Bears Men are buoyed by the arrival of overseas Hassan Ali and the return of Dan Mousley from England Lions duty ahead of a bumper weekend of fixtures at Edgbaston.
Hassan has been playing for Karachi Kings in the PSL, where he was the second-highest wicket-taker in the competition with 17 wickets.
Whilst Mousley has been playing against Zimbabwe and India A in two red ball matches, where he made scores of 154 and 113 respectively, the latter being his maiden First-Class century.
The Bears had a difficult start to their Blast campaign with back-to-back defeats against Notts Outlaws and Durham in as many days, but there was still plenty to show what the Bears can offer.
Sam Hain looks in particularly good nick, making scores of 92* in Nottingham, followed by a top score of 45 in the Bears match against Durham at Edgbaston.
Ed Barnard has also grabbed his T20 opportunity with both hands, scoring a magnificent half-century at Notts, striking 55 from 28 balls, and looking dangerous with the new ball in hand at Edgbaston a day later.
In both games, the Bears had a relatively inexperienced bowling attack compared to what they’re used to, missing Hasan, Mousley and also Richard Gleeson in the starting line-up.
Gleeson is also back from IPL duty, but has picked up an injury that will keep him out of this weekend’s fixtures.
The Bears face Yorkshire on Friday, who have had a tumultuous start to their Vitality Blast campaign.
They have conceded over 200 in both the games they have played so far, including 237 from Northants Steelbacks.
The Vikings are without their England recruits who are away with the international white-ball side, but could welcome back Jonny Bairstow, who will be back from the IPL.
They have been bolstered by the inclusion of overseas Will Sutherland, who is a dangerous player with both bat and ball.
On Sunday, the Bears take on the Derbyshire Falcons, who have also failed to win either of their opening two rounds.
They were beaten in their opening fixture by midland rivals Leicestershire, only then to be overhauled by Ravi Bopara, who rolled back the years in a Vitality Blast classic.
Bopara hit 84 from 46 balls to lift the Steelbacks to an insurmountable 194/6.
However, overseas import Caleb Jewell and Blast legend Samit Patel both hit rapid half-centuries, falling just short of the chase and losing by 6 runs.
Squad
Alex Davies (c)Hassan AliMoeen AliEd BarnardDanny BriggsGeorge GartonSam HainTom LathamJake LintottCraig MilesDan MousleyOlly Hannon-DalbyKai SmithRob Yates
How to follow
Members and supporters can follow the match live in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free-to-watch stream and a live text commentary. You can also see a ball-by-ball feed and watch highlights of all the action. Supporters can get involved by sending their match-day comments and thoughts on X via @WarwickshireCCC and we’ll publish the best ones on our live text commentary in the Match Centre. Supporters can also watch the Live Stream and get instant push notifications of all wickets, innings and match results via the Edgbaston app, which is free to download on iOS and Android. Match updates will also be available across the Club’s social media accounts, simply search for @WarwickshireCCC.
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