Yadvinder Singh will be looking to continue his impressive start to the campaign for Worcestershire Seconds when they take on Somerset in a four-day Championship fixture at Bromsgrove School beginning on Monday (April 29).
Singh picked up six wickets in the win over Gloucestershire at Kidderminster and then registered his first five-for for the club in the rain-hit draw with Leicestershire at Kibworth when Worcestershire were also in the ascendancy.
Assistant Coach Richard Jones says Singh’s performances have confirmed the potential he has shown in Birmingham and District Premier League and Seconds cricket at Warwickshire last summer.
He said: “Yadi bowled beautifully. He is working on trying to generate a bit more rhythm in his run-up so it was nice to see produce a performance.
“One of the reasons we signed him was because we knew what we were getting.
“We were signing a lad who was experienced in terms of league cricket and second team cricket last year.
“Looking at the way he went about his business, we knew he would be very accurate and hitting the top of the stumps, ask questions more often than not.
“It’s not surprising to see him doing so well for us in the early part of the season and hopefully he can continue that.”
Harry Darley also impressed with a three wicket burst with the ball.
Jones said: “Harry bowled two really nice spells, found his length very quickly and proved himself to be a handful, particularly to left handers.
“It was also nice to see Gibbo (Ben Gibbon) back as well after his concussion.”
On the batting side Rehaan Edavalath continued his excellent start to the season, following his 72 for Loughborough University versus Kent, with an unbeaten 56 spanning three hours.
Jones said: “The pitch was slow, hard to score, and a slow outfield. Olly Cox came in and played a really expansive innings, the way he likes to get on with it.
“But Rehaan stuck to his task really nicely and defended straight, looked to capitalise on anything really loose, ran really hard which is our mantra around our batting, and he is in a really good spot.”
Jones was pleased with the professionalism shown by the Seconds after the opening two days at Kibworth had been washed out.
He said: “One of the things I said to them was that, when we did get on it, was about making sure we stayed professional and we stuck to our task.
“When you spend so much time sitting on the side watching it rain, it can sometimes take teams a bit of a while to get going.
“But we were really professional. We hit our straps with the ball and then on a slow pitch on which it was difficult to score, the lads went about it and ended up posting a decent total.
“If the game had gone its full course, then I’d have been confident of a positive result, but it wasn’t to be.”
Josh Cobb, who has signed a white ball contract with Worcestershire for the T20 season, is included in the Seconds squad.
Academy duo, batter Jack Home and keeper Seth Essenhigh, plus triallist Sam Keeling-Wright, are also part of a 12 strong party.
Ed Pollock will again captain the side.
Worcestershire Seconds
Ed Pollock ©
Rehaan Edavalath
Ethan Brookes
Olly Cox
Josh Cobb
Henry Cullen (w)
Seth Essenhigh (w)
Josh Baker
Jack Home
Harry Darley
Yadvinder Singh
Sam Keeling-Wright