Poor old Davies can't do right for doing wrong. If he's strutting about taking charge of everything, he's bossy and arrogant. If he's more passive, he can't be fussed.
I don't particularly warm to him but to say that he doesn't perform is a bit harsh. He did well both in front of the stumps and behind in the T20 and (I thought) captained pretty well. In the Championship, he's scored a hundred and a fifty.
Let's see what he does tomorrow.

Preview here:
https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/first-xi/sussex-sharks-vs-warwickshire-22-august-2023/#match-match-previews
Briggs back, Burgess rested.

My colleague Graham Smith has done a good summary of the current state of play in the competition:
https://deepextracover.com/2023/08/top-three-places-becoming-clearer-in-both-groups-of-the-metro-bank-one-day-cup/

Interesting article on Sam Hain here, making the case for him playing for England:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66187241

One outground where Warwickshire have played is Clifton Park in York. Chris Waters was there yesterday and describes the scene:
"...the venue looked as pretty as a picture, with spectators filling the blue seats of the temporary stand opposite the pavilion and lining the boundary with their deckchairs and picnics."
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/cricket/respite-from-the-hundred-but-yorkshire-ccc-are-hammered-at-york-4259719

13 man squad:
https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/first-xi/warwickshire-vs-northamptonshire-steelbacks-18-august-2023/
If the forecast is right, a reduced overs game is the best to be hoped for.

I agree that another Cheltenham is not what we are discussing. But the suggestion that the cost of marquees and staff to cater for them is a drag on the viability of Cheltenham is far from the mark. The organisations that have marquees at Cheltenham pay through the nose for the privilege. If you don't believe me, contact Gloucestershire CCC and say that you would like to hire a marquee at Cheltenham next year and see what price they quote you.

I see that Surrey are playing at Guildford - capacity just 2,000 and no parking:
https://www.kiaoval.com/metro-bank-one-day-cup-surrey-v-lancashire-match-day-info-for-guildford-cc/
PS - Bosworth Bear, I'm glad I'm not the only one who confuses our groundsman with the lead singer of Take That.

If it's any consolation to the ECB network reporter who got Tazeem's action wrong, when Fred Trueman made his debut in 1949, the Wisden report of the match described him as an off spinner.

My report on the match:
https://deepextracover.com/2023/08/warwickshire-vs-derbyshire-metro-bank-cup-report/

I suggested that Tazeem might be the youngest player to take a wicket for Warwickshire; but I have remembered someone younger.
R.G. (Roly) Thompson was a lively fast medium bowler who made his debut when only 16. He was born on 26 September 1932 and took his first wicket on 13 May 1949. Not just any wicket - it was Worcestershire's Don Kenyon for 2.
So he was definitely younger than Tazeem.

I see that the report on the Club website describes Tazeem Ali as an off spinner. As far as I could see, he is a wrist spinner bowling leg breaks, though probably with a lot of top spin because he wasn't turning the ball much. But definitely not an orthodox off-spinner.
Maybe Highveld who has umpired him and say what he has seen from close quarters.

Has anyone taken a wicket for Warwickshire at a younger age than Tazeem?

After what I wrote yesterday, his drop today was inevitable.

Yes, Yates turned it a lot.

Surprised with the slightly doubtful forecast that Derbyshire have decided to bat.

There might, of course, be a few supporters and potential supporters for whom Welbeck is more convenient than Trent Bridge.

You can tell I am bored today because I've looked at comparisons of catches per match for four different players. I've only looked at first class matches. What is shows is:
Alan Townsend - 342 matches, 412 catches - 1.20 catches per match
Rikki Clarke - 267 matches, 391 catches, 1.46 catches per match
Domninic Ostler - 205 matches, 259 catches - 1.26 catches per match
Rob Yates - 53 matches (to date), 69 catches - 1.30 catches per match
What it proves - just that they were/are all great catchers. Of course, we don't know how many they dropped. Alan Townsend had the advantage of fielding at slip to Eric Hollies, Dominic Ostler to Alan Donald and Rob Yates to Olly Hannon-Dalby.

Yes, I shouldn't have forgotten Rikki Clarke.
According to Stephen Chalke's history of the County Championship, as at 2015, Rikki Clarke had taken more catches per Championship match (1.529 per match) than anyone else who had caught a minimum of 250 catches.
I'm not sure how he ended up because Stephen Chalke was only talking about Championship matches. In his whole first-class career, he took 391 catches in 267 matches.

Two questions about Rob Yates:
When did he last drop a slip catch?
Has there ever been a better slip catcher for the Bears? (Possibly Dom Ostler or, going way back, Alan Townsend).