Giles : Warks a work in progress in one-day cricket

Warwickshire are a "Warwickshire remain a work-in-progress in one-day cricket" according to Ashley Giles, yeah we noticed! There has indeed been some progress, Trott opening has worked and i always thought it would after seeing him open in a friendly against Ireland a few years ago. I'm not sold on Carter pinch-hitting though he has had a few good scores this year. Personally i think he is too hit and miss for the role and if he fails it can derail our whole innings. Two spinners acting in unison has also been very good and i hope they continue with this (though i assume a replacement for Salisbury will be needed in a year or so).

We could do with a finisher coming in down the order to get us home or give us the end of innings final push at around #6 or 7, maybe Ian Westwood can continue to develop his batting skills and work into that role. We could do with a new captain, personally i think Maddy's captaincy is not that great, Westwood did really well in the T20 and i would like him to be made the captain full-time next season.

So Pro-40 Division 2 next season

The no-result last night i believe killed off any remaining mathematical chance of the Bears getting promoted in the Pro-40, or was that the other night. Mathematics isn't my strong point, i failed my A Level. Not that it really matters as the Pro-40 is to be killed off at the end of the next season so will be even more pointless than it unfortunately is now. I suppose being the last ever Pro-40 Division 2 champions might be worth a tiny footnote in Wisden.

The sun is out today though, lets hope the Indian Summer has begun so it will be nice for the last game of the season, CC against Glamorgan at the end of September!

Bring back the sunshine cricket!

The season is stuttering to a damp end and its time to reflect on the highlights of the 2008 season for the Bears. The county championship has been a bit of a grind though could still end in promotion, the 50 over competition was a bit of a non-entity, T20 wasn't bad at all, Pro-40 is dying quick though watching some highlights of the game in August between the Bears and Northants reminded me of some of my personal highlights of the season, seeing Trott and Maddy whack the ball into the stands over and over again.

Some more of that please, especially in the county championship which is what i tend to watch live. Some cricket to put a smile on our faces, play with zest and get rid of the fear of failure. Come on the Bears!

Remember when cricket was played on a Sunday

Back in ye olde days there always seemed to be cricket on a Sunday, the 40 over Sunday league. Well they tried it again today but unfortunately the rain had other ideas and Warks vs Essex was canceled. Its been rather damp over the other side of Brum apparently, cars abandoned in flood water on the Bristol Road? Erk! Glad i live in the hills of Erdington.

Ground was saturated, i should get my water butt down there. Its hardly filled despite all this Biblical rain. My back lawn was quite playable actually but not really big enough for a game, you could probably knock the ball for six with your breath.

My old car seems to have some trouble, thats the one i usually use to go to the ground. So if i do come again this season it's likely to be in my Dad's old car (well not that old actually, old in that its now mine) so i had better remember to remove his Lancashire CCC brolly from the boot in case it rains and i need cover. Might cause a riot.

Rikki Clarke in

Rikki Clarke has left Derbyshire with immediate effect and according to Warks fan word of ..er.. keys he has signed for Warwickshire and will play in our next game. The official site is silent of course but that's no surprise. I am quite pleased he has signed though the Warks fandom is divided. He has a little bit of "name" which the Bears need and can be a decent performer with bat & ball when he tries, lets hope his good days outnumber his bad ones.

Michael Vaughan is apparently also a possible, though i would regard this as the sports transfer of the century if he came, never mind Robinho to Man City!

Update : its confirmed, 3 year contract too. Mind you he was on a 2 year deal with Derby and didn't even last 1 of those 2 years.

Hick to retire

I saw him play earlier in the year, i thought it could be the last time, and i was right. Who am i talking about, well Graeme Hick who has announced he will retire at the end of the season. The 42 year old became the highest run scorer of all time earlier in the season and any other records would probably be beyond him so i guess there isn't really anything left for him to prove and his injury problems probably helped him decide to end his career with Worcestershire that began in 1984.

Ian Bell won't be available for the Bears for the rest of the season

Ian Bell is among the centrally contracted players who will not be available for their counties for the rest of the season (which is about 27 days) though annoyingly Alistair Cook has been given special dispensation to play for Essex in a couple of 1 day matches... one being against Warwickshire!

Considering how short the rest of the season is and how promotion/relegation is up for grabs for a number of counties i think it is silly (to say the least) to stop batsmen playing unless they feel like they really need a break. Bowlers perhaps have a case though compared to years past bowlers do bowl a lot less in a season than they used to.