Edgbaston friendly for County

11:28am Saturday 5th April 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

LOSING against Warwickshire never sits comfortably with Worcestershire fans - even if it's only a pre-season friendly.

So after Tuesday's 83-run defeat to the Bears in the campaign's first warm-up match, the New Road side have a chance to put that right on Monday.

In another 50-over clash, this time at Edgbaston (11am), Steve Rhodes' side will be looking for a better display than the one on show at New Road.

As nice as it was to finally get cricket back to County's home ground after an absence of 285 days, Worcestershire looked second best in all departments.

But following a good day's batting on Thursday against a limp Leicestershire attack where they posted a pleasing 300-5, Rhodes will want his players to show why they were crowned the 2007 NatWest Pro40 champions just nine days before competitive cricket begins.

There have been useful knocks from Gareth Batty, Ben Smith, Stephen Moore, Darryl Mitchell and Graeme Hick in the two friendlies played so far.

Worcestershire's bowling against the Bears on Tuesday was fairly low key but, with the new season just days away, Rhodes will hope that the department he overhauled in the winter will start to show a bit more venom.