worcestershire first team coach alex gidman has given his reaction to the rapids excellent 150 run win over yorkshire vikings in the royal london one-day cup at New Road.
george rhodes (106) – his maiden century – and ben cox (87) put on a record 169 for the fifth wicket as the rapids totalled 293-7 and then wayne parnell (5-25), ed barnard (three wickets) and brett d’oliveira (two wickets) bowled out the vikings for 143.
gidman said: “really pleased for the lads. they’ve worked hard the last couple of days. we knew it was a ‘big’ game, they are all big games when you reach the latter stages of the competition, so to perform like that particularly after a bit of an iffy start was exceptional.
“we talk about different skill sets. i trust the lads. they are really good, they know they are good, and sometimes we need different skill sets on different surfaces.
“i thought george (rhodes) and ben (cox) both played exceptionally well and managed the innings well to a) get us out of a bit of a sticky position but then b) to also make sure they got us to a really good score in the end.
“it was a fantastic piece of batsmanship by both of them. george is a very talented player. we know that. we have got a lot of competition for that kind of place in our team.
“he started the season well with the second team and has put pressure on. it has been a tough team to get into. we have won a lot of games.
“he’s waited for his opportunity. he actually looked really good the other day before the unfortunate run out so i’m pleased he got another opportunity and i’m not surprised he took it.
“george is a gutsy character and is more than capable of doing that as we have seen.”
wayne parnell then followed up his 5-24 against notts outlaws with another decisive contribution and he finished with 5-25.
gidman said: “wayne (parnell) is in exceptional form. he was a little bit rusty by his own admission to start with – but we all were.
“he didn’t play that much over the winter but he is really starting to feel his way in now and he is performing really well for us.”
the first team coach added: “its been a bit of a strange competition, not just for us but for all teams.
“there has been a lot of individual performances. the one thing we’ve spoke about is probably lacking a couple of other contributions throughout each game.
“with the two batters (rhodes and cox) doing it, then with ed barnard bowling exceptionally well and charlie morris again, and brett (d’oliveira) with his bowling as well, today with the exception of the first game against lancashire, was a complete performance as well.”
