Worcestershire 2026 One Day Cup Preview
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Written by Aaron Viles (King Pears)
2025 Review:
League Position: Group A Winners & Champions
Top Runscorer: Jake Libby - 479 runs
Top Bowler: Ben Allison - 19 wickets
Top Points Scorer: Ethan Brookes - 1142 points
2025 Review:
The 2025 Metro Bank One Day Cup will live long in the memory of the Worcestershire faithful.
Kick-starting the campaign with a thrilling tie against Notts at Welbeck – an encounter that the Rapids really ought to have won in hindsight given the position that they were in - the West Midlands county produced a string of brilliant performances throughout early-mid August, ultimately culminating with a place at the top of the Group A standings and an automatic home Semi Final berth at New Road come the start of the knockout rounds.
To say that the Semi Final in question went well would be the understatement of the decade, with the Rapids crushing Somerset by 131 runs to book a date with Hampshire in the grand final at Trent Bridge on 20th September.
Following a shaky start to their DLS-adjusted target of 188, it appeared as though Jake Libby's side would be heading home with runners-up medals, or at least they would have been if not for a terrific 57 from Ethan Brookes which took the Rapids tantalisingly close to the finishing line as the remaining overs trickled away one by one.
Enter Barnt Green's Henry Cullen, a fitting hero for the occasion at hand, who hit the winning boundary off the bowling of Brad Wheal in the final over of the run chase to seal Worcestershire's first List A trophy in over three decades.
Worcestershire 2026 One Day Cup Preview - Fantasy Cricket Banker, Wildcard & Young Gun
On paper at least, it appears as though Worcestershire will be well placed to defend their crown to a strong extent this season, with the West Midlands outfit retaining the vast majority of the playing nucleus that took them to glory in last year's competition.
However, there will be one major change to the starting line-up when compared to 2025; Ethan Brookes, the hero of the grand final at Trent Bridge, has been selected to play in The Hundred. The Rapids will also be without the services of Pakistani seamer Khurram Shahzad, who likely wasn’t retained for the 2026 campaign as a result of his involvement in Pakistan’s upcoming Test series against the West Indies and England.
In addition to those personnel changes, since the inception of the One Day Cup in 2014, no county has ever successfully defended their title the following season, an omen which perhaps doesn’t play into the county’s hands heading into this latest iteration of the competition.
With that being said though, the Rapids still have an incredibly exciting young core of players to call upon across departments, and with a strong home record to fall back on in recent seasons, it wouldn't surprise me to see them reach the knockout stage of the competition yet again come mid-August.
Banker: Jake Libby
Unsurprisingly, Worcestershire's talismanic number four and leading run scorer (479 runs at 59.87) from the 2025 tournament makes it as our selection for the banker, and with very good reason.
Possessing a career List A batting average of 58.05 – a figure marginally higher than the great Virat Kohli's 57.91 average - the 33-year-old is the dictionary definition of the word reliable, consistently laying the platform for the Rapids' middle order finishers to build upon towards the latter stages of an innings.
He's also a safe pair of hands in the field and can even bowl an over or two of off spin if required so if that sounds like a good combination of attributes for your team, make sure you add Libby's name into the mix as soon as you possibly can.
Wildcard: Ben Allison
2025 was a fantastic year for the former Essex seam bowler, with a sizeable haul of 19 wickets at 17.52 securing his place at the very top of the tournament's leading wicket takers column come mid-September.
The question surrounding the 26-year-old however will be whether or not he can replicate those numbers for a second season running.
Prior to 2025, his previous 17 wickets had arrived at a far higher bowling average of 55.76, and with his aggressive style sometimes resulting in a quick flurry of boundaries, he could be seen as a riskier option compared to other options around the county circuit.
If he finds his rhythm though, he's an established wicket taking threat with the white ball in hand, and could prove to be a difference maker if not selected in a large percentage of other player's teams.
Young gun: Dan Lategan
One of the most exciting batting prospects in the county circuit right now, Dan Lategan made an excellent start to life in the List A format last season.
Initially batting at number six on his debut against Derbyshire, the stylish 20-year-old was soon promoted to his preferred role as an opener, a move which paid immediate dividends in the Semi Final against Somerset as the Capetonian southpaw produced an eye-catching 78 from just 82 deliveries to ultimately help the Rapids book their place in the Final with ease.
With a solid foundation to build off of – 272 career runs with a healthy 54.40 batting average to be exact – as well as the opportunity to continue his cricketing education alongside a number of experienced batting partners like the aforementioned Libby and the ever-dependable Brett D’Oliveira over the course of the competition, don’t be surprised if you see Lategan’s name positioned within the upper echelons of the run scoring charts this year.
Potential Starting XI:
Brett D’Oliveira
Dan Lategan
Kashif Ali
Jake Libby (C)
Rob Jones
Gareth Roderick (WK)
Matthew Waite
Tom Taylor
Fateh Singh
Ben Allison
Jack Home
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