Durham Vs Worcestershire Preview
Durham travel to Worcestershire on the back of a high scoring draw against Middlesex which seen them go top of the Rothesay Country Championship Division Two.
Worcestershire go into this game on the back of an innings defeat to Northamptonshire and will be looking to return to winning ways. 164 from Gareth Rodrick helped Worcestershire reach 306 all out in their first innings. However, in their reply Northamptonshire posted a mammoth 597-7 with centuries from Ricardo Vasconcelos, Lewis McManus and James Sales. Worcestershire were then bowled out for 114 with Ben Sanderson taking 7-31.
Players to watch
Three of the top four run scorers in Division Two all play for Durham. Emilio Gay is the name on everyone’s lips as the next opener for England ahead of the test summer against New Zealand and Pakistan. He has scored 473 runs at an average of 94.60. David Bedingham has regained the form that saw him initially picked for South Africa last year and so far in this year’s campaign he has scored 471 runs at an average of 94.20. And finally, Ben McKinney has scored 370 runs including a high score of 244 against Gloucestershire two rounds ago.
Ben Raine is currently averaging 14.50 with the ball as he has taken 24 wickets in four games including two five- wicket hauls with one in his previous outing against Middlesex.
For Worcestershire Dan Lategan has been Worcestershires highest run scorer with 308 and a highest score of 89. Gareth Roderick scored 164 in the last round against Northamptonshire so will be looking to continue his good form.
Tom Taylor has been the pick of their bowlers with 17 wickets including a best of 5/56. He will be looking to continue his form from last season which made him the top wicket taker in Division One with 58 wickets despite Worcestershire finishing bottom of the table.
Overseas impact
As mentioned above David Bedingham is back to his best this season, however Durhams other overseas Kemar Roach looks a doubt for the trip to New Road as he picked up a hamstring injury against Middlesex and was replaced by Luke Robinson. Roach has not yet reached the heights he would have liked to yet only taking nine wickets so far this season.
Worcestershires overseas Beyers Swanepoel has had quite the controversial start to his Worcestershire career before even stepping on the pitch as he quite literally stepped off it before he should have. This relates back to him leaving the pitch in a Titans final back in South Africa mid game so he could attend a flight to the UK where he would then play for Worcestershire. This saga then escalated until a resolution was found and has since played the last two rounds of the championship taking seven wickets in two games.
The Ben Stokes factor
Ryan Campbell revealed in the media day at Durham in March that the England captain is to play two games for Durham one been this game and the other is the Kent away fixture. Stokes is familiar with New Road as in May 2022 he hit 161 runs in 88 balls including 34 runs off Josh Baker. Stokes’s arrival already makes a strong Durham side look even more formidable and could be timely as Roach looks as though he will miss the game through injury.
Predicted Teams
Durham: Lees ©, McKinney, Gay, Bedingham, Clark, Stokes, Robinson (WK), Aldridge, Raine, Potts, Parkinson.
Worcestershire: Lategan, Libby, Rodrick (WK), Hose, D’Oliveira ©, Brookes, Waite, Swanepoel, Taylor, Finch, Hannon-Dalby.
Betting Odds
Worcestershire are 11/8 to win while Durham is 4/7.
How to watch
A live stream will be provided by Worcestershire CC on their YouTube channel.
