Sunday, July 23rd, 2017

Finch Returns To Seconds Squad From England Under-19S Duty

Finch Returns To Seconds Squad From England Under-19S Duty

Adam Finch returns to the Worcestershire Seconds squad for the two T20 matches against Yorkshire at RGS Worcester tomorrow.

The paceman missed last week's three-day encounter with Glamorgan at Abergavenny while on England under-19s duty.

Finch played for the ECB Invitational X1 in a two-day warm-up game against India Under-19s and claimed a wicket when taking the new ball in the second innings.

He will return to Engand Under-19 action for the forthcoming ODI series versus India.

Ben Twohig will again captain the Seconds – as has been the policy in T20 matches this summer – with Alex Milton keeping wicket.

The Seconds will make four changes for the second T20 game with Ollie Westbury, Zen Malik, Dillon Pennington and George Scrimshaw making way for Brett D'Oliveira, Ed Barnard, George Rhodes and Pat Brown.

D'Oliveira, Barnard and Rhodes have been regular members of the Rapids side in the NatWest T20 Blast while Brown has been part of the squad for the last two games.

Coach Kevin Sharp hopes the defeat against Glamorgan will prove to be a "good learning curve" as the Seconds lost seven wickets for 12 runs after tea on the final day and lost by seven wickets a game appearing to be heading for a draw.

He said: "The game was started on a pitch which had just a little bit of live grass on it and it just nipped a little bit and it spun from day one.

"We thought it might actually get a lot worse but the pitch held together pretty well really and we scrapped our way to 269. We kind of did okay.

"On the second day, we really started to bowl well by lunch-time and then we had a couple of rain showers that were a bit unfortunate because it got the ball very wet and it was like a bar of soap.

"It was very difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball and the spinner could hardly bowl with it.

"The lads stuck to their guns but they also played pretty well and a couple of their guys got hundreds.

"We got to lunch on the last day and then they were bowled out and we needed 164 runs to make them bat again and save the game.

"We were doing very well. Josh Dell played a wonderful innings, well supported by Alex Hepburn, up to about 20 past four on the last day when we were 20 in front with seven wickets left.

"We then had an unlucky dismissal when Alex Milton was bowled off pads and then we lost a lot of wickets quickly.

"It was a combination of a little lack of experience in the middle and the odd poor execution shot-wise that cost us there.

"It was a bit of a shock because it all happened so quick and then they required 33 runs in plenty of overs so we lost the game.

"It was a shame because we scrapped pretty hard for most of it and for that happen in a period of half an hour shows you what this game of cricket can provide for you.

"They were all disappointed with that. We weren't at our best in that period and hopefully it will just be a good learning curve should we get in that position again."

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SECONDS :

GAME ONE (11.30am start)

Hepburn

Fell

Dell

Milton (w)

Malik

Westbury

Jack Haynes

Twohig (c)

Pennington

Morris

Scrimshaw

Finch

——

GAME TWO (3pm start)

Hepburn

Fell

Rhodes

Barnard

D'Oliveira

Milton (w)

Dell

Twohig (c)

Brown

Morris

Finch

Haynes