[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Two matches and two draws to kick off the season, with one definitely more fortunate than the other. As cricket returns to New Road after the usual winter floods with the visit of Nottinghamshire on Thursday, the pressure's on to go one better. At the very least, with Notts having failed to win a first-class match since June 2018, no county wants to be the first to roll over for them, and as this is Joe Clarke's first red-ball return to the club that nurtured him, defeat would be doubly chastening. In truth, batting doesn't seem to be have been the problem for the East Midlanders; it's wickets that have been hard to come by, and despite adding South African Dane Paterson to their line-up, they'll be missing Jake Ball, Brett Hutton and Stuart Broad from their match squad. For Worcestershire there were signs of promise at Derby from Alzarri Joseph, who'll hopefully continue to improve as he shakes off his spell in quarantine and gets into the rhythm of the county game. Once again there'll be a straight choice to make between Dillon Pennington and Charlie Morris for the new-ball role; the former may have been a bit unlucky at times last weekend, but nevertheless, one wicket for the season so far isn't a great return, even in tricky circumstances. With warm weather in store for the weekend after a possible frosty start on day one, this match may well hinge on Worcestershire's ability to break the talented Notts top order, while also desperately requiring their own to step up to the mark.

Venue: New Road, Worcester

Last Notts Visit: April 2018, Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 41 runs

Highest Pears innings: 493-9 declared, June 1996

Highest individual Pears score: 227 not out - Graeme Ashley Hick, July 1986

Highest Pears partnership: 281, 4th wicket - Joseph Alan Ormrod & Mohammad Younis Ahmed, July 1979