Worcestershire CCC Match Preview - 19/05/2022

The season so far:

Both teams were in Division Two action last week in the Midlands, with Leicestershire achieving a resilient draw against Sussex, when our visitors looked likely to force home a day four defeat.  However, it does leave the Running Foxes still searching for their first win of 2022, which would be a welcome confidence boost ahead of the upcoming T20 Blast season.

This week’s opponents Worcestershire also ended up all square following four days in Derby which never really looked like yielding a result.  This leaves them won one, drawn three and losing one from their five games so far, having picked up 66 points - a 21 point lead over us in the Division Two table currently.

Last time we met:

The two teams met on the opening day of the season, which also turned into a resilient draw for the Running Foxes, mainly thanks to a magnificent 104 not out from Hassan Azad in our second innings to leave the Worcestershire bowlers one wicket short of victory.

Batting first, a ton from captain Brett D’Oliveira helped Worcestershire post 348, with three wickets apiece from Chris Wright and Ed Barnes.  In reply, only Lewis Hill (93) provided any real resistance to the Worcestershire attack, with Leicestershire posting just 213.  We were then set a nominal victory target of 370 following a quick fire ton from Ed Pollock in Worcestershire’s second innings, which we closed on 218-9 to force an unlikely draw mainly thanks to that century from Azad.

Opposition players to watch:

Jack Haynes has had a real breakthrough red ball season so far, with the 21 year old posting two tons and having scored 399 runs, averaging 57 so far.  The former England Under 19 batter has often been talked of in terms of players with future England potential, and he’s showing that upside this season already.

All-rounder Ed Barnard is rarely away from the action, and has already taken 12 wickets this season, in addition to 379 runs as well.  With one century and three fifties already in the 2022 season, Barnard has been a real danger man for our opposition this season.

Our players to watch:

Hassan Azad is the leading run scorer across the two teams so far this season, with 469 runs so far at an average of just over 42.  The left-hander is almost 200 runs clear of Leicestershire’s next best run scorer this season.

All-rounder Ben Mike has now taken 14 wickets at an average of 20.35 in the 2022 County Championship, taking a wicket around every 26 balls bowled - this gives him the lead in this season’s bowling strike rate charts for any bowler who has bowled 300+ ball.  Leicestershire will need the all-rounder to be in great form to help us achieve a positive result over the coming days.

SQUAD:

Ackermann, Ahmed, Azad, Barnes, Hill, Kimber, Mike, Mulder, Parkinson *, Patel, Swindells +, Walker, Wright.