I agree that it's asking too much of him to come in without match practice at this stage of the series. I think he is more resilient as a character than some who have been put in that situation so my guess is he will survive.

Rob Key is getting a bit of a roasting after what seems to have been a disastrous press conference. Most telling is the ridicule in this article from Barney Ronay:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/dec/23/ashes-autopsy-english-cricket-meets-spinal-tap-rob-key-ecb
I particularly like:
" The England and Wales Cricket Board has mistakenly hired a broadcaster. It has confused cause and effect, presentation and delivery. The Honey Monster has been put in charge of global puffed rice production."

Underlying all this is the fact that longer form (red ball) cricket is the poor relation in England, played at the front end and back end of the season. It's not the best set up for producing Test match players.
Sadly, that's not going to change.

https://edgbaston.com/news/warwickshire-bears-behind-county-lines-2/?_gl=1*1fno31u*_up*MQ..*_ga*ODY2NzI3MDMwLjE3NjYzNDA5Mjk.*_ga_NE7BBXK3VR*czE3NjYzNDA5MjgkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjYzNDA5MjgkajYwJGwwJGgw*_ga_ZHXWMN2QK2*czE3NjYzNDA5MjgkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjYzNDA5MjgkajYwJGwwJGgw
I'm not sure who wrote this but it is quite a detailed attempt to give the history of both the county of Warwickshire and the cricket club.
I think the writer (or sub-editor) should maybe have avoided the use of the term "county lines" in the heading because it has other connotations.

Latest on the re-build:
https://edgbaston.com/news/stand-demolition-paves-way-for-next-stage-of-edgbaston-masterplan/
I see that the Club has now decided that the recently demolished stands were opened in 1958. I think that's a year or two early. But maybe the Club has looked up chapter and verse; and it really doesn't matter.

Nice work if you can get it:
"The Cricketer understands that the left-hander will earn £350,000 from being retained as one of Phoenix's pre-auction signings."

Pleased for Michael Rae - as I said after seeing him in 2024, a wholehearted trier.
As for Zak Foulkes - yes, he did play for us, though not in 2004!

Add to the above:
Chair of the Board
and
Senior Partnership Sales Manager

There seem to have been a lot of jobs advertised at WCCC in the last couple of weeks - eight of them at latest count with a variety of titles:
Lead Graphic Designer
Digital Products Manage
Cricket Employability Senior Officer
Cricket & Social Impact Officer
Financial Accountant
Accounts & Payroll Executive
Finance Business Partner
Cricket Cities Community Coach
I'm not sure how many of these are replacements and how many are new posts, but that seems like a lot of vacancies. And still no news of the Head of Media who supposedly was due to start in October.

Yes, very sad.

There's a fairly long article in The Cricketer about the change of name, with plenty of quotes from Stuart Cain. I won't break the paywall by quoting it in detail but it is summed up by Cain saying:
"We are Warwickshire, so why not just call us Warwickshire?"

Has joined Gloucestershire.

I think that the adoption of the Birmingham name was largely motivated by the large sum of money owed to Birmingham City Council. For the same reason, the City end of the ground suddenly acquired the Birmingham name.
I also recall that when I went to the launch night for the Birmingham name, the Club Chairman told me that attendances would go up because of the use of Birmingham in the team title.

The less said the better about the first Test.

Maybe constant lobbying and complaining does pay off.

Yes, a sad story.

The fact that Jacob Bethell is playing for the Lions and Pope for England suggests that Jacob may have another quiet winter.

And Gary Barwell wins the top award this year:
https://edgbaston.com/news/edgbastons-barwell-earns-top-grounds-manager-award/

An article in The Cricketer suggests that outgrounds may be making a comeback, partly because of the pressure of fixture congestion and partly as a marketing tool:
"Outgrounds are nowadays not just aesthetically pleasing, but a necessary marketing tool too. Twenty-one were used by men's and women's teams last season, allowing counties to engage a different part of the community. From Scarborough to Blackpool, Cheltenham to Queen's Park, they became a defining feature of the One Day Cup competitions."

The ECB had better get the 2026 fixture list sorted or there are going to be a lot of disappointed people in the Geoff Cook suite at the Riverside on 27 November:
https://www.durhamcricket.co.uk/news-and-media/members-fixtures-breakfast-confirmed-for-27th-november/
PS - the reference to the Blast fixtures coming out on 25 October should obviously read November, unless I've missed something.
PPS - a nice idea for Durham - could Warwickshire do something similar?