WORCESTERSHIRE v DERBYSHIRE | SQUAD & PREVIEW

Head Coach Alan Richardson says Worcestershire Club captain Brett D’Oliveira has to take the credit for Gareth Roderick’s rise up the batting order in LV=Insurance County Championship cricket.

Roderick has spent the bulk of the campaign in the middle order but he was promoted to number three in the win over Leicestershire at New Road and made a crucial 59 spanning more than five hours in the second innings.

He then opened alongside Jake Libby and made a positive impact with scores of 30 and 33 and first wicket partnerships of 52 and 74 which gave both innings early momentum.

This week he maintained his form with a century for the Seconds against Gloucestershire at Stourport going in first during their innings victory in a Championship fixture.

Richardson said: “Gareth has batted for a long period of time in the top three in his first class career and it is something he has done really well.

“He loves batting, he loves batting time. There was an opportunity. I’d love to take the credit for that but it was something Dolly really drove and wanted to happen.

“Gareth was really happy and has that hunger to get in there and he really enjoys the battle against the ball.

“For him, it felt like a really good opportunity and, against Sussex, he played really well and gave us a couple of good starts alongside Jake.”

Roderick has also impressed with his performances behind the stumps in the four-day format.

Richardson said: “It is important, whoever is behind the stumps, that they are the heartbeat, the energy for us and Gareth has got a wealth of knowledge, he knows his stuff.

“He is certainly adding as much as he can in both skills.

Worcestershire return to County Championship action on Sunday when they do battle with Derbyshire at New Road.

They are well positioned in the battle for promotion during the second half of the season, lying in fourth spot and just eight points behind second placed Sussex

Richardson said: “We are aspiring to do as well as we can and to try and get into Division One. The boys have played some great cricket.

“We’ve battled hard at times. We are trying to play as positive cricket as we can and trying to give ourselves opportunities to take as many points and get some wins.

“A bright start to the campaign and it is something to try and build on as much as possible.”

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Worcestershire Squad
Brett D’Oliveira ©
Jake Libby
Gareth Roderick (W)
Azhar Ali
Jack Haynes
Adam Hose
Ed Pollock
Kashif Ali
Matthew Waite
Joe Leach
Dillon Pennington
Navdeep Saini
Ben Gibbon
Josh Baker