[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division Two

vs Leicestershire

Oakham School, Rutland

Day One

Morning: Leicestershire won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a Wednesday in mid-July that firmly followed the month's trend of alternating rain and shine. England's smallest county nevertheless seemed happy to welcome back first-class cricket for the first time since 2007, and as this was Worcestershire's maiden visit to Doncaster Close (with the wind well and truly in our sails following the signing of Rob Jones from Lancashire this week), we were eager to make it a memorable one. With a fresh breeze rippling the marquees around the boundary, Jake Libby and Gareth Roderick weathered a tough new ball spell which saw Chris Wright and Matt Salisbury pounding a good length tenaciously over after over, pinching ones and twos from nudges either side of the wicket. A slow outfield put the brakes on even the better attacking strokes, and not until the faded white clock above the school door read 11.40 did Libby finally cut change bowler Wiaan Mulder's third delivery through point for the first boundary, before following it up in Mulder's next over with a flashing square drive to the forked oak tree at cover-point; however, despite these early successes the vice-captain was the morning's sole casualty, edging Tom Scriven behind on the stroke of noon. Five minutes later, a woolly sky and a curtain of drizzle forced the players off for a short break, but upon the resumption Azhar Ali announced himself to the festival by pulling Salisbury for six over backward square (where a row of well-wrapped spectators on folding picnic chairs a foot or two beyond the rope were forced to take sudden evasive action), and Worcs reached lunch on a hard-fought but relatively untroubled 74-1.

Afternoon: But on a day of changeable conditions and low scores all over the country, the Oakham pitch showed its true colours as the ball began to deviate off a length. The first victim was Roderick edging the second ball of the session behind from Wiaan Mulder, before Jack Haynes went identically for a golden duck to the next delivery. A streaky boundary through third man from Adam Hose may have fatally helped his confidence as he was almost immediately dismissed LBW for 5 attempting a straight drive off Wright, and Mulder's roll continued with Brett D'Oliveira caught at second slip for 4. The South African should have had two in the over when Matthew Waite was dropped low at second slip off his second ball, and that reprieve allowed the Yorkshireman to cash in at Salisbury's expense ten minutes later, punching a knee-high full-toss through midwicket to the beer-tent for one four, edging a square drive to backward point for a second, then confidently pulling a long-hop for a third, before Salisbury at last had him caught at second slip for 15. But there was no more than a cameo for Joe Leach, caught at second slip off Scriven for 5, or Josh Baker caught down the leg-side off Salisbury for 8, and though Azhar Ali had battled tooth and claw over three hours since his opening maximum for every single run off the bat, he too perished with an edge to first slip from Salisbury for 34. Marching to the crease as something of a pariah, Dillon Pennington was fortunate not to go for a duck when he clipped the ball straight to the hands of mid-wicket who promptly shelled a straightforward grab, but to his credit, he and Adam Finch proceeded to punish Leicestershire during the extended half an hour beyond four o'clock, plundering precious boundaries in a stand of 33 until Pennington was finally bowled by Chris Wright to close the innings on 178.

Evening: The teatime meltdown on social media always felt premature given the way the pitch was playing, and sure enough, the Pears hit the right areas and asked all the right questions of the Foxes in the final session. The reply was four overs old when Pennington swerved the ball away from Rishi Patel to have the opener caught behind for 3, and despite a frustrating spell which saw a couple of half-chances go down, Finchy jagged one back a country mile to take out Lewis Hill's leg stump for 12. From the other end Matthew Waite was zeroing in on the top of off, and in quick succession bowled Louis Kimber for 15 and had Colin Ackermann caught for 2 with a superb diving catch at third slip, before Finchy clattered the middle stump of Peter Handscomb for 5, leaving the hosts 50-5. Wiaan Mulder had a short but successful counter-attack until he was caught in two minds on the crease and comprehensively bowled by Leach for 21, and Pennington finished off the day with Scriven caught behind down the leg-side for a duck, then Wright - a thorn in Worcestershire's side more than once with the bat - caught at first slip for 3. 88-8 at close, Leicestershire still trailing by 90 after an eighteen-wicket first day, it seems highly unlikely that even the worst July weather could produce another draw in this one. Rehan Ahmed remains at the crease playing the same role that Azhar Ali did for Worcs, and his wicket will be crucial in the morning, as he has nothing to lose by countering. In such a close match, another tail-wag could prove fatal; a 50-run lead is the bare minimum we should be looking for when the time comes to bat again.