With the 2026 season in full swing and New Road restored to its resplendent summer best, the action inside Worcestershire County Cricket Club has stretched beyond the senior Men’s and Women’s sides.
April saw all sides within the Academy and Sub-Academy experience their first taste of leather and willow for the year, with the next generation of Worcestershire stars all enjoying plenty of early-season success.
View from the Coaches' Box: Elliot Wilson
“As of Thursday 23 April, the programme has delivered 10 days of U18 cricket and 7 days of Sub-Academy cricket, providing a strong volume of early-season match exposure.
“Several players have produced standout performances, with broad opportunities across the groups enabling individuals to press their case for selection. A notable addition has been Mohammed Ibrahim (Bradford), identified through Andrew Siddall and the open nominations process.
“His early performances have been highly promising and reflect the value of broadening talent identification routes.
“The opening three rounds of 2nd XI cricket have also created meaningful progression opportunities for Academy players. Jeet Varaich has been particularly impressive, excelling not only in performance outcomes but also in consistently demonstrating the standards and behaviours expected of a professional cricketer at WCCC.
“April has also seen the launch of the WPPL (Worcestershire Pathway Premier League) as the internal element of the U10–U13 County Age Group programme.
“Each age group is split into three teams (Rapids, Royals and Pears) competing across nine match days. The top 10 players, based on MVP rankings, will qualify for a ‘best vs best’ fixture at the end of the summer, to be hosted at New Road.”
Beyond The Boundary
It has been all go for the Senior Academy since the turn of the year, with six of the U18 batting contingent selected to attend a specialised spin clinic in Mumbai back in February.
Under the tutelage of 1st XI vice-captain Jake Libby and in partnership with the Global Cricket Academy, the batters were put through their paces and had their skill sets challenged in an eye-opening experience under testing conditions.
Since then, training has ramped up in preparation for the start of the competitive calendar, with the squad assembling for outdoor sessions weekly, and many of the group having already begun their season at school or in Club cricket.
For the likes of Jeet Varaich, Fin Jones, Alfie Higgins, Toby Cox and Seth Essenhigh, rewards came courtesy of some early-season opportunities to represent Worcestershire’s CCC 2nd XI, whilst for Joe Porter and Lucian Brockman, it has been the Birmingham Premier League where the rising stars have hit the ground running.
Out in The Middle
Worcestershire’s pre-season started with a six-wicket defeat to Nottinghamshire, where opener Joe Porter (73 from 95) starred with the bat as Worcestershire made 208 from 41 overs, but his side came out second best on the day as Notts chased down the target with eight overs to spare.
An opening stand of 157 between Hamza Khan and the in-form Porter set Worcestershire on their way to an impressive 19-run win over Cheshire U18s just three days later, in an innings that saw Khan go on to make a superb 104 from 119 deliveries.
Porter (61 from 97) played another brilliant hand to help his side to 264 all-out, before James Cooley and Henry Hardinges both grabbed four wickets apiece to ensure the Pears collected their first win of pre-season.
An even narrower encounter followed in the side’s next assignment, where it was touch and go until the very last as Worcestershire held onto secure an eight-run win over Worksop College.
Herbie Evans (62 from 87) was the top score in an under-par total of 185 all-out, before a stunning bowling display led by James Turton’s 3-25 saw Worksop bowled out for 177 in a thriller.
Mohammed Ibrahim’s impressive four-wicket haul for just 36 runs was the highlight for Elliot Wilson’s side in what was a one-sided contest against Shrewsbury School that saw the Worcestershire U18s downed by 119 runs.
A fifth friendly of pre-season saw the Academy face off against Herefordshire in a much-improved Worcestershire performance.
Lucian Brockman impressed once again with an excellent spell that yielded 3-40, joined by teammate Mohammed Ibrahim, whose 3-30 helped restrict their opponents to 289-7 after 50 overs.
Hamza Khan (26), Joe Porter (41) and Seth Essenhigh all made starts, but no batter was able to kick on as the hosts were left in trouble at 123-6, with rain eventually forcing an inevitable DLS victory for Herefordshire.
The action kept coming for the Senior Academy, with another 50-over assignment against Shropshire 1st XI on the 19th of April.
Spinner Mohammed Ibrahim impressed with the ball, bowling an economical 10-over spell that cost just 33 runs.
Chasing an imposing 316 to win, the Worcestershire squad struggled to get going, with Herbie Evans (34) top scoring as the visitors were bowled out for 129.
Elliot Wilson’s side’s final pre-season encounter saw the U18’s take on Cheshire U18’s, where Jack Shields (3-24) and Mohammed Ibrahim (4-17) starred as Worcestershire bowled their opponents out for 115, running out 65-run victors in a promising end to the season preparations.
May saw the first taste of competitive cricket, with Worcestershire entertaining near neighbours Warwickshire, in the opening fixture of the T20 County Cup at Harborne Cricket Club.
Blown away by Warwickshire opener Omaris Khan, Worcestershire were unable to prevent an opening day defeat, in a game where the hosts were always up against it.
Khan dazzled, striking a jaw-dropping 117 from just 39 balls as he powered Warwickshire to a staggering 279-8 from their 20 overs.
Ibrahim was a shining light with the ball once again, taking 3-43, but with the odds stacked against them, Worcestershire fell 105 runs shy of their imposing target.
On Bank Holiday Monday, a Worcestershire 2nd XI took on a Birmingham District Premier Cricket League Select XI at Bromsgrove. In a match where two of the Pathway products were involved, the 2nd XI triumphed by 138 runs, with Lucian Brockman (0-39) and Asad Azami (3-30) featuring.
