RAPIDS chief Kevin Sharp has revealed Moeen Ali will lead Worcestershire as they bid to return to winning ways in the Vitality Blast with a trip to Durham Jets.
The New Road outfit saw their 100 per cent start to the campaign smashed with a 12-run defeat to Yorkshire Vikings on Sunday but will be boosted by the return of the England all-rounder.
Moeen has been made available by England for all cricket, starting with this Friday’s Vitality Blast clash after the conclusion of the one-day series with India on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old’s international team-mate Ben Stokes has also been given permission to play in the Jets-Rapids encounter but Durham paceman Mark Wood has not been made available.
Moeen will lead the table-topping Rapids as official Blast captain for the remainder of the 2018 campaign in place of stand-in skipper Brett D’Oliveira who took the armband for the first five games of the tournament.
Sharp said: “Moeen always enjoys coming back and playing for us whenever he can. He is so highly respected and liked in our dressing room.
“We’ve got a great bunch of lads with a lot of talent. There is experience in some areas and lack of experience in others. They are all at different levels and learning their trade.”
The Rapids will hope to continue their good start to the T20 competition and retain their place at the top of the North group, despite Sunday’s defeat in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Speaking after the defeat, D’Oliveira said: “We were relatively happy at halfway. The first six overs we probably didn’t quite execute what we wanted to do and allowed them to get off to a bit of a flyer.
“We pulled it back quite well and, chasing 180, we were happy with that and we thought we could chase it down. Unfortunately, we didn’t.
“When Ross Whiteley is at the crease, you are always in the game. He hits it a long way, he is a powerful striker and he has done it many times before, but unfortunately this wasn’t his day.
“You go out to win every game of cricket but you are unrealistic if you think you are going to win every game. We weren’t at our best but I’m sure we’ll park this one and move on to the next one and come back strongly.”
After a trip north, Worcestershire return to Specsavers County Championship action with a four-day game against Somerset at New Road from Sunday.