Born in Badsey, fewer than 20 miles from New Road, Daryl Mitchell, a classical opening batsman, made his debut for Worcestershire in 2005. He forced his way into the Championship side towards the end of 2006 and impressed scoring a century against Glamorgan. He finally secured a regular first-team spot in 2008 when he played in all but one game of Worcestershire's promotion-winning season, finishing with 922 runs at 40.08. He was rewarded with a three-year contract.

And he repaid the Worcestershire management by making over 1,000 runs in a season for the first time. But he couldn't prevent relegation back to Division Two of the Championship. A number of their best players left New Road that winter and much was again required of Mitchell in 2010. Again he delivered with 1,180 runs at 42.14 including four centuries and also picked up the captaincy half-way through the campaign after Vikram Solanki resigned. The change did the trick as Worcestershire rallied and recovered a 37-point deficit to Glamorgan to win promotion on the final day of the season. Mitchell was rewarded with a new four-year deal and the full time captaincy, becoming the first Worcestershire captain born inside the county since Maurice Foster in 1925.

The challenge for 2011 was simply survival in the top division and, aided by Alan Richardson's wickets, they duly evaded the drop with Mitchell contributing 751 runs at 32.65. But 2012 was a bridge too far and Worcestershire finished bottom of the table with only one win. Mitchell also suffered, returning his lowest average since breaking into the Worcestershire Championship side of 27.76 but he still managed two centuries.
ESPNcricinfo staff