TOM Fell is hoping there will be more centuries to follow after scoring his first for Worcestershire in the LV= County Championship Division Two clash with Leicestershire at Grace Road.
Fell admits it was a “monkey off the back” after reaching three figures following – by his own admission – a disappointing start to the 2014 campaign.
He impressed on more than one occasion last season, including a half-century against Australia and 94 not out against Kent before rain washed out the final day.
Upon reaching the milestone, Fell was hugged by Alexei Kervezee before saluting his team-mates and director of cricket Steve Rhodes, who was celebrating his 50th birthday.
Fell said : “It felt really nice. It is always good to get the first one out of the way. It is usually the hardest one to get. It was hopefully the first of a few more to come.
“I came pretty close last year on a couple of occasions which was quite disappointing. It meant a lot to get that first one out of the way. It is a real monkey off the back.
“Hopefully, it means I can kick on for the rest of the season because it has been a bit of a struggle for a couple of months.
“I’ve not had the best of form. It was my first real score in first and second team, so it felt nice.”
Fell was dropped on 29, but took full advantage of his let-off. He added: “I rode my luck a bit but you get some decisions that don’t go your way, so you’ve just got to take it really. The luck evens out eventually.
“You like to make them pay if they do drop a catch off you. You’ve got to keep going on.”
Meanwhile, Worcestershire Seconds pulled off a remarkable four-wicket victory over Glamorgan after chasing down 411 on the final day of the Second Eleven Championship match at Kidderminster’s Chester Road ground.
Opener Shaaiq Choudhry scored a superb 151, but there were also strong contributions from Richard Oliver, Brett D’Oliveira and George Rhodes after Worcestershire reached their target in 82 overs with three overs to spare.
Worcestershire collected 21 points from the game and Glamorgan eight.
Glamorgan resumed on 198-2 and Murray Goodwin completed his century, going on to make 113 off 96 balls with one six and 16 fours, before the visitors declared at 268-4 after 46.4 overs.
Choudhry and Oliver, who recently signed a contract until the end of next season, put on 141 for the second wicket in 23 overs, before the latter fell for 56 from 64 balls with one six and six fours.
All-rounder D’Oliveira and Choudhry then plundered 115 for the fifth wicket in 18 overs. Choudhry’s fine knock came to an end after he hit one six and 22 fours in his 189-ball stay at the wicket.
But D’Oliveira went onto make 82 from 88 deliveries with one six and eight fours before his dismissal after adding 64 with Rhodes for the sixth wicket.
Rhodes then completed the victory chase with an unbeaten 48 and ended the game in fine style with a six over long-on.
In Worcestershire’s first innings, England under 19 wicketkeeper Joe Clarke top-scored in his first Second Eleven Championship appearance of the season. The 18-year-old made 71 off 125 balls with seven fours and a six and shared in a sixth-wicket stand of 73 with Rhodes, whose 56 from 112 deliveries contained seven boundaries.
But from 225-5 the last five wickets fell for 42 runs to give Glamorgan a first innings lead of 142. The other substantial stand was 66 between openers Choudhry (62 off 73 balls with 10 fours) and Alex Hepburn.
But despite Glamorgan’s healthy advantage, the County still managed to pull off a superb victory.
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