TALENTED Pears ace Joe Clarke notched his first century of the season and revealed his determination to continue his development with another prolific summer.
The 21-year-old racked up 142 on day two of the Championship game against Kent for his first ton of the new campaign and followed it up with 110 not out as the Pears chased down a target of 399 to record an impressive win.
Clarke notched five centuries during his breakthrough season last year but had only managed a best of 34 not out against Northamptonshire in 2017 until his impressive display against the Pears promotion rivals.
The emerging batsman enjoyed a winter in Sri Lanka with England Lions and while he hasn’t been selected for the upcoming games with South Africa, Clarke admitted he learned a lot on tour.
“It was tough playing in conditions you haven’t seen before but I learned a lot and hope to put it into practice in the middle here,” he said.
“I’ve felt in good touch since the winter, I got some runs in pre-season and its been a case of building some confidence up in the middle.
“I guess the bowlers have had a look at me last year to see if there is anything they can exploit but think that is always the case with all the analysis we have available,” he added.
Clarke is an integral part of the Pears middle order following the departure of Tom Kohler-Cadmore and admitted the competition for places inspired the New Road batsmen to deliver in the middle.
“I don’t look too far ahead, I haven’t nailed down my Lions place but I really want to focus on delivering for Worcestershire, score as many runs as I can and help us build a winning team,” he said.
Replying to Kent’s first innings of 260 all out, The Academy product walked to the wicket at 45-2 and was given excellent support by George Rhodes in a fourth wicket stand of 131 in 33 overs.
A small collapse saw the Pears slide from 208-4 to 240-7 before Clarke was joined by skipper Joe Leach for an entertaining partnership of 90 in less than 18 overs.
The Pears skipper raced to a half-century of just 55 balls as Worcestershire established a first innings lead and Clarke was full of praise for his new skipper.
“Joe’s bowling and batting has been incredible for us over the last couple of years and I have no doubt the captaincy will spurr him on to go even further,” he said.
“Hopefully Joe won’t over bowl himself and know when to come off but I think a few of the lads will help him by suggesting he take a breather, me included.”