Sri Lankan spinner Sachithra Senanayake and England all-rounder Moeen Ali are both set to play in Worcestershire’s opening LV= County Championship Division One match against reigning champions Yorkshire which starts at New Road on Sunday (11am).
Senanayake, a replacement for Saeed Ajmal during the first part of the season, was due to land at Heathrow this morning, after playing in the domestic Sri Lankan T20 tournament, and could make his debut.
The 30-year-old, who has taken 376 first-class wickets in 71 matches at an average of 19.69, has obtained a visa and the Sri Lankan Cricket Board granted him a ‘no objection certificate’ with the provision that he first completed all his T20 playing duties at home.
Worcestershire’s director of cricket Steve Rhodes is also hopeful Moeen will be able to play a full role with both bat and ball in the Tykes curtain-raiser.
Moeen will definitely play as a batsman in his first competitive match since suffering a side strain while bowling when on England duty during the World Cup.
But, as a centrally contracted player, England will have the final say on whether the 27-year-old can bowl his off spin after assessing his fitness today.
Rhodes said: “We are not quite sure how much he will get involved with the bowling but we are very optimistic he will be able to bowl because he’s been bowling for eight to nine days now and looking good.
“He will definitely play as a batter. He is also determined to score his runs and take wickets because it hurts him he is not involved with England at the moment out in the Caribbean and he will be desperate to impress.”
Yorkshire arrive at New Road without Gary Ballance, Adam Lyth, Joe Root, Jonathan Bairstow, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett, who are all with England in the Caribbean.
Captain Andrew Gale is also missing through a suspension imposed last year after verbally abusing Lancashire batsman Ashwell Prince in September.
But Rhodes still believes his Worcestershire players cannot afford to take anything for granted against Jason Gillespie’s men.
He said: “Yorkshire are going to be a real challenge. They’re a few batters light because of international commitments and a suspension to the captain.
“However, that makes them quite a dangerous animal. You are not champions just because you’ve got a few good players, you need pretty good depth to become a champion county.
“We have got to make sure we focus really well on our game and bring it to the party for the four days and hopefully the result will take care of itself.”
