[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

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

2020 Season

In the closing days of March it looked unlikely that this thread would ever exist, as COVID-19 threatened to make this the first summer since 1945 that not a single ball would be bowled at New Road.  But we've come a long way since then; and to paraphrase John Arlott (who wrote with the storm-clouds of war fast approaching), Peter's cathedral still soars, Severn gleams blue and wide beyond the score-box, and with the fierce midday sun upon the ground, through heat-haze will soon come the wary sound of bat on ball.

It'll naturally be a truncated campaign, but in many ways a purist's dream.  For the first time in years, the month of August will see weekly first-class matches beginning on Saturday and finishing on Tuesday, until the T20 tournament commences in time for September.  The counties will be competing for the one-off prize of the Bob Willis Trophy, and that inaugural competition throws Worcestershire into a fairly tough group containing Division One teams Warwickshire, Somerset, Northants and Gloucestershire, and stiff Division Two opposition Glamorgan.  The consolation is that we get treated to three home matches, which will hopefully give us chance to see newcomers like Jake Libby in action.

I wouldn't say expectations are high; in fact, I wouldn't say there are any expectations at all.  2020 has been one of those years that teaches you to appreciate what you might otherwise take for granted, and the fact that we'll get to see county cricket over the next two months is a gift in itself.  Come on you Pears.