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Youngster Henry Cullen admitted his side were “disappointed” to be bowled out for 200 on the opening day of Rothesay County Championship action against Northamptonshire, but gave his assessment after leading his side’s fightback late on at New Road. Losing a crucial toss after a delayed start to proceedings on the first day of the Division Two encounter, Worcestershire were reduced to 20-2 in an examining first hour under heavy cloud cover at New Road as the visitors took the initiative. A controlled 55 from vice-captain Jake Libby in a stand worth 83 with Adam Hose (45) guided the home side back into the match after withstanding some sustained pressure from the visitors, before the tide turned dramatically. The hosts lost eight wickets for 47 runs as an unwavering Luke Procter display with the ball ripped through the Pears’ middle and lower order. Cullen said despite failing to capitalise on their strong foundations, credit had to be paid to the second placed side who never relented with the ball. “We were a bit disappointed to be below par with the bat. They had a good toss to win and credit to their bowlers who bowled really well throughout the day. “Libs and Hosey put on a really important strong partnership and set the day up before lunch for us to bat long and put a decent score on the board. “But their bowlers didn’t give us loads to score from and it was doing a bit. “The wicket was quite soft and slow, and it got a little bit quicker throughout the day, but we’ll dust ourselves off and go again tomorrow.” Joined by number eleven Adam Finch with his side 150-9, the end looked nigh for Worcestershire midway through the opening afternoon. However, in just his fifth first-class match for the Pears, the academy graduate took responsibility and showed composure beyond his years to navigate his side up to a competitive total of 200. In the process of adding a pivotal fifty for the tenth wicket, Cullen made his way past a maiden first-class fifty for the Club, scoring seven boundaries as he left the field for a resilient 64. Tasked with dragging his side out of trouble, the batter said he leant on his more experienced partner for some guidance, before shifting through the gears. “I enjoyed batting with Finchy, so credit to him as well for that. “He helped me a lot and calmed me down, at that point from 150-9 we would have taken any run that was given to us to be fair. “I haven’t batted in a scenario like that for a while. It probably took me and Finchy three or four overs to adapt and probably assess but I think we got there in the end. “I felt Procter was probably their biggest threat at that time, so I was happy to try and take many balls off him. “But I had great trust in Finchy at the other end.”