GerryShedd
Super Moderator
I agree with much of the above.
I hope that there will be increased focus on those initiatives that genuinely support inclusion in cricket, like Chance to Shine which does fantastic work in schools. Warwickshire's Issy Wong is the first cricketer who started on a Chance to Shine scheme to play for England.
To be fair, the ECB puts about £2.5m into Chance to Shine each year but it needs a lot more than that to continue its work, let alone to expand it.
Chris Woakes' knee problem lurks in the background. We none of us know just how fit he really is but I can understand (up to a point) why they have preferred Tongue who is younger and presumably (now) fully recovered from his injury problem.
I agree that Chris should probably retire from Test cricket rather than suffer the indignity of not being picked. I hope that, if he did so, he would come back to Warwickshire and serve his time out here rather than travel the world as a T20 specialist, though that might be easier on the knee and more lucrative.
So - Moeen and Chris Woakes out of the team for Lord's - an all-seam attack with Joe Root as spinning back-up.
Since Chris Woakes doesn't get into the England team at Lord's, I can't see him getting in elsewhere unless there are more injuries:
https://wisden.com/series-stories/ashes-2023/ashes-2023-england-announce-xi-second-test-lords-eng-vs-aus-2
He clearly has ability; but I think that, in his early days, he was flattered by the spin-friendly conditions that existed then at Taunton.
I'm not sure how much the pitch deteriorated between days one and two at Chelmsford; but that was possibly a factor in the different results achieved by Bess and Harmer.
I think he may be more of an asset in the T20 games, where he is not much of a wicket-taker but bowls very economically, so a good substitute for Danny Briggs.
It concerns me that, as a Director of one of The Hundred teams, he claims not to know whether it is making a profit or not. And presumably that means that he doesn't accept the conclusions reached by the Worcestershire Chair Fanos Hira earlier this year that the Hundred has lost around £9 million across its first two seasons.
Exiled Bear wrote:
It’s ok, this is all a tactic so that we’ll be able to bowl last on this pitch - get bowled out cheaply, follow on, get a lead and then skittle them…..
Is this known as Bearball?
I wouldn't want a ticket for day four.
I believe that Jacob Bethell has a back problem which means that he is currently unable to bowl but can (obviously) bat and field.
I agree that it's a strange and worrying article.
If 60% of attendees over the last two years have been newcomers to cricket, what has happened to them since? Are they coming back this year? Have they gone on to watch other forms of the game? Those would appear to me to be key questions that he doesn't answer.
Also, aligning himself with LIV and the Saudis seems a very dodgy link.
Regarding Norwell, what the Club said a week ago was:
“Liam’s had a setback and he’s still probably some weeks away. We’ve got to keep being patient with him because he’s got a bulging disc in his back."
He comes in for a two week loan period because Danny Briggs has a hamstring injury. This presumably means that he is available for the remaining T20 Group games.
Well spotted Andy, who said that Briggs was feeling his hamstring after the Worcestershire game. He's out but Dom Bess comes in on loan:
https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/first-xi/essex-vs-warwickshire-25-june-2023/#match-match-previews
There's no Woakes but Hasan Ali is still there. It seems like spin will be a big factor so maybe Dan Mousley the all-rounder will be to the fore.
It's probably not worth arguing about what happened 140 years ago, especially not on a sunny Sunday. But Duckworth, rightly or wrongly, paints a picture of the Warwickshire element as being a bunch of disorganised toffs and Ansell being the guy who pulled it all together.
Anyway, maybe it was a Warwickshire gentleman (and an Old Boy of my school) who came closest to the truth when he wrote:
"What's in a name? A bear by any other name would roar as loud."
(Or maybe that wasn't quite what he said - but that was the sentiment.)
Preview from the Essex perspective:
https://www.essexcricket.org.uk/2023/06/24/match-preview-essex-v-warwickshire-4/
I think the crowd was around 17,000 last night.
The Club do seem to have dropped the Birmingham name for the T20 team and just talk about "Bears" which is halfway towards going back to Warwickshire.
Incidentally, although I am very much into being a Warwickshire man, I was interested to re-read the Club history written by Leslie Duckworth almost 50 years ago. In it, he makes it clear that, when the Club was founded in 1882, it was a coming together of the existing Warwickshire and Birmingham factions. The original committee had four representatives from the Birmingham and District Cricket Association, three from the Warwickshire Gentlemen C.C.. two from Coventry and one from Rugby. It was William Ansell, who was secretary of the Birmingham Association, who masterminded the formation of the Club. So whilst taking pride in being Warwickshire supporters, we should maybe acknowledge that, without the role played by a Birmingham man and his Association, the Club would not have existed as a recognized fully fledged county club.
Sam Hain said on commentary that he hopes/expects to be back for the Trent Bridge game, which is good news - ahead of schedule.
My recollection is that when Henry Brookes first came on the scene, everyone raved about his pace. Since his back problem, he seems to be no more than fast-medium and so has lost what was his biggest asset.
It's obvious that all is not well at Leicestershire:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/65988108