Article in which Isaac explains his "unique journey from Edgbaston ball boy to Worcestershire and England U19s’ Captaincy."
https://wccc.co.uk/news/club-to-county-edition-3-isaac-mohammed/

It's a bit ironic in view of his involvement in sacking Jimmy Anderson; but Paul Farbrace has been given the Cricket Society's Spirit of Cricket Award. I presume that they won't get Jimmy to present it to him.

A happy 90th birthday to A. C. (Alan) Smith.

Adam Hose signing a three year contract with the Pears:
https://wccc.co.uk/news/adamhose2029/

Latest ins and outs:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c68040pm73vgo

Much traveled ex-Bear Laurie Evans is moving from Surrey to Essex:
https://www.cricinfo.com/story/t20-blast-laurie-evans-signs-for-essex-after-quiet-season-1559534
As well as franchise teams around the world, he has played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Sussex, Surrey again and now Essex.

Though the letter is one-sided, we do have to accept that, since Chris Woakes first played, we haven’t been good at finding and developing successful locally grown bowlers. Hopefully that will change.

One of Paul Farbrace’s first job at Lancs was to tell Jimmy he was surplus to requirements.
I gather Jimmy has decided to retire so not a potential signing.

Good news that the top players in the voting for the ECB team of the year were Ethan Bamber and Sam Hain - very well deserved ; and maybe an indication that Bears fans took the trouble to vote.
https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/4594554/hain-and-bamber-headline-fans-rothesay-county-championship-team-of-the-year

I suspect that his budding role as a Sky pundit might be the issue that could get in the way of a full season with the Bears.

Yes, a good read.
It seems to confirm that he will play for another year.
Also, the context for the interview was the launch of an ECB scheme:
"Woakes was present for the launch of the ECB's new Cricket for Teachers training scheme being rolled out across the nation's state secondary schools this academic year."
About time!

The Club has confirmed that "the 27-year-old took 69 wickets during the Bears’ title-winning campaign and has now signed a new three-year deal with the club which will keep him at Edgbaston Stadium until the end of the 2029 season."

In an interview with The Cricketer, Ben Cox states that he was, in effect, sacked by Leicestershire, in that they refused to offer him a new contract. He seems to have fallen out with head coach Alfonso Thomas.
He confirms that he has had no firm offers from other counties. It is mentioned that "he was linked early in the season with a move to Warwickshire, but that has so far been no more than gossip."

Sussex fans seem disappointed with his decision and worried that he will poach some of their best players. There is also the thought that they can save some much needed money by not replacing him.

Because of the financial problems at Sussex, Paul Farbrace's new role was only going to be part-time so there must have been a big pay difference between that and the full time role at Lancashire.
I think Surrey and Middlesex are right. Warwickshire have finished bottom three times.

Paul Farbrace is going from Sussex to try to sort out the mess at Lancashire:
https://www.cricketworld.com/lancashire-appoint-paul-farbrace-as-new-director-of-cricket/113681.htm

I think we were quite rightly critical of the new Head of Media earlier in the season; but maybe he has now settled in and started to deliver.

A really nice interview with Ed Barnard on The Cricketer website.
https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/county-cricket-premium/ed_barnard_warwickshire_unassuming_title_winning_captain_being_respected_people_big_as_anything.html
Extracts -
"Barnard prefers to credit Westwood, just as Westwood prefers to credit Barnard. Somewhere in that relationship sits the story behind Warwickshire's success."
"As much as you want your cricket talked about, being respected as human beings is as big a thing as any," he says. "I would be very proud if that is how we're talked about."
"Barnard is one of county cricket's renowned nice guys, an accolade for which Bamber and Chris Woakes are also in the running. Certainly, you'd do well to stumble across a more popular new-ball pairing than those two"

The Cricket Paper sums up the Bears win:
"There was an old-fashioned quality to Warwickshire’s triumph.
They did not have the largest collection of England stars or the most expensive overseas signings but a settled dressing room, a deep seam attack, exceptional fielding and players who stayed fit enough to keep appearing.
Rob Yates took a remarkable 39 catches at second slip, while Woakes, at 37, provided experience.
The captaincy of Barnard was fundamental.
His contribution with bat and ball was substantial, but his greatest achievement may have been creating a side in which several players could carry the match rather than one being expected to do everything."

Not directly related to being champions - but the BBC county championship cricket live text page got 27.8 million views in 2026, which is 464,000 per day.