Joe Clarke: I had to keep belief
Joe Clarke says it was important to retain ‘trust in your game’ in battling through his first dip in form since earning a first-team place with Worcestershire exactly two years ago.
Clarke sealed a spot in the side midway through the 2015 season after a double hundred for the Seconds against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham College and since then his potential has flourished.
By the end of that breakthrough campaign he was part of the England Lions squad and last season was Worcestershire’s top-scorer with 1,200 County Championship runs and five centuries.
But he admits the first two months of this summer have been a frustrating experience in failing to convert several promising starts into big scores – until last week.
That all changed as Clarke hit two centuries against Kent and he also made an important 45 in difficult conditions at Durham with a pink duke ball.
It was enough to seal a Lions recall for the three-day game with South Africa on his home New Road ground starting today.
Clarke said: “What has this season been like? It’s just been frustrating. I’d already stepped up the amount of work in the nets and practice.
“You have to just trust in your game, trust in your skills. I didn’t really know when it (a big score) was going to happen. I had felt in good nick all year but would get to 20 and 30 and get out.”
No play was possible on the third day of Worcester’s County Championship Division Two match at Durham.
A day and a half has now been lost, play being abandoned after 43 overs on Tuesday.
