Warwickshire face a Worcestershire side on the up after their near neighbours recorded a first win at the sixth time of asking last week.
A comprehensive 225-run victory against Essex belatedly kickstarted their Division One campaign following four successive defeats.
Allrounder Matthew Waite has been the Pears main threat with the ball this term – the ex-Yorkshire quick has 23 wickets – but he laid the foundations with the bat and a first innings top score of 73.
It lifted Worcestershire to 358 all out – registering their first batting bonus points of the season – before 29-year-old Waite took 6/19 to skittle Essex for 110 and secure the spoils inside three days.
The Pears will be hoping it acts as a run-scoring catalyst as they’ve being bowled out for 200 or less in seven of their 12 innings so far this season and no player has an average north of 30.
Waite’s fellow fast bowler Tom Taylor (pic above) is another man in form.
The 30-year-old – who signed from Northants ahead of the 2024 season – has 22 wickets to his name already and took 5/56 against Sussex earlier this month.
And 25-year-old Ben Allison has taken 19 wickets in six matches including that of his brother, Essex batter Charlie Allison, who he clean bowled for a second ball duck last week. Awkward.
Pears’ former Bears
Bears’ former allrounder Ethan Brookes has established himself in the Worcestershire line-up this season and has played in every Championship game so far.
He’s their joint second highest scorer with 319 (ave 29.00) – only Jacob Libby (353)who hit 167 against Sussex earlier this month has accrued more – and has taken six wickets.
Another ex-Bear Adam Hose had made four appearances this season with a top score of 82 in the first round of fixtures at Somerset and an average of 24.87.
How to follow
Members and supporters can follow the match live in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free-to-watch stream and a live text commentary. You can also see a ball-by-ball feed and watch highlights of all the action. Supporters can get involved by sending their match-day comments and thoughts on X via @WarwickshireCCC and we’ll publish the best ones on our live text commentary in the Match Centre. Supporters can also watch the Live Stream and get instant push notifications of all wickets, innings and match results via the Edgbaston app, which is free to download on iOS and Android. Match updates will also be available across the Club’s social media accounts, simply search for @WarwickshireCCC.
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