I’m always loathe to join in with knee-jerk defenestration debates. Primarily the reason I prefer this forum to the Wild West of social media is that here we can always have a reasoned debate.

For that reason I’ve held back on my twopenn’orth for the bulk of the season but having watched the 1st 2 days live and the rest on the stream I think it’s time.

Tend to agree with the BristolBear posting above. To win CC games you have to be able to take 20 wickets at reasonable cost. It was manifestly obvious before a ball had been bowled this season that this was going to be beyond us. Bresnan was a significant loss. The argument that we are “unexpectedly” missing Woakes, Norwell and Stone simply does not bear scrutiny. Chris Woakes has been centrally-contracted and/or playing IPL since 2015. Liam Norwell, whilst very effective, is extremely injury-prone and is unlikely to ever play more than 50% of scheduled matches. OIly Stone is a brilliant rarity - a 90mph bowler with great control. But sadly he’s held together with string and even when he has a sustained period of playing seems to be pretty unlucky - see today’s announcement of an impact finger injury that’s probably going to keep him out for the rest of the season. Realistically in 6 seasons with us it was only the promotion season in 2018 where he was a significant presence.

OHD has been brilliant again - a bowler that has wrung every last ounce of ability from his talents. He manages to be a threat whilst retaining control of runs. But he has lacked any proper support from the other end. McAndrew has tried his best but has not been able to find the right length in English conditions. Henry Brooks is a shadow of the player that took 2 wickets on debut in his first over. Quick still but with little control - a 4 ball nearly every over. Craig Miles - apart from a decent return back end of last season - looks little more than a CCD2 change bowler. George Garrett seems to offer little threat and Danny Briggs looks completely lost. Even golden arm Rhodes has lost his mojo.

In essence we have a 1 man attack which means sides pile on runs against us at a rapid rate putting the batting line-up under pressure every time. I agree that there are certain batters who seem to be leading a charmed life under the current coaching regime but I think their mindset is probably being scrambled by the pressure they find themselves under game after game when faced with huge totals and deficits conceded by our attack.

It beggars belief that a lack of planning, recruitment and clear-eyed coaching has led us to this a year after we became champions. I suspect we’re going to go down to an even heavier defeat next week at the Oval then will need 2 wins from 3 to stay in the division. When performances and morale are this low - in whatever sport you care to mention - achieving that is almost impossible. Hope I’m proved wrong and I’ll be the first back on 1st October with a mea culpa if I am!

You want to be careful with that common sense approach of yours paulbear - it might catch on! 😉

I'll be taking my chances. If I get hot I'll find some shade and sip a cold drink. At nearly 60 and as a veteran of numerous England overseas tours - 4 days on an unshaded grass bank in Adelaide in 40+ heat Dec 98 stands out - 1 hot day in mid July is not going to worry me. Most county players will have spent time in Aus or SA off season playing club cricket - I suspect they'll have no fears from 1 day in 30+ temps. Short spells of hot weather like this are not that uncommon. Unfortunately - in our post-Covid world - the all too predictable hysterics and catastrophisation from the usual suspects are becoming depressingly regular.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/07/16/heatwaves-and-the-climate-of-fear/

Very impressed by Alex Davies - compact, tight technique and a beautifully paced match winning innings. Looks a superb signing and an excellent addition to what is looking a really strong squad.

Those 4 golden days in late September were the best thing about the whole cricketing year. 4 days with old mates, talking rubbish whilst watching the fantastic ebb and flow of a proper cricket match will stay with me for a long time. Merry Xmas to all of you old buggers!

https://www.facebook.com/1771469743071923/posts/3074160002802884/?sfnsn=scwspmo

We’ve been lobbying the ECB to give fans a voice in the planning of the 2022 County Championship season.
It's worked and they would like to know specifically what you think about a) the pro's and con's of having two divisions and b) pro's and con's on the group / divisional conference style format. If you can email us at info@cricketsupporters.com with the title: County Championship, we will compile all feedback. You can also let us know what you'd like to see in terms of scheduling. Deadline Sept 8th

We're actually now at the same place we were in in 2002 before T20 arrived. 4 competitions squeezed into a 5 month window. But the 100 and T20 have traction whilst the RLODC and CC have been hollowed out. Something has to give.

We've been members since 1990.We took the refund in 2020 and didn't bother this year. There's little in this interview that gives us much hope we'll be back any time soon especially as we've filled the cricket hole with other stuff - primarily golf.

We keep being told to take the positives - the 100's great, the Blast is vibrant, the RLODC showcases the youngsters etc. But seeing the CC denuded of importance and relegated to to bookend the season is heartbreaking. The 2 division CC helped propel England to number 1 in the test rankings 11 years ago. Players like IJL Trott eased into test cricket effortlessy from the grounding they received at county level. The current CC is a husk by comparison - witness the hapless re-selection of 33 year old Dawid Malan this week and the talking up of James Vince as an Ashes prospect.

I guess at age 58 and 61 respectively we're just attritional, collateral damage - the Hundred money and test match receipts mean that clubs like Warwickshire can probably wave us off with little regret. We're sad to be walking away but at the moment there's little to keep us hanging on.

With regards to the increasingly pointless Covid theatrics spectators are subject to I couldn't care less tbh. Given that
Wembley will be welcoming 40000+ non-socially distanced football fans on Monday without any mandatory pre-testing
the legislations has now descended into farce as any sentient being knew it would eventually.

The portentious warnings regarding £1000 fines are just noise. When this “legislation” was introduced after the antics of
Pakistan supporters during several pitch invasions over the course of summer 2001 it was pointed out that it did not carry the force of law.
These rules are not the same as those that cover football grounds. They're basically private trespass regs supposedly backed by police action.
The latter is usually not applied. Much like those Coronavirus breaches that have made it to court most get thrown out on technicalities so the police tend not to take it any further.

That's not to excuse last night's behaviour. Edgbaston has set itself up as “Party Central” and even though the ensuing carnage seems to have been organised by an outside agency Stuart Cain and his predecessors can hardly hold up their hands in mock innocence. This is the inevitable result of the constant encouragement of this particular type of punter to attend.

My tip, although we're not attending any this year, is the safest,sanest place to be on T20 nights is on top the old press box. It's up a few flights of stairs and far enough away from most of the bars to discourage frequent visits.

GerryShedd wrote:

Yes I agree that the weather predictions differ widely between different forecasters. Where is Michael Fish when you need him?
Anyway, sadly, I've made the decision not to travel - it's a long and tedious journey up the M5 on a Friday afternoon with the likelihood of traffic jams and the possibility of no cricket at the end of it.

Met Office app is normally the best IMHO. Suspect there might be a 5 over tear-up about 9pm at best.

This looks like a team on the up. Some good signings, youngsters stepping up, experienced players thriving.

What I hated during the last
2-3 years wasn't that we were bad but that we were mediocre and that that had become an acceptable place to be by those in charge. Mark Robinson's arrival seems to have electrified the players. Though I still have issues with the continued presence of certain old boys on the coaching staff I would have to say that this is the most positive I've felt for at least 6 years.

Highveld wrote:

Collins Obuya had a good, and long career with the Kenya side, becoming captain towards the end of his career.
He is a long way from been Warwickshires worst ever overseas player.

Vasbert Drakes

Streetly_Bear wrote:

Yes I thought that as well, a very vocal side in the field and I agree a bit over the top.

It’s something I’ve seen mentioned on other counties forums and blogs about Notts.

Those of us of a certain vintage will remember the same thing being said about Dermot Reeve's Bears mid 90s. I've no problem with it tbh.

Read in George's report today of the sad passing of Jane.

Some of us who have been through the various iterations of this forum will remember her always intelligent and often humorous contributions.

Very sad news.

Notwithstanding all the above I'm very concerned about Burgess. His keeping looks pretty acceptable but his contributions with bat have been dismal. Not really up to date with our other wicket keeping options but I do wonder how much longer they can perservere with Burgess in this form.

I didn't renew my membership this year as I suspected that any return to spectating at Edgbaston would be hedged around with "new normal" regulations. Nor was I remotely happy with the rather nebulous pro-rata Covid money back guarantee. Presumably if you don't want to play ball with these restrictions you would not be eligible to count non-attendance or unwillingness to attend against the guarantee. For me watching live sport is a communal experience. What is on offer this year is the complete antithesis.

Afternoon. DaveC from the old site here. Thanks for getting this going again. Can't be arsed with FB or Twitter and this place was always more civilized.