[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

It feels like it was only six weeks ago that Worcestershire found themselves labouring in the dying light of a Sunday evening to take a final Leicestershire wicket at Grace Road that simply wouldn't come... largely because it was, in fact, only six weeks ago. The return fixture has come quickly, and with it an opportunity to get over that line that proved so elusive at the season's start.

The Foxes remain winless after six matches, but not devoid of fight by any means; their three draws include another great escape at Grace Road last weekend, this time against Sussex. Worcestershire's great nemesis Hasan Azad has been the pick of the Leics batsmen with 469 runs so far, though his only century of the season came in the unbeaten knock on that fateful Sunday before Easter. Ben Mike leads the way with the ball, his 14 wickets placing him just ahead of Ed Barnes and Callum Parkinson.

There's clearly no use in pretending that the bowling situation at New Road is tenable as things stand, and with that in mind, Worcestershire have secured a temporary replacement for the injured Joe Leach in the form of 26-year-old Yorkshire all-rounder Matthew Waite, who arrives on a two-week loan. It may be that his parent county see this as last-chance saloon for his red-ball career; named Yorkshire's young player of the year in 2016, Waite has made only eight first-class appearances since his debut the following summer, and the most recent was over three years ago. With Dillon Pennington also set to make a return after playing T20 for the seconds against Glamorgan on Tuesday, it'll hopefully be a strong enough seam attack to secure a second win of the season before the T20 Blast commences.

Probable Worcestershire XI: Libby, Pollock, Ali, Haynes, D'Oliveira, Barnard, Cox, Baker, Waite, Pennington, Morris