Archive for July 31st, 2006

Worcestershire v West Indies A

Worcestershire’s thrilling 9 run victory at New Road yesterday marked the first occasion that West Indies A have been beaten by a County side since losing by 6 wickets in June 2002 to Kent.

The home side steamed into a position of strength after a somewhat shakey start, with Roger Sillence (94) and Ray Price (47) registered respective personal best performances with the bat to save the Worcestershire innings from a faltering 70-7 to finish on 213 all out in the 49th over.

Their partnership is a record 8th wicket stand for Worcestershire in limited overs cricket, replacing the previous best of 80 in 1975 against Essex at Chelmsford.

The County’s achievement is particularly pleasing in light of the fact that only 2 of the 11 players in yesterday’s West Indies A side have not had Test or ODI experience: the wicket keeper, Patrick Browne, and the opening batsman, Lendl Simmons.

It is also interesting to note that the last limited overs game West Indies A lost was against England A last winter, where they faced 4 Worcestershire players in the side: Gareth Batty, Steven Davies, Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali!

Worcestershire CCC Offers Graeme Hick New Contract

Worcestershire County Cricket Club’s Chief Executive, Mark Newton, has confirmed that the Club has offered Graeme Hick a contract for the 2007 season following on from the end of his existing contract which finishes at the end of the current season.

Hick is currently in his 23rd season with the County and recently became the only player since the war to score 100 first class hundreds for his County (the other being Geoff Boycott). As Mark Newton says, “Graeme is a legend of Worcestershire Cricket and is having another good season. I can confirm we recently discussed the situation with him and would love to see him continue to re-write the record books here at Worcestershire. The offer has been made and Graeme has asked for time to consider the situation.”