Worcestershire are looking to the return of an in-form Vikram Solanki from England duty this weekend-to help get their season moving in the right direction again.
Based on Worcestershire's generally poor performance in the Twenty20 Cup, sandwiched between successive County Championship defeats, the wheels seem in danger of coming off their season.
Some of the problems they face are more a legacy of their former coach, Tom Moody, rather than anything his replacement, Steve Rhodes, has done wrong.
But there is also the England factor to be taken into consideration, Worcestershire having been messed around more than most counties by this summer's cramped international schedule.
Although Gareth Batty has proved an admirable deputy, Solanki's availability as a batsman after a six-week absence from county duty is more than welcome.
Added to that, Worcestershire also hope to have Shoaib Akhtar fit for Sunday's totesport League match with Glamorgan. They are further boosted by the prospect that Stephen Peters, confidence restored after a decent Twenty20 campaign, will be fit again after hamstring trouble.
Along with Steven Davies, Peters has been sent down to play at Panteg in the second XI match against Glamorgan, to prove his fitness and warm up with some runs.
But, given the manner in which Graeme Hick's form has slumped (he has scored only one half-century and is averaging lower than 20 from his last seven Championship matches), Solanki's return is the most timely.
He looked a class act when scoring 53 not out after finally successfully being deployed in his 'supersub' role for England at the Oval yesterday. He was on the losing side but if he can translate that form to the county scene, it might lessen Worcestershire's private frustrations with how England have treated their three England men this summer.
Rhodes said: "It will certainly be good to have Vikram back for the weekend. You have to miss any player of his quality.
"Stephen Peters is in contention for Sunday, too. He played well in the Twenty20 and is a good fielder.
"He's not quite right after his hamstring problem, but he's a good slipper, so he can stand at slip and have a good bat for the Seconds and get a few runs to put himself in contention."
Most of all, after giving the remainder of his squad three days off before they start preparing for the match against Glamorgan, Rhodes wants his bowling attack in shape.
With Shoaib Akhtar absent, Rhodes was more than aware of just how reliant Worcestershire were on Kabir Ali and Matt Mason in Monday's three-wicket defeat by Yorkshire. He said: "It was a sterling effort with the ball from Kabby and Mase. They sweated buckets out there and the dressing-room know just how much they put in.
"Kabir's first spell was a bit rusty, which is not surprising given how little bowling he's had in the last few months. But we picked up on a couple of technical points which we noticed from the camera, made some adjustments and, thankfully, he's a quick learner.
"Hopefully, we'll have Shoaib fit too snd he should certainly enjoy running in at Northampton next week. So, after three days off for the lads to freshen up and get their minds right, we've plenty to look forward to."
