GerryShedd
Super Moderator
From BBC Sport:
"Pakistan's T20 league will start without crowds and take place at only two venues because of the fuel crisis that has resulted from the US and Israel's war with Iran.
"The [Pakistan] Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif] has requested restricted movements of people because of the fuel crisis so we have decided that the PSL (Pakistan Super League) would continue as per the original schedule but without crowds," said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
"All PSL matches will now take place in Lahore and Karachi and we hope the league could be held with crowds but that would be contingent on the crisis in Iran ending."
The opening ceremony on Thursday has also been cancelled,"
There's plenty on Facebook about him having signed for Peshawar Zalmi for 2026; but I agree that he doesn't appear to be in their squad.
He’s certainly signed up. Money talks.
Ed Barnard takes over - Davies steps down:
https://edgbaston.com/news/davies-steps-down-as-bears-captain/
Bamber was definitely playing v Essex.
Report on the match and the bizarre scoreline:
https://www.wisden.com/cricket-news/128-16-english-domestic-side-produce-bizarre-scorecard-as-wickets-tumble-in-county-championship-warm-up
As the new season looms, we can be pretty sure that there will soon be some injury scares, especially amongst the large squad of pace bowlers.
It would seem that our coaches are missing a trick - Adam Hollioake at Kent is ahead of the game:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/cwyk0el7jz2o
""We got a faith healer in over the winter, or a spirit healer," Hollioake told The Cricketer. "I'm not sure what the exact title was, but we got someone to warden off the evil spirits."
If he is interested, I can put Ian Westwood in touch with a couple of my friends who would be happy to help since they are male witches. "Warlocks!" I hear you all say - but I swear it's true.
You need to be careful about criticising Gary Barwell. When it comes to accepting negative comments, he is (allegedly) as thin-skinned as Donald Trump - though, fortunately and unlike the Donald, without access to Tomahawk missiles.
George Dobell, in The Cricketer, says Warwickshire's chances of doing well depend on the pitches:
"Over recent years, the club has developed a reputation for producing what would traditionally be termed as very good, very flat wickets. Given how busy this square has become, that's a fine effort. But if they are to challenge for the Championship, they might need to provide a little more assistance for their seam bowlers."
Andy wrote:
Is in the Hundread for this season. New captain required for ODC.
I'm sure that Mr Davies will be happy to step in.
This is an interesting development:
https://the-bear.counterpress.media/about
The involvement of Brian Halford and Paul Edwards suggests that there will be some good content. How many will be prepared to pay up to get the content remains to be seen.
A fantastic hundred by Jacob Bethell today, eventually in a losing cause for England.
No interest in watching The Hundred; but at least pleased to see that the Phoenix have got rid of that unhealthy Butterkist sponsorship:
https://www.cricketworld.com/birmingham-phoenix-announce-skechers-as-lead-partner-ahead-of-the-hundred-2026/109203.htm
The only problem is, I won't dare to wear my Skechers trainers to Edgbaston in case people think I'm supporting the Phoenix.
Looks like a good trip. I hope they are going to spend more time on the pitch at Stellenbosch than trying the free samples in the vineyards that took up most of my time there.
Reported that Chris Woakes makes the cover of this year's Wisden - one of the pictures of him batting with his arm in a sling.
That's good news.
Yes, I tend to think that maybe it was a slip.
Just to go back to what Neil Snowball said, it was all of ten years ago:
"On the cricket side, I don’t think it’s a glib statement to say that we should be competing in all three forms of the game. I would like to think that we had won some silverware in each of those [next] five years. That is a challenge we should set ourselves and what we should aspire to do.
We’ve got a target at the moment of having 40% of our players home grown. I’d like to see that increased to north of 50%.
I’d also like to see the next generation of Warwickshire players playing for England."
Thanks for this, Reabank.
Apart from the financial assessments that are as interesting as usual, I was struck by what you highlighted in your separate but linked Warwickshire assessment - namely what is missing from the Club's "playing pillar" which talks about “ creating sustainable success for the Bears (20 overs cricket) and Birmingham Phoenix (men and women’s)” (Hundred teams)." In other words, there is no mention of success in the County Championship or the 50 over competitions. Also the fact that there is no reference to the development of players for men’s and women’s international teams.
I can recall that when I interviewed ex-CEO Neil Snowball a few years ago, he was very specific on including winning trophies across all competitions and developing international players as key objectives. If these really have been dropped, that is very disappointing.
The Club has now posted something:
https://edgbaston.com/news/warwickshire-county-cricket-club-is-mourning-the-passing-of-norman-gifford-mbe/?_gl=1*1peijby*_up*MQ..*_ga*MzMzNDE2ODIwLjE3NjkwMDU0Mjc.*_ga_NE7BBXK3VR*czE3NjkwMDU0MjYkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjkwMDU0MjYkajYwJGwwJGgw*_ga_ZHXWMN2QK2*czE3NjkwMDU0MjYkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjkwMDU0MjYkajYwJGwwJGgw