Adam Hose’s long-awaited return to the crease at New Road this week did not disappoint, with the Worcestershire batter putting Kent’s bowlers to the sword to lead his team into the ascendency in a commanding innings on day two of the Rothesay County Championship clash.
Returning at the start of the season with a fifty away at Derbyshire, Hose showed exactly what he can do in a destructive innings at a sun soaked New Road on day two of the Division Two clash with Kent, shifting through the gears in dismissive fashion as the number four made a superb 75 from 112 balls.
After nine months away from his home ground, the batter showed his full arsenal of shots, cashing in on any width offered to him by the weary Kent bowling unit, reaching his fifty off just 88 balls.
Building a crucial partnership with skipper Brett D’Oliveira during the process of the day, Hose said he was happy to be back in the middle doing his job for the team.
“We got through that sort of tough spell, and as we know were batting, it always gets easier the longer you spend out there.
“It’s nice to build a good relationship and a partnership with Brett and I was just happy to put on 140-odd I think it was, but you do all that hard work early on, and then I played around a straight one which was pretty frustrating, but 75 is better than nought.
“I felt in good rhythm in the Derbyshire game, then at Middlesex I was a little bit frustrated not to contribute as much I would have liked, but that is the game.
“So I was delighted to spend a bit of time out there today on what is a really good wicket and felt like a good cricket wicket was nice.”
A fine half-century from Matthew Waite alongside contributions from Gareth Roderick (40) and Tom Taylor (37) saw the Pears take full control of the match, set to resume day three at New Road in the box seat.
In control from the outset, the second day’s action saw the Pears produce arguably their most dominant display of the campaign to date, racking up nearly 350 runs in the day.
With the lead stretching to 245, Hose says his side will look to top up the lead as much as they can in the morning, before the bowlers set about their search for valuable Kent wickets.
“I think there are a lot of positives to take. If you had offered us that at the start of the day, we probably would have snapped your hand off.
“We feel in a really strong position, hopefully OHD (Oliver Hannon-Dalby) and Waitey (Matthew Waite) can bat for a little bit more tomorrow morning, and then the bowlers can get to work.
“They have got some very good players, but I think one of the positives that we can take off the back of yesterday is that we were relentless with the ball and if we can back it up again, I think we’ll put ourselves in a really good position to win the game.”
