Steve Rhodes

‘Sheer determination and a will to prove people wrong’

Those are the attributes that stand out to me when I think of Joe and his career.

Joe’s life at Worcestershire County Cricket club started via the satellite Academy and into the Academy where he joined a particularly good crop of young players. Is he any better than the ones we’ve got? Can he bowl? Does he stand out? Is he better than his younger brother coming up? All of these questions needed answering. The person to answer wasn’t the coaches or supporters or Board. It was Joe. Did he answer them? Yes, without a doubt.

As stated before the quality of the academy meant that there was only so many places available on the professional staff, but Joe would not go away when sadly he didn’t make it at first. Performances meant Joe finally broke through into professional cricket.

The helpful thing for Joe was the amount of bowling he did in league cricket playing for Shrewsbury CC. Suddenly he was bowling 15 or 16 overs most weekends. That amount of exposure meant that he found some real consistency in line and length which is often difficult for most youngsters to perfect. But Joe seem to have the knack of shutting his eyes and hitting a line and length.

Next came his development work he perfected on his skills. He was a medium pace outswing bowler at first but later when it clicked he hit both the seam and the bat harder with that shiney new ball.

So where is he now? A top county professional and terrific new ball bowler. The type that attacks batsmen all of the time. With a new ball in his hand the opening batsmen are very wary and feel challenged. He has the tools and the control and nip with the new ball to get most County opening batsmen out. This is a terrific asset for him and a terrific asset for Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

I haven’t spoke about what was his first real strength was! His batting. Looking back on some of the innings he has played we have witnessed a terrific counter-attacking lower order batsmen who can change the game on his own. It could be the icing on the cake when the batsmen have got the team off to a good start, or it can get the team out of a mess by counter-attacking a bowling attack that is dominating. You are never out the game when Joe is at the crease down the order.

I wouldn’t say that things come natural to Joe, as I said before sheer determination and hard work make it look like it comes natural. A shrewd tactician with a good cricket brain made me think other things were inevitable.

When Daryl Mitchell (a fantastic player and Captain) finished as Captain to me there was only one choice. The choice was simple, it was Joe because I felt he had the tactical awareness accompanied by good management skills and an ability to try and get the best out of people.

Sadly for me, I didn’t see it fully to the end regarding Joe and the team. However, from the sidelines I could see he had control of the game as Captain.

So now is his benefit year! Absolutely fantastic! I’m proud of you Joe. I’m proud of what you’ve achieved. I’m proud of you as a person. I’m proud of you for what you’ve done for Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Good luck mate have a great year.