THE greatest batsman Worcestershire have ever had.

That’s the glowing tribute paid to Graeme Hick from former Worcestershire skipper Phil Neale.

But it wasn’t just Hick’s batting singled out for praise by Neale who says he formed part of one of the most formidable slip cordons this country has ever seen.

With Hick standing alongside Damien D’Oliviera, Ian Botham and Tom Moody, there wasn’t much that got past the quartet.

Hick has gone on to take more than 1,000 catches.

“There haven’t been many players like Graeme in county cricket,” said Neale, now England’s operations manager.

“He was a fantastic player. He gave the side such balance. Teams saw our batting attack and prepared low, flat, turning wickets but he formed a great spinning partnership with Richard Illingworth.

“But, as a batsman, his record shows he is the greatest batsman Worcestershire have ever had.”

While people feel that Hick never reached the heights with England that he did at New Road, Neale says there is one simple reason for that.

“It was because it was Graeme Hick,” he said. “There was such expectations placed upon him.

“He was such a success in the county game that they tried to compare that.”

Neale remembers the day Hick first walked into the Worcestershire nets as a tender 17-year-old and it wasn’t long before he had a captive audience.

“He was built so strong we all wondered if he was a fast bowler,” Neale recalled.

“There were only two nets at Worcestershire then and I was batting in the other one and then Graeme started to smash the senior bowlers around.

“Everyone stopped to watch this kid. We knew then that we had to get him registered.”

Neale added: “People used to question his temperament in big games, but I remember he scored a century on a day when we needed maximum points to secure the title at Glamorgan. He always scored runs through the season.”