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Worcestershire County Cricket Club

County Champions: 1964, 1965, 1974, 1988, 1989
One-Day Champions: 1991, 1994
T20 Champions: 2018

2019 Season

Is it actually feasible in any way, shape or form to excel at three formats of cricket with just one set of players?

For England fans that question will be answered this summer as the nation hosts both the World Cup and the Ashes back to back.  For Worcestershire supporters, it was answered on a somewhat humbler scale in 2018 as a memorable summer of white-ball cricket culminated in a first-ever triumph in the T20 Blast, while in stark contrast, the red-ball campaign crashed and burned with yet another relegation.  It would be short-sighted to suggest that one inevitably led to the other; the fact is that injuries to both Josh Tongue and Joe Leach left the Pears drastically understrength in the Championship, and the team still gave a decent account of themselves in most matches.  And perhaps that's why the dream of conquering all three formats at once still lives on at New Road.  For the first time in a quarter of a century, a trophy-winning team will be turning out on the brimming banks of the River Severn to start a new campaign, and if the noises emanating from the pavilion are to be believed, they regard a promotion, a visit to Lord's *and* a defence of the T20 title to be within their capability...

Realistically, it'll be tough enough to achieve even one of those three goals.  Certainly, Division Two of the Championship promises to be no picnic in 2019, for despite three promotion places on offer, Worcestershire will be going head-to-head with co-relegates Lancashire, a resurgent Middlesex and long-time challengers Sussex, as well as one or two potential dark horses in the mix.  Weight of runs will be key, and having lost Joe Clarke at the end of last season, a lot is going to depend on just how well the likes of Riki Wessels and Callum Ferguson plug the gap.  Happily, Wessels in particular should act as a like-for-like replacement at the top of the order in white-ball cricket, giving the Pears a shout of that elusive trip to Lord's in its last year as a venue for the One-Day Cup final.

Worcs will naturally look to Daryl Mitchell to do his standard job leading from the front as a Championship opener; it remains to be seen whether he'll be partnered by Brett D'Oliveira again, who demoted himself down the order during a difficult 2018, or by Tom Fell who did a handy job in replacing Dolly and beginning to regain his touch (though a first century since 2015 still eludes him).  Either way, it's expected that Riki Wessels will take the number four spot vacated by Joe Clarke, while Callum Ferguson will follow as the fulcrum of the batting order.  Fresh from his selection by the MCC last month, Ben Cox remains first choice behind the stumps, and a frontline seam attack consisting of skipper Joe Leach, young Josh Tongue, the increasingly impressive all-rounder Ed Barnard and Kolpak Wayne Parnell should be more than a match for most teams in Division Two.  Knocking on the door of that already-formidable bowling unit, it's rumoured that last year's T20 hero Pat Brown will at some point get a first crack of the whip at the red-ball game since 2017, and exciting young paceman Dillon Pennington is also expected to continue his development after a promising debut yielded 22 Championship wickets last summer.  The remaining middle-order slot is likely to be up for grabs: we'll doubtless see left-arm orthodox Ben Twohig introduced as midsummer approaches, while the likes of youngster Ollie Westbury, second-choice keeper Alex Milton and hard-slogging boundary-merchant Ross Whiteley are among the extra batting options available.

Sadly, between the IPL, the World Cup and the Ashes, Moeen Ali will probably be a rare sight this year; however, we can expect a welcome return for Martin Guptill when the T20 commences in July.  Expectations will be high, and it could all go so very wrong, but there'll never be a dull moment.  Come on you Pears.