AGM

Kim didn't win election to the committee unfortunately at the AGM, though the club arn't saying how many votes he did get, indications from chat on the unofficial forum was that it was pretty close. Lets hope this scares the committee a bit. Well we can always hope can't we?

A video will be available next week, coolness!

If you are going to the AGM tonight...

Don't forget that Kim Jones is up for election to the committee. It would be nice to have someone who represents the supporters up there. Even if he doesn't win, plenty of votes should shake things up a bit, hopefully.

Pavilion decision delayed

Warwickshire will have to wait until April to find out is the council will back their multi-million pound redevelopment. The council will not back the club's loans until planning permission has been granted and that will not now be discussed until March the 26th. However if things go smoothly then tendering can begin in May. And the swish new pavilion and various other juicy bits could be in place by mid-2011.

Jack Bannister severs ties with the Bears over the Stanford fiasco

Jack Bannister, ex-player and committee member is now an ex-member. He has severed ties with the club over the Stanford fiasco. The full text of his farewell letter to the club is on Brian's blog but in brief he says he has become disillusioned with the ECB over their handling of the Stanford affair and the recent turmoil in the England camp and as the ECB leadership is supported by Warwickshire then he cannot be associated with the club anymore.

Jack has made a grand guesture here obviously intending to gain some publicity. The ECB needs to be totally shook up and heads need to roll. Not necessarily actual beheading taking place though i am not that choosy.

Bell watch : England vs BCA XI

Trying to get over their disappointment at just falling short in the 2/3rd test match England face the BCA Presidents XI in a 2 day match. England made 351-8dec, IR Bell making 44 of those though Ravi Bopara stepped off the plane and made 124no. Tim Ambrose who will be in the side sometime this series (next test?) as paternity leave cover for Prior made 74.

The Stanford soap continues

What with yesterday's exciting events Sir Allen Stanford's involvement with the game has switched suddenly from "Who wants to be a T20 millionaire?" to "CSI : Antigua". The FBI are investigating his links to a Mexican drugs cartel. Sir Allen is still missing after trying to fly to Antigua but being foiled by a cancelled credit card. Meanwhile there has been a run on the banks he owned in Antigua, Venezuela and elsewhere.

As for more interesting matters, on the pitch England have the West Indies at 142-3 in their second innings. To win on day 5 England need 7 wickets, the Windies need 360 runs.

Allen Stanford

Well you can read about the Allen Stanford mess here, here, here and here.

I'm not going to comment on it. I'm sure a lot of the media pack will be crowing. Personally i have nothing against rich Americans. My best friend from college migrated there and is now a rich American, for some reason he didn't want to remain here a slightly less rich Brummie. He does own a Jag though, living the dream!

Update : i must admit though i do find it rather amusing that he tried to flee the US but his credit card didn't work!

Benaud to quit

The "Voice of cricket" Richie Benaud is to finally retire from commentary at the end of next year. He has already stopped working for the BBC and other non-Australian providers of course though continued working for Aussie TV but said he will quit at the end of next year and do "other things".

No Bell Watch : 3rd test vs West Indies

Was the 2nd test the shortest one ever with actual play? Anyway for that and the hastily arranged third test Bell lost his place to Owais Shah who scored 57 out of 566-9dec. A fairly flat pitch by all accounts and Bell could have cashed in there, unfortunately he lacked the dirty runs when conditions were not as favourable to take advantage.

Greatest Uncapped XI

Wisden Cricketer Monthly is going to select a "Greatest Uncapped XI" from postwar England county players who never got picked to play test cricket for England. 6 Bears are in the 65 strong short-list including Andy Moles and Dougie Brown. People are invited to write in their XIs. Of course the key to this is considering the times the players played in and whether they were better than the players who actually got picked for England.

This all reminds me i got my latest copy of WCM at the weekend and haven't opened it yet.

AGM will be web streamed, audio anyway

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 25th February, i probably won't go (never have actually!) However this year audio from the AGM will be presented on-line the following week. I applaud the club with it's nervous steps into new media.

Now all we need are club blogs, a Flickr photostream, Youtube channel, Social networking links, Twitter feed et cetera...

Kim Jones aims to win place on general committee

Kim Jones, Warks supporter and regular contributor the the Bears forum, is trying to gain election to the general committee. I think it will be a good thing to have a "normal" supporter on the committee but he needs more votes than one of the five existing members up for election.

“I just think it is vital that opinions of the rank-and-file membership are properly heard,” Kim said.

Indeed. Well i got my yearbook and various member voting things today so he has my vote!

Bell watch : 1st test vs West Indies

England closed at 236-5 on the first day of the first test against the West Indies at Sabina Park. Bell made 28, looking comfortable until yet again falling in the 20s and 30s. Got to say the pressure must be on him now to get a big score and soon. KP Nuts got 97 before trying to slog and getting out in a way only KP can. Still its better to keep getting out in the 90s than the 20s...