Adam Hose provided retribution to Hampshire for discarding him as a youngster by scoring 266 – the highest ever score by a visiting player at Utilita Bowl.
Top-order batter Hose played for Hampshire at Under-13 to Under-17 levels, having been born and raised on the Isle of Wight, but never progressed into the professional ranks.
He returned with an epic second County Championship hundred during a mammoth 395-run third-wicket stand with stand-in captain Jake Libby.
Libby knocked up 137 unbeaten runs of his own on a lifeless wicket as Worcestershire ended day one on 456-3.
They came into the match with the fewest batting bonus points, three, had only passed 300 on three previous occasions and only two centuries had been made by their batters.
By the end of the day, they had five more batting points, two more centuries, and well over 100 runs more than they had managed in two innings against defending champions Surrey last week.
Libby, once again leading in place of the injured Brett D’Oliveira, couldn’t wait to strap his pads on having won the toss.
Despite some morning overheads, the air was warm, the pitch looked flat, and the Kookaburra ball was expected to offer next to no assistance to the bowlers.
New Zealander Henry Nicholls was tested outside his off-stump throughout his runless 12-ball cameo, before chasing a wide James Fuller delivery to edge behind.
Kashif Ali was punchy in his 44 off 38 balls, and particularly tucked into Scott Currie, before he was lbw stumbling over a straight delivery from Fuller.
At 60-2, things felt even, but from then, and for the next five and a half hours, it was anything but.
The sunbathing crowd – including a gathering of past Hampshire players including Barry Richards and their oldest living cricketer, Dennis Baldry – had just Libby’s stoicism and Hose’s perpetual run scoring to watch.
Once Hose found his rhythm, he bypassed each one of Hampshire’s plans with gusto.
Other than an incredibly tricky short leg chance on 69, he raced through the milestones. 50 in 74 balls, 100 in 126, 150 in 178, 200 in 208 and 250 in 240.
The more runs he got, the harder and further he hit the ball – one of his seven sixes causing injury to a spectator some 10 rows back at long on.
Hose was eventually dismissed on 266 – scuffing the ball to gully to give debutant Dom Kelly his first Championship wicket – in the penultimate over of the day.
His score surpassed the 243 made by Phil Jaques for Yorkshire on this ground in 2004, and was just one fewer than Zak Crawley’s marathon for England and John Crawley and Michael Carberry’s triple-centuries in scores by anyone at the Bowl.
Hose did play one first-team match for Hampshire, a non-first-class three-day game against Cardiff MCCU – ironically, one of his opponents in that fixture was Libby.
With him on this occasion, runs flowed like a tap.
Libby isn’t one for showy shots, at his best he occupies the crease – he has the second longest County Championship innings by minutes to his name to demonstrate his stickability.
He offered the Hampshire bowlers even less hope than Hose, scoring at his own pace to reach his second ton of the campaign in 219 deliveries.
ECB Reporters’ Network supported by Rothesay
