GerryShedd
Super Moderator
Signed for the first part of the season until the end of July - could be a good signing:
https://edgbaston.com/news/aussie-test-allrounder-webster-signs-for-warwickshire/
Just a postscript on his career - Michael Burgess apparently holds the record for the most runs in a first-class innings all made in singles - 22 for Sussex v Middlesex in 2018 (according to the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, who never lie!)
For such a fine stroke-player, that's an unusual record.
I think Chris Woakes is the last bowler who came through the junior ranks and made the grade with the club - and he made his debut in 2006.
The latest county cricket census carried out by Wisden makes depressing reading for Bears fans who would hope that a club of the size of Warwickshire would be able to produce more than its fair share of home-grown talent. But:
- in a table of what percentage of players were born in the county or an adjoining one, Warwickshire came 12th out of 18 counties
- in a table showing where county players learnt their cricket, Warwickshire came 13th
- looking at the % of home-grown players, Warwickshire were 15th; and in the table of who had signed the most from other counties, the Bears were second
- overall, Warwickshire were 17th out of 18 in looking at the balance between creation and purchase of players
The New Year report card must say "could do better".
Very true!
Glad my "Happy New Year" post only took a year to get a response!
The latest edition of The Cricketer doesn't throw much light on what is happening at Edgbaston.
It says that it is "difficult not to be sceptical about the timing" of Larsen's departure in that it was timed "just hours before the results" of the review were due to be published. It suggests that the departures of Burgess and Rhodes indicated that "all was not well in the dressing room". At the same time, it quotes Larsen as saying that Edgbaston is "as positive an environment as I've been involved in." And Stuart Cain says of him that he has "worked tirelessly to improve the high-performance environment at Warwickshire."
Other than Rhodes, no-one with a surname beginning with the letter R is mentioned in the article.
Make of that what you will.
In his Cricketer article, George Dobell said:
"It is too early to say for sure if Larsen will be the only member of the administrative or coaching staff to leave or to comment on who may replace him. While former club captain, Jim Troughton, would be a popular appointment, he is thriving in his current role on the coaching staff at Surrey and may prove tough to lure back. Equally, Ashley Giles has his hands full at Worcestershire and is unlikely to return at this stage.
If Larsen really is to oversee the transition, he will, no doubt, suggest a New Zealander replace him."
Liking a joke, George adds: "A return from Mark Greatbatch, however, seems most unlikely."
Apologies for the delay in responding to this interesting post.
Steven Sheen's Who's Who of Warwickshire Cricket sheds more light on Septimus Kinnear. He suggests that Sep was the youngest of his family's 13 children - maybe he was the seventh son.
Steven Sheen says:
"Within a few games of making his debut Sep was struck down by an illness after a liaison with a female which required him to seek treatment in Germany at the club's expense. The resulting cure caused him to lose his hair and since that time no photo seems to have survived without him wearing his cap."
He might have played more for England but his fielding was poor - "whilst he had a safe pair of hands his throw was weak and he was slow in the field."
Larsen leaving!
This tournament went (perhaps rightly) under the radar; but from this report, it would appear that, as well as Ethan Brookes, Ed Barnard and Alex Davies also played for the England team:
https://wccc.co.uk/brookes-part-of-england-squad-for-hong-kong-sixes/
Losing to Nepal and Oman doesn't suggest that it was a very successful venture.
This year's winners:
Bernard Flack Memorial Trophy (Multi-Day pitches):
Winner: Lee Fortis (Kia Oval)
Runner-up: Richard Robinson (Headingley)
Commendation: Karl McDermott (Lord’s)
One-Day pitches:
Winner: Adrian Llong (The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury)
Runner-up: Gary Barwell (Edgbaston)
Commendations: Andy Ward (Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road), Ben Gibson (The 1st Central County Ground, Hove)
Outground Pitches Award:
Winner: Josh Marden (The County Ground, Beckenham)
Runner-up: Christian Brain (Cheltenham College)
Commendations: Nick Johnson (Blackpool CC), Brad Jeffries (Kidderminster CC)
Outstanding Contributor:
Tom Cowley (Hampshire County Cricket Club)
Business Of Cricket Awards, Rising Star:
Jasmine Nicholls (Yorkshire County Cricket Club)
The latest Cricketer magazine has a different take on the end of season review from the on-line version:
"Following a disappointing four-day campaign from a team perspective, the management duo of Gavin Larsen and Mark Robinson carried out an October review which included asking the opposition coaches for feedback on what they felt were the team's strengths and weaknesses."
A novel approach, though I think I would have been inclined to tell them: "That's your job. If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you."
Regarding the name, the BBC takes the "glass half full" approach by saying:
"One significant change is that the team based at Edgbaston are listed just as the Bears, suggesting that the name Warwickshire might be used in T20 again after 11 seasons playing under the Birmingham Bears banner."
According to The Cricketer, efforts have been made in the 2025 T20 fixtures to decrease the number of occasions where counties are playing Blast matches on back-to-back days. Last year, the Bears kicking off their T20 season with an evening match in Durham followed by a match at Edgbaston the next afternoon was a particularly egregious example of this.
Durham are holding a breakfast morning for members on 26 November because that is when the 2025 fixtures will be announced. Members can talk with players and coaches about the fixtures - a nice idea.
Without totally breaking the paywall, key points from George Dobell's article are:
- A board meeting to decide next steps will take place at the start of December.
- The club have hired external consultants to lead the review.
- The review will cover medical support and pitch preparation as well as player recruitment and development
- Reports from the dressing room on Robinson and Larsen "are not entirely positive".
The article also mentions something that I hadn't heard about - "the imminent departure of Keith Cook". He's spent over 50 years at the club so this may just be a natural time for him to retire; but it will still be a major landmark.
Agree, though it wasn’t enough to win the match.
62 off 32 balls for England today.