THE three home wins last week certainly put a healthier perspective on Worcestershire's year so far.

With the sun starting to shine, it feels as if the season is really getting under way.

A feature of the infant season is Nantie Hayward's ability to take wickets. This might seem an obvious statement when describing an international pace bowler, but the game's history is littered with good, but 'unlucky' bowlers.

Putting aside the ability to seam, swing or spin the ball, there are other factors which seem to define the natural wicket-takers. To the ungenerous observer and opposition batsmen it is just luck. And that is part of it. But it's a luck which stems from belief; a belief that the wickets will come and which keeps him coming in so that when the batsman drops his guard he's still there, still there with the energy and will which do indeed keep the wickets coming.

The next four-day game will see Hayward pitted against Nixon McLean in the latest of a series of overseas fast bowling showdowns. The venue is Bath, a rarity of a festival out ground in this increasingly professional and centralised first-class game. On Worcestershire's last visit in 1996, I hit a six and Alamgir Sheriyar drove Andrew Caddick to the cover boundary with a hitherto unsuspected flourish. In the process he lifted our fourth innings score to a winning 446- 9. Clearly this is a venue for the unexpected.

Caddick, who enjoyed some extravagant bounce in 1996, is unlikely to feature this year, but McLean will lead an attack which, with Richard Johnson and the improving Simon Francis, will enjoy what should be a good cricket wicket. However, Somerset, with three wins out of five, represent another opportunity, like Gloucestershire, for Worcestershire to overturn a table-topping side.

Back in 1996 Vikram Solanki scored his maiden first -class 50 for Worcestershire during that successful run chase. Now he has the opportunity to resurrect his international career. His flamboyance will always cause him to be thought of as a one-day player, but there is no doubting his ability to play Test match cricket.

He has that characteristic Asian wristiness which enables him to play all round the wicket and which, like Sachin Tendulkar, makes him such a devastating opener in one-day cricket. Like Virender Sehwag, he has also been known to try one shot too many! Let us hope that his selection is good when the time comes.

Kabir Ali joins Vikram in the squad, giving him the chance to build on his achievements in Australia. He will have been a little disappointed thus far with his bowling in one-day cricket, I think. However, ironically in the longer form of the game, his batting has been explosive and he represents genuine all round potential at international level. Champions last year and leaders again this, Glamorgan, present these two with their next opportunity to demonstrate their one-day prowess, before the C&G Trophy quarter-final against Leicestershire when Solanki can go head to head with Sehwag.