A Bears bowling masterclass: How the County Championship was won

Warwickshire’s Rothesay County Championship triumph was built on a complete squad performance, from players to coaches, and all backroom staff.

2026-10-02T15:30+01:00

While the batsmen made key runs throughout the campaign, the bowling unit claimed 41 of a possible 42 bonus bowling points, with several key contributors.

Here’s the details behind the Bears’ bowling attack, and how the wickets fell.

Wicket takers

In total, 12 players claimed at least one wicket across the 14-match season, with the Bears taking 250 wickets throughout the campaign.

Ethan Bamber has taken many of the headlines following the conclusion of the season, with his 69 wickets leading all bowlers in across the Rothesay County Championship.

Bamber’s 69 wickets equated to 28% of the total wickets taken by the team.

Ed Barnard (30), Olly Hannon-Dalby (28), Manav Suthar (27) and Chris Woakes (27), all complimented Bamber’s exploits with outstanding seasons of their own, contributing over 20 wickets each.

When changes to the squad were made, those selected made an impact. Jordan Thompson played on eight occasions, taking 15 wickets, Michael Booth bowled several important spells for his 14 scalps. Beau Webster and Nathan Gilchrist chipped in with 12 wickets apiece too.

Keith Barker, who made two appearances, picked up six wickets, including a match-winning 4-29 against Essex that saw the Bears notch their first victory of the season.

When required, the off-spin of both Rob Yates (5) and Dan Mousley (3), contributed eight wickets.

How the wickets fell

The very first wicket the Bears took during the 2026 season came in the third over of their opening match against Surrey at Edgbaston, with Ed Barnard running out Rory Burns thanks to some good work from Kai Smith.

Interestingly, there would be only one other run out during the remainder of the season for the Bears. A Rob Yates masterclass at second slip would be the standout statistic.

Of the 250 wickets taken, 139 dismissals were catches, making up 55.6%. Of the 139 catches, Yates incredibly took 39. Of all dismissals, the ball ended up in Yates’ hands on 15.6% of the time. There were five caught and bowled, with the remaining 95 catches held by either Alex Davies or Kai Smith behind the stumps, or the remaining squad members.

A total of 55 players were trapped LBW by the Bears’ relentless attack, three dismissals came via stumping, and 51, including the final wicket to fall of the season, saw the opposing batsman bowled.