[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Morning: Not risking the overnight declaration, Gloucestershire came out swinging on a cloudy Sunday and put on three dozen runs in the first twenty minutes before Matthew Waite drew a top edge from Chris Dent and had him caught by the keeper for 83. The declaration came at 11:45, setting Worcestershire a theoretical 301 to win, and the hour that followed was nightmare fuel. Ed Pollock, who's been admirably reining in his attacking instincts so far this season, perished for a 3 to a dreadful attempt at a pull that came off the top edge; Azhar Ali also decided to counter-attack but spooned up a catch for 9 from a poor shot of his own, while Jack Haynes fended off a short ball from De Lange and was caught at second slip for a duck. De Lange continued his barrage of short, venomous bowling, and the seventh delivery faced by Brett D'Oliveira struck his forearm with sufficient force to make the skipper drop his bat, narrowly avoiding a hit wicket, and obliging him to retire hurt without scoring. Ten minutes of the session remained when a thick outside edge from Jake Libby was caught at gully for 22, and with the Pears 51-4 at lunch - yet effectively five down - it would have been a big ask to bat out much more of the day. But the rain intervened, no further play ensued, and Gloucestershire were left to rue the forty-five minutes at the beginning of the day which they could have used to pursue the win.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: Having lost five points last weekend that we undoubtedly deserved, this week we managed (or rather, the rain managed) to gain five that we didn't deserve. It was alarming to see tendencies from 2019 and 2021 creeping back into our game, as for much of this match it looked like our players - batsmen and bowlers alike - were using a different pitch to Gloucestershire's, sometimes within minutes of them playing on it. A fortnight's break here and now is a blessing, as the Pears need to regroup and rethink before going into May.