OLLIE Westbury believes he has reaped the benefits of the winter work on his white-ball game.

The England under 19s opener, who recently signed a new contract at New Road, has always been renowned for his willingness to occupy the crease for lengthy periods of time.

But now he has shown his capabilities in the shorter 50-over format with 143 against Derbyshire and 100 versus MCC Young Cricketers as the seconds narrowly missed out on a spot in the Trophy semi-finals.

Westbury, who scored another century in last week’s three-day game with Gloucestershire, will now hope work during the close-season will also bear fruit during the T20 campaign.

He said: “I’ve done a lot of work with Bump (director of cricket Steve Rhodes) and Kev (batting coach Kevin Sharp) regarding my white-ball stuff and I’ve worked really hard to try to improve it.

“I’ve done a lot of work on execution against spinners, really trying to find the gaps, working on different shots and introducing shots that before I wouldn’t have played, hitting the ball straight down the ground and all that kind of stuff.

“I’ve really worked to get into a position where I can actually score white-ball runs and thankfully it has gone well.

“Last year I couldn’t see myself where I am now in terms of white ball. But thankfully it feels like it is getting much better.”

Westbury had struggled for form in the three and four-day games until his ton at Cheltenham College.

But he said: “That will come. I am confident of that. There are just a few little technical things I am working on at the minute.

“As soon as I sort those out I will be fine again. I’ve looked at it, analysed what I feel I am doing wrong and I’m looking to put that right as soon as possible.”

Westbury, who scored 196 against Sri Lanka on his England under 19s Test debut last summer, was delighted to sign a new contract at New Road.

He said: “I put a lot of hard work into my cricket over the winter and it is nice to see some rewards for it.

"I’m obviously very happy to sign an extension with Worcestershire.

“The club are going in the right direction and you can see that with the on-field performances and the results we are getting.

“It is a very good place for a young player to be, a very good dressing room as well especially.

“We’ve had very good results in both dressing rooms. It’s a remarkable recovery from our second team campaign (in 2016) where we really struggled in white-ball cricket.

“Are the seconds benefiting from being that extra year older? I think so. It is always something that is going to play a part.

“We’ve played an extra year now, you’ve got the experience under your belt and you learn from the mistakes you would have made last year.

“I certainly feel as if we have come out the other side of that year a lot better for it, a lot wiser.”