My colleague Graham Smith has produced a comprehensive preview of prospects for the Metro Bank One Day Cup:
https://deepextracover.com/2023/07/preview-of-the-metro-bank-one-day-cup/

I really can't get enthusiastic about the Hundred. Just a crude slog-fest! A poor show after such a gripping Ashes series.

Looking at the squads I like Sussex's chances this year (I've had a flutter at 12/1). They have Pujara coming back to play and the experience of Steve Finn plus a couple of good young spinners.
I'm disappointed the Bears haven't brought in an overseas player (as yet or maybe not at all). Our squad looks a bit thin in quality and we will need big contributions from the likes of Yates, Rhodes, Burgess, Lintott and Norwell to be in with a chance of winning it. I'm expecting Ethan Brookes to be this year's break out player, and Hamza Sheikh might be ready to make an impact too.

Agree I hope we target winning this competition this season rather than use it as a development competition as we appeared to last couple of seasons. We have enough points to be able to use the final two home Championship fixtures in September as development games for a one or two of the youngsters

With the 100 meaning so many players are unavailable this is fundamentally a development competition and I actually like that about it, it's good seeing what up-and-coming players there are. It's very hard to see our, or indeed anyone else's, prospects in it without knowing who we will have loaned back. Mousley and Bethell it would be good to see back and it would allow them to shoot for a leadership role seeing as they broke-out a couple of years ago now. Micky B wasn't in the washed out warm up against Wales, hope to see him though my biggest fear is if he doesn't play in this (specialist bat at number 4? Kai Smith to keep?) then he'll leave the club at the end of the season. Love to see Norwell get some bowling as warm up for the CC run-in even though I don't really see him as a white ball player.

mad wrote:

Agree I hope we target winning this competition this season rather than use it as a development competition as we appeared to last couple of seasons. We have enough points to be able to use the final two home Championship fixtures in September as development games for a one or two of the youngsters

Nothing better than winning a trophy.
Agree one or two positives to take out of the Royal London last couple of years - after it has disgracefully been hidden behind an inferior format - has been seeing some of the youngsters given a go particularly in 2021 and reasonable-ish crowds of 3-4,000 in the ground for the matches although I quite agree with a comment from one of last year's members forums - we don't pay our members subs to see 2nd XI cricket - and failing to qualify from the group stage has to be seen as overall a failure.

A serious county ought to be able to pivot at this stage of the season and actually target the one competition we are still able to win while looking at the remaining county championship matches - where we essentially have nothing to play for already - as opportunities to develop some of the younger guys in the middle order - certainly in the two home games

I'm not keen on what seems to be a strict formulaic approach to the three comp's we enter each season. Despite clearly prioritising T20 the last couple of seasons Warwickshire have failed in that format, did better than expected in the Championship 2021, underachieved in 2022 in all formats and have a middling record in the One Day Cup. This needs to improve this year we should at least target the Semi Finals

50 overs is my favourite format. The game has enough time to ebb and flow and there is a result at the end of a day's play. We should be going all out to win it after a few years without any success.

Interesting that Lancashire have picked Luke Wells and Gloucestershire picked David Payne for the knockout game despite neither playing in any other game up to this point.

In theory I would like to think Warwickshire won't do this, but then in reality we have one or two players who are very inexperienced who have been picked for group games.

Mixed feelings. It's difficult to say no to Sam Hain who is one of the best List A players in the world and has been integral to everything Warwickshire has done in the last 10 years. Moeen Ali, not so much.
I assume Chris Woakes wouldn't be available anyway.

Woakes isn't in the England T20 squad and the ODIs don't start until Fri 8th so in theory he could play but can't see it. Mo Ali is in the IT20 so forget him. Hain I reckon will play for us.

Maybe....

Yates
Barnard
Rhodes
Hain
Burgess
Bethell
Brookes E
Lintott
Briggs
OHD
Miles or Brookes H

If Available of out "unwanted competition" Players

Hain YES
Woakes YES
Moeen Yes
Briggs YES
Mousley Yes
Benjamin Maybe
Davies NO NO NO

I wouldn't pick any of them personally. I'd only be picking players that played for us in the group stages ideally. Only way I'd go away from that is if we had injuries.

The likes of Woakes and Hain are probably some of my favourite ever Warwickshire players...

But

The lads who have played in the group phase are the ones who have done the heavy lifting and they've done it well. Can't think of anyone who has played in the one day cup for us this season who hasn't done well at some point.

Apart from Davies obviously...

Leics v Gloucs is one Semi Final.

Last year there was a rule that an overseas player had to have played in the group stages to play in the knock out rounds. They got rid of that this year.

Even though it could be a big advantage for us to have the likes of Hain, Mousley and Woakes back.
I do feel like it’s wrong. Players who were part of the hundred should had to have played in the group stages or played a minimum number of group stage games to come back.
Seems unjust and unfair otherwise.
Depending on the result in the Hundred eliminator, the likes of Hampshire could get Vince, Dawson, Howell, Whiteley, Wood, Crane, Weatherly and Wheal back for the quarter, semi and final. Thats a brand new team. Which is obviously ridiculous.

There's another aspect to the post-100 players coming back: would they improve the team? For us the opening partnership plus three can't be improved, most of the bowling can't really be improved (come back to this) even 6/7 Ethan has locked down. But our middle order could be. As it stands its Davies, Bethell and Burgess and none of them have scored too heavily. Ot must be tempting to return Hain and Mousley.

Woakes is interesting. He's in the ODI squad in September but not the IT20s next week so I can see him replacing Brookes (H) or Miles for the semi final for fine tuning purposes for England.

In all cases, I wouldn't though. Not for moral reasons but for cricketing reasons. None of the returning players are as assured as the picks that are there already. I think Hamza was a bit unlucky to be dropped but putting him straight back into to a semi final is probably a step too far.

Take Chris Benjamin for example, is he really part of our best List A side? I'm not sure he is.

Did Woakes play in the other competition? I know after the Ashes he mentioned he was feeling his quad a bit?

Don't get me wrong, for moral or reasons of fairness, I still wouldn't return 100 players.

BristolBear wrote:

Last year there was a rule that an overseas player had to have played in the group stages to play in the knock out rounds. They got rid of that this year.

Even though it could be a big advantage for us to have the likes of Hain, Mousley and Woakes back.
I do feel like it’s wrong. Players who were part of the hundred should had to have played in the group stages or played a minimum number of group stage games to come back.
Seems unjust and unfair otherwise.
Depending on the result in the Hundred eliminator, the likes of Hampshire could get Vince, Dawson, Howell, Whiteley, Wood, Crane, Weatherly and Wheal back for the quarter, semi and final. Thats a brand new team. Which is obviously ridiculous.

I didn't know that. Until this year players couldn't be released from the other comp to play the ODC so that makes no sense?

Tayls79 wrote:

There's another aspect to the post-100 players coming back: would they improve the team? For us the opening partnership plus three can't be improved, most of the bowling can't really be improved (come back to this) even 6/7 Ethan has locked down. But our middle order could be. As it stands its Davies, Bethell and Burgess and none of them have scored too heavily. Ot must be tempting to return Hain and Mousley.

Woakes is interesting. He's in the ODI squad in September but not the IT20s next week so I can see him replacing Brookes (H) or Miles for the semi final for fine tuning purposes for England.

In all cases, I wouldn't though. Not for moral reasons but for cricketing reasons. None of the returning players are as assured as the picks that are there already. I think Hamza was a bit unlucky to be dropped but putting him straight back into to a semi final is probably a step too far.

Woakes did play a couple of games in the Hundred, but didn't play the last game.

I fully expect him to be unavailable.