Alan Richardson hopeful for Worcestershire signing's debut in Vitality Blast

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson is hopeful that new signing Tom Taylor will be fit for the upcoming Vitality Blast.

Taylor recently came back from shoulder and knee injuries when he bowled a maximum quota of four overs in a T20 friendly match against Oxford UCCE in Stourport, spurring hope for his Pears debut at the start of the competition at the end of the month.

Richardson has said that Taylor will make more appearances in the Seconds ECB T20 campaign before the Blast gets underway.

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Richardson said: "Primarily being fit for the Blast if all goes to plan is I think what we have to look at with Tommy.

“There are no opportunities now for him to be able to play red ball cricket (with the Seconds) and we want guys to have the capacity to be able to bowl 30-40 overs if they are going to play red ball cricket for us.

“He’s not quite there yet and that’s understandable.

"There is no need to rush him back, as much as we would love to have him in the team.

“Any team he is in, he makes them stronger. He can an impact with bat, ball and in the field.”

The Pears signed the 28-year-old all-rounder from Northamptonshire in the summer on a four-year deal, which will see him at New Road until the end of the 2027 campaign.

Richardson said: "Any team he is in, he makes them stronger.

"He can have an impact with bat, ball and in the field."

He added: “It was brilliant he fielded as a sub at Canterbury and made a diving stop on the boundary which gave him a huge amount of confidence.

“He has been great, has trained really well and is now going to take part in these T20 days for the Seconds.

“We’ve got some next week and hopefully he will be in a really good place when we start our Blast campaign and we will build him up through that and then he can start playing Championship cricket for us as well.”