GerryShedd
Super Moderator
Very true!
Glad my "Happy New Year" post only took a year to get a response!
The latest edition of The Cricketer doesn't throw much light on what is happening at Edgbaston.
It says that it is "difficult not to be sceptical about the timing" of Larsen's departure in that it was timed "just hours before the results" of the review were due to be published. It suggests that the departures of Burgess and Rhodes indicated that "all was not well in the dressing room". At the same time, it quotes Larsen as saying that Edgbaston is "as positive an environment as I've been involved in." And Stuart Cain says of him that he has "worked tirelessly to improve the high-performance environment at Warwickshire."
Other than Rhodes, no-one with a surname beginning with the letter R is mentioned in the article.
Make of that what you will.
In his Cricketer article, George Dobell said:
"It is too early to say for sure if Larsen will be the only member of the administrative or coaching staff to leave or to comment on who may replace him. While former club captain, Jim Troughton, would be a popular appointment, he is thriving in his current role on the coaching staff at Surrey and may prove tough to lure back. Equally, Ashley Giles has his hands full at Worcestershire and is unlikely to return at this stage.
If Larsen really is to oversee the transition, he will, no doubt, suggest a New Zealander replace him."
Liking a joke, George adds: "A return from Mark Greatbatch, however, seems most unlikely."
Apologies for the delay in responding to this interesting post.
Steven Sheen's Who's Who of Warwickshire Cricket sheds more light on Septimus Kinnear. He suggests that Sep was the youngest of his family's 13 children - maybe he was the seventh son.
Steven Sheen says:
"Within a few games of making his debut Sep was struck down by an illness after a liaison with a female which required him to seek treatment in Germany at the club's expense. The resulting cure caused him to lose his hair and since that time no photo seems to have survived without him wearing his cap."
He might have played more for England but his fielding was poor - "whilst he had a safe pair of hands his throw was weak and he was slow in the field."
Larsen leaving!
This tournament went (perhaps rightly) under the radar; but from this report, it would appear that, as well as Ethan Brookes, Ed Barnard and Alex Davies also played for the England team:
https://wccc.co.uk/brookes-part-of-england-squad-for-hong-kong-sixes/
Losing to Nepal and Oman doesn't suggest that it was a very successful venture.
This year's winners:
Bernard Flack Memorial Trophy (Multi-Day pitches):
Winner: Lee Fortis (Kia Oval)
Runner-up: Richard Robinson (Headingley)
Commendation: Karl McDermott (Lord’s)
One-Day pitches:
Winner: Adrian Llong (The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury)
Runner-up: Gary Barwell (Edgbaston)
Commendations: Andy Ward (Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road), Ben Gibson (The 1st Central County Ground, Hove)
Outground Pitches Award:
Winner: Josh Marden (The County Ground, Beckenham)
Runner-up: Christian Brain (Cheltenham College)
Commendations: Nick Johnson (Blackpool CC), Brad Jeffries (Kidderminster CC)
Outstanding Contributor:
Tom Cowley (Hampshire County Cricket Club)
Business Of Cricket Awards, Rising Star:
Jasmine Nicholls (Yorkshire County Cricket Club)
The latest Cricketer magazine has a different take on the end of season review from the on-line version:
"Following a disappointing four-day campaign from a team perspective, the management duo of Gavin Larsen and Mark Robinson carried out an October review which included asking the opposition coaches for feedback on what they felt were the team's strengths and weaknesses."
A novel approach, though I think I would have been inclined to tell them: "That's your job. If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you."
Regarding the name, the BBC takes the "glass half full" approach by saying:
"One significant change is that the team based at Edgbaston are listed just as the Bears, suggesting that the name Warwickshire might be used in T20 again after 11 seasons playing under the Birmingham Bears banner."
According to The Cricketer, efforts have been made in the 2025 T20 fixtures to decrease the number of occasions where counties are playing Blast matches on back-to-back days. Last year, the Bears kicking off their T20 season with an evening match in Durham followed by a match at Edgbaston the next afternoon was a particularly egregious example of this.
Durham are holding a breakfast morning for members on 26 November because that is when the 2025 fixtures will be announced. Members can talk with players and coaches about the fixtures - a nice idea.
Without totally breaking the paywall, key points from George Dobell's article are:
- A board meeting to decide next steps will take place at the start of December.
- The club have hired external consultants to lead the review.
- The review will cover medical support and pitch preparation as well as player recruitment and development
- Reports from the dressing room on Robinson and Larsen "are not entirely positive".
The article also mentions something that I hadn't heard about - "the imminent departure of Keith Cook". He's spent over 50 years at the club so this may just be a natural time for him to retire; but it will still be a major landmark.
Agree, though it wasn’t enough to win the match.
62 off 32 balls for England today.
Notwithstanding what I said above, it may be significant that in his farewell message, he thanks members, fans and the players but not the coaching staff.
There's an interview in The Cricketer with Ali Maiden who has joined Warwickshire as women's head coach. There is quite a lot of emphasis on how pleased he is to be joining up again with Mark Robinson (he was assistant coach to Robinson when England women won the World Cup in 2017). So unless Maiden is in for a disappointment, it may be that Robinson is not on his way out.
I think if he had just wanted to get away from Warwickshire, there would have been a queue of counties wanting to sign him so I believe it is much more to do with wanting a career outside the game.
Whilst I agree that his absence from the T20 side was strange and disappointing, I also know that, when he had a few personal issues to deal with a year or so ago, the Club was very supportive to see him through the situation.
....and here's the full list - 19 awards, enough to go round:
https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/4169264/2024-business-of-cricket-awards-recognise-inspiring-innovations-and-dedication-across-county-cricket