Rapids 'capable' of deep run in Blast - Richardson

Alan Richardson became Worcestershire head coach before the 2023 season - the last time the club made the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson says his squad head into this season's T20 Blast with "a lot of belief" they can go deep in the competition.

The Pears, who play as the Worcestershire Rapids in white-ball cricket, start their campaign against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday (18:30 BST) on the opening night of the revamped competition.

The club won the Blast in 2018, beating Sussex in the final, and were runners-up the following year to Essex, narrowly failing to become the first team to successfully defend the trophy.

The most recent of their six quarter-final appearances came in 2023 and Richardson is optimistic his squad can be in the mix for the knockout stage again.

"I'd like to think so," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester. "Worcestershire, over recent years, have shown that we can.

"We've got to a few quarter-finals and obviously we had 2018 and 2019 when we got to Finals Day and the final.

"So we should go into the competition with a lot of belief."

The Rapids have re-signed Australian left-arm fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis for this year's competition after he took 15 wickets in his first spell at New Road in 2021.

He joins New Zealand quick Jacob Duffy who has been part of the County Championship side so far and will be available for the first eight Blast games.

"T20 cricket is the most volatile [format of the game] and you have to roll with the punches," Richardson said.

"This rollercoaster tends to be a lot quicker, and scarier at times, but the boys love it and enjoy it for what it is.

"It's a long competition, so there will be plenty of opportunity for us to get some momentum together and play an as exciting brand of cricket as we can."

This season's Blast is split across two blocks, with eight games being played before the red-ball Championship returns for two rounds in late June.

The remaining six group games then take place in July.

While Richardson accepts that changing formats is tough, he is embracing the challenge.

"I think [the fact that] these competitions keep coming in and out really energises the players and being in their own mini blocks is really good," he said.

"We'll have two Championship games in the middle, which brings its own challenges, but the idea that we have 14 T20 games in just under two months is something we really enjoy.

"We're practising new skill sets and thinking about the change in mindset and the language about how we go about our cricket.

"It's the same game but it feels like a completely different one at times and as a coach you have to see it positively as a challenge.

"We've got a squad that's capable of being competitive and get towards those knock-out stages."

Ben Dwarshuis has played in the T20 Blast for Worcestershire and Durham and also featured in the Big Bash in Australia and the Pakistan Premier League