Championship promotion is our primary focus, says Ben Allison

Any input on the field from me will be slightly delayed, unfortunately, due to a stress response in my lower back. It is very frustrating and probably, I'm led to believe, a reaction to the two months I spent in Australia this winter, which led to a spike in my workload. It’s unfortunate because I would have loved to be out there with the lads at Derby on Friday, but it is what it is, and at the end of the day it could have been a lot worse - I could have been out for the whole season. 

The lads are all good to go, having digested the blow of losing our pre-season trip to Oman due to the ongoing issues in the Middle East. I know how much the lads were looking forward to it, especially after our visit to Spain last pre-season where the facilities were brilliant, but the weather wasn’t, so we didn't get much cricket. I imagine it was quite annoying for the boys; I've been lucky enough to have some time away this winter, but not all of the boys have. With that being said though, everybody took it well and just got back to Malvern and ploughed away there. In very typical Worcester fashion, the boys just got on with it! 

Looking ahead to the season, promotion in the championship is the primary focus. It would be great to win back-to-back One-Day Cups and make it to T20 Finals Day, and we will be straining every sinew to do that, but if you were to offer one thing to the boys right now, I reckon it would be going straight back up in the Championship. We were absolutely gutted the way everything turned out in red-ball cricket last year and we are desperate to get straight back up. It is not easy to stay in Division One as a lot of teams will testify. You are always going to have the nucleus of regular First Division teams- Essex, Somerset, Surrey, and of course current holders Notts - but its very hard for the rest to stay up that ladder.