Preview: Notts Outlaws vs Bears Men, Vitality Blast

Bears Men must rejig their bowling attack options when they open their 2025 Vitality Blast campaign at Trent Bridge tomorrow (30 May, 6.30pm).

briggford

2025-05-29T17:11:20.000Z

Bears Men must rejig their bowling attack options when they open their 2025 Vitality Blast campaign at Trent Bridge tomorrow (30 May, 6.30pm).

Captain Alex Davies is without the services of seamers Richard Gleeson, Hassan Ali and Chris Woakes for the T20 curtain raiser.

Gleeson has been signed by Mumbai Indians for the resumption of the IPL – the delayed final taking place on 3 June – while Ali doesn’t return from Pakistan international duty until 6 June and Woakes is with the England Lions alongside teammate Dan Mousley.

Overseas allrounder Beau Webster misses the Bears Blast summer following his call up by Australia for the World Test Championships final at Lord’s and subsequent tour of the Caribbean.

But Davies said the absences open doors for other bowlers to stake a claim in his and First team Coach Ian Westwood’s T20 plans.

He said: “We’re missing a couple of guys for the first few fixtures but that creates opportunities for other players. We’ve had that in the Championship where we’ve not played the same team many times on the bounce. That’s given us the chance to look at other guys who’ve done well and it shows the squad is in a healthy place.

“We’re all looking forward to it. We’ve done well in white ball in recent seasons, with a good win ratio, without going the whole way but we’ll be looking to go one better to Finals Day this year.

“We’re not looking that far ahead at the moment, though. We want to dominate the North group again. A lot of work needs to go in before we start thinking about the knockout stages. Let’s get the first couple of games under our belt, then we have a few days off before games come thick and fast. We’ll be trying to do what we’ve done in previous years in the group

“Two Blast games in 24 hours is a tough start but it’s the same for everyone and something we’ve come to get used to over the years.

“Guys who’ve played a lot of Championship cricket are feeling it physically, but for me it’s more the mental turnaround and how we can switch between formats and get ready for Blast.”

Bears warmed up for the trip to Trent Bridge with a commanding win over Glamorgan in a T20 Second XI fixture at Portland Road yesterday.

George Garton took 3/34, Jake Lintott two for just six runs, and there were wickets for Craig Miles and new Warwickshire signing Adam Sylvester.

Tom Latham hit 55 as Bears chased down the target with seven overs to spare.

Sylvester – who’s signed a one year deal after impressing on trial – comes straight into a 15-man squad that also includes Danny Briggs, who took 29 Blast wickets last summer, Lintott, and Miles.

Squad