Preview: Hampshire v Warwickshire, County Championship

Pakistan pace bowler Hassan Ali makes a welcome return to Warwickshire’s squad for the Vitality County Championship trip to Hampshire.

matc

2024-04-18T14:55:00.000Z

Pakistan pace bowler Hassan Ali makes a welcome return to Warwickshire’s squad for the Vitality County Championship trip to Hampshire.

Ali’s return to Edgbaston – which he refers to as his “second home” – was delayed following changes in the hierarchy at the Pakistan Cricket Board and an extended training camp.

But the 29-year-old – who took 24 red ball wickets in seven matches for the Bears last season – is in line to make his comeback at Southampton’s Utilita Bowl.

It’s a timely return for First Team Coach Mark Robinson who was dealt another bowling blow this week with news that Chris Rushworth will be sidelined for several weeks with a pulled calf.

Robinson said: “It’s great to have Hassan back in the dressing room. He’s been working with Stu Barnes (Bowling Coach) as he’s not had a red ball in his hand for a while. So we’re getting him back up to speed with bat and ball.

“He’s a warrior. We know he’ll charge in, and make an impact in this game and others as the season develops.

“He’ll replace Chris Rushworth who had to withdraw from the Durham game last week with a tight calf and we now know he’s going to miss a few weeks. It’s a bitter pill to swallow so soon after losing Liam Norwell and Michael Booth to injury.

“But that’s sport, you have to roll with it.

“The squad is in good spirits, we played some good cricket in the last match and we’re looking forward to testing ourselves against Hampshire.”

The Utilita Bowl (formerly Rose Bowl) was the scene of a standout County Championship success for Warwickshire last season as a devastating 13-over spell from Rushworth, in which he claimed seven wickets for 38 runs, sealed an innings victory.

Preview: Hampshire v Warwickshire, County Championship - Image 2

Robinson knows Hampshire will provide a stern test, while his batters will also have to readjust to facing the traditional Dukes ball.

“They’ll be out for revenge after last season,” he added. “In Muhammad Abbas they have one of the best seamers in the country, plus another international bowler in Sean Abbott.

“They’ll have a Dukes ball in their hands so batters will have to make some adjustments, taking the ball later as in theory it will do more. So we need to show a bit more judgement on what balls to leave and what to play.

“We’re excited about going to the Rose Bowl, we had a great win there last season and we’ll be doing everything we can to repeat it.”

Squad

Hassan AliEd BarnardChris BenjaminJacob BethellDanny BriggsMichael Burgess (wk)Alex Davies (C)Olly Hannon-DalbyCraig MilesDan MousleyWill RhodesChe SimmonsRob Yates

Head-to-Head

This will be the 167th match against Hampshire, Warwickshire have won 53 and lost 46.

Milestones

Career statistics:

Ed Barnard requires 8 wickets to reach 300 First Class wickets.Danny Briggs requires 4 wickets to reach 350 First Class wickets.Craig Miles requires 3 wickets to reach 350 First Class wickets.

Warwickshire statistics:

Dan Mousley requires 50 runs to reach 1,000 First Class runs.Danny Briggs requires 40 runs to reach 1,000 First Class run.

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 Live Stream, with BBC commentary, 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 (Twitter) 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.