WORCESTERSHIRE’S hopes of gaining promotion from Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship have received a boost – without them facing or bowling a ball.
The County had moved into second spot in the table after clinching a 311-run success over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road last Tuesday (July 12).
Then leaders Essex lost their game in hand after going down to Gloucestershire at Cheltenham. It means Essex have a slender seven-point lead over skipper
Daryl Mitchell’s side with both sides now having played 10 matches.
Gloucestershire have moved up into third spot – four points behind Worcestershire but with a match in hand.
Worcestershire have still to meet Essex in the return clash between the two sides at Chelmsford from August 31 to September 3.
Both sides have won three matches to date with Essex and Worcestershire having 35 and 32 batting bonus points respectively – the best two hauls in the division.
Worcestershire have enjoyed back-to- back wins in the competition but now have to put the Championship on hold for two weeks before they face Kent at Canterbury.
Director of cricket Steve Rhodes said: “We’ve got some games coming up that you would consider to be winnable games.
“By all means, they are not easy games but they are definitely games where points could be available. They are tough games but in many ways it is a real good challenge for us.
“When we play Essex, if we can turn the tables on them, then we are going to gain some massive kudos and crucial points.
“It is like a double header so we are just looking forward to the run-in and it’s good we’ve managed to get a couple of wins under our belt and the optimism for doing well in that competition is back.”