Bowling coach Matt Mason revealed his pride in the performance of Worcestershire's attack on the second day of the home clash with Kent and feels they reaped the rewards of their hard work during the winter.
Gareth Andrew (4-42) and Moeen Ali (3-43) were the main wicket-takers but all the bowlers were disciplined in their performance in bowling out Kent for 229 – a lead of just five runs on first innings in the LV County Championship clash encounter at New Road.
Then openers Daryl Mitchell and Matt Pardoe saw the home side through to 41-0 by stumps .
Mason said: "I think we can walk away thinking we had the best of the second day, particularly with not losing a wicket in the final session which I thought was key.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of the bowlers on a wicket which gave them absolutely no assistance at all.
"They had to work really hard for the wickets. I think looking back on our innings, we were probably guilty of giving one or two (wickets) away.
"I don't think any of the Kent batsman did that. We had to work really hard for the wickets. To keep them at two runs an over for that period of time meant they couldn't get away from us and it was a really good day.
"There were very few bad balls and that is testament to the hard work the guys have put in all winter.
"They have worked so hard on the basics of the game, hitting the top of off stump day in and day out and being as patient as they can. They did that on the second day and got their rewards."
Mason stressed the need for batsman to play straight and to be patient as Worcestershire look to build on their overnight position.
He said: "Daniel Bell-Drummond and Ben Harmison played nicely for them, keeping it simple and looking to play nice and straight, not wanting to get caught playing across the line of the ball, obviously on a wicket staying down.
"It is something our guys have learnt from the first innings. You've got to keep playing straight down the ground and be very patient.
"It is going to be hard on the third and fourth days to force a result because of the pace of the game.
"But, if we can get into a certain position on the third day with wickets in hand, we can maybe push on, lift the scoring rate and have a decent lead."
