With the comments in the Dobell article, plus Rhodes’ great ally Farbrace leaving, will we see a new club captain for the rest of the year? Or will a new one be appointed next year?
Not sure the list of potential candidates is that long. But would say a lot about Robinsons thinking.
Think we can safely assume Moeen will be T20 captain next year too.
The big question is who would be a viable alternative?
Very few of the squad have had any captancy experience, in senior cricket.
Possibly Sam Hain and OHD would be likely candidates.
At least with Farbrace leaving it won't be Davies.
Would be OHD over Hain for me.
Or, left field option, despite him having a poor year, Briggs is a steady wise head, might be worth it for 3 matches.
I’d worry about Hain getting bogged down by the captaincy. And I’m not a fan of a keeper being captain as it’s a lot to keep, bat and captain. Your mind never gets a rest.
Towards the end of the article that I posted about Moeen captaining the Bears in the Blast is the sentence:
"Club Captain Will Rhodes will continue to lead Warwickshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship and One-Day Cup, where he will also be assisted by Davies as Vice Captain."
A very poor decision from Robinson to have Davies as VC. He barely justifies his place in the side and has a history of making racist social media comments. OHD, Sam Hain or Ed Barnard would be better option, or if he was available Chris Woakes.
Yes made that point in the previous thread, not a good look having Davies as VC with his history. He was suspended at the start of last season remember.
Not happy with Davies as vice-captain- I think the writing is very much on the cards for Michael Burgess, which I think would be a great shame.
The quoted sentence is ambiguous as it could be read to mean that Davies would be VC in the one day cup but not in the CC. That would be a lesser mistake.
Davies is a plausible white ball player but far inferior to Burgess in red ball cricket. I have seen nothing to suggest that he is captaincy material in either.
Not sure what Robinsons love affair with Davies is. How can you reward such mediocrity?
I’d wager this will be Burgess’ last year with the club, if I were him I wouldn’t stick around if it’s clear it’s not about performances. Suspect he’d have plenty of suitors.
I agree that the sentence about Davies is ambiguous. But won't Davies be playing in the Hundred for the Pom Bears or Southern Braves or whatever they are called when the one day cup is being played?
There's nothing to suggest that he is going to keep wicket in red ball cricket even if he is vice-captain so I wouldn't discount Burgess.
The latest press release clarifies the ambiguity:
"Club Captain Will Rhodes will continue to lead Warwickshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship, where he will also be assisted by Davies as Vice Captain, and the One Day Cup."
Maybe the thinking is that if you've got somebody who walks around in the field looking as though he owns the whole stadium, you might as well make him at least partly in charge.
Presumably Rhodes had a substantial say in who was going to be vice captain? In which case we can probably assume that he approves.
Another day, another announcement:
https://edgbaston.com/news/alex-davies-says-vice-captain-role-is-a-honour-and-privilege/
We are now told that:
".. the 28-year-old will support Club Captain Will Rhodes in the LV= Insurance County Championship and One-Day Cup, as well as stand-in as captain whilst Moeen Ali is playing in the IPL."
A dreadful decision, there are much better options in the squad.
Davies has done nothing to deserve the role. Even Jacob Bethell has more leadership experience.
I can’t believe Rhodes got a choice. I suspect it was decided for him. Otherwise there’s no way he doesn’t choose someone like Hain, OHD, even Barnard or Briggs. All senior county players with excellent temperaments and consistent performers. I even think when Rhodes was unavailable for a couple of matches in the 1 day cup Burgess captained the last couple of years.
Again it’s just another confusing choice. And you’ve got to wonder what’s driving it because Davies hasn’t performed, he’s got well documented character flaws, he wasn’t a captain for Lancashire where you’d have thought after 10 years there he might have been given that chance. Robinsons fascination, bordering on obsession with Davies seems rather quite bizarre to me.
It really does dampen enthusiasm for the upcoming season because it suggests the problems from last season (Davies ever presence, strange selections from Robinson etc.) will be here again this season.
As mentioned above Davies walks around like he owns the place already, and to me the way he has to direct at least one fielder in between every ball is an undermining of the captain.
Not happy with this at all.
Heard from a couple of reliable sources that Will Rhodes is considering giving up the captaincy next year. And potentially sooner if his CC form doesn’t improve.
He’s been frustrated by his own form, but is happy whilst the side is performing well. Robinson is aware, and Davies as VC would be appointed.
Apparently Rhodes is also frustrated that he isn’t being considered to go out on loan for T20, as it’s a bad look for the club captain. But he also isn’t getting in the T20 side despite scoring a lot of runs in the seconds.
Robinson has countered this by including him in the most recent squad. But Rhodes knows realistically with a fit Hain and available Moeen, he won’t get into that side as it stands. Yates currently seen as a better option.
Sadly I feel the next captain appointed will be a poor choice.
I'd like to see Ed Barnard been given the role, with OHD as his VC, however it is almost ertain Robinson will continue his policy of rewarding mediocraty by given the role to Davies or Yates.
Rhodes obviously struggled for form with the bat but by and large he was a good captain.
I think if there is a poor choice we will see the difference between a good captain and a bad captain. Given that Davies was T20 captain he's probably the favourite.