Such good news I thought it was worth a new thread of its own. At last I can support us playing T20 again as we will play under our actual identity and brand!

Warwickshire !!!

Well done Stuart! Sense at last!

“Finally - and most importantly - I wanted to give you a quick 'heads up' on an announcement we will be making on Monday (please keep it under your hat for now) ahead of the fixtures being released. The Members' Committee and a small number of passionate Members have lobbied me hard in recent years, asking that the Bears T20 team recognise the county name and so from 2026, the men's and women's T20 teams will be known as the Warwickshire Bears and proudly reflect the history and heritage of the Club.”

Excellent news!

Great!

Brilliant news - hopefully it will bring about a change of fortunes too!

Super news,might get a new sign inside stadium now .
Edgbaston Home of Warwickshire CCC

Maybe constant lobbying and complaining does pay off.

GerryShedd wrote:

Maybe constant lobbying and complaining does pay off.

Certainly done my bit on that score!

But v grateful we’ve done this!

Excellent news. Glad they got the announcement out before the fixture release, so to give proper thanks to those who have campaigned.

(it also makes clear distinction between cricket and the 16.66 over crisp league)

I was never that anti the BB name so can't really claim delight, but I do like the way the club dealt with it by acknowledging there was some pressure and they listened and responded to it. I made the point earlier this season (or maybe before) that the adoption of the name was seen as a way of getting city-based "franchise ready" and increasing the chances of a team with the Birmingham name being in it, guess that battle has been won too, albeit in the crisp league (where we can forget about it).

I think that the adoption of the Birmingham name was largely motivated by the large sum of money owed to Birmingham City Council. For the same reason, the City end of the ground suddenly acquired the Birmingham name.
I also recall that when I went to the launch night for the Birmingham name, the Club Chairman told me that attendances would go up because of the use of Birmingham in the team title.

Congratulations to everyone who campaigned for this.

Call me cynical but I think the real mover was branding in the 16.4/16.4, making sure the Birmingham Whotsit's alone bears the city's name. It's the first time I've ever had anything positive to say about the thing. I suspect it will be a while before it happens again.

Reply to Richard and Gerry, indeed, I remember far more clearly Birmingham City Council's placatement over the naming though there was definitely media mention that naming a team after the city would be rewarded by the looming city-based franchises. Either way, that argument's gone now so just the council getting upset we have to worry about!