With the Club still owing the City Council £20 million which they have no realistic hope of ever re-paying, it's not surprising that the Council can call the shots, even though it's unlikely that they would ever put the Club out of business by calling in the loan, because of the loss of a facility that brings so much money into the City on big match days. Hence both parties dance around the debt, pretending that it will be repaid one day. It's like the patient in the dentist's chair who, when the dentist starts his drill, reaches out and gently grasps the dentist's private parts, saying: "Now, we're not going to hurt each other, are we?"

paulbear wrote:

I memory serves me correctly, wasn't last season's win v Somerset, the very last game to be completed and if so, that means Liam Norwell has bowled the last ball of the season, 2 seasons in a row, come on stato's see if that has been done before.

You could say Norwell did it twice last season - he took the last wicket to win the Championship but then, the following week, he also took the last wicket against Lancashire to win the Bob Willis Trophy at Lord's.

Just issued today:
https://edgbaston.com/news/new-masterplan-and-levelling-up-fund-bid-to-transform-edgbaston-stadium/
It says: " Building on the success of the Birmingham Bears and Birmingham Phoenix brands, the proposed redevelopment will help to make sport and its associated health and wellbeing benefits more visible and connected to the local community." No mention of Warwickshire there; and I'm not sure how the Phoenix Brand that promotes Butterkist sweet popcorn fits in with health and wellbeing. Even so, it's an interesting and ambitious project.

Good to see Stingray posting. Here's the article by George that she mentioned:
https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/countychampionship/warwickshire_hampshire_liam_norwell_makes_amends_i_was_the_man_get_us_over_the_line.html
It's not just county cricket that comes out of yesterday well, it's those who write about it - some really good articles such as George's plus Ali Martin in The Guardian, who points out that there were 16,000 watching on-line, not bad for a Thursday afternoon.
George mentions comparisons with Botham bowling England to victory in 1981. I was there that day - I'm still trying to find the hat that I lost in the excitement. To that occasion, I would add last year's final day Championship win and yesterday as highlights of my Edgbaston memories.
I'll shut up for the winter (or for an hour or so) after just adding praise for a couple of others - Will Rhodes who has been so heavily criticised on here but who made the bold declaration on day two and also told Liam Norwell in no uncertain terms to keep bowling when he wanted to go off. And Gary Barwell and his staff who got the ground fit for play despite the rain and who also produced a pitch that was ok to bat on but gave the bowlers just that bit of help that they needed.

I think we can conclude that Yorkshire are not taking it well:
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/cricket/yorkshire-ccc-a-club-relegated-and-a-club-destroyed-chris-waters-3861999

Lots of questions to be answered.
In the meantime:
https://deepextracover.com/2022/09/lv-county-championship-warwickshire-v-hampshire-day-four/

The BBC get it both right and wrong:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/63075267
(And in case the link gets corrected, it reads: "Warwickshire (21 pts) beat Yorkshire (4 pts) by five runs".

After the match, the players will be in the Dollery Lounge to thank members for their support:
https://edgbaston.com/news/players-to-visit-tom-dollery-lounge-after-hampshire-fixture/?utm_campaign=13498719_Warwickshire%20Members%20Newsletter%20%2828.09%29&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=DotDigital&dm_i=1AFS,81BOF,8II8VY,WVPO7,1
A chance for Alex Davies to say how much he appreciates all the support he has been given.

At one stage this morning, I definitely thought that I could hear Steve McQueen revving up his motorbike; but now I'm not so sure.

Someone else telling us what went wrong:
https://wisden.com/stories/county-cricket/county-championship-2022/warwickshires-journey-from-championship-winners-to-relegation-contenders-explained
Not much new insight but worth a read.

Maybe I'm missing the logic; but I can't understand why the Club has removed Membership renewal by direct debit so that Members have to take action to renew every year. Surely it is in the Club's interests for membership to renew automatically?

George's article is well worth a read, though I don't think he is right about everything - e.g. Keith Barker's reasons for going to Hampshire were personal; and what he says about Burgess is also different from my understanding.

Team news here:
https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/first-xi/warwickshire-vs-hampshire-26-september-2022/
The Michael Burgess question remains unanswered. And no Yadav in the squad.

Malc wrote:

I’m sure I read somewhere that Moheen had been offered a pay as you play deal for CC cricket.
Yes, pay as you play for red ball:
https://edgbaston.com/news/warwickshire-sign-moeen-ali-on-three-year-contract/

There is a lot in the article below to suggest that the Club has belatedly realised that it has not been communicating effectively with members:
https://edgbaston.com/news/high-performance-review-update/

Re Davies's wicket keeping, I only saw from lunchtime onwards but I certainly thought he kept well.

I thought this evening was a combination of good bowling, poor batting and maybe a couple of dodgy decisions - the Sam Hain lbw looked as if it might be missing leg stump.
Highveld and I both worry when we agree with each other; but, having been a great Yates supporter, I have to agree with him that Yates played an awful innings this evening.
I hardly dare say it, but I thought that Alex Davies, apart from one terrible shot, played well. And earlier, I thought that he kept very neatly.

Glad there was one Bears batter who got a fifty today!

Glad he's going to get a game or two, albeit for Durham:
https://www.durhamcricket.co.uk/news-and-media/chris-benjamin-joins-durham-on-loan-from-warwickshire/

Here's my preview:
https://deepextracover.com/2022/09/lv-county-championship-match-preview-gloucestershire-v-warwickshire/
I hope the rumour that I just read on Twitter that Siraj has been called up by India is false because it would mess up my preview and the Bears' chances. I'm told that you shouldn't believe everything you read on Twitter, so fingers crossed!