KEVIN Sharp says selecting Worcestershire’s front-line batsmen for last week’s Second XI Trophy win over Warwickshire was a key factor in them regaining form and confidence.

Five of the top six who lost to Nottinghamshire in the County Championship all featured with Daryl Mitchell scoring a ton and Brett D’Oliveira a half-century.

They went into the Division One match at Surrey with runs and time in the middle under their belts and responded with the County’s highest score on the ground of 526.

Head coach Sharp said: “I think what we did by playing all the batters in the second XI game against Warwickshire actually paid dividends.

“It gave them some time at the crease, hitting bat on ball, and they’ve gone out at The Oval and played with some purpose and intent which was the one thing that disappointed me a bit in the game against Notts.

“It just looked like they lacked a bit of confidence after having a couple of difficult pitches to play on.

"They bounced back and Dolly looked like his normal self again. All he needs now is three or four hours at the crease.

“With the way things went in practice as well, I really feel quietly confident now that the batsmen are overcoming some of those difficult hurdles they had early on.

“I would also hope the pitches are going to become a bit more batter-friendly as the season develops.”

Sharp was delighted at outscoring Surrey 11-9 on points in a hard-fought draw.

He said: “After a difficult three weeks to perform like we did at The Oval was sensational really.

“The lads have worked so hard without the rewards and the way they managed to perform, stuck to their task and showed such resilience and spirit was just what we would expect from a Worcestershire team.

“They did it pretty much for session after session and we put ourselves in a position on the last day where we were able to put them under some pressure. We’ve got to be really happy with what we saw down there.

“We managed to pick up the momentum in the middle of the innings which helped us push to get to 350 for that fourth batting point."