Very impressive

Frankly I don’t think that is any of our business. If he has then I’m sure the club is aware of and working with him to best take care of the situation.

My thoughts, for what they are worth, is that strike rate and average are both important however the vital aspect is the context with which they are in. Sam Hain may well have a lesser strike rate than others but he is needed to bat through due to higher strike rate batsmen not being able to stick around. The 'finisher' role will probably contain a player with a low average however the high strike rate is important to get the score over the line.

Adaptability is surely the key, playing what is front of you. A balanced side should contain players who can hit big boundaries as well as knock singles around. That has been my biggest frustration this year, we just don't seem balanced plus players blatantly out of form still being picked.

We really lack a powerful batsman to clear the ropes in these middle overs. We just invite pressure on ourselves without the ability to pressurise the opposition.

I sort of expected more to have been sold, I looked at some tickets a week or so in advance once I saw the weather was starting to look better. There was very limited availability except in the Hollies Stand, which I had no interest in, so was a tad surprised to see so many empty seats when I tuned in on Saturday.

Averages are not always the most reliable sources to judge a player though. Player A could have a high average because their first season was a huge success however in recent seasons they have struggled. Player B may not have had the high scores to push their average up but has consistently made important and telling contributions.

Deliberately not used examples as I don’t have any data to back up my comment 😊

The batting still looks fragile to me, but the bowling line up is working really well so far. I hope Hassan isn’t injured though, he looked in quite some discomfort at the end there.

It doesn’t look too good at this stage

It really is a weak looking batting unit

82-3….

Poor batting has been a reoccurring theme for years and yet the one constant in the coaching set up is the batting coach.

Essex are a very good side with some big time players right through their squad.

But that is still a very poor defeat!

Yes we have injuries, but the squad that has been built looks distinctly average and lacking in many areas.

There may well be big questions that need to be asked at the end of the season.

Perhaps the comments should be ‘the lack of an in form front line spinner’?

Feel for Sam, a very tough start to the season for various reason!

Let’s hope Benjamin can improve on his average!

This is going well (I feel I’ve said this before in this match….)

An excellent effort indeed. Delighted for Simmons, but I’m mindful that we all thought Johal was going to be the next big thing after his performances in the Bob Willis Trophy final.

This is going well

Really good discussion, enjoying reading it!

I’d agree that the squad is pretty weak, I thought as much for the first game of the season. Batsmen as well as bowlers. Definitely dependent on a few players staying in good form.

I’m loathe to be critical of players who suffer injuries, it’s interesting that Stone has been mentioned as a player we should have kept. As far as my memory goes I recall him being injured for a large proportion of his time with us.

I would be very surprised if Norwell is kept beyond his existing contract, whenever that expires. There is a good bowler there but for whatever reason his body has not been able to stand up to the rigours of the first class game.

I’d be interested to know how medicals are completed for potential new signings. Whether it’s similar to football.

The pathway is a strange one, we seem to have a lot of good teenagers but struggle to get them through to the first team. Bowlers like Brooke and Garrett have been mentioned as playing elsewhere but they were not exactly challenging our first 11. At the same time we have two young batsmen playing regularly but have yet to have really defined their roles and it’s a wonder how long until they have their places questioned. We saw it with the comments Yates would get when he struggled, admittedly usually from a single poster.

Recruitment of the three white ball players is something I strongly disagree with. Good money spent on basically one competition, which as we saw last year can all be over with just one under par game. I would be interested to hear from someone at the club about the rationale behind that.

It’s a recurring theme with overseas players nowadays, it most certainly is not isolated to Warwickshire.

I remember Farbrace saying in the past that we had Pujara all lined up and then he gets an IPL deal for the first time in a decade so we missed out.

Pakistani players seem to be in a constant state of flux due the constant state of flux with their board. You can’t blame them for taking an international opportunity if it suddenly presents itself, it may well be the last one they get.

The Aussies pick and choose who, how and when players get selected even when they are not established.

The best West Indian players tend to gravitate towards the IPL and the franchise circuit because the money offered is so much more than they can get anywhere else.

The best overseas players in the CC in recent years have been where counties have a good relationship with the player and they come back year after year. Think Roach, Abbott, Abbas etc.

Sometimes it feels a bit of a waste of time, especially for players on short term deals who are completely unproven in this country.

Agreed, Surrey simply have a better squad than us.

We are missing some key bowlers for various reasons and our 5 for bowler in the match got injured.

I do think it’s a big season for Bethall and Mousley, we really need them to step up and contribute more regularly.