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Hick's homecoming for U19 finale

U19 coach and England great Graeme Hick hopes to guide his Aussie charges to another series win on the ground he made his own

Graeme Hick is delighted to be returning to Worcester with his Australia Under-19s team for the last match of the Royal London One-Day Series against England tonight.

Hick became one of the county's favourite sons, as well as their record runscorer, in 25 seasons at New Road after arriving from Zimbabwe as a teenager in 1984.

His contribution and popularity was recognised with the opening of the Graeme Hick Pavilion in 2009, the year after his retirement – and Hick was the guest of honour at a function in the pavilion last night hosted by Mervyn King, the former Governor of the Bank of England who is serving as Worcestershire's President in their 150th anniversary celebrations.

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"It's good the way things have worked out with the tour ending in Worcester, because obviously it's a place that will always be special to me," said Hick, who was 49 in May, and has been working for the last two years as High Performance Coach at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane since settling on Queensland's Gold Coast.

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Hick watches on as Australia U19 coach // Getty

"It's been an enjoyable and valuable tour for all the boys, and hopefully we can finish things off with a win in the one-day series."

Hick's team took a 2-1 lead with an emphatic seven-wicket win at Leicester on Thursday, leaving England's coach Andy Hurry to describe the last match as a "cup final" as they aim to avoid consecutive series defeats, after losing 3-2 in Australia earlier in the year.

They will have to make at least one change to the team who were all out for 99 at Grace Road, as Haseeb Hameed has been called up to make his LV= County Championship debut for Lancashire against Glamorgan at Old Trafford.

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Hick in action for Worcester in 2008 // Getty

Joe Weatherley, who was England's captain in Australia, has been called into the squad to join his Hampshire teammates Brad Taylor and Mason Crane.

Hameed's fellow Lancastrian Saqib Mahmood remains a major doubt after losing a finger nail in England's televised victory over Australia in Derby last Monday.