Not sure about the legalities of re-printing a protected article and this may just be a ploy by Highveld to get me arrested - but here it is:
Warwickshire are set for a September performance review to decide whether they will keep their head coach after just one County Championship victory with one game to play this season
Mark Robinson's future as head coach of Warwickshire hangs in the balance after another underwhelming season at Edgbaston.
While Warwickshire reached the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast and the semi-finals of the One-Day Cup, they have won just one Championship match this season and are still at risk of relegation. They have looked overly reliant upon seam bowlers on the wrong side of 35 and have sometimes lacked penetration on the flat wickets which characterise Edgbaston these days.
Robinson led Warwickshire to the Championship title in 2021 and has seen several home-grown young players settle into his sides. But Warwickshire's targets for each season include a top three finish in the Championship and reaching finals day in the Blast. They have been unable to achieve any of those aims in the three most recent seasons, however, and his relationship with some in the playing squad is not everything it might be.
Warwickshire were fourth in the Championship in 2023, eighth in 2022 (when they avoided relegation at the last minute through the bowling heroics of Liam Norwell) and remain in danger of relegation this year with one game to play. They have reached the Blast quarter-finals for four years in succession but have not progressed to Finals Day. Indeed, they have not reached Finals Day since 2017.
Warwickshire, like most clubs, review their season each Autumn. This year, however, the review will start in September with club insiders suggesting a change is necessary if they are to challenge in 2025. The review, which will involve confidential interviews with senior players and members of the support staff and management, is expected to be completed by the end of October.
"We have been unlucky with injuries and the weather but, ultimately, others have been through the same, and I can see why some will say these are just excuses," Stuart Cain, the Warwickshire CEO, told The Cricketer. "We need to develop a squad and level of resilience that can manage what the season throws at us. We've not performed to the standards we set ourselves.
"We conduct a review at the end of every season. This looks at whether we have the players, facilities, back-office support and coaching staff that we need to succeed. And, at the end of that, if we need to change anything, we will.
"We do have both more batting and bowling bonus points than any other side in Division One, and have consistently topped the Blast group, so I would say we can't be all bad. But we are disappointed and we do have to find a way to improve."
While the review will be conducted, primarily, by director of cricket, Gavin Larsen, there may also be some questions about his position. When he was appointed, ahead of the 2023 season, it was suggested his contact book would enable Warwickshire to access top players from around the world. As things have transpired, it has enabled Warwickshire to attract journeyman seamers from New Zealand who were playing club cricket in England.
Cain, meanwhile, has confirmed that he has no intention of leaving. With a new hotel to be build on the ground, the sale of equity in a Hundred team to oversee and on-going improvements in community relations to build upon, he remains focused on the future.