Jake Libby says his side are “ready and raring to go” ahead of their trip to Derbyshire on Friday, with the vice-captain eager for his side to express their cutting edge.
With plans now in place, the time for talk is now over, as Worcestershire prepare to raise the curtain on their 2026 domestic summer, beginning their return to Division Two with a trip to face Derbyshire.
Spirits inside the camp are high, with a successful pre-season now complete and the team high on confidence after a competitive three-day tussle with Warwickshire.
Libby says the group have peaked at a nice pace, with the opening batter keen to continue his own impressive form after notching three-successive fifties during March.
“It was obviously a very strong side that Warwickshire put out and I think naturally we just had to up our game a little bit. We had a tough first morning there, but a lot of the batters spent time in the middle and in the end, we upped it and bought some really good spells there. Naturally you make that progression towards the start of the season and that first game away at Derbyshire and the boys are in really good stead for it.
“It’s been nice to spend some time in the middle myself and every time I’ve got in it’s been nice to get some runs under my belt. There have been a couple of really good pitches, you know, particularly in Sussex and then at Edgbaston, where they had some small boundaries which is always nice in pre-season, but I haven’t changed too much in my game.
“Like every batter, I have worked on a couple of things, but ultimately, still much of the same stuff as last season so it’s nice to sort of pick up where I left off and hopefully kick on to a good season.”
With little change in personnel amongst the squad over the winter period, the Pears travel to face Derbyshire with a strong reliance on squad balance for their season opener.
The emergence of youngster Dan Lategan and blossoming of Ethan Brookes underpinned Worcestershire’s impressive finish to the 2025 campaign, with the senior figures within the squad adding a composed look to a team building their own identity.
According to the man who played a central part throughout last year, not least by registering 1,000 first-class runs from the top of the order, Libby says whoever takes the field in the final XI on Friday will be in a prime position to start with the right intent.