[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Better late than never: after a routine warm-up against Warks, the season starts tomorrow with a jaunt down the M5 to kick off the Bob Willis Trophy against Gloucestershire at Bristol. The corresponding fixture last summer at Cheltenham ended with an abysmal Pears collapse when it would have been easier to win than lose, and that unlikely result propelled the West Country boys towards eventual promotion. They'll have to wait another eight months to have a crack at Division One, and Worcs will likewise wait for our next bite of the promotion cherry, but in the meantime, this is a good chance to measure where both teams stand and maybe make amends for last year's errors.

The Pears will stick with the squad that played at Edgbaston, doing without white-ball international Moeen Ali and Kolpak Wayne Parnell, but looking to hand a full first-class county debut to Jake Libby as opener, while hopefully getting another look at Gareth Roderick, who's set to join us from Gloucs at the end of this season. A fit Joe Leach will again skipper the side.

Probable Worcestershire XI: Mitchell, Libby, Fell, Haynes, D'Oliveira, Wessels, Cox (wk), Barnard, Leach ©, Tongue, Morris