WORCESTERSHIRE chief Matt Rawnsley has praised the ‘magnificent effort’ from coaches and players in securing a second successive Royal London One-Day Cup home semi-final.
The Rapids have shown again what a force they have become in white ball cricket in topping the North Group for a second successive year.
Their record in group matches in the last two seasons is 12 wins from 16 group games with just three defeats and one tie. Worcestershire went down by 153 runs to Surrey in the semi-final of the 2017 competition and will be hoping to go one better this time around.
And ahead of this weekend’s New Road semi-final against Nottinghamshire Outlaws or the Kent Spitfires, chief executive Rawnsley saluted head coach Kevin Sharp and his coaching staff, plus skipper Joe Leach and the players, for their ‘magnificent effort’.
“Anyone lucky enough to have seen any of the matches at Blackfinch New Road this year will have seen the exciting brand of cricket that this team can produce – and has done on a consistent basis,” he said.
“They have set a lot of individual and team records on their way to the semi-final and everyone is determined to try and go one better than last year.
“I’m really pleased for Kevin (Sharp) in his first season here as head coach but all the coaches have played a massive part in the group programme – Alan Richardson, Alex Gidman, Ryan D’Oliveira, Elliot Wilson, Andy Sutton etc, etc.
“The performances of the team have also reflected a group of players who are still young in age but who are growing and maturing into an exciting squad.
“From a club point of view, it is tremendous to secure another semi-final and is obviously a significant financial boost and fantastic for members and supporters.
“But it is also great for our sponsors who for the second time in 10 days will gain exposure via live TV coverage,” he added.
Sunday’s semi-final will see the Rapids host the winners of the Outlaws versus Spitfires knockout play-off, played tomorrow (Thursday) at Trent Bridge, and will be shown live on Sky Sports from 10.30am.