Whelan's progress pleases Rhodes

Chris Whelan dismisses Hampshire's Liam Dawson at New Road

Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes says seam bowler Chris Whelan deserves credit for his attitude this season.

Rhodes says Whelan, 23, has taken full advantage of his chance following the injuries to Kabir Ali and Simon Jones.

"He's certainly supplementing the attack very well and seems to have sorted out his no-ball problem.

"He has got some variation and he is reaping the reward for sheer hard work, while he is also fitting in nicely."

Whelan recently took five wickets in an innings in a County Championship match against Lancashire, while his 4-27 in the 108-run home win over Hampshire in the Friends Provident Trophy were career-best one-day figures.

He worked with bowling coach Matt Mason during the winter months and Rhodes believes he has found an extra half-yard of pace as a result.

"A lot of that comes through confidence, but he has certainly worked very hard," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester.

"He has probably turned the corner a little bit in that he was quite an angry, wild young man in his younger years and you grow out of that.

"You suddenly realise that you can focus your attention on other things so he is just maturing slightly and that means he is bowling better," he added.

We'll try and get some consistency going as that is what makes really good sides.

Steve Rhodes

The convincing win over Hampshire was just the tonic for Worcestershire after a disappointing performance against Leicestershire in their previous match at New Road.

They will head to Grace Road for the return match on Saturday looking for the win that would go a long way to securing their place in the last eight of the Friends Provident Trophy.

"We are a bit of a topsy-turvy team at the moment as you don't really know what you are going to get from us," Rhodes admitted. "We'll try and get some consistency going as that is what makes really good sides.

"We won the first three games and we now need to win the last three. We have won this one [against Hampshire] and we have two more to go, so let's make sure we are full of confidence going into the knockout stages," he added.

BBC Hereford and Worcester will carry full commentary on the match at Grace Road on 738 AM and online from 1040 BST on Saturday 16 May.