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Leading Run-Scorers

1. Matthew Waite - 354 (44.25)
2. Azhar Ali - 312 (28.36)
3. Jack Haynes - 296 (29.60)
4. Brett D'Oliveira - 250 (27.77)
5. Jake Libby - 241 (34.42)


Leading Wicket-Takers

1. Joe Leach - 25 (25.04)
2. Matthew Waite - 16 (24.56)
3. Ben Gibbon - 15 (33.86)
4. Adam Finch - 11 (26.54)
5. Josh Tongue - 11 (41.45)

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Their T20 opener in Chelmsford was a good night for Central Sparks as Amy Jones supplied yet another half-century in an innings that ended 137 all out; in reply, after Grace Potts dented the Sunrisers batting order with a couple of early wickets, the hosts required just 53 from 42 balls with a third of the innings to go. What Jones had done for the Sparks, Cordelia Griffith replicated with a dogged 53, but when she fell to Emily Arlott the Sunrisers innings quickly subsided, and they failed to complete the twenty overs as they were bowled out for 114 and an impressive Sparks win. Harder lines at Edgbaston on Tuesday, as Northern Diamonds were able to score relatively unscathed in the first half of their innings, and though a Sparks fightback (with Arlott the pick of the bowlers) pegged them back from there and eventually bowled them out for 135, the slow pitch proved challenging for the hosts to bat on. The departure of Amy Jones for a relatively humble 18 was a big blow, and as the run-rate steadily climbed, it required a fabulous effort by Abbey Freeborn in the eighteenth over, hitting four consecutive fours before being caught off an attempted fifth, to take the game down to the wire. Sadly, despite a final-ball six from Issy Wong, the enthralling encounter ended in a three-run defeat for the Sparks, who now face the Blaze at Grace Road on Friday.

Meanwhile, the men's Rapids commence the 2023 Blast at Wantage Road tomorrow evening, buoyed by the arrival of Michael Bracewell and Usama Mir after last year's disastrous campaign saw the team tackle the first week of the tournament without their overseas players.

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Northamptonshire

Wantage Road, Northampton

Worcs innings: Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bat on a golden Wednesday evening at Wantage Road. Pears debutant Michael Bracewell got off the mark with a wristy leg-side blow for six, but perished trying to repeat the trick next ball; Brett D'Oliveira likewise shone with fulgurous brevity and effect, plundering back-to-back boundaries off David Willey - the first a hop and a skip to loft the ball over cover, the second lashed all along the carpet through cover-point - before being bowled by Tom Taylor for 11 on the scoop. But making his Blast debut for the county, Adam Hose got right into his work with a straight drive for four along the ground like a bullet, and formed a productive partnership (including some brutal leg-side slogging) with Jack Haynes until the latter was caught for 27 off 16 balls. New man Kashif Ali soon joined in the fun, gracing cow corner with a couple of sixes until he was caught for 16, while Hose completed his half-century off 34 balls (en route to a fantastic 61) as Worcs navigated to 136-4 at the three-quarter mark. With Ben Cox anchoring the final five overs, Ed Pollock showed a glimpse of what he can achieve in his new role as finisher as he cut his first ball for four, then dished out a classic Pollocking down on one knee with a couple of enormous leg-side maximums. When that pair perished for 17 and 23 respectively, debutant Usama Mir helped the subsiding innings along by sending a first-ball full toss over the square leg rope, then ramping David Willey for an audacious four, before hooking Willey's next delivery for a stratospheric six, crucially pushing the Pears up to 196-9 off the twenty; a little light of the Wantage Road par of 200, but still firmly in the territory of "runs on the board".

Northants innings: Tough going in the powerplay for the bowlers, as Chris Lynn and Ricardo Vasconcelos rattled along north of ten an over; Mitchell Stanley soon had Lynn caught for 28 pulling into the deep, but it barely made a dent in the scoring. Where the hosts had relied almost entirely on seamers, Worcs returned to their time-honoured strategy of spin in the middle overs, and with his fourth delivery Mir produced a quick, skiddy ball that bowled Vasconcelos for 32, sparking a sudden pendulum swing. In the following over, Josh Cobb holed out for 2 off Pat Brown, and after some very tight bowling at the midway point tightened the screw, Mir commenced his second over by having Saif Zaib caught reverse-sweeping for 2. 90-1 had become 99-4, and though potent resistance remained in the form of David Willey, when Dolly had him caught for 36 in the next over Northants were in heaps of bother. The graceful Mushtaq Ahmed action of Usama Mir - both arms pointing skyward in the delivery stride, like a clock striking twelve - saw Rob Keogh caught for 2, reducing the home side to 116-6, and from there it was largely a foregone conclusion. Dolly accounted for Lewis MacManus and James Sales to make a three-wicket haul, but though a lower-order knock of 44 from Taylor spared the Northants run-rate and made the margin of victory closer than it might otherwise have been, it remained a job convincingly done for the visitors.

Worcestershire WIN by fifteen runs

The Verdict: After last summer's white ball catastrophe, beginning with four consecutive defeats to open the Blast, a revamped line-up and an early win made for welcome viewing. With his franchise and international experience, Michael Bracewell will hopefully prove the long-overdue replacement for Riki Wessels at the top; dropping Pollock down the order to Ross Whiteley's old role already looks a smart move, and trusting the likes of Haynes, Hose and Kash to supply the runs that an in-form Moeen and Ed Barnard would formerly have made is an equally decent shout. Equally, I suspect there's no shortage of Pears fans who'd urge Mitchell Santner to take his time flying over and cling on to Usama Mir given the choice, as the Pakistani international fresh out of Colwyn Bay was a revelation tonight. All in all, coupled with the Leicestershire comeback and Josh Tongue being called up to the England Test squad, it's not been a bad old week on Planet Worcestershire.

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Yorkshire

New Road, Worcester

Yorks innings: Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bat on a sublime Friday evening in Worcester with the early summer sun bringing folks down to the Severn in droves. A huge double-blow knocked the visitors back early doors as Dillon Pennington had Dawid Malan caught behind for a duck off the third ball, and then Adam Lyth caught at mid-on for 4 in his next over to leave Yorkshire 10-2. Yet a recovery carried the Vikings to 44-2 off the powerplay before Brett D'Oliveira was able to break the stand with the wicket of Jonny Tattersall, top-edging on the sweep to short fine leg for 29, then Shan Masood holing out in his next over. 68-4 was a precarious position, but again Yorkshire fought back with a partnership and some huge scoring overs until Michael Bracewell had Jordan Thompson caught for 36; a quick cameo of 15 from David Wiese ended when he was caught off Pat Brown, who then got Ben Mike for 2 in exactly the same fashion three balls later. Still, Yorkshire just carried on hitting, and as Matthew Revis and Dom Bess plundered runs at the death, it took a smart run-out by Adam Finch to remove the former for 42 before Brown bowled Jafer Chohan for 2 with the final ball. 175-9 at the break, far from our worst day's work against Yorkshire, but the momentum seemed to rest with the visitors.

Worcs innings: And that momentum continued to swing away as Dolly was caught for 2 and Bracewell edged behind for 3 two balls later, reducing the Pears to a slightly worse position at 8-2 than the White Rose had been. Yet the subsequent recovery was remarkably similar, as Jack Haynes and Adam Hose found the boundary with pleasing regularity, finishing the powerplay 47-2. With the partnership on 78 and looking like a game-changer, Hose mistimed a shot to a ball that stuck a little in the pitch and was caught and bowled for 44, and in the following over, Haynes was guilty of pulling straight to deep midwicket for 32, but the wind remained firmly in Worcestershire sails as Kashif Ali announced himself with a parabolic six, and Ben Cox clubbed and innovated through a handful of overs until he was caught at deep square leg for 26. With 45 required from 30 balls and Ed Pollock the new man, it seemed almost a done deal, but the mercurial Wycombian rather foolishly attempted to take on the dangerous David Wiese with a death-or-glory shot that saw him bowled for 1, and Worcestershire's chances all but went up in smoke with him. Usama Mir managed one six before holing out to Wiese for 9 off the next ball, leaving the equation 31 required from 15; in the next over, down to 28 from 11, Adam Finch displayed a tantalising glimpse of his batting power with a scything stroke for four through cow corner, then a streaky bottom-edge to the fine leg boundary to keep the crowd's hopes alive. A single, a dot ball and the wicket of Kash for a useful 24 left the Pears firmly in Carlos Brathwaite territory, needing 19 from the final over with just two wickets remaining. With one last spear of sunlight slanting across the popping crease at the Diglis End, Matthew Fisher kicked off with a straight ball in the slot which Finchy duly deposited in the Basil D'Oliveira Stand. Needing 13 from 5, Fisher recovered with a quicker, wider second ball that evaded the batsman's desperate pull. 13 off 4, and Finchy got the toe-end of the bat to the next quick wide one, cutting it away for 2. 11 off 3, Fisher banged the fourth in only for the ball to sit up into the swinging arc of the tall number nine, and despite a long, high journey through the air, it marginally cleared the rope to the delight of the sun-kissed spectators signalling six en masse. 5 off 2, and with New Road already roused from silence into full-throated roars, Finchy sent Fisher's short ball flying towards the old scoreboard to bring the house down, and complete our most memorable T20 victory in years.

Worcestershire WIN by two wickets

The Verdict: As many T20 wins in two games this summer as we managed in all of 2022; ultimately you can't argue with success, and sport being sport, somehow it feels even more satisfying snatched from the jaws of defeat than ground out by a comfortable margin. Whether Bracewell will continue as opener for the entire campaign after these early misfires remains to be seen, but for now, I doubt Worcs will be too quick to change a winning formula. And Adam Finch? Fingers crossed that after many years in the shadows, this summer might just be his moment in the spotlight.

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Leicestershire

New Road, Leicester

Worcs innings: The Pears won the toss and elected to bat as a cloudy and chilly start to Whit Monday gave way to yet another warm summer's day. Another shaky start saw Michael Bracewell LBW for 4 and Brett D'Oliveira caught behind for 4, and despite three boundaries in an over to push the score up quickly from a precarious 10-2 to 30-2, Jack Haynes then departed LBW for 17 to make it an ominous third wicket in a powerplay which ended on 58-3. The subsidence continued with Adam Hose perishing for 13 to a mistimed shot off Callum Parkinson, and at the halfway mark the sole sustained resistance was coming from Kashif Ali, who completed his half-century off 33 balls. When he finally holed out for 69, Ed Pollock managed a second daft dismissal in a row as he contrived to run himself out for a golden duck, and on 130-6 the innings was in serious danger of fizzling out in the last five. But with superb support from old stalwart Ben Cox, instant fan favourite Usama Mir - playing what was, theoretically, his last game for the club - announced himself at the crease with two half-trackers from Rehan Ahmed hoisted to the legside for six in a huge statement of intent. Though Coxy holed out to deep square leg for 28 in the penultimate over, Mir continued his assault right to the final ball, finishing 32 not out as he pushed Worcs up to a par score of 183-7.

Leics innings: Some loose seam bowling in the first couple of overs allowed the Foxes a decent start, and it took the introduction of Bracewell to make a breakthrough, having Sol Budinger caught at deep midwicket for 8. But it proved the only wicket in a powerplay that ended on 44-1, slightly lighter on runs than Worcestershire but with more batsmen in the hutch. As the spinners turned the screw through the middle overs, it seemed that wickets in hand and a charge at the death would be the Leicestershire strategy, but when Nick Welch carted Dolly straight to long-on for 37 it opened the door for Worcs, and three balls later the skipper proceeded to bowl Colin Ackermann through the gate for 1 with a glorious wrong 'un. With the run-rate climbing, Rishi Patel got a bit too eager to take on Mir and was stumped for 42, leaving the Foxes 102-4 with seven overs remaining. It became a procession from there; Arron Lilley LBW to Mir for 6, Wiaan Mulder caught in the deep off the bowling of Bracewell, Rehan Ahmed bowled for 1 by Pat Brown, who then doubled up to have Harry Swindells caught and trebled up with Owais Shah edging behind as Leicestershire staggered to a limp 150-9.

Worcestershire WIN by thirty-three runs

The Verdict: For the second time in just over a week, New Road proves a happy venue for Fox-hunting, and in truth the Pears made it look easier than it probably was. Last summer, a bad start in the first innings would have simply snowballed for us; it's a measure of the quality of Kashif Ali, and of Usama Mir, that they were able to attack so smartly and effectively to push us up to a solid score. In the chase, our spinners again proved the difference, and it's starting to look like Pat Brown is getting back to his best at the death. It could be argued that these opening three wins have been against sides struggling in the group, and the real test will lie ahead, but for now there's no shortage of wind in Worcs sails, and it's great to see.

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Nottinghamshire

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Worcs innings: The Outlaws won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a sublime first Friday in June, as the day's heat subsided into a warm and fragrant evening. Even by Trent Bridge standards it was a flat track, and while Notts clearly backed themselves to chase any target, that hubris could barely survive an all-out powerplay assault from Brett D'Oliveira and Michael Bracewell, the former driving, clipping and sweeping his way out of the blocks as the fifty partnership came up within 4.3 overs, and the latter easing into his work by threading a straight drive through long-on for four, before clubbing the sixth over for fours and sixes galore as the powerplay concluded on 87-0. Dolly perished for 44 four balls later, while Bracewell managed his maiden Pears half-century off 22 balls before being bowled by Matthew Carter for 55; nevertheless, the charge continued courtesy of Jack Haynes after Mitchell Santner departed caught and bowled for 4. Haynes made a confident 42 off 25 balls as he targeted the short boundary with some big hitting, followed by Kashif Ali with one maximum, but just as it looked like Notts might keep the massive total on a leash at the death - Steven Mullaney in particular managing an admirable over of just 2 runs at the business end - Adam Hose stepped into the finisher's role with aplomb, producing a memorable scoop for six off Shaheen Afridi on his way to an unbeaten 51 from 27 balls. 226-5 was the total off twenty; one run short of the Worcestershire record of 227-6 against Northants at Kidderminster in June 2007, but comfortably surpassing the previous away record of 213-7 versus Somerset at Edgbaston in September 2020, and a record chase for the Outlaws at Trent Bridge if they could pull it off.

Notts innings: A tight first couple of overs, conceding 4 and then 5, gave way to something of a deluge in the powerplay; but happily, in the fifth over Dillon Pennington became this summer's recipient of the Schadenfreude Shield for the first Pears bowler to take the wicket of Joe Clarke, as everyone's favourite turncoat guided a pull as limp as wet celery straight to short fine leg. Still, thanks in large part to Alex Hales, Notts stayed in touch with the run-rate until Pat Brown changed ends and got Colin Munro to mistime a shot down the ground, caught safely at long-on. As usual, the spinners turned the screw in the middle overs, and two wickets in an over for Dolly followed by one by Bracewell reduced the hosts to 115-5. The innings was already crumbling, but two more scalps for Dolly (including the wicket of Hales) gave him career-best T20 figures of 4-11, and Browny polished the Outlaws off with 4-25 as they staggered to 170 all out off 18.2 overs; a total which would have been far more embarrassing but for some late clubbing from Afridi.

Worcestershire WIN by fifty-six runs

The Verdict: An absolute shellacking by T20 standards, and dare I say it, at this point it's almost becoming unremarkable. A winning streak of four - our best in this format since 2018 - leaves Worcs the only unbeaten team in the North, and deservedly top of the group. Sooner or later all good things must end, but after several head-scratching campaigns and decisions in recent seasons, at last the formula seems to be working again.

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T20 Blast, North Group

vs Northamptonshire

New Road, Worcester

Worcs innings: Northants won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on another elysian early summer Sunday. In the afternoon heat, Michael Bracewell again reverted to misfiring form, caught at third man for 1 in the opening over, and though the incoming Jack Haynes struck some mighty blows in helping Worcestershire to 60-1 off the powerplay, he too was caught at third man for 26 three balls after its conclusion. It was, alas, the beginning of a subsidence, with the unusually cheap loss of Adam Hose for 3 the first big blow, the departure of Brett D'Oliveira for 38 the next, and the fall of Kashif Ali shortly thereafter a bad punchline. Through the middle overs, the reupholstering job done by Mitchell Santner and Ben Cox was thus somewhat careful by necessity, and though they slipped the leash at the death to push Worcs up towards a par score - Coxy's unbeaten 46 off 29 balls the star contribution - and 178-6 felt a defendable score of the bowlers could keep the brakes on.

Northants innings: And some bowlers did indeed keep the brakes on, but as ever, one bad over here and there can undo the good work of the rest of the attack. When Adam Finch had Chris Lynn caught at mid-on for 9 in the fifth it felt like a major breakthrough, but the 18 then leaked by Bracewell to Ricardo Vasconcelos in the following over allowed Northants right back into the contest. Ominously, the spinners couldn't quite work their magic, despite Santner having David Willey caught at third man for 20, and the apparent unwillingness of the skipper to bowl himself also suggested a few problems. Bracewell eventually redeemed himself by seeing off Vasconcelos at the halfway mark, but from there on, Saif Zaib was the scalp Worcestershire needed to take, and they couldn't quite manage it. Indeed, Zaib and Josh Cobb batted almost effortlessly through the back half, finding the boundary often enough and with minimal risk; they required 34 to win from the final three when Pat Brown at last accounted for Cobb, but a series of dire fielding errors then followed, with Santner losing a catch in the sun (and conceding four in the process) whilst wearing his shades up on his hat, and Coxy calling for a skyer that he never looked in command of, on top of an earlier misfield at fine leg that cost a boundary. The 14 runs Worcs had to defend off the twentieth might yet have been enough, but twice Zaib shuffled outside off to bring the ball into his leg-side hitting arc, and twice Brown failed to adjust his line and follow Zaib's movement; the two resulting sixes leaving the fourth ball to be put away down the ground and seal the defeat.

Worcestershire LOSE by six wickets

The Verdict: A result we were probably due, in the spirit that you can't win 'em all. Occasional batting collapses are an inevitability of the format, and in many ways the middle order excelled to make 178, but the bowling was patchy at best, and while Saif Zaib deserves all the plaudits he gets for a fantastic showing at the crease, had the fielding been of the required standard towards the end of the match, his best efforts might well have been in vain. Still, we go again, and hopefully a fully fit Dolly will be leading the bowling attack again soon, as we can't afford to lose his contribution with the ball.

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One-Day Cup, North Group

vs Lancashire

Stanley Park, Blackpool

Worcs innings: Lancashire won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on as fine a Wednesday evening as any you'll see. As a staunch advocate of the evangelical power of county T20, it's fantastic to see the Blast visit a place like Blackpool, and though such excursions should never come at the expense of more traditional Championship out-ground matches, the appeal of the idea was easy to see as a generous June sun beamed down on a packed house at Stanley Park, bathing fielders and Fylders alike. But for the second game in a row, there was some early misfiring in the Worcestershire innings as the batsmen got to grips with a slower pitch, with Brett D'Oliveira chipping to mid-on for 17 and Michael Bracewell doing the same to mid-off for 11, while Jack Haynes holed out for 19 before the halfway stage. It took a characteristically forthright knock from Adam Hose and a very eye-catching half-century showing from Mitchell Santner to get the innings back on track, and when the former departed for 42, it prompted a clutch of middle-order wickets to fall. Seven down in the eighteenth over, a staggering 28 runs plundered by Santner off Colin De Grandhomme pushed the Pears up to a par score, but any hopes of exceeding it were pegged back in the final two overs, which yielded just four runs apiece between some excellent death bowling and the batsmen not managing the strike convincingly.

Lancs innings: The wicket of Jos Buttler as early as possible was, if not the alpha and omega of Worcestershire's battle, then certainly all the letters up to omicron. But as the sky mellowed into a tangerine dream richly befitting the locale, Buttler and Phil Salt both survived early scares in a threatening new-ball spell from Dillon Pennington that eventually dismissed Salt for 5, caught at mid-on. It became an ex-Sussex double whammy when Adam Finch had Luke Wells caught off a steepler on the stroke of the halfway mark, and at 59-2 the run-rate was ascending relentlessly. Yet Buttler remained, and Lancs followed the same essential strategy that Northants did on Sunday, seeing out the slow bowlers safely rather than hitting the panic button. When Pennington finally got Buttler to edge behind for 58, followed by a run-out for Steven Croft, the required rate was still 11 an over, but the arrival of Liam Livingstone and Daryl Mitchell (no, the other one) coupled with some very indifferent death bowling to be Worcestershire's downfall. The partisan home crowd, all pink faces and panamas, had a happy end to a long day's entertainment; nevertheless, we do like to be beside the seaside, and hopefully won't be too many summers in returning.

Worcestershire LOSE by four wickets

The Verdict: Two defeats on the trot are always concerning, even after such a stellar start to the campaign, because a third would make this a confirmed slump. Without wanting to single out players too egregiously (it always reeks of scapegoating), you'd have to say that at this stage, Michael Bracewell isn't delivering what we'd want from an overseas signing with either bat or ball, and I suspect most Pears fans would snap your hand off to swap him for Usama Mir. I only hope he can turn it round in the back half of the group stage; otherwise, we still have an undoubtedly competitive side in this format, but lack that crucial death bowler who can see an innings out if the opposition have wickets in hand, because Pat Brown sadly hasn't evolved into quite that player as things stand. In this specific encounter, I also think Worcs can justifiably gripe about some inconsistent umpiring, with Lancs bowlers being given the thumbs-up for balls visibly crossing the wide line well beyond the stationary batsman's reach, while Adam Finch was twice the recipient of contentious no-ball calls - one a bouncer that turned an excellent dot into six runs, the other a high full-toss that faded down to thigh-height by the time it reached the batsman - but still, Headingley on Friday and a different-coloured rose; we go again.

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County Championship, Division Two

vs Sussex

County Ground, Hove

Day One

Morning: The Pears won the toss and put Sussex in to bat on a muggy, cloudy Sunday in mid-June with thunderstorms breaking the early summer heatwave up and down the country. Worcestershire needed a boost after losing a third T20 game on the trot in Yorkshire on Friday, and the bowling-friendly conditions were at least partly reminiscent of our more customary autumn visits to Hove in recent seasons; so too was the form of Joe Leach, angling one in to have Tom Clark caught at fourth slip for 5 pushing forward in the opening over, then having Tom Haines caught behind for 9 with a marvellous length ball on off-stump. It became a hat-trick of Toms for Leach when Alsop edged to second slip, leaving Sussex 47-3, but no further wickets fell in the session to leave honours more or less even at lunch on 81-3.

Afternoon: The threatening Sussex rebuild carried them into three figures before a short wide one from Adam Finch tempted James Coles into an uppercut in search of his half-century, only to be caught at third man for 48. With the door open, Leach was once again the edgelord who had Daniel Ibrahim caught at second slip for a duck, and the dangerous Fynn Hudson-Prentice supplied the big man with his five-fer as he nicked behind for 8, the initial low one-handed catch looking for all the world like it had been shelled, only to fall safely into the keeper's gloves millimetres from the turf. The scoreboard read 142-6, and it all seemed deceptively easy, because of course, Worcestershire have been here countless times before, and not just in Hove. Oli Carter fell to Matthew Waite for 76 when he cut straight to backward point on the stroke of tea, which was taken on 205-7, but there were already signs that Worcs were starting to leak runs from the old ball.

Evening: And so it proved, as the earlier pressure the bowlers had been able to exert just slipped into the ether. Usama Mir, making his County Championship debut after an almost inevitable return to Worcestershire, picked up his maiden wicket with Nathan McAndrew caught at mid-on for 65, but 85 runs were then added for the ninth wicket before Leach had Henry Shipley caught in the same fashion for 41. With eight overs remaining, bad light intervened, and Sussex were 338-9 at close; perhaps an even day on paper, but one which finished with the hosts entirely in the ascendant.

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Days Two, Three & Four

Day Two: Another cloudy, humid start to Monday, and Sussex accrued only 10 more runs before Ben Gibbon had Jack Carson caught for 64 to wrap up the innings on 348. Worcestershire's reply was brighter than the morning, reaching lunch on 94-1 with Gareth Roderick the sole casualty, and as the sun graced the south coast through the course of the afternoon, so Jake Libby graced the quaint old County Ground with some marvellous and brisk batting, bringing up his fourteenth first-class century with a square drive for four as Worcs made it to tea 205-3, trailing by 143. The fun continued well beyond five o'clock with 150 for Libby and a half-century for the very fluent Adam Hose, and as the sun declined, the Pears found themselves on a comfortable 366-3, 18 runs in the lead with seven wickets in hand. From there it should have been an attritional grind to kill the game off, but instead it was a classic collapse; six wickets fell for 29 runs as the old ball bamboozled a couple of batsmen with some sharp turn, before the new ball skittled the entire middle order and left the Pears teetering on 410-9 overnight, the lead just 62.

Day Three: The sun was out to bake the pitch hard and flat on Tuesday, but Worcestershire gained no benefit from it; with Libby caught behind for 198 off Ari Karvelas, the overnight score of 410 was all she wrote, and 62 the somewhat limp first-innings lead. The steady reversal of fortune over the last couple of hours of cricket became all the more galling as Sussex wiped out that lead and cruised to 111-0 in time for lunch, which progressed to 143 before Joe Leach was finally able to have Tom Haines caught at first slip for 91. Yet incredibly, it became two in two balls as the other well-set opener, Tom Clark, feathered Matthew Waite behind for 50 with the first of the next over. It began to resemble a collapse of truly Worcestrian proportions for the hosts when Adam Finch first had James Coles caught for 2 top-edging a pull to midwicket, then sent a drifting yorker onto Oli Carter's toe to dismiss him LBW and make it 147-4. Sussex battled back during the remainder of the afternoon, taking tea on 238-5 after losing Dan Ibrahim LBW for 28 to Waite, but though the match looked on a knife-edge at 260-6 when Usama Mir had Fynn Hudson-Prentice caught behind for 54, the tail end once again proved too much for the Pears bowlers, and Sussex closed on 359-6 with a lead of 297.

Day Four: The wise money on a scorching mid-June Wednesday was all on a draw, but what a draw it was. Jack Carson's run-out for 75 was the last Sussex wicket to fall before their declaration came on 447-7, with the target 386 to win from seventy-nine overs. From the very beginning it was clear that Worcestershire were taking the chase seriously, and reached lunch 55-0. The loss of Roderick LBW for 33 didn't slow down Libby, who motored to his fifty courtesy of a generous four overthrows from Sussex, then began targeting Carson's off-spin for some big sixes. Alas, Carson had the last laugh, and for the second time in the match the opener fell short of a milestone when he edged to first slip for 97, but the Pears took tea on 195-2, needing 191 more with eight wickets in hand. In the all-out post-prandial assault, Jack Haynes went LBW for 44 and Adam Hose for a quickfire 47, both men playing a huge role in lifting Worcs up to 317-4, needing 69 off 73 balls. But with a defensive field and tight bowling, Sussex put the pressure on, and Brett D'Oliveira capped an uncharacteristically subdued showing by departing for a lacklustre 3. With Azhar Ali anchoring, it looked for a while like Waite would be the man to see it home, but after a few useful boundaries he too holed out for 18. With four overs left, the asking rate was a run a ball; off the last two, just 16 needed, but the boundaries had dried up completely. Perhaps worried about sparking a total collapse, Joe Leach seemed reluctant to go big, and so it fell to Azhar Ali - minutes after completing his century - to try an unorthodox approach; sadly, for such an orthodox batsman it was anathema, and his big step to leg to open up the off-side simply resulted in him outside-edging onto the stumps for 101. With 8 required from the last over, Usama Mir fell for 1 trying desperately to go over the top, leaving only five more balls and two wickets to get the job done. There are few things in cricket more special than a match where all four results are still possible on the penultimate ball, and that was the case in Hove this superlative June day; a plundered single from Finch ruled out a tie or a Worcestershire defeat (to the relief of more than a few of us who've read the script on occasions like this), but one last agricultural swing from Leach to Nathan McAndrew's final ball was more in hope than expectation, and the curtain fell on Worcestershire's innings of 381-8 just five runs short of what would have been a spectacular victory.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: The merry-go-round of might-have-beens is always quick to start spinning after such a close (and to a certain extent, disappointing) result, so it has to be said first and foremost that this was a fantastic game of cricket which swung one way and the other for four full days before accelerating to an edge-of-the-seat conclusion, and on those grounds alone, it was a credit to the County Championship. More than a few pundits and journos, most of them neutral, suggested at the close that Worcestershire had bottled the chase from the point of needing 36 from 35 with five wickets in hand, and it's impossible to look at the scorecard without wondering whether Dolly needed to play that shot, whether Waitey could have settled for staying in till the end, whether Azhar might have pushed harder for the ones and twos, whether Leachy might have taken the risk of a big hit when the chips were down. There are undoubtedly parallel universes where they did those things and won a famous victory; there are others where they tried it and lost ignominiously. But while Schrödinger's cricketer can play out the possibilities in his box for all eternity, for the Pears to have taken this challenge on and come so close, having shot themselves in the foot by doing similar against Durham in April (chasing a smaller target), is an admirable effort in itself. And it would be disrespectful not to pay credit to the Sussex bowlers and fielders who never gave up the fight, and managed to do enough at the death to secure a draw which, over the four days, was absolutely a fair result.