WORCESTERSHIRE'S cricketers made the switch from Malvern College to Sixways for some of their training sessions.

Director of cricket Steve Rhodes' squad were put through their paces on the indoor 3G surface of Premiership outfit Worcester Warriors.

The idea came from Worcestershire academy coach Elliot Wilson who is in charge of fielding practice and drills during the winter months.

Assistant coach Matt Mason said: "It is something that Elliot came up with. He runs all our fielding sessions for the pros during the winter which he did last year.

"Because it was really successful and the lads all enjoyed the stuff we were doing, we thought 'give Elliot the chance to do it again this year' and he came up with the idea of going up to Sixways.

"It is a change of environment because at Malvern the guys are in there all day, every day and the four walls sort of close in around you after five months.

"It keeps the players motivated and freshens things up a bit.

"But because of that indoor 3G surface the Warriors have got, the guys were able to do a few other things, throw themselves around a little bit more, do some more dynamic fielding drills and really lift the intensity a little bit. It is a big space.

"It is also nice for our lads to see how another sporting team goes about their business and the facilities they have."

Mason sees the benefit of a strong relationship between the two sporting bodies.

He said: "We have had the Warriors down in the past to some of our training sessions at Malvern and that has always been good fun.

"Maybe something like this we can do more and more often and strengthen the relationship because both are big sporting clubs in the city so it makes sense to.

"I know Elliot and Bumpy (Steve Rhodes) went up to Warriors in December and met some of their coaches and got chatting about the way they all do things.

"It is really important for coaches, particularly across sports but also in the same city. It is a good thing and I hope there is more of that in the future.

"Sometimes you get some really good ideas for your own programmes just by having discussions with other coaches."