Matt Mason praised the greater maturity shown with the bat this season by Alexei Kervezee after his unbeaten half century steered Worcestershire to 175-4 on a truncated opening first day with Hampshire at New Road.
Kervezee followed up his 54 against Kent and 110 off the Derbyshire attack with 65 not out in the LV = County Championship Division Two top two clash in which only 63 overs were possible because of rain.
Bowling coach and assistant coach Mason said: "Alexei has turned a bit of a corner this year. He has been far more mature in the way he bats.
He has tried to change things a little bit. He hasn't quite got the scores he would like or deserves.
"He is doing everything right though. He works as hard as anyone. He just needs a little bit of luck.
"He has been promising a lot for a long time so it would be nice to see him get a big season like he did a couple of years ago."
Worcestershire grafted hard for their runs against an accurate attack on the same wicket used for yesterday's NatWest T20 Blast win over Durham.
Mason believes a score in excess of 300 could prove to be a challenging total.
He said: "It was an interesting day. We were happy to win the toss and bat first but the first hour proved quite difficult.
"The ball did a little bit more than we thought and I thought they bowled quite nicely.
"Scoring proved difficult and I thought Alexei's innings held us together. The pitch was two paced but we are happy with our position at the moment.
"Hampshire used the conditions well. They bowled nice and straight. The guys said it was difficult to score and there was a bit of swing as well.
"Bumpy (Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes) and I think it will spin so if we can get 300 plus and really attack them early on and get Saeed Ajmal in the game when we can and do what they have done, make scoring difficult, then we will be happy."
