One-Day Cup win will not define Pears - Richardson

Alan Richardson said Worcestershire's One-Day Cup triumph was "emotional" and made him "extremely proud" of the players

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson said his side would not have been defined by this season's One-Day Cup final regardless of the result.

As it turned out, the Pears beat Hampshire in a thrilling finale to win their first piece of silverware since 2018 and their first longer-format List A trophy for 31 years.

A combination of a Henry Cullen hook shot and Kyle Abbott treading on the boundary rope as he took the catch handed Worcestershire the match-winning runs with two balls of the rain-affected game remaining.

For Richardson, though, the whole tournament proved how well his squad had performed.

"I said before the game, it wouldn't have defined us whether we'd won or lost," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester.

"We'd played some amazing cricket in this tournament. We played nine games up to the final and won seven, and if it hadn't gone our way, I'd have been equally proud to have been part of it.

"You don't win many trophies in your career - there's only three going so for them to have played in that final, to experience that occasion and to come out on the winning side was just really special."

The rise of The Hundred over recent years has reduced the profile of the domestic 50-over competition which now has its final at Trent Bridge after being moved from Lord's in 2021.

The tournament has been used by counties to give younger players first-team experience, and Worcestershire blooded teenage batters Dan Lategan and Isaac Mohammed.

Both hit maiden half-centuries during the Pears group games, with 19-year-old Lategan making 78 in the semi-final win over Somerset.

"It will always be a squad effort. We owe it to the players at the club," Richardson said.

"We're trying to develop as well, and we believed we can do that and be really competitive - we wouldn't have the players in the squad if we didn't think they could perform."

Tie in opening match was 'good wake-up call'

Richardson said their opening game in the competition - a rain-affected tie against Nottinghamshire after the Outlaws recovered from 145-7 to reach 326-9 - sharpened their focus for the rest of the tournament.

"I paced around Welbeck Cricket Club a lot that day and the laps got quicker and quicker as we plummeted towards the tie," he said.

"It was a really good wake-up call for us.

"A few of the boys came off and thought, 'Yeah, we'd killed the game,' and it was just a real good lesson that you can win a game from anywhere and you can lose a game from anywhere.

"We'd taken out foot of the pedal and for the rest of that tournament we never made that mistake again.

"I'm just extremely proud of the boys."

Worcestershire players wore shirts promoting the JB33 Foundation, set up in memory of the 20-year-old spinner Josh Baker who died suddenly in May 2024