WORCESTERSHIRE batsman Jake Libby praised the calming influence on him of Daryl Mitchell after he made an excellent start to his county career against Gloucestershire in the Bob Willis Trophy at Bristol.

Libby admitted to feeling nervous ahead of his County debut after his winter move from Nottinghamshire but Mitchell helped him to settle down and he went onto make a composed 77.

The pair shared in a partnership of 152 to put Worcestershire in command at the half-way stage of the game.

Libby, who struck 10 fours in his 181 ball knock, said: “It was nice to get some runs on my debut and build a partnership with Daryl like that as well.

"I’ve obviously played quite a bit against Daryl over the years and he is a fine player, a great person you can learn off, and at the crease he is just so calm and great to bat with. He settled me down.

"There were a few nerves with it being my debut and you want to impress and show what you can do.

"I know there were no spectators but plenty of people would have been watching the live stream and I’ve received a message from my family.”

Day three saw Charlie Morris rewarded for some excellent bowling with three wickets in four overs as Worcestershire look to force the win.

Brett D’Oliveira also played a key role in dismissing Gloucestershire’s main run-scorers in Graeme van Buuren (60) and Chris Dent (92).

Josh Tongue collected two scalps and there was one for Club Captain, Joe Leach, as Worcestershire picked up six wickets for 38 runs in the space of 18 overs with Gloucestershire closing on 246-8 from 91 overs after being 205-2 at one stage.

Alan Richardson, Worcestershire assistant coach-bowling coach said: “We were really pleased by the end of the day. For the first two sessions Gloucestershire played really well, however we stuck at it and then got our rewards in that third session when I thought the boys applied themselves brilliantly.

"We haven’t been back playing cricket very long so to put in a shift like that in the third session when we could have easily wilted showed some great character and great skill."