Shrewsbury's Ed Barnard eager to build on a brilliant 2021 campaign

After scoring his maiden first-class century in the first match of the season against Essex, Barnard clocked up his 200th professional appearance for the Pears a few months later.

All of which isn’t bad going for a player who enters the 2022 campaign aged just 26.

“I still feel very young and in sporting terms I am,” he smiles. “I was lucky some of the coaches believed in me and I played a lot as a youngster.

“Touch wood, I have been pretty lucky with injuries so far. I love the game and I want to play as many games as I can each year.”

All-rounder Barnard can again count on a heavy workload as Worcestershire, who begin their season at Leicestershire on Thursday, look to challenge for promotion from Division Two.

His 128 at Chelmsford 12 months ago was the springboard to his best campaign with the bat yet. Only opener Jake Libby scored more than Barnard’s 746 runs, which came at an average just shy of 50.

Yet his efforts with the ball in hand were more modest, his 25 wickets coming at an average of more than 42.

“That was slightly disappointing,” he admits. “It’s strange because I felt in a good place and a good rhythm, hopefully the work I’ve done over the winter will help bring my bowling back to where it was before.

“In terms of batting, it really was a breakthrough year. I said I wanted to consolidate and become a top-six batter and I feel I did that. I want to kick on now, score more runs and contribute with the ball too.

“Being an all-rounder can be a blessing and a curse. It is double the workload at lot of the time but I am the type of cricketer who wants to be involved all the time.”

While Barnard’s own game took steps forward, for Worcestershire the season was largely one of frustration. Though the winter could not be described as a major overhaul, there have been key changes, the most notable of which has seen Brett D’Oliveira replace Joe Leach as captain, following the latter’s decision to step down last September.

Ross Whiteley, Rikki Wessels and long-time servant Daryl Mitchell have all departed, while Ed Pollock has arrived from Warwickshire. The major addition, at least in terms of red-ball cricket, is that of former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali, the 37-year-old arriving earlier this week having played in the recent Test series against Australia.

“It is a huge coup,” says Barnard. “The amount of experience he has got, not just in Test cricket but also county where he has done really well for Somerset. I think that bodes well for us.

“A lot of the overseas signings in Division Two are very strong. You look at Durham and Notts and in the last two years they probably deserve to be Divisiion One teams with the way they have performed.

“They are going to be the two big hitters but all the teams in there are capable and have played good cricket over the last few years. We know if we play our best cricket we are going to be in and around promotion.”