DAVID Leatherdale is getting ready for the busiest time of his long and loyal Worcestershire career - both on and off the pitch!

And the 34-year-old is looking forward to every minute of spending most of his time in the fast lane.

The prospect of a hectic schedule follows the recent announcement from New Road that Leatherdale has been awarded a Benefit next year.

"It's going to be a demanding time," said the Yorkshire-born all-rounder, who made his debut for the County in 1988.

Since then he has piled up more than 9,000 first-class runs and taken over 200 wickets in all forms of cricket, including an astonishing career-best 5-9 in the space of 21 balls in last month's Norwich Union League Division One clash with Durham Dynamos at Riverside.

Leatherdale has also been free-scoring in limited-over matches for the County with well over 3,000 runs under his belt.

It's an enviable record which New Road followers now have the chance to reward during what is set to be a wide and ranging programme of fund-raising events and functions during his Benefit year.

He said: "I'm obviously very pleased to have a Benefit. It's been a long time since playing my first game in 1988 and being on the staff since 1987.

"It is an honour, like most people would say, and I'm looking forward to it. People who have had Benefits in the past generally say it's an 18 month occupation."

The popular Leatherdale admits to having had 'a little bit of an inkling' about the Benefit and has been encouraged by the response from the New Road faithful since the County made an official announcement.

"People have said they will help and generate committees and chairmen and do things that generally go with a Benefit. We had a little bit of an inkling about it so we have had chance to sort a couple of things out."

Leatherdale accepts that combining the Benefit with his playing duties will be difficult but is hopeful of being successful on both fronts.

"The lads who have had them over the years say it's a difficult thing to try and combined the two, but hopefully the energy that I put into both things will benefit both me and the club.

"Most of the guys who have had Benefits while they are playing have actually played quite well. I think Illy (Richard Illingworth) was an exception when he had a bad injury with his shoulder but most of the lads have done quite well and performed well. Hopefully, I'll be able to do the same.

"Since getting my cap in 1994 things have got better and better. I have probably had only one bad season during that period.

"If one side of my game has not been so good then the other side has gone quite well. If I've not batted so well then I've bowled well and things like that."

Leatherdale has been happy with the way the season has been panning out for both himself and the side so far this season.

"We have dovetailed quite well. If some of the guys haven't played well one week, then the next week somebody else has played well. Hopefully I can carry on the form that I've had so far and the rest of the lads will do the same."

Since linking up with the County, Leatherdale has experienced the highs and lows at New Road, but was lucky enough to be part of the club's golden era when the trophy cabinet was regularly in use.

He said: "I played my first game for the club in the second team in 1985, so it's actually been quite a long time. There were the early years when we had such a really strong squad with the likes of Ian Botham, Graham Dilley, Neal Radford, Paul Pridgeon, Steve Rhodes, Richard Illingworth, the list was endless.

"For me to actually break into the side in 1988, so early on, was quite pleasing. The late eighties were obviously good times for the club. I think we won seven trophies in three years and it was the most successful period we have ever had. Then in early nineties we got through and won the Benson and Hedges Cup and NatWest Trophy.

"From a personal point of view every time you go out to bat you think 'yes, great' but bowlingwise there has been the 5-9 recently and the 5-10 against the Australians in 1997. They are obviously highlights for me with the ball, particularly for someone who was initially never really particularly a bowler.

"As time has gone on in the last three or four years when I have had to bowl more then it's been quite pleasing.

"Ultimately, though, one of the things I've always tried to think about is that I've been very much part of a team.

"Batting in the middle order is something you can go in some days and you are 250-3 and there are other days you are 50-4 so it's very much a team sort of thing.

"We have had so many top quality players at New Road that you have to play well as a team and I think that's what we have done so far this season. I hope it will carry on both personally and for the rest of the lads as the season goes on."

Worcestershire's Director of Cricket Tom Moody said of Leatherdale: "He has been an outstanding servant to the County for many years. If there has been one area of his cricket where he has really shone it has been his one-day game where his fielding has been a benchmark for others to aspire to. Also, his contributions with both bat and ball have often made the difference between winning and losing as we have already seen this season."