WITH a grim forecast for tonight’s Worcestershire-Warwickshire derby clash in the Friends Life t20 at New Road (5.30pm), Steve Rhodes is just desperate for his team to get out in the middle and play some cricket.

The County’s t20 opener at Edgbaston fell victim of the weather, while Sunday’s impressive 47-run win over Gloucestershire was followed by the postponement of the game at Glamorgan in the wake of Tom Maynard’s tragic death.

The importance of momentum in this competition is not lost on Royals director of cricket Rhodes, who said: “The rain has been very frustrating, but I keep telling myself there is nothing I can do about it, so we shouldn’t worry.

“We had a great win over Gloucestershire, but we lost the first Warwickshire game to the weather and the Glamorgan game was postponed too.

“We just want to get out in the middle so we can try and keep the momentum going from our win against Gloucestershire.”

In similar weather conditions to what is forecast for tonight, Gareth Andrew smashed a superb match-winning 32-ball unbeaten 65 at Edgbaston last year and Rhodes would love for his all-rounder to repeat the feat.

He added: “We beat Warwickshire twice last year in this competition and the game at Edgbaston particularly stands out for Gareth’s terrific performance.

“He played well against Gloucestershire last weekend and he seems to be getting better as he gets fitter in his recovery from knee surgery.”

On tonight’s opponents, Rhodes said: “With the ball, Warwickshire will rely heavily on Chris Wright and Keith Barker to bowl at the difficult times towards the end of the innings.

“Jeetan Patel and Steffan Piolet usually bowl the middle overs and they too could be effective on our wicket too.

“With the bat, Rikki Clarke is due a few runs and he can be a dangerous player.” Worcestershire (from): Moeen, Solanki, Hughes, Andrew, Cameron, Mitchell (capt), Kervezee, D’Oliveira, Scott (wkt), Lucas, Shantry, Kapil.