Notice the comment re Vihari. Three games is too short a time to assess anything but I'm inclined to say it was a shake of the dice that didn't come off. I wouldn't sweat the cost, hat budget would have been earmarked for player spend anyhow and there would have been a saving on not having Malan here. Also of note this game, its been horror batting after two good fourth innings. Could it be they just got a little over confident? I think not, it sounds like it was bad conditions for that first 1-2 hours and it got better. Good life lessons though...

It seems to have been a bad toss to lose. Durham have been showing signs of improvement this year as well with some good recruitment.

Durham have a very strong team this year imo.

I'm disappointed with our 87 all out, but this was always going to be a tough game.

We do look a little powderpuff bowling wise without Stone, though, especially as we have 6 bowlers playing in this game (if you include Rhodes).

Getting the gang back together with Raine and Borthwick, Coughlin etc

Briggs was a bit expensive this morning I felt. Surprised that neither Miles nor Bresnan was given the ball even for just a couple of overs.

Let’s hope our batsmen have a better session than the first!

Let the batting marathon begin......

7/1 already! Rhodes gone cheaply. I do think we've had bad luck with Sibley's injury and Malan's Visa delay. Those two in the top order would certainly have given us a solid base with technique and experience. Still, it's a good start overall despite what can only be hoped is a blip in the current game after 4 matches. I think it'll be an innings defeat. Hope I'm wrong.

When you think we didn’t win a match last year then progress has definitely been made.

I really hope the new coaching set up can help sort out our continued batting fragility soon. I think the thinking behind the overseas deals shows that they have highlighted this as an area to be improved.

12/2. I hope someone can get a score otherwise our confidence could be well and truly shot.

My biggest thing with the batting, it’s happened again today, is how regularly we’re very little for 2. When was the last time we had an opening stand of 50? How often do we get to 100 only 1 down?
All too often we start on the back foot, lose a third and then 5 and down are exposed to a new ball against bowlers with their tails up. To me I think Vihari was on a hiding to nothing, in 3 games he was never going to have an impact. And I can understand why they wanted an opener or number 3 to prevent these situations.
Get early stability, build a platform, and you’d also get more runs out of the likes of Hain, Lamb, Burgess and Bresnan.

Rhodes does seem to struggle for runs at the start of the season for some reason. I remember a couple of seasons ago him and Sibley laid some great foundations for the team, especially towards the end of the season.

It’s a shame Sibley got injured but he was not in great form after the winter so his confidence would have been low. Things could have been different had factors been different, but we need to deal with what we have.

Yates is learning a lot, and seems to be growing so I am excited to see how he develops over the next couple of seasons.

There's been some pretty brutish deliveries. We know Wood is rapid but this Carse is bloomin sharp too. Extra pace seems to have been key on this deck. This has been an education, onto the next one.

I'm still more annoyed about the way we bowled as opposed to how we batted, odd as that sounds looking at the scorecard.

Pity Olly Stone or Chris Woakes didn't play in this one. The latter plays so few games for the Bears. Is he playing in the IPL?

Andy wrote:

There's been some pretty brutish deliveries. We know Wood is rapid but this Carse is bloomin sharp too. Extra pace seems to have been key on this deck. This has been an education, onto the next one.

I'm still more annoyed about the way we bowled as opposed to how we batted, odd as that sounds looking at the scorecard.

I can definitely understand this. But I feel like being able to bowl 85+mph is a real asset on this pitch. Apart from maybe Norwell, all our bowlers are more 75-80mph. You need a Stone or a Brookes to change it up. It wasn’t an 87 all out pitch but it wasn’t a 400 pitch either.

Totally agree.

Disappointing but it's not the end of the world.

I'd like us to revert to a proper top 7 for Worcestershire: Rhodes, Malan, Yates, Hain, Mousley, Lamb, Burgess.

Agree. Put out the strongest batting line up. Play Stone. Trust the 4 bowlers plus Rhodes will take the wickets.

Don’t forget the good steps that they made against Notts and Essex. Just fine tune it to get some consistency.