With the Rothesay County Championship season now just a matter of days away, Worcestershire’s bowling linchpin is ready to take his exceptional early season form into the opening clash of the summer against Derbyshire.
Back-to-back two-day matches against Sussex and Glamorgan led to the biggest test of Worcestershire’s pre-season so far on Saturday, as the Pears travelled to Edgbaston to face near neighbours, Warwickshire.
In amongst three days of competitive and hard-fought action, Tom Taylor shone with two vital lower-order cameos, whilst also producing a scintillating six-wicket spell with the ball that reminded everyone of his importance to this Pears outfit.
From a team perspective, Taylor was delighted with the way his side equipped themselves for the stern test of facing a well-established Division One outfit in their final pre-season outing.
“This week has been very valuable for the group, especially to play against Warwickshire, which is obviously nice because there’s always a little bit of niggle there which ups the competition, the stakes are a little bit higher when you play against them. It’s nice to for the lads perform well against them, especially going into the new season this week.
“It’s good to warm up against a strong opposition. They’ve got a really good bowling attack and a strong batting line up, so it’s a test for yourself against them leading into the new season and I think we did well, so it should give us a lot of confidence.
“People can get guilty of going through the motions in pre-season games, but this week has been a step in the in the right direction in that sense, because you know the competition for places is there.”
After leading the way in Division One last summer, collecting an astonishing 58 wickets in the longer-format, Taylor thrived in the role as the Pear’s opening bowler.
Having a self-confessed “slow start” to the 2026 campaign in his opening two matches, superb figures of 6-35 against Warwickshire underlined the fact that the 31-year-old is right back in the groove.
Fuelling his fire is the energy to be the lead man for his team, with the seamer keen to make the most of the final dress rehearsal at Edgbaston this week, before the Division Two returnees open the new season at Derbyshire, on Friday.
“I was really happy, especially with my first spell. I think that was nice. I didn’t get to bowl on the first day, just to help manage my workload but I had a decent bat.
“I was looking forward to that bowl on the morning of day two, and it came out nicely. I didn’t feel in as good a rhythm when we were down in Brighton, so it was nice to feel it and get something to click, especially with the first game being on Friday.
“I wanted to go into that with some rhythm. I feel like I found it this week, which has been nice and good to know heading into that first one at Derbyshire.
“It’s something that I’ve loved coming to Worcestershire, being that guy that almost sets the tone and takes the new ball, certainly with the red ball, to try get us off to a good start. I love that and I want to be ready to be that guy this year again.”
The round one clash has an extra edge for Taylor, who will be returning to a ground he knows all too well, having been on the Derbyshire ranks between 2014 and 2018.
With injury delaying the start to opening bowling partner Ben Allison’s season, the Pears are travelling North with a question mark over who fills his spot the eleven.
But, with the rest of the seam attack hitting their straps in the build-up to the new campaign, Taylor is confident the squad have more than enough firepower to start as they mean to go on.
“We’ll be strong as a group. Waitey has been bowling well which is great and the other boys are starting to build some consistency.
“I think we’ve got a good seam attack, especially to attack and build some pressure. It will be much of the same as what we did last year.
“Now it’s almost like Christmas Eve – you just want to get going. I’m hoping we push to kick on and win Championship games and try to fulfil the aim of getting back up to the First Division.
“That’s our aim and we’ll be trying hard to do that, starting on Friday.”
