GerryShedd
Super Moderator
I would say that Norwell and Miles were much of a muchness for Gloucestershire - Miles 255 wickets at 26.88, Norwell 248 at 26.97.
There were always doubts about Norwell's fitness/resilience. Just after he joined the Bears, I spoke to one of the Gloucestershire coaches and explained that Liam was currently injured but would be back soon. His reply to me was: "Don't hold your breath."
I don't go with the view that Miles was only ever seen as a back-up/support bowler. At the time of his signing, he was thought of as one of the most promising young pace bowlers in the country. He made his debut at age 16 and was described by Gloucestershire coach Mark Alleyne as "a precocious talent." For Gloucestershire, he took 255 wickets in 68 first-class matches at an average of 26.68.
Admittedly, that was in the second division; but the potential was clearly there.
So I think that this is another instance where the Bears bowling coaches haven't done a great job in bringing on a young bowler.
It looks as though Warwickshire players are leading the way in the call for less cricket.
As well as OH-D speaking up as the PCA Chair, we have the following:
England allrounder Chris Woakes, the PCA's England Men's representative, said the call for change was not about playing "less cricket because they don't want to - it's about being able to produce the best cricket on the field as possible".
"Welfare is extremely important and not just players but coaches and staff," he said. "We need to get the scheduling right to give players the time to prepare, recover and make sure they're in the best state physically and mentally.
"The game is now played at a greater intensity and faster rate, especially in white-ball cricket. When you're having to play back-to-back games it's almost impossible to be at 100%. Having gaps between games and with safe travel is very important."
Three wickets in his first over.
Even Durham who were defeated semi-finalists have an on-line report now:
https://www.durhamcricket.co.uk/news-and-media/sam-conners-takes-3-11-durham-second-xi-fall-short-against-warwickshire-second-xi-at-t20-finals-day/
I don't thinkthe Club has got round to reporting on the win; but here is the Notts report:
https://www.trentbridge.co.uk/news/2025/july/t20-runners-up-spot-for-seconds.html
Excellent effort at the end by Bamber to bring home the trophy.
Somerset's Chair is outspoken and makes some interesting points:
“We don’t want less Blast matches ...we like the Blast and the players like the Blast.
If you take a home game away from us we not only lose substantial revenue, but also a key opportunity to inspire the south-west through cricket, so we are against reducing the number of Blast games, even if we turned out to be the only county who believe that.
Regarding the County Championship proposals we are also opposed to a reduction in the number of matches played. On this subject we have one or two supporters among the other counties.
A catalyst for change has been PCA player survey data indicating workload concerns. We are very sympathetic to this, particularly our players who play all formats but see this as a situation for the Club to manage in partnership with players and coaching and science and medicine staff – it is not the job of the fixtures.
There are also a number of players in our squad who would like more cricket rather than less."
Move confirmed by the Club - but remember you read it here first!
https://edgbaston.com/news/miles-leaves-warwickshire-after-six-years/
BosworthBear wrote:
Here’s the report
I think the report as a whole is much more balanced than the quotes in The Guardian from one of its authors.
I quite liked this summary:
'Amid a global game increasingly centred around short-
form franchise cricket, and with an uncertain outlook for
the sport’s finances, questions have grown over whether
county cricket will remain relevant and can prove financially
sustainable.
Yet, compared to elsewhere in the world, in many ways
domestic cricket in England and Wales is admirably strong,
helping explain why – following investment from IPL team
owners, US tech billionaires and private equity firms into The
Hundred – a key question within the game is how the future
of the 18 first-class counties can be preserved, in the ECB’s
words, for “generations to come.” '
There is the capacity for players in a Hundred squad but not actually playing to go back to their county for a match/matches; but that just complicates matters further.
I think Webster was only signed until the end of July and has since been called up by Australia for their tour of West Indies. Latham was signed for the season but I see that New Zealand have two Tests coming up v Zimbabwe so I don't know if he may be needed for those.
It also looks as if Pakistan are playing T20 and ODI matches in August, which may rule out Hasan Ali.
Who would be a county coach trying to sort out overseas players' availability?
Excellent performance from Hamza.
With the Durham v Leicestershire match being a no result,it is clearer than ever that a win on Friday will get the Bears into the quarter finals.
I haven't read this report,only the Guardian article;but I think it misses the point that whilst the counties are financially beholden to the ECB, the ECB needs the counties to grow and develop the players who reach international level and generate the ECB's income.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jul/15/hundred-share-sale-saved-six-counties-collapse-cricket-report
The Bears will have seven players missing from the 50 over competition because they will be playing in The Hundred.
They are:
Sam Hain, Jacob Bethell, Dan Mousley, George Garton, Richard Gleeson, Danny Briggs, Chris Woakes
Only Surrey (15), Lancashire (13) and Hampshire (8) have more players missing. Worcestershire with just one player absent (Adam Hose) are least affected.
mad wrote:
You have to wonder how much OHD is being paid to peddle this nonsense and encourage hapless county CEOs to back the horseshit sandwich of a future schedule
There are plenty of players who don't think they have enough games scheduled and yet this is completely masked by the PCA statement.
I guess OHD is just doing his job presenting the views of the majority of his members. As I've said previously, it's not surprising that players are voting for less work for the same pay.
The Cricketer also reports that:
"The Professional Cricketers' Association sent a letter late last week to the chief executives and chairs of the 18 first-class counties, outlining the views of its members and its reasoning for what it described as an "urgent need for domestic schedule reform".
Written by Olly Hannon-Dalby, the Warwickshire seamer and PCA chair, the letter called on counties "to place the welfare of your players at the heart of your decision as your key employees".
The PCA's declared preference is for the fourth of the five options being considered, namely a 12-team top flight, split into two pools, playing 12 games – home and away – against the six teams in the other group, with the teams finishing top of each then playing out a final. The bottom side from each would be relegated, with the top two in the six-team Division Two promoted."
The Cricketer has confirmed that:
Middlesex have followed Surrey and Somerset in publicly confirming their preference for retaining a 14-game County Championship for next year and beyond.
Middlesex, who recently had an SGM, say:
"The view of the Club’s Board, which is aligned to those of the members and other stakeholder groups, is to retain the current structure of the Rothesay County Championship and to maintain the current volume of four-day cricket played at fourteen matches, whilst recognising the need to reform the Vitality Blast to improve player welfare across the schedule."