Steve Rhodes says Worcestershire will take on Nottinghamshire in the Specsavers County Championship promotion clash at Trent Bridge starting tomorrow with renewed self belief after their impressive performance against Gloucestershire.
Worcestershire put a disappointing NatWest T20 Blast campaign behind them to triumph by 189 runs and regain second spot in the Division Two table behind Nottinghamshire.
The home side will be on the crest of a wave after adding the T20 Blast title to their Royal London One-Day Cup triumph under head coach Peter Moores, the former Worcestershire wicket-keeper.
Director Of Cricket Rhodes said: “We will be underdogs, massive underdogs, but we will take a lot of confidence from the victory over Gloucestershire.
“It was an important one for us, to start believing in ourselves again, and we’ve done that.
“We know what to expect. They are a very good side in their own backyard but we’ve done well against Notts in certain competitions and they will be respectful of Worcestershire.
“Any team with a batter or bowler like (Ravichandran) Ashwin in your side, you’ve got to respect it as well.”
Ashwin, who took eight wickets on his debut, will be up against fellow Indian player in star batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.
Rhodes is anticipating a different sort of surface to the one Worcestershire played on in the win over Gloucestershire at New Road.
He said: “Will it be a different sort of pitch? I’d say so. I think it will be very green. The CLO (Cricket Liaison Officer) will be taking a close look at it I would imagine the day before or the morning of the game.
“But I would imagine it will be a little bit green and we are going to have to play well.”
