ALL-ROUNDER Brett D’Oliveira looks set to partner skipper Daryl Mitchell at the top of Worcestershire’s batting order in their Specsavers County Championship curtain-raiser against Kent, starting tomorrow (11am).

Director of cricket Steve Rhodes has hinted 24-year-old D’Oliveira, pictured, will get his nod in the Division Two clash at New Road after hitting his maiden first-team century against Oxford MCCU.

New Zealand Test bowler Matt Henry will lead Worcestershire’s bowling attack on his club debut against a Kent side who finished seventh last summer.

Rhodes believes Worcestershire are in a “reasonable” position to launch their bid to secure promotion to the top tier at the first attempt.

“I think we’re in a reasonable position,” said Rhodes.

“The preparation has gone well and the coaches are happy and now it’s up to the players to produce the goods.

“The players are looking forward to the challenge and relishing the opportunity to try to get us off to a good start.”

Worcester-born D’Oliveira spent the winter playing with St Augustine’s in South Africa and Rhodes believes he “deserves his chance” against Kent.

“Brett played well towards the end of last season, got a very good hundred at Oxford and deserves his chance,” said Rhodes.

“Tom Kohler-Cadmore has looked quite good and finished last season strongly, while Daryl Mitchell has looked good in pre-season.

“Ross Whiteley will go in at number six and Alexei Kervezee has come back into the set-up and put in some hard yards.

“Alexei has worked very hard at the tempo of his innings and the work he has done with Kevin Sharp (coach) has been very beneficial.

“He will get a chance and hopefully grab that chance and maintain his place in the side with lots of runs.”

Worcestershire must win the title to return to the top flight as only one promotion place is up for grabs at the end of the season.

Rhodes admits it’s a tough challenge for his New Road side because Sussex, Essex and Glamorgan will also fancy their chances.

He said: “There’s a lot of good teams in Division Two but everyone knows where they stand and we have to win the title.

“Kent are a solid side and I wouldn’t like to belittle them in any way but I also don’t want to put them on a pedestal. It’s important we concentrate on our game and make sure we play as best we can.

“If we can do that, we will be a tough team to beat.”

With unsettled weather expected for the weekend, Kent could ask Worcestershire to bat under the new ECB ruling which allows the visiting captain the opportunity to bowl first.

Mitchell said: “It will all be revealed tomorrow but I think we still go out into the middle as if a toss would take place. We will exchange the team sheets and then the away captain has an option to bowl if he wants to.”

He added: “The stats suggest it doesn’t make too much of a difference if you bat or bowl first at New Road.

“The no-toss thing is an interesting concept but sometimes at New Road the ball can seam around first thing on the first day and as much on day two and even quicker when the pitch dries out. It will be a difficult decision for the opposition captain tomorrow morning.”