Matt Maher: Rollercoaster ride ends back in the top flight for Worcestershire

Just a couple of months ago, from the outside looking in, you might have been forgiven thinking they were a club in disarray.

A host of key players had already announced their intention to depart New Road at the end of the season, among them Dillon Pennington, Jack Haynes and England seamer Josh Tongue, who will all be turning out for Nottinghamshire next summer.

Yet amid the off-field upheaval, on the field things have been going rather well. This week the Pears celebrated winning promotion back to Division One of the County Championship.

The bulk of the credit must go to Alan Richardson, who in his first year as head coach has kept players focused through what he this week described as an “emotional rollercoaster”.

Worcestershire were not a team who entered the summer appearing to have the foundations for success. In fact, they barely appeared to have any foundations full stop, with Richardson having only replaced Alex Gidman last November. The absence of a chief executive to crack on with contract negotiations made the loss of players almost inevitable.

Yet through it all, Richardson and assistants Kadeer Ali and Richard Jones have kept the show on the road.

It speaks volumes of their man-management that the soon-to-be departees, who might have been forgiven for having one eye on their next destination, have all remained committed to the cause through the final weeks of the season.

“It (players leaving) did have an impact, but the guys ensured the distraction side of it all had a minimal effect,” said Richardson. “It’s full credit to the players who are staying, but also the ones that are not going to be around, that they’ve all bought in and shown a lot of commitment and really put a shift in for us.”

The gap left by their exits needs to be filled and the challenge for the Pears, relegated six times since the County Championship became a two tier affair two decades ago, will only get tougher.

At least in Richardson, they appear to have a leader equipped to handle whatever tests come their way.