Worcestershire have received encouraging news about pace bowler Adam Finch after his knee surgery.

Pears head coach Alan Richardson confirmed that Finch will only need three to four months of rehabilitation work, after initial fears suggested it could be up to six months.

Finch's surgery was conducted in London earlier this month and he is expected to be fit for the start of the next season.

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Mr Richardson said: "It is good news with the surgery.

"It could have been up to six months rehab but it looks like it’s more three or four months rehab time.

"There was a part of us not planning to have Adam for the start of the season and thankfully that looks like it will be different now if everything goes to plan.

"That is something that was taken into consideration in getting him under the knife as soon as we could.

"That is great news for Adam."

The injury to Finch's meniscus occurred during the home Vitality County Championship match against Surrey in late June.

Despite the setback, Finch made himself available for the home Championship encounter with Kent last month.

He picked up four crucial wickets and scored a career-best 43 in an eight-wicket victory.

However, it was decided that surgery was the best course of action.

Richardson said: "He worked incredibly hard to get to the stage where he could play against Kent and he played a really important part in that game.

"He took some vital wickets and scored some valuable runs down the bottom end of the order as well.

"By the end of that game he was struggling and his movement in the field was really hard for him so we got to the stage where he went down to see the specialist and it felt the best thing for him to do was to have his surgery."

He added: "I think he should be proud of his efforts this season.

"It hasn’t quite worked out in terms of playing as much cricket as he would have liked in the second half of the season but a really admirable effort."