WORCESTERSHIRE Rapids skipper Joe Leach believes Callum Ferguson’s 192 on debut is among the best innings seen at Blackfinch New Road.

The Australian batsman smashed five sixes and 21 fours in 143 balls as Rapids chased down a 377 target against Leicestershire Foxes in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

It was the highest List A score by a Worcestershire batsman, beating Tom Moody’s 180 at Surrey in the 1994 NatWest Trophy semi-final.

Joe Clarke (62), Daryl Mitchell (50) and Brett D'Oliveira (54 not out) also pitched in for the North Group leaders.

Leach said: “Callum has played one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen.

“I’ve just said in the changing room that this ground has seen a lot of great players play great innings and that probably goes right into the top echelon.

“It was superb. I think Graeme Hick, WG Grace, you name them, would all have been proud of that knock.

“It was the highest quality of innings you would ever wish to see.

“It was also the perfect chase. Guys came in and batted around Callum and injected the innings with impetus.

“We’ve won at a canter really and possibly could even have won it a bit earlier. It was that convincing.

“I still stand by what I said after the Durham game and we should be sat here with five wins out of five.

“But we’ve won two games that were improbable on the back of that which shows the character of the group and hopefully that will stand us in good stead.”

Ferguson said: “It was a game really that could define our season.

"That has really set up the rest of the season for us in one-day cricket and is a really good momentum builder.

“I was just really grateful to get the opportunity to play here. To play domestic cricket over here was something I was really excited to get the chance to do.

“To be able to get off on the right foot and make some runs is really exciting. It is certainly better than nought on debut!

“I had a few nerves coming into the game and was really pleased to be able to make an impact. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling in the next few games.

“We did get a reasonable start but certainly didn’t fly through the first few overs and losing Mo (Moeen Ali) was a big blow for us as we all know the quality he brings to the table.

“But certainly once we got going it just seemed to flow quite nicely and the ball did seem to be hitting the middle of my bat from early on so that was good.

“To get the runs with a couple of overs to spare was something special.”

Ferguson added: “All the other guys played positive but also smart as well.

"There wasn’t too much loose stuff. They were just playing good cricket shots and on that wicket it seemed to be the way to go.

“But certainly it was a daunting chase and to get there with a couple of overs to spare there is no way you would have thought that would happen at the halfway mark.”

Rapids head to Notts Outlaws for the next group game on Friday (11am).