RAPIDS fans have been invited to turn New Road yellow on July 1 in support of batsman Tom Fell and first-team scorer Dawn Pugh who have both been battling cancer.
The NatWest T20 Blast match between the Rapids and Derbyshire Falcons will be played under the banner of #YELL4FELL and Cricket Versus Cancer.
The Rapids players will be wearing a special one-off yellow kit kindly provided by Canterbury – including a yellow badge – and black bottoms.
Yellow coloured T-shirts to mark the occasion will be available for supporters to buy with all proceeds being split between various cancer charities.
Tom, Worcestershire’s leading scorer in the County Championship last summer, is back playing Second XI cricket after being diagnosed with testicular cancer which was then found to have spread to his lymph nodes.
Dawn, the only female first-team scorer on the county circuit last summer, has also been fighting against cancer.
Vice-captain Joe Leach, who has been leading the side in the absence of the injured Daryl Mitchell, said: “It is one of those things as a club, we want to support.
“We are a very close-knit community here, the team, a family club and, with seeing our own in Felly and Dawn go through a really tough time, it is nice to show a bit of solidarity.
“Hopefully it is not just us and it’s the people of Worcester who turn out for them both as well and make New Road a mass of colourful yellow in support of them.
“With Felly, for all of us, it’s been an eye-opener and a real reality check and for some of his really close mates like Tom Kohler-Cadmore and George Rhodes who share a house with him, it’s been really tough. He has dealt with it so well and this is a chance for us to show our support and how much we think of him. Hopefully it is a really good day.
“I think this scheme is something that can really snowball and now it is out in the public domain I’m sure the whole cricketing community will get behind it, the Professional Cricketers Association etc.
“It is just a celebration for Felly and Dawn just to show them our support.”
Leach added: “Cancer is one of those things many people are affected by in terms of either suffering from it themselves or having relations suffering from the disease.
“If everyone could show their support in their own way, then that is a fantastic thing for the community of Worcester.
“Hopefully it is a celebration for those people who have beaten the disease but also people who have lost loved ones to the disease and hopefully we can all rally around behind it.”
Worcestershire general manager Jon Graham said: “It is well documented what Tom and Dawn have been through.
“We think it is a really important. Sometimes things are more important than cricket and we really want to make that day a success.”