GerryShedd
Super Moderator
Nice work if you can get it:
"The Cricketer understands that the left-hander will earn £350,000 from being retained as one of Phoenix's pre-auction signings."
Pleased for Michael Rae - as I said after seeing him in 2024, a wholehearted trier.
As for Zak Foulkes - yes, he did play for us, though not in 2004!
Add to the above:
Chair of the Board
and
Senior Partnership Sales Manager
There seem to have been a lot of jobs advertised at WCCC in the last couple of weeks - eight of them at latest count with a variety of titles:
Lead Graphic Designer
Digital Products Manage
Cricket Employability Senior Officer
Cricket & Social Impact Officer
Financial Accountant
Accounts & Payroll Executive
Finance Business Partner
Cricket Cities Community Coach
I'm not sure how many of these are replacements and how many are new posts, but that seems like a lot of vacancies. And still no news of the Head of Media who supposedly was due to start in October.
Yes, very sad.
There's a fairly long article in The Cricketer about the change of name, with plenty of quotes from Stuart Cain. I won't break the paywall by quoting it in detail but it is summed up by Cain saying:
"We are Warwickshire, so why not just call us Warwickshire?"
Has joined Gloucestershire.
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.
The less said the better about the first Test.
Maybe constant lobbying and complaining does pay off.
Yes, a sad story.
The fact that Jacob Bethell is playing for the Lions and Pope for England suggests that Jacob may have another quiet winter.
And Gary Barwell wins the top award this year:
https://edgbaston.com/news/edgbastons-barwell-earns-top-grounds-manager-award/
An article in The Cricketer suggests that outgrounds may be making a comeback, partly because of the pressure of fixture congestion and partly as a marketing tool:
"Outgrounds are nowadays not just aesthetically pleasing, but a necessary marketing tool too. Twenty-one were used by men's and women's teams last season, allowing counties to engage a different part of the community. From Scarborough to Blackpool, Cheltenham to Queen's Park, they became a defining feature of the One Day Cup competitions."
The ECB had better get the 2026 fixture list sorted or there are going to be a lot of disappointed people in the Geoff Cook suite at the Riverside on 27 November:
https://www.durhamcricket.co.uk/news-and-media/members-fixtures-breakfast-confirmed-for-27th-november/
PS - the reference to the Blast fixtures coming out on 25 October should obviously read November, unless I've missed something.
PPS - a nice idea for Durham - could Warwickshire do something similar?
Bearing in mind the short duration of the Hundred and the fact that, for the rest of the year, the players are playing for a variety of teams all over the world, I'm not sure what a Hundred team coach does for most of the time. So JT not being available until March might not have been too much of a problem.
The_Lickey_Banker wrote:
I've heard from a journalist friend, that Jonathan Trott is in discussions to take over from Vettori as Phoenix Head Coach.
I would think that this is quite likely. He is leaving the Afghanistan post having never been to the country; and he still lives in Birmingham.
Here's a name from the past:
https://www.thepost.uk.com/sport/cricket/callington-captain-wagg-leaves-moores-park-848001
A couple of decades on from being sacked by the Bears for cocaine use, he's still playing.
Maybe we are only a short step away from Bearsfans being available on prescription. As per the article:
"Talking about your sports fan blues with a friend will help you process the disappointment that you’re feeling. Commiserate with other fans who are having some of the same feelings. It can help just to know that people care and to be reminded that you’re not alone. Pretty soon, you’ll be talking less about the loss, and more about what your team’s going to do next year."