It would help his cause if they were not called Birmingham Bears, as a Warwickshire supporter from Nuneaton, now exiled on the South Coast and also a Villa fan I do not warm to Birmingham Bears ........... sorry.

Pathetic really does sum it up, other than that I am lost for words, which is a rarity.

Highveld wrote:

This article lists all the outgrounds used by Warwickshire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Warwickshire_County_Cricket_Club_grounds

Yes Weddington Road did host first class cricket, about 110 years ago so hardly relevent to a discussion of viable sites to use now.

Without a significant commercial sponsor, ideally with a multi year contractual commitment, there is not a viable option for using an outground in the county.
I saw Tom Cartwright score 210 at Griff and Coton Nuneaton, plus a host of world class players there over the years, good crowds with plenty of parking and passable refreshment facilities. Also saw Warwickshire Seconds play at Weddington Road, Nuneaton. Of course the real answer is "where there is a will there is a way", might take a bit of effort and work, but it would reap rewards.

Highveld wrote:

This article lists all the outgrounds used by Warwickshire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Warwickshire_County_Cricket_Club_grounds

Yes Weddington Road did host first class cricket, about 110 years ago so hardly relevent to a discussion of viable sites to use now.

Without a significant commercial sponsor, ideally with a multi year contractual commitment, there is not a viable option for using an outground in the county.

As a young family man living in Nuneaton, 20 plus miles away, who was counting the pennies, Country Membership kept me on board, took my three boys as well when they were older. Warwickshire is a big county with large following for WCCC in: Nuneaton, Coventry, Rugby, Warwick, Leamington and many others, even Tamworth and Lichfield in Staffs. Look after the members and long term they will look after you, the out ground games and Country Membership are short-sighted relics of the past, it is 2023 and it's called progress. What is progress and first class is live streaming, I thank all involved, but it isn't the same as actual live cricket.

In 1960 when age 12 living in Nuneaton, I strolled to Griff and Coton to watch Warwickshire in my first County Championship game, being immediately hooked. Games at Coventry Courtaulds, many others at Griff and then schoolboy visits to what became my temple, Edgbaston. I was a Member for years until moving to the South Coast and now follow every ball, either by the excellent live stream or on ESPN Crickinfo. A lifetime of enjoyment (mostly) and I am a proud Warwickshire man in Hampshire, who refuses all offers of going to the soulless Rose Bowl. When living in Nuneaton 20 miles from Edgbaston, without out ground cricket it is unlikely I would ever have caught the Bears Bug, I even had Country Membership which no longer exists and there was always a huge following in Nuneaton. No out ground matches and this following cannot be nurtured, a following which take it from me lasts a lifetime,

I am now finally, officially and unusually totally lost for words, well almost! .......... their PR is abysmal, for God's sake just tell us what is going on, I just think they have all given up and can't wait for the season to end, which is quite a co-incidence so do I.

I just wish I didn't care, but I have done since 1961 and care just as much in 2022 as I did then, too old to grow out of it. Sadly, I am not convinced all of those departing at the end of the season or even some who remain, care half as much.

Team selection in all forms of the game have been quite simply baffling this season, not sure who does it or how (there have been particular favourites and some players not given a fair chance), but we have by no means got the best out of our squad of players throughout the season ......... in red or white ball cricket. I don't think anyone can understand the way Lamb has been treated or what happened to Burgess, who was "unavailable" for the most crucial game of the season, with no explanation. I have supported WWCC since 1961 when I first watched them at Nuneaton and Coventry Courtaulds, so I will dust myself off and go again next season, I just hope the coaching and playing staff do as well. ........... This whole season has left me a constantly PUZZLED "mushroom".

paulbear wrote:

Yes, 'Meh' sums it up. Stupid team selection and whatever team is selected, they seem to throw away so many good positions. Injuries haven't helped but you wonder if having a full-strength side would make a difference. The side from 2016-17 were full of 'Great' Warwickshire players and still we struggled during that period. I think we will bounce back straight away and my tone means I have given up already but once we are down, we need a decent selection committee when it comes to actually picking a side.

This is extremely poor PR and no way to treat the Membership, who are all reasonable people and will understand if given some sort of explanation. I object to being "fobbed off" with a mere "unavailable". I ran a professional sports team back in the day, with a large fan base and healthy attendances of between 5k and 10k depending on the opposition, if we had just said to our fans a player was "unavailable" there would have been a huge backlash. If a professional is "unavailable" there has to be a good personal reason, which we would all understand if we were given some sort of a clue ......... "unavailable" is simply not acceptable, we deserve to be treated better than that, "mushrooms" just does not come into it.

paulbear wrote:

Unfortunately when a player is not in the team and the club (All clubs) do not wish to give a reason, the PR oppo's who are employed, tell all players to come out with the same old line if spectators should ask about a certain player. I remember when Rikki Clarke was not playing in one game v Durham in CC, a few spectators around the ground were asking a few of the staff "Where's Rikki", "Why is Clarke not playing", every single one of them at some stage said "He is not available for selection", which we all know was short for, "He did something wrong and we do not want to tell anyone what it was".

I may have missed it, if so, I apologise, but have we been given a sensible reason for the omission of Burgess from the team? Merely unavailable just does not cut it. If it is deeply personal then say so, we will accept that and move on. If he has been dropped then say so, we might not agree but we will accept that and move on. But we deserve more than simply to say he is unavailable.