GerryShedd
Super Moderator
George Dobell's latest on-line article for The Cricketer is very sympathetic to Robinson. He also deals with the mutual consent fiction:
"Robinson came in to work as normal last Tuesday (February 11). He coached all morning and then, at lunchtime, the chief executive asked for a word. And that, basically, was that. Forget all that talk of 'mutual consent'; this was a sacking. Six weeks before the season, Warwickshire had made a major change."_
To be fair to The Cricketer who put their on-line content behind a pay wall, I don't think I should copy the rest of the article; but it has some interesting things to say, not just about Robinson but also about Larsen, about pitch preparation and fixture congestion.
In The Cricketer review of how counties intend to spend the money, 15 out of the other 17 counties mention ground development in one form or other, six mention debt clearance or reduction and two mention increasing (non-playing) staff. The only ones not to mention ground development are Essex, who are not sure what they want to do with the money, and Worcestershire who are currently reviewing their possible options to move away from Worcester.
Regarding the windfall that has come Warwickshire's way as a result of The Hundred sell-off, George Dobell says on-line in The Cricketer:
"Warwickshire's situation is actually quite simple: they have planning permission for further ground development and this money will alleviate the need for costly loans at commercial rates. The latest development plans will see a hotel built in the area currently occupied by The Priory stand.
This will include extra seating, raising the ground capacity a little, as well as more hospitality options. With Birmingham City Council - who are effectively bankrupt - pulling out of a loan agreement for it, there has been some lending agreed with the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The combination of that and this windfall will allow Warwickshire to build without needing to be overly reliant upon commercial borrowing rates. The club have paid off around £5m of debt on their previous development (at the pavilion end of the ground) over the last couple of years. Their long-term borrowing arrangement with Birmingham City Council, which has featured low interest rates and payment holidays, is not affected."
Olly has just been elected Chair of the PCA:
https://www.thepca.co.uk/members/olly-hannon-dalby-to-become-pca-chair/
It's difficult to imagine a better choice.
Well done Olly; and well done PCA members for electing him.
It looks like a lot of this is in line with what many on here have been asking for - Robinson goes, Tony Frost is no longer batting coach, a Bear (Ian Westwood) is now first team coach. But the timing is unfortunate so close to the new season. I think we can assume that the "mutual" bit of Robinson's departure involved a lot of persuasion and that he really didn't want to go.
I guess it depends on what the criteria were for assessing any contract bids - did the Club put in anything about value for money?
And the contract for supplying ridiculously over-priced food goes to...
https://edgbaston.com/news/edgbaston-agrees-new-food-supply-deal-with-fordhall-farm-event-caterers/
The match referee clearly got the "like for like" ruling wrong in this case. The rules say:
“In assessing whether the nominated Concussion Replacement should be considered a like-for-like player, the ICC Match Referee should consider the likely role the concussed player would have played during the remainder of the match, and the normal role that would be performed by the nominated Concussion Replacement."
It looks like Claire Daniel is moving on so there is a vacancy to be filled:
https://edgbaston.com/news/job-vacancy-operations-director/
For those who have any interest:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/tom-brady-stardust-cricket-birmingham-phoenix-acquisition-1471284
He seems almost to have made the grade but not quite:
https://edgbaston.com/news/amir-khan-leaves-warwickshire/
No sign that another county has picked him up yet, which is a shame.
As for what influence a member of the Committee has, it would be interesting to talk to Marina Dorward who used to post occasionally on the old Bearfans forum and has been on the Committee since 2019. I presume that she wouldn't be standing for re-election if she thought it was a waste of time.
I do, however, understand that the pleasure of being outside the tent peeing in can be greater than that of being inside peeing out.
Setting aside last season's abbreviated effort, he has taken wickets at just over 20 apiece for Lancashire and Warwickshire in 2022 and 2023. If he can play a full season and continue to take wickets with that average, it should certainly contribute to some positive results. But he does have to prove his fitness and get back to where he was a couple of years ago. The fact that, whilst not an all-rounder, he can bat a bit helps to reduce the length of the tail.
Time will tell!
More power to his elbow (the dodgy one, hopefully cured).
According to Cricinfo::
"Warwickshire's head coach, Mark Robinson, said they had been in contact with the PCB about securing the player, who is no longer centrally contracted, for an unbroken spell.
Robinson said: "His call-up last May came out of the blue and took Hasan away from our County Championship start. We've had reassurances this year from the PCB that Hasan will be able to focus on the Bears which is great news."
We all have a moan on here from time to time about how the Club is run. Here is a chance to get more involved:
https://edgbaston.com/news/members-committee-vacancy-2/
Unfortunately, I am over the age limit but maybe there's someone else on here who has the time and the commitment.
Interesting article here about past Aussie Bears:
https://edgbaston.com/news/webster-joins-roll-call-of-aussie-bears/
Not sure who wrote it, though it has a Brian Halford feel to it.
I had totally forgotten about E. F. Waddy, an Aussie schoolmaster at Rugby School. It seems that a century ago, he was doing exactly what it has been suggested should happen now - sending Warwickshire's way cricketers from the school, though none of them achieved very much. In later life, as well as being vicar of the Littletons in Worcestershire, he was a beekeeper and an expert conjuror. Not a lot of people know that.
The article also mentions one half of my favourite Bears related quiz question - who are the two players who played together in the same first-class team and were not related but no-one else with the same surname has ever played first-class cricket?
No mention in the latest edition of The Cricketer of the results of the supposed end-of-season review.
For some reason, there are no George Dobell articles in this edition.