Attention is finally turning to cricket

6:00pm Sunday 13th April 2008

NEW season, new hopes and Worcestershire are back at New Road.

Wednesday is the day all cricket fans around the country have been waiting for - the start of the domestic season.

After the trials and tribulations of last season, Worcestershire will just want to focus on the cricket.

Having won their first major trophy in 13 years, the NatWest Pro40 League, director of cricket Steve Rhodes and his players, while still trying to retain that crown, will be looking to put things right in the LV County Championship.

Of course, the weather last summer didn't help but no-one has hidden from the fact Worcestershire were simply not up to the task in the top-flight and duly relegated back to Division Two.

Rhodes has overhauled his seam department, bringing in Chris Whelan and Gareth Andrew as well as his jewel in the crown Simon Jones.

With Matt Mason nearing full fitness too, Kabir Ali should have the support he has been crying out for.

Rhodes has also gambled on a virtual unknown for the first part of the season in overseas player, Aussie Steve Magoffin.

The New Road chief went down this road last year with Doug Bollinger and it turned out to be a dead end.

Now Bollinger has spent the Australian summer taking wickets for fun and earned a central contract with Cricket Australia. Magoffin has won domestic plaudits Down Under, being named in both the Pura Cup XI and the Ford Ranger Cup XI as well as being Western Australia's players' player of the year.

The 29-year-old is said to be a bowler who can extract movement off the seam and at this time of year that is exactly what is needed.

Whether he can adapt to the English conditions better than Bollinger remains to be seen but the Queensland-born seamer has a good reputation.

With all the focus placed on the seam department - no-one can disagree it needed a massive overhaul - the batting section of the team has gone largely unnoticed.

They too under-performed last year, maybe because they were always chasing huge first innings totals, but they need to improve as well for the County to win their place back in Division One.

Graeme Hick was again the star with the willow but, like Kabir in the bowling department, needed more support.

Towards the end of the campaign last year, we all got to see the emergence of Steven Davies and Moeen Ali.

The pair, good friends off the field too, blossomed at the top of the order in the one-day game, but also found their feet in the championship.

Rhodes needs everyone focused at Edgbaston on Wednesday as the County face big rivals Warwickshire in the championship curtain-raiser.

He'll want them to show that last season has been washed away just like the flood water on the New Road pitch.

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