GUY Davies ripped up the form book to score a magnificent unbeaten 175 for Worcester Nomads second XI – but just missed out on breaking his career-high.

Having only managed a best effort of just 17 for the club’s firsts this season, the 27-year-old dropped down to the seconds and carried his bat for the full 50 overs against Cookley.

His total, which included 100 in boundaries, helped the Worcestershire League Division One Second XI leaders to 342-3, before Cookley dug in for a draw.

Agonisingly, Davies fell one run short of his best-ever score, which interestingly came in similar circumstances in 2008 when he was dropped to the second XI following a poor run of form.

On that occasion, he was named Worcester News player-of-the-week and he is once again winner of the prestigious prize – a £25 Fearnley Factory Shop voucher.

Davies explained: “There was a bit of luck in it in a sense because in the third over I got an edge and was dropped at slip on 10. It was a pretty tough chance but it was a costly drop and then it all started to click from there.

“There were two balls left and I didn’t know what score I was on but I got a call from the boundary to get a single because Joe Laugher, who was batting at the other end, had not scored a league 50 before and he was on 44. I took a single to get him on strike just to give him a chance of getting it but he only hit it for four unfortunately.

“We’ve had issues in the firsts this year not doing as well as we would like to be, and should be doing, mainly on the fact that our batting has let us down.

“We really needed to freshen it up and luckily we had a couple of people coming back from holiday so it gave me the opportunity to drop down.”

Davies, who came through the junior ranks at Nomads, continued: “I wouldn’t expect to go straight back up, it’s only one score, but I would like to that’s the plan.”