GerryShedd
Super Moderator
The Telegraph reports:
"Tickets for next week’s Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston have not sold out, despite a reduced capacity because of the construction of an on-site hotel. About 12,000 have sold for the first two days, with a sell-out of 19,000 expected on Friday, day three."
For those who are interested in football history, I suspect that Brian Halford's new book will be a really good read:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kicking-Off-Again-Footballs-Greatest/dp/1836804202/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WYw3rkWD6RGOV72L_VT14gYyHHg0jLGpYBQ6uQ-SmDdF7lfr4xBJ_77ZgKsWlVXtGkNKvey9JyZWyskKN1s2h-I4numlNJtTEhPAm4aY13dwcKG1AuqwGJxunViIaECAdeegY8LVlnUk9PWX1c8W3w.czdUqz0SrRK6htDj2itoEzeSvBkddbwWAGjL635zx2U&dib_tag=se&keywords=brian+halford&qid=1786609173&s=books&sr=1-2
What cricketing record does Warwickshire's Alan (A. C.) Smith share with Indian wicket keeper Probir Sen?
Not much at stake now; but could be a good match against an interesting Lancashire side. Preview from the Lancashire perspective here:
https://cricket.lancashirecricket.co.uk/news/2026-news/match-preview-warwickshire-v-lancashire-metro-bank-one-day-cup/
Behind The Cricketer paywall, George Dobell has written a pretty savage article about the cricket management team at Edgbaston.
He is talking about all the Edgbaston based teams - Warwickshire men and women and Phoenix men and women. He points out that both the Phoenix teams are at the bottom of their respective tables. He also says that an opportunity has been missed to create a link between the Warwickshire and Phoenix teams by giving the Phoenix a core of Warwickshire players like Sam Hain, Dan Mousley, Chris Woakes and Issy Wong. He also slates the Warwickshire women's team management for losing so many top players - most recently Georgia Davis and Em Arlott.
Especially in George's sights is Performance Director James Thomas with his lack of cricketing credentials; and he suggests that cricket knowledge/experience is lacking on the Club Board.
Most disappointing is the fact that George gave the Club the opportunity to comment on his views/defend their position; and the supposedly media-friendly Club declined.
If you are subscribed to The Cricketer,the article is well worth a read. If not, I hope I've given you the gist of it here.
The Chief Executive, in his latest letter to members, says:
"We’ve also listened to Member feedback around player injuries and will try to provide more online information when we can."
Of course, he could then have given an update but didn't; but at least the message has got through.
Just wondering what posters think about the so-called Clicky Ponting Scandal:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jul/29/saltburn-suspend-fielder-clicky-pointing-cricket
Club says:
"Bears’ batting coach Matt Walker will leave the club at the end of the season after accepting the Head Coach position at Sussex County Cricket Club."
Interesting to see that Lancashire have ditched their plans to charge for live streaming of matches:
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/26254481.lancashire-cricket-ditches-paywall-lancstv-u-turn/
Press release says:
"Warwickshire County Cricket Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Sophie Ball as its inaugural Head of Data and Intelligence, a pioneering role that reinforces the Club’s commitment to innovation and high-performance excellence."
It says of Sophie: "She began her career with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) as an analyst before spending the past six years at British Cycling as Lead Insights Analyst."
The old-fashioned part of me is slightly cynical about these kinds of roles. Did her six years at British Cycling lead to any insights other than "Pedal faster"?
Preview here:
https://edgbaston.com/news/bears-v-notts-outlaws-at-trent-bridge-preview/
14 man squad, Dan Mousley and Richard Gleeson coming in, and Hamza Shaikh missing out.
News is coming through of the death of M.J.K. Smith, a giant of Warwickshire cricket. He was my cricketing hero as I grew up.
Here's a quiz question for what may or may not turn out to be a rainy day:
When Ethan Bamber scored a hundred against Essex last year, he became the fourth Warwickshire batter to register a County Championship century as what we are now required to call a nightwatcher(!). Can you name the other three?
Interesting to see Jamie McDowall appointed as Club President.
https://edgbaston.com/news/jamie-mcdowall-to-become-next-warwickshire-president/
I played a match with him years ago where he had a couple of stumpings but reckoned that the umpire should have given him three (or maybe it was four) more.
I think he's a good guy and a genuine county cricket lover.
New this year - the ability to substitute players suffering injury, illness or significant personal reasons.during the game.
It's already been used seven times in the first two Championship rounds. Having seen two players from opponents Yorkshire substituted because of food poisoning, Hampshire coach Russell Domingo has suggested (maybe not entirely seriously) that he could give a couple of players laxatives if they bowled badly in the first innings and then say they were feeling sick in the second innings and take them out of the game.
So maybe we missed a trick when our bowlers were under-performing against Sussex.
As the new season looms, we can be pretty sure that there will soon be some injury scares, especially amongst the large squad of pace bowlers.
It would seem that our coaches are missing a trick - Adam Hollioake at Kent is ahead of the game:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/cwyk0el7jz2o
""We got a faith healer in over the winter, or a spirit healer," Hollioake told The Cricketer. "I'm not sure what the exact title was, but we got someone to warden off the evil spirits."
If he is interested, I can put Ian Westwood in touch with a couple of my friends who would be happy to help since they are male witches. "Warlocks!" I hear you all say - but I swear it's true.
This is an interesting development:
https://the-bear.counterpress.media/about
The involvement of Brian Halford and Paul Edwards suggests that there will be some good content. How many will be prepared to pay up to get the content remains to be seen.