Sometimes issues that go beyond runs and wickets, wins and losses shape a cricket season and so it was for Worcestershire in 2024.
In May, left arm spinner Josh Baker, just 20 years of age, fell victim at home, whilst part way through a second eleven match, to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. The whole Club was deeply stricken by the tragedy. Somehow the Worcestershire players lifted themselves sufficiently to return to the field in Canterbury a few days later and short-term import Jason Holder was a notably positive influence at this time. As the season progressed, the squad used their memories of Josh to enhance team spirit and this carried them though to a season’s end when they were in celebratory mode. In all the years since the County Championship split into two divisions in 2000, the Club have never before finished as high as this year’s sixth in the top flight. As a touching and appropriate gesture, the Club took the decision to retire Baker’s shirt number 33, in his memory.
Judged by the standards of the bigger, more prestigious counties, that may seem like a modest outcome, but for the Worcestershire players and their well -respected coach, Alan Richardson, there was a real sense of achievement with team morale at an undoubted high. Veteran seamer Joe Leach retired following a career in which he captained the Club, scored over 5000 runs and took more than 600 wickets in all formats.
Of those batters who played 10 or more Championship matches, five averaged over 30, with Kasif Ali being the only one to go above 40. His 767 runs included two hundreds. The other four – Matthew Waite, Jake Libby, Brett D’Oliveira and Gareth Roderick – often made valuable contributions to the team cause. The bowling was a similarly collective effort, New Zealander Nathan Smith, Leach and Tom Taylor topping the list with just 27 wickets apiece.
In the Vitality Blast it was a similar story of plenty of modest but significant contributions with the bat. Seven players scored 150 or more runs, five scored fifties but no one got close to a century and with the ball, Waite, Ethan Brookes and Taylor all had double figure wicket tallies. Overall, eighth place in the North Group was a disappointing result. Even so, there were some high points. Waite starred on two consecutive evenings, returning the best ever Blast figures by a Rapids bowler – 5 for 21 against Leicestershire and then, against the Bears, hit 34 runs including five sixes off the final over of the innings, bowled by George Garton.
It was in the Metro Bank One Day Cup that Worcestershire came closest to success. They finished second in their group, with five wins from eight matches. Then, in their quarter final clash with local rivals Warwickshire, they seemed to have victory in their grasp before an unlikely hundred by young Kai Smith knocked them out. Across the whole competition, Libby averaged over 100 and Roderick over 50.
Results
Vitality County Championship: Sixth in Division One
Vitality Blast: Eighth in North Group
Metro Bank One Day Cup: Quarter finalists
Leading run-scorers
Vitality CC: Kashif Ali 767 runs at 42.61
Vitality Blast: Ethan Brookes 315 runs at 26.25; Strike rate 145.83
Metro Bank ODC: Jake Libby 526 runs at 105.20
Leading wicket-takers:
Vitality CC: Nathan Smith 27 wickets at 21.14; Tom Taylor 27 wickets at 21.48; Joe Leach 27 wickets at 33.44
Vitality Blast: Tom Taylor 17 wickets at 25.47; Economy rate 9.08
Metro Bank ODC: Jack Home 16 wickets at 14.43; Economy rate 6.13
Player of the season
Keeper-batter Gareth Roderick scored over 1200 runs across all competitions. Behind the stumps, he finished with the most dismissals of any player in the One Day Cup (23) and was second placed in the County Championship with 46 victims. He played in all 37 competitive matches.
Breakthrough Player
Young Jack Home comes close with 16 wickets in the One Day Cup at only 14 apiece, but maybe he needs still to prove himself in the other competitions.
On the other hand, Ethan Brookes managed to establish himself in all formats as a middle order batter and fast medium bowler. His move from Edgbaston, where he struggled for opportunities, seems to have paid off both for him and his new county. A total of almost 800 runs and 25 wickets represents a decent season’s work and suggests that he is now established as a valuable team member.
Could have done better
Adam Hose has ended up at Worcestershire having come through the Hampshire youth system and then played for Somerset and Warwickshire. At times, he has shown great ability as a fast-scoring white ball batter. But he is now 31 years of age and should be at the peak of his powers. So his results across all competitions in 2024 were disappointing. He played in all 14 County Championship matches but averaged only 25. In the Blast, he averaged 26. He hardly featured in the One Day Cup because he was playing out a relatively undistinguished role in some other competition with Northern Superchargers.
He can surely do better.
Need to work on
Worcestershire won the Blast in 2018 and were runners-up the following year, so their 2024 results were more than disappointing. Bringing in West Indian wrist spinner Hayden Walsh didn’t really work, his six wickets costing over 50 runs apiece and although New Zealander Nathan Smith had a reasonable tournament, neither proved to be the real star that the team needed to turn narrow defeats into victories. So a re-think for 2025 would seem to be essential.
What’s next?
Whilst there is plenty of work to be done on the field of play, a large problem lurks in the background.
Every time the River Severn overflows its banks and floods Worcestershire’s New Road ground, it produces spectacular photographs and plenty of “no play before lunch” joky social media postings, but the reality is that, as CEO Ashley Giles pointed out in July, the increased frequency of the flooding poses a threat to the long-term viability of the Club, not just the ground. The Club is awaiting the delivery of a comprehensive report which will look at potential options for redevelopment and flood mitigation that would enable an economically viable continued presence at New Road. Also to look at what alternative options there may be if the Club is forced to move away to a new ground elsewhere.
Worcestershire supporters and many other cricket lovers who have spent happy hours on the iconic ground beside the Severn will await the report with interest.
Mark: 7/10
