ALAN Richardson has given his reaction to Worcestershire's 2023 fixtures after they were revealed on Wednesday afternoon.

The new head coach will lead the team for the first time i the upcoming season having been promoted following the resignation of Alex Gidman at the end of the 2022 campaign.

"There is always a special buzz when the fixtures are announced, and before then, there is a lot of work to go through and implement this winter," said Richardson.

"But the squad will be able to take a lot of confidence from the way we finished in September, defeating the Division Two champions, Nottinghamshire, and being on top at Glamorgan and Sussex before rain prevented us from taking advantage of the positions we were in.

"The aim will be to continue in that manner and take further steps forward in our red ball cricket after not being far outside of the top two last season.

"The players are also aware of the need to finish teams when on top and not allow opposition back into games, but that comes hopefully with experience and game management.

"There is plenty to be optimistic about, but also a lot of hard work and preparation during the next four months."

The Pears had a decent enough red ball season but were incredibly disappointing in white ball cricket.

Worcestershire finished bottom of their Royal London Cup (50 overs) with just two wins in their eight matches, and also ended the Vitality Blast campaign bottom of the North Group, with only two wins in 14 matches.

Richardson knows that was not acceptable and vows to address those issues.

"Last season’s Blast never got going for us after a challenging start of four away games and key personnel being unavailable," he said.

"We want to put that behind us, learn from the experiences, and give a far better account of ourselves.

"We want to give our loyal members and supporters a team to be proud of in all formats.

"There will be good days and challenging days, but the players are all proud to represent this great club and will be giving everything."