire, Surrey, and Nottinghamshire once each.
Promoted to Division One in 2023, Worcestershire celebrated a sixth-place finish – their best since the Championship split into two divisions in 2000. Reflecting on their performance, Libby emphasised the importance of building on their success.
“We had a lot of positive stats from last summer about staying up, and it’s clear we achieved a lot,” Libby said. “The challenge now is to establish ourselves as a Division One team.
“We’ve proven we belong here, but it’s about finding consistency and continuing to improve as a group.”
Libby, who captained a young Rapids side to the quarter-finals of the Metro Bank One Day Cup in 2024, is looking forward to an updated group stage for the 2025 tournament.
Only Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, and Glamorgan remain from last year’s opponents, with Nottinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Leicestershire, and Surrey joining the group. Worcestershire will play eight matches in 19 days during August, with home games against Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Glamorgan, and Surrey.
Supporters will also have the chance to visit a new venue as Worcestershire takes on Nottinghamshire at Sookholme, near Mansfield. Libby, who set a Worcestershire record with 526 runs in the tournament, praised his team’s resilience last summer despite numerous injuries.
“It was a great effort to reach the quarter-finals given the setbacks we faced,” Libby said. “Young players like Jack Home, Tom Hinley, and Fateh Singh stepped up brilliantly alongside our senior squad members. Having reached the latter stages in the last two years, we’ll be aiming to go even further this season.”
