Preview: Bears v Northants Steelbacks, Vitality Blast

Bears have named a 13-man squad for the opening fixture of the new Vitality Blast campaign against Northants Steelbacks at Edgbaston on Thursday 26 May.

tomrawlings

2022-05-25T15:55:00.000Z

When and where

Thursday 26 May, 6.30pm, Edgbaston Stadium.

Tickets are available via tickets.edgbaston.com with adult tickets £15 in advance (£20 on the day), 12 to 15-year-olds £5 and under 12s go FREE.

Bears skipper Carlos Brathwaite said...

"We all can't wait to get going. Everyone wants to play out of their skin for the badge and that is the type of dressing room you want to be in. My target as skipper is to get the team to Finals Day.

Recent form

Bears: LLWWLSteelbacks: LWWLL

Head-to-head

Played 37, Bears 19, Steelbacks 17, with 1 tie

Blast from the past

In 2018, the Steelbacks piled up 231 but the game was tied after the Bears matched it thanks to a sensational world record stand of 171 between Ian Bell (131) and Adam Hose (64).

Who's hot?

Jake Bethell: Competition for places in the Bears side is intense but Jake's stunning form in the warm-ups means he is pushing as hard as anybody.

Look out for: Powerplay fireworks as top order specialists Paul Stirling and Chris Lynn aim to go big on their debuts for their respective counties.

On the brink

Paul Stirling needs 48 runs for 7,000 in T20 cricket.

Bears Squad

Carlos Brathwaite (C)Chris BenjaminJacob BethellDanny BriggsEthan BrookesHenry BrookesAlex DaviesSam HainOlly Hannon-DalbyAdam HoseJake LintottCraig MilesPaul Stirling

How to Follow

Fans can follow the match live in our new-look Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free to watch Live Stream from Bears Den TV, hosted BBC TMS's Aatif Nawaz.

Supporters can get involved by sending their match day comments and thoughts to matchday@edgbaston.com, 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.

Next up

Derbyshire at Derby (Friday 27 May, 7pm)