Somerset shellshocked after Morris, Shantry rout

Embarrassing though this was for Somerset, bowled out for just 90 and struggling to work out why they have lost all three of their matches so far, Worcestershire can only be encouraged. It took them until July to register a first win in their last Division One season in 2012, which ended in relegation. To have one to their name in the first week of May will fire belief that they are capable of holding their own.

Clearly, Somerset are in a bit of bother. After two defeats at Taunton, they succumbed here rather too meekly for anyone's comfort. At tea on the second day, they had been firmly in the match, nine runs in front with Worcestershire six down. Two sessions more and the contest had been turned on its head.

It was as if conceding 161 runs after tea on Monday had convinced them that Worcestershire were too good. There was clearly still something in the pitch for the bowlers, certainly some up-and-down bounce from one end, but to be bowled out for 90 in 32 overs was desperately poor. Charlie Morris and Joe Leach bowled well with the new ball but it was the lack of conviction and the neglect of application that will have alarmed Matthew Maynard, their new director of cricket. Only James Hildreth, who made 35, seemed to have any will to apply himself to the task.

"I'm a little bit shellshocked, really," their captain, Marcus Trescothick, said. "I can't remember ever losing three Championship matches on the bounce. We certainly did not see it coming before the season began.

"We haven't performed anywhere near the level we expect over the three days. We've got a bit of soul-searching to do because we can't carry on in this vein."

Trescothick had been bowled for a duck by the second delivery of the morning as Morris took the new ball from the Diglis End. Then Johann Myburgh pushed tentatively at a ball outside off stump to be caught behind, Tom Cooper surrendered one stump as Morris claimed his third and Jim Allenby lost two stumps to Joe Leach, who then had Alex Barrow caught at first slip. In the blink of an eye, it seemed, Somerset were 19 for 5 and effectively gone.

Morris, impressively accurate and pretty quick, finished with 4 for 38 for career-best match figures of 9 for 109. Leach, who played only because Gareth Andrew was injured, added two more to his first-innings three and Jack Shantry wrapped things up with four wickets in the space of 17 balls, three in 11 after lunch.

It meant that, having seen good positions slip away from their opening two matches, Worcestershire could congratulate themselves at having seized this one with conviction and followed it through.

It is only one win to go with two defeats but there is plenty about which to be optimistic. Three of their young batsmen have centuries - Tom Fell against Yorkshire, Richard Oliver against Sussex and now Ben Cox, who played so handsomely for his career-best 109 on Monday. In Morris, meanwhile, they have a bowler capable of match-winning spells with the new ball.

"It was Alan Richardson-esque, the way he hit line and length with pace and nipped the ball around," their director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, enthused. "Charlie had new ball spells in both innings that were unbelievably good. He made life very difficult for some excellent Somerset batsmen.

"Everyone knows how tough it is going to be for us in Division One so to get a win early in the campaign is important for confidence. I know Somerset are going through a tough spell but they are still a battle-hardened Division One side."

Trescothick can console himself with that thought too. Although they have lost some experienced batsmen since last winter, Somerset ought to be capable of getting back on track.

"These situations can turn around pretty quickly," he said, as if to reassure himself. "It is just down to team unity and the work we put in behind the scenes."