WORCESTERSHIRE'S players reported back for the first day of pre-season training yesterday and veteran batsman Graeme Hick is eagerly anticipating the start of his 21st season at New Road.

He said: "When you start back in pre-season training you start to feel that the summer is not that far away and I've always enjoyed this time of year.

"It is always a time of excitement really -- you're not sure what's ahead and you've done a lot of preparation and now it is time to get going.

"I think Steve Rhodes has tried to keep everything as stable as he can through the year and that has been part of his planning so we are hoping for a much better year than last year," added Hick.

"The second half of last year was quite poor really from where we were mid-season so there is a lot for us to do as a team to get ourselves playing well and playing good cricket to-gether.

"My job is to contribute as much as possible to the team, be it through runs, catches or wickets and nothing has changed as that is what I've always tried to do for Worcestershire."