W G Quaife
Eric Hollies

I fear we could have problems in all areas next year. The batting should have been ok but we're losing Rhodes and, if England maintain their interest, could see less of Bethell & Mousley. That leaves rather more holes for Sheikh and Wylie to fill than we might have expected. We also have to hope that whatever was troubling Sam Hain doesn't recur.
Our luck with seam bowlers needs to change. Will Hasan Ali come back? Will he be fit and available? Has Rushworth got another season in him? It's hard to see Ethan Bamber as the Messiah but a pool of OHD, Bamber, Rushworth and Ali could be decent.
What worries me most is the absence of a wicket taking spinner. It is no credit to our bowling stocks that Rob Yates was our third highest wicket taker in the CC. Perhaps the short term answer is to put some coaching effort into upskilling him. The chances of finding a Lyon or a Harmer on the Overseas market aren't great.
I can't see us challenging for the top half of the CC next year.

Highveld wrote:

Looks like Notts are aiming for a total of about 500 and then try to bowl Warwickshire out twice in four sessions.

I'd say they were making absolutely sure of at least the draw points.

More comment today from Lalit Modi (perhaps not an impartial observer) who believes the financial projections to be "disconnected from reality" and "more like wishful thinking".
If I were a serious investor, I'm not sure whether I would view the ECB as a bunch of chumps who could easily be taken for a ride or as so incompetent that I wouldn't want to touch any business that they had started.

Don't give Highveld ideas. He'll have him opening instead of Davies.

Not to mention Birmingham boy Andrew Symonds.
I'm loving the fact that we have a thread started about our next game that has filled three pages before the squad is even announced! The randomness could be a metaphor for our whole season.

paulbear wrote:

That would be ludicrous, we would be better off if Robinson himself decided to play. Maybe they could ask Dennis if he still has his gear despite not using it since 1987.

Is he the left arm seamer we've been looking for? He did once bowl his full allocation of overs in a Lord's final.

Well at least he didn't throw the players under the bus.
We have competent batsmen who have failed to perform in this game. Management issue.
We have no bowling other than OHD. Management issue.
Didn't see him acknowledge either of those problems.

I assume Highveld is being provocative. I can't see what Benjamin or Mousley have ever done to deserve a place in our red ball team, whilst Hamza Shaikh is surely worth sticking with.
Meanwhile, I'm praying for a lot of rain next week.

If Bethell and Mousley are going to be missing we will be very short of anyone who can turn the ball. An emergency call to Lintott might be in order.
(Tongue in cheek) or we could ask Somerset if we could borrow Shoaib Bashir since he seems to be their third choice spinner now!

I'm reminded of Jim Troughton. Aggressive LHB with a bit of SLA thrown in. In the era of Troughton, Trott & Bell, Jimmy T was the first to get an England call up, for ODIs against Pakistan. He wasn't really ready for it and his international career quickly fizzled out.
From what I've seen of Bethell, he will be a good player one day but he isn't there yet. I hope England aren't about to spoil him.

It leaves a bad smell, doesn't it? The competition-that-shall-not-be-named is the tail wagging the dog, disrupting domestic scheduling and attracting all the management attention with the shiny sixpences being dangled in front of them. The unseemly rush to sell makes it unlikely that the ECB have really thought through the implications. I mean, getting money in from vulture funds, billionaires and foreign wealth funds, what could possibly go wrong? (Ask Premiership Rugby.) Do the ECB have an end game in mind for how they would like cricket to look after the dust has settled? Do they think a free for all cash-fest is the best way of achieving it? Or is this being driven by middle-men and vested interests trousering fat fees?

Now that OHD has demonstrated his ability with the kookaburra ball, will England want to take him to Australia? (wink)

I'll swap them Bethell and Mousley for Chris Woakes. Is that a deal?

Just take the draw. We don't want to end up losing this like we did the reverse fixture at Taunton.

I've got two glasses, one of which is topped off nicely whilst the other is down to the dregs. If we win one or both of the Blast and the One Day Cup, Edgbaston Entertainment Venue could reasonably feel rather pleased with itself. If we go a whole year without winning a County Championship game, Warwickshire County CRICKET Club will have dismally failed.

Imagine where we might be if we had any fit bowlers...

I thought the conventional wisdom in matches that are likely to be rain affected was that the team winning the toss should field. Any ideas as to why Glamorgan want to bat?

I hope they include some car parking. Street parking in Ashley Down was difficult when I was at University 50 years ago and continues to get worse.

In an example of the commentator's curse, that stat was used by Andy Saltzmann on TMS today when Chris Woakes was on 62. He was immediately out.
Hamza Shaikh maybe?