COUNTY bowler Dillon Pennington has set himself the goal of securing a place with the England Lions next winter. However, the 22-year-old Paceman’s original goal is to secure a regular first-team spot with Worcestershire CCC.
Pennington appeared in Division One of the County Championship on New Road three years ago after impressing in the World Cup for England’s U19 national team.
Unfortunately, injuries checked his progress the following season, but bowling coach Alan Richardson and former Paceman Paul Pridgeon, now chairman of the Cricket Steering Group, helped iron out technical issues.
Pennington returned last summer with 11 wickets in four games in the Bob Willis Trophy and aims to move forward in 2021. He said, “I feel like I should go ahead and think about what I am going to have to do in order to compete for higher honors with a view to next winter, maybe for some English Lions spots. That is my goal and I keep working towards it. I was selected for the England U19 and I was fine and then I broke into the Worcestershire team.
“But my original plan is to cement a place on the Worcestershire side. I will be with some excellent, competitive bowlers of similar ages who are all very talented cricketers. It will be a difficult challenge to cement this point, but if I can do that, hopefully these Lions points will come if I can take as many wickets as possible and keep trying to get better. ”
Pennington played eight championship games in his first breakthrough year. He said, “I got off to a good start in professional cricket and this year (2018) has been quite good. That second year, I had an injury that flinched me a little, and I wasn’t at my best. My action was everywhere, I didn’t bowle so well and I didn’t take many wickets.
“I was left out for the last game of the season, and then I worked a lot with Alan Richardson and Paul Pridgeon to break some bad habits that had crept in with the ankle injury. I started moving the ball away again, feeling for my best and most confident again. Then I can bowl with a nice rhythm without thinking too much, and hopefully I can continue to build on that this year. I want to keep improving. ”