Ali could have knockout year

Kabir Ali has been coming in to bowl off a shortened run during pre-season © Getty Images

Kabir Ali is “ready for a big season”, according to Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes, as the county look to build on their double promotion triumph in 2007.

England commitments and various injury niggles mean Kabir has not been able to play a starring role for the Pears in recent seasons.

But he appears to have slipped down the international pecking order for the time being and, having worked hard on his fitness this winter while playing in India, is expected to make a big impact at New Road.

And Rhodes has urged Kabir to take inspiration from fellow paceman Zaheer Khan who regained his place in the Indian side after proving his worth for Worcestershire last season.

Rhodes said: “Kabir is ready for a big season. I know he is. He has worked hard at his fitness.

“I've got him bowling off a short run and going through his mechanics and he is raring to go but we are not going to push him too early because he is going to have a long season.

“I'm optimistic for Kabir. If you look at last season's statistics regarding the overs he bowled, his wicket tally was very good and that was the same with Matt Mason as well.

"If they had doubled their overs and got to the tally Zaheer bowled, both of them would also have had around 80 wickets so that says a lot for me.

Zaheer Khan proved to be an inspiration for the other seam bowlers © Getty Images

“It is all about getting them to stay out on the park and I am very confident they will get the wickets.”

As for Kabir's international hopes, former England wicket-keeper Rhodes added: “As a player, you've always got an eye to an extent on things above because that's what you aspire to.

“But sometimes if you've got too much of an eye on that sort of thing you lose track of what you are meant to do. You can get back to some basics and that's what happened to Zaheer last season.

“He had an eye on getting back into the Indian side but he recognised what he needed to do to get there and do well for Worcestershire.

“If Kabir has got the same train of thought, which I am sure he has, putting in performances on the field will get him that recognition.

“I always say with international recognition, you never know when you are going to be picked. It can come totally out of the blue and when you think you are going to get picked, you never get picked.

“He has just got to concentrate on the process of getting wickets for Worcestershire.”

Worcestershire gained promotion in the one-day and four-day competitions last season and Rhodes is cautiously optimistic of mounting a challenge for honours during the forthcoming season.

He said: “I think the club is going in the right direction. This year will be a tough year and my attitude is if we are in the top three of the two league competitions going into the last month of the season, then we've got a terrific chance.

“Keeping our bowlers fit is really important to us and we've got as strong a batting depth as we've had in all my time at Worcestershire.

“We played positive and aggressive cricket last year and I see no reason to change the way we play because I think it brings the best out in a lot of our characters in the dressing room.

“We want to play a similar positive, aggressive style. For us it will be more concentrating on the basics and playing well. It doesn't matter what division you are in if you play cricket well.

“If you are allowed to play cricket well, then you get on top. The times you don't play so well is generally when teams have got you by the cosh and the pressure is on you.”