Worcestershire
KEEPING
K Raza
F Rickman
I Cook
M Hoggard
A Lovell
P Bowler
U Lowe
O Cope
T Dilshan
A Hall
GONE
A Habib
B Akhil
M Walker
P Wilcox
M Righton
T Singh
S Book (rookie)
R Henman (rookie)
RETIRED
D Brown
COMMENTS
I was surprised at how easy this was. The squad almost picked itself. The only thing that gave me concern was the retention of both 'keepers, but in the end I decided that despite their mediocre performances in season 5, both Bowler and Dilshan are 'keepers with above average batting ability, and retaining both would give me complete freedom in the draft. Raza, Rickman, Cook and Hoggard all look like good players and should give my squad a major boost (particularly in the bowling department). Lovell and Cope were my best batsman and bowler respectively last season, and Lowe was also a no-brainer. Hall is a good all-rounder and I never seriously considered getting rid of him.
The loss of Habib and Walker, both experienced 4D batsman, may raise a few eyebrows, as both averaged over 40 and Habib was my 4D captain for season 5. However, neither offered much in 1D, their form had slumped, and it was a relatively straightforward decision to let them go. Righton and Singh were disappointments. I'm probably saddest to see Akhil and Wilcox leave, both were here when I started as manager midway through season 3, and have escaped the axe over the last two seasons, but this time there was simply no room for them. Wilcox is still barely out of his teens, and a handy bowler in both forms, but hasn't developed as hoped, while Akhil is really only a "bits and pieces" player, who narrowly avoided the axe after season 3, played brilliantly in season 4, but went badly off the boil in season 5. I wish them both the best of luck.
