PEARS paceman Joe Leach has urged his Worcestershire team-mates to bounce back from their Natwest T20 Blast exit and ensure survival in Division One of the LV= County Championship.
The Rapids went down by 17 runs to Hampshire under the Duckworth-Lewis method in the quarter-final at New Road on Friday after bad light led to the players being taken off by umpires Rob Bailey and Tim Robinson.
They were set to complete their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign against Leicestershire and Derbyshire, but Leach said staying up in the four-day game was now the prime goal for the remainder of the summer.
“We are out of both cup competitions now and it’s four massive games in the Championship,” he said.
“We spoke briefly after the quarter-final and it’s very important we attack those four games with a lot of confidence and don’t let something like this effect us.”
Worcestershire return to four-day cricket on Friday with a County Championship game at Taunton against Somerset before they welcome Sussex to New Road for four days from September 1.
Victory in both games will go a long way to ensuring the Pears remain in the top division and Leach said he was confident the team could achieve their goal of survival.
“We’ve competed well all through and, with a little change of fortunes, you could argue we could be fourth or fifth,” he added.
“As it is we are down the bottom scrapping but that’s kind of the way we like it so why not?
“It’s up to us to make sure it (losing the T20 Blast quarter-final) doesn’t become a hangover.
“It’s not really a case of using that as an excuse. I don’t think that would enter our minds to be honest.
“We knew regardless of the result against Hampshire, and finals day at Edgbaston would have been great, that those four Championship games are still there and we probably need to win two of them,” he added.