RISING star Dillon Pennington has hailed the impact on his game of Pears bowling coach Alan Richardson after breaking into the first team in all formats during the past two months.
Academy product Pennington impressed when playing for England Under-19s in the winter ICC World Cup in New Zealand when he was entrusted with the new ball.
But since coming back to New Road he has grasped the opportunity at first-team level as injuries to skipper Joe Leach and Josh Tongue created an opening.
Pennington bowled well on his debut in the vital Royal London One-Day Cup North Group decider with Warwickshire at Edgbaston and kept his place for the home semi-final versus Kent.
He has also played the last two Specsavers County Championship matches and four Vitality Blast games.
The 19-year-old heaped praised on Richardson, who returned to the club this winter from Warwickshire as part of a restructured coaching set-up.
“Alan has been brilliant for me. You can form a trust with him and he just keeps things so simple with me and that’s great for me. He knows how to work with me and I know how to work with him.
“We’ve got a great sort of bond going between us and hopefully that will continue for a long time to come.
“Alan was a legend for Worcestershire as a bowler (254 Championship wickets in four seasons) and, after coming back from the World Cup and working with him, I’ve seen that he is such a good coach.
“He really knows what he is talking about and has got so much experience behind him. It is great to pick his brains.”
On his first team breakthrough, Pennington said: “It has gone pretty quickly. It is great to have your backing from your coaches and your fellow players.
“It’s been such good fun getting out there and playing. It’s great playing in front of big crowds, who are really behind you here at Worcester.
“But I’m learning from it all, all the experiences, even when you are not picked, what you have got to work on and thinks like that.
“It’s just been a brilliant few weeks. I just wanted to get a decent amount of second team cricket in and now I’m playing a lot of first team cricket.