Having Barnard and Booth back will make such a difference. I'm concerned about Ali's form but he is young and hopefully he will grow the more he plays. Wylie definitely deserves another shot.

I really hoped we would persuade Patterson-White to come to the Bears. A senior spinner/all rounder is a must for next season. Not sure why we need Ben Cox unless Davies is going.

Maybe Westwood deserves more time. What exactly has this data nerd James Thomas delivered in 18 months? A bits and pieces all-rounder from Yorkshire, an injury hit bowler from Kent and a 39 year-old former player who hardly plays. The obvious deficiencies in the batting have not been addressed. Time to get a proper cricket man in as Director of Cricket.

Yet he was "rested" the other day. The club putting out mixed messages or zero injury updates on other players is incredibly poor. The supporters deserve better. Warwickshireis being run like an amateur club these days.

A slow death at Taunton. I love this format but Westwood has killed any enjoyment this year with this non competitive team. I probably won't bother going to any of the matches. We will be lucky to win one.

Lintott has added himself to the squad on Twitter saying "see you there". It is an odd state of affairs.

The preparation and selections for this competition have been shambolic. Westwood needs to explain things here. Lintott wasn't in the squad for the previous game yet he played. Not taking him to Taunton, his old stomping ground, would be like cutting our own throats.
My faith in Westwood is diminishing by the game.

Fair play to Garton. I'm not his biggest fan but he has reinvented himself as an effective batsman. We are not too far off. Gilchrist or Simmons for Garlick would give us a better bowling attack, although who knows whether he and others are available due to the lack of information from the club.

He seems to have done well with the younger players. Malik and Jani are on an upward trajectory. The less said about Davies the better but he probably doesn't take constructive criticism too well.

Playing Garton as a batsman is absolute madness. If he can't bowl, he has little value to the team apart from his obvious fielding skills. If Barker is injured we should have been in the market for an overseas. Surrey, for example, have snapped up an excellent South Africa A prospect for the competition.
I had high hopes for the Metro Bank but relying on a rookie from Staffordshire to replace Barnard doesn't bode well.

Andy wrote:

The top 6 picks itself obviously, really interested to see how they sort through the rest. If Garton can bowl, he's in. We went in with 30 or close to 30 overs of spin a couple of times last year (Middlesex at Rugby, Lancs at Liverpool)...would be nice to know the status of Booth, Barker, Simmons and Gilchrist...looking ahead, we definitely need more than 2 seamers at Taunton.

Northants squad looks strong.

Any news on Barker? He would be ideal for the balance of the team.

I am optimistic for our chances in this competition. If we can replace Captain Barnard's all round contribution (Garton or Barker maybe?) we have a strong squad. Really pleased that Hain is available and skipper for this.
Looking around at other counties, Yorkshire have decent team and Hampshire should be contenders. Come on you Bears!

Andy wrote:

Desperately short on death bowling.

Id love to see Wylie play. If Garton cant bowl I think Wylie has to, and bat 7, otherwise it's a ludicrously long tail?

Gilchrist injured?

If Simmons is fit but can't get a look in here with all the bowlers we have missing then it doesn't look good for him...

It's really frustrating that the club do not provide any updates on the injury situations, leaving it to guesswork on our behalf. Garton could be a key player in this comp if he can bowl. Hopefully he is motivated to win us some silverware before he exits.

Brilliant win. Strange approach to the chase from the Pears. They seemed to give up quite early on.

Surely Hamza has put his hand up for selection on Friday with another big score. 64 off 29 balls. Smith did well too. They could come in for Jani and Davies.
Weird that Garton didn't bowl and then faced ten balls for his six runs. Not a bad days work for big money. Impressive figures for Tariq.

It's a real shame Webster is going at the end of July. He is a quality cricketer.

Westwood has indicated Suthar may return....

Strong looking Bears line up including Woakesy, Tariq, OHD and Dicky Gleeson. The lesser spotted Garton also makes a rare appearance.

No sign of Davies wanting to play for the seconds to find form. It's obviously beneath him and his ego.

David Willey is playing for Northants alongside our old friend Slim Sylvester who must be trying to earn a contract there.

I'm very surprised he has been given three years. Two is enough and review it then. We have an ageing attack as it is. Rumours abound that Woakesy is packing up red ball cricket altogether.

Sad to see how Henry Brookes' career has panned out. He looked quite promising when he first came in.
Brookes was loaned to Gloucestershire recently but failed to make an impression there. I suspect he will be released by Middlesex at the end of his contract.

Hamza got a big score at last so hopefully he is hitting form and will get a chance in the firsts.