PEARS chief Alex Gidman has welcomed Worcestershire’s ten-day break from action as a chance for players and coaching staff to recharge their batteries.
His charges welcome Lancashire to New Road in the County Championship on Monday after a welcome gap in the fixture list following the end of the Royal London One-Day Cup and a trio of Championship games with Durham, Lancashire and Middlesex in quick succession.
Players were set to return to training yesterday (Tuesday) following a mini break and will be looking to return to winning ways after two successive defeats in the Championship to Lancashire at Old Trafford and last week’s 127-run reverse to Middlesex at New Road.
Daryl Mitchell and Ross Whiteley scored half-centuries as Worcestershire were beaten on the final day of the County Championship Division Two encounter.
Mitchell made a determined 51 before he was fifth out with the total on 135 and then Whiteley mixed aggression with defiance before he was last out for 60.
Gidman said the break was also an opportunity for him and his staff to assess the early part of the campaign.
“We wanted to treat this as a three-game block and then have a week to see where we are at, where individuals are at and then we go again,” he said.
“It is also an opportunity for us as a coaching staff to sit down and see where we are at as a group and as individuals and see if we feel we need to make any changes. The lads need a bit of time away. It’s been a tough couple of weeks.
“We’ll then start to get back into things and review what we’ve done so far – the good, the bad and the ugly – and then look at how we can try and move forward,” Gidman added.