Warwickshire CCC unofficial fans forum
bearsfans.org.uk
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14 man squad

Davies
Yates
Rhodes
Hain
Mousley
Barnard
Burgess
Briggs
Norwell
Rushworth
OHD
Benjamin
Bethell
Booth

Rain

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I didn't get the Bears squad quite right in my preview in advance of the announcement but not too far out:
https://deepextracover.com/2024/04/lv-county-championship-division-one-match-preview-warwickshire-v-worcestershire/

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Greetings, weather looks awful all morning but better later in the day. Only problem with that is that there could be puddles of water everywhere even if there is no rain falling and we have blue sky. I remember when we used to think that a game in early May was too early and here we are only about 10 days after I scraped ice off a bin at the college where I work.

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I seem to remember seeing images online of drainage work at Edgbaston that took place during the winter, so hopefully that will improve things.

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No Chris Woakes again?

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white-lightning wrote:

No Chris Woakes again?

He's in the IPL, not that he's had a game yet.

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Sam Hain not playing "for personal reasons".
Let's hope he's back soon - the batting line-up needs him!

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No Norwell, am I missing something.

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The squad doesn't look that strong really does it, we don't really seem to have much dependable depth when compared with others in the division. Let's hope that enough players hit form this season, batting looks particularly weak.

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Yep batting does look weak...in fact if age catches up with Rushworth and OHD were really struggling

Club is betting on Mousely, Bethall and Yates becoming consistent.

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Poor stuff this

Overcast conditions and the score is currently 111/1 with the RR being close to 5

Worcs would be one of the favourites for relegation this season, I dont want to criticise before our first session has ended but this does not bode well at all.

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Kookaburra ball?

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That’s what is being reported, in a way I can kind of understand the decision. It looks to have stopped the great swathes of early season wickets due to the Duke ball seaming all over the place (at least until it’s our turn to bat) and it should make wickets more a result of good bowling. However, it also makes it look easier to bat and more difficult for the bowling side.

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I do like the fact the likes of OHD are having to work really hard for their wickets.

The kookaburra seems to be levelling out the weather conditions and giving the batsman some help..I don't see any issue with it

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A lot of cricket watchers do seem to have a problem when a game is drawn due to high scoring by both sides. But the bigger picture is future England bowlers being made to work for their wickets so that maybe in years to come, we see England bowlers having success in Australia and India on flat pitches when the ball is doing nothing but the bowlers are managing to get batsmen out due to knowing how to bowl on all surfaces. We saw Bess/Leach on Taunton wickets years ago that turned from ball one but struggling on flat Test wickets that didn't give them help.

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I wish all this conventional wisdom had been apparent when we won the toss!

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Nottinghamshire and Middlesex did the same thing, "Cloud cover, early season, put 'em in and see the wickets fall". A few regretful captains around.

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Not having Hasan Ali is a bit of a blow too, his style is a bit different to OHD and Rushworth. With Norwell not being risked our medium pacers are not necessarily as threatening without the lateral movement the Dukes ball offers.

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Nice fightback at the end there, showed some resilience. Hopefully everyone settles down a bit now!

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81-5 (19) after they were 235-2, I think we would say it was a good fightback, just a pity to leak so many runs at 5 an over at the start.