STEVE Rhodes believes Worcestershire’s exciting two-day win over Northamptonshire at New Road would have been loved by cricket’s traditionalists.

Director of cricket Rhodes sensed the tension and enjoyment felt by supporters when walking around the ground.

A low-scoring see-saw game finally ended in the hosts' favour by 20 runs as they made it two wins out of two in County Championship Division Two.

It was in sharp contrast to the run-laced fixture last season when Worcestershire chased down 401 for their highest win total at New Road.

Rhodes said: “Northants played their part in the game. It was such a tight game that in many ways it was sad to see a loser but whoever did lose played their part in a wonderfully exciting game, albeit short of runs.

“I walked around the ground several times and couldn’t believe the amount of people who were right on the edge of their seats really enjoying the tension of it all.

“That is a fair reflection of what four-day cricket can give to people. The traditionalists who enjoy four-day cricket absolutely loved that spectacle over those two days.

“It was sad not to go further than two days but if you watched every minute of that match you surely wouldn’t get better entertainment than that.”

Rhodes added: “The variances (different type of games) come about with the conditions.

"The overhead conditions made it tough on day one and kept the wicket very fresh and moist and therefore it nipped around a lot on day two as well.

“With the wicket we played on last year against Northants there were lots of runs scored.

“The outfield was quite slow for this game but that didn’t matter. It just added to the spectacle which was enthralling, edge-of-the-seat tension.”