Preview: Warwickshire v Derbyshire, LV= Insurance County Championship

New First Team Coach Mark Robinson admits there will be "a few butterflies" when Warwickshire open their LV= Insurance County Championship season against Derbyshire at Edgbaston.

It will be Robinson's first game in charge of a county side since he left Sussex in 2015 to take over as head coach of England's Women's Cricket.

His experience and track record of success, with both Sussex and England Women, is considerable, but he is as excited as ever by the start of a new season - especially this year as his gets his teeth into a new challenge at Edgbaston.

"The first day of the season is always a special time and, more than ever after all that has happened in the last year, it's great to be back," Robinson said. "You pray for good weather, you pray to win the toss and you pray for a good start - basically you just chuck yourself into the hands of the gods of cricket.

"We want to keep growing, keep getting stronger and keep moving towards a position where we can create some something special that will last for a long time."

First up come Derbyshire for their first championship visit to Edgbaston since 2018. On that occasion the Bears' eight-wicket win was fuelled by runs from Matt Lamb, Jonathan Trott, Chris Wright and Will Rhodes and 18 wickets from Jeetan Patel and Henry Brookes, and they were seen over the line by Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott.

A very different Bears team will take the field tomorrow. Overseas signing Pieter Malan's debut has been delayed by visa issues but there are still plenty of options for Robinson and captain Rhodes to mull over.

"It is always a bit of a selection nightmare when a lot of players have put their hands up and played really well, as our guys have in this pre-season," the coach said. "We have a strong bowling attack which is all fit and has done really well and likewise with the batters.

"It is always a tough one to get the balance of the team right but we have a lot of options and they are the sort of selection problems you want."

Squad

Rhodes (c), Bresnan, Briggs, Brookes H, Burgess (wk), Hannon-Dalby, Hain, Lamb, Miles, Mousley, Norwell, Sibley, Yates.

How to follow

Warwickshire Members and supporters will be able to watch the action via the Club's live stream, which will include replays and commentary from BBC WM and BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.

All action will be live streamed through the Match Centre on edgbaston.com, through the Edgbaston app (available on iOS and Android) and through the Warwickshire CCC YouTube page.

Supporters can also keep up to date with the scores and in-play clips through the Match Centre on edgbaston.com.

Please note that Warwickshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship match with Derbyshire (8-11 April) will be played behind closed doors due to the latest Government guidelines.