Worcestershire looking to defy odds to stay in Division One again

Worcestershire go into 2025 looking to break new ground.

Not on their new proposed second home – that is still a long way down the pipeline as they analyse how best to combat the increased flood risk at their New Road home.

This season is simply all about trying to stay in English county cricket’s top flight for a third successive season.

Since the County Championship was turned into a two-division competition in 2000, the Pears have won promotion seven times.

In six of those, they were relegated at the first attempt. They finished seventh and survived in 2011, before going down a year later.

Last year they improved on that to finish sixth – their best finish in the 24 seasons of a two-tier Championship structure.

“We did remarkably well to finish top six,” head coach Alan Richardson told BBC Sport. “And you’d like to think we can evolve from that.

“Historically, it hasn’t always proved easy for us to stay in the top division.”

Richardson, who has now won promotion with the Pears both as player and coach, was in that 2011 team who stayed up and a large part of the reason they did, taking 73 wickets.