PEARS newcomer Ed Pollock admits he watches Matthew Wade and Moeen Ali’s big-hitting heroics on Youtube and is now excited at the prospect of seeing them first hand in next season’s Vitality Blast.
Pollock is looking forward to viewing the destructive duo from the non-striker’s end, as well as making his own explosive contribution with the bat.
His own Vitality Blast strike rate is a formidable 161, and he is confident that the Rapids can repeat the success they enjoyed in 2018 and 2019 in the T20 competition.
Pollock said: “It is very exciting to have Mo and Matthew Wade at the top of the order.
“As much as I want to do well myself, it will be great to stand 22 yards away from those and watch. I’m going to enjoy that.
“On Youtube, I watch batsmen and what they do, and two of those I watch are Mo and Matthew Wade.
“Watching Wade batting at the weekend in the Big Bash whets your appetite, and I saw some of Mo in the T10 League, and I’m just so excited to watch them.
Pollock was on the receiving end of some destructive hitting from Moeen when a Warwickshire-Birmingham Bears player.
He said: “It was interesting. I was always chatting to the bowlers, and it was a case of ‘well, we are not quite sure what to do now!’
“Mo would whack the spinner, whack the pace bowlers. They’d try a few bouncers and slower balls, and he hit them as well.
“As a batsman, you can admire it and think ‘this is something special.”
Pollock has hit many sixes, but two stand out amongst the biggest blows.
He said: “There was one against Nottinghamshire last year which I hit onto the roof of the Eric Hollies Stand.
“But the one that sticks in my mind was the second ball at The Oval in 2017. I got one from Jade Dernbach, and I swept it, and I remember being extremely surprised how far it had gone!”
Pollock added: “Can Worcestershire repeat their 2018-2019 Blast success? Very much so. I remember playing against that Worcestershire team when you had people in the top four like Moeen, Martin Guptill, Hamish Rutherford etc.
“Now you’ve got Moeen, Matthew Wade, hopefully, myself, and Brett D’Oliveira, who had a really good year last year.
“There is always a strong bowling attack here, and Pat (Brown) is a really good bowler, in my opinion. You are starting to cover all bases.”