Chris Rushworth wants Warwickshire to battle for every point in the final three LV= Insurance County Championship games and has urged teammates to use personal milestones as inspiration – as he closes in on a remarkable 650 career red-ball wickets.
The relentless seamer, who’s taken 43 wickets in his debut season, needs just four more to reach 650 in First Class cricket.
The 37-year-old said the squad had some honest conversations after the manner of the defeat at Division One leaders Surrey last time out and expects to see a reaction when Northamptonshire visit Edgbaston.
“It's no secret we’ve not been playing our best cricket and everyone was down after Surrey,” said Rushworth. “We don’t want to feel that disappointment again so the lads won’t let their heads drop as we approach the end of the season.
“Sometimes you just need that personal motivation to get through a few games, so whatever gets lads up for it, a bit of personal pride, to look down deep inside themselves, to put in performances and reach milestones and try to get wins for Warwickshire.”
Rushworth admitted he wasn’t at his best at the Oval having come back from a hamstring strain picked up against Lancashire in July.
But he’s trained well this week and feels close to his best as the Bears entertain a Northants side who sit bottom of the Division One table.
He added: “I was a bit under-cooked for the Surrey game, I hadn’t had the game time. The surface offered something for the bowlers so it was disappointing not to be at my best.
“Personally everything I’ve wanted when I chose to come here has availed so far.”
Sam Hain will play his last game of the season before joining up with the England ODI squad.
Rob Yates is expected to be available but Al Davies is still struggling to shake off back spasms that have been causing discomfort.
Squad
Will Rhodes (C)Ed BarnardChris BenjaminKraigg BrathwaiteDanny BriggsHenry BrookesMichael BurgessSam HainOlly Hannon-DalbyJake LintottCraig MilesDan MousleyChris RushworthRob 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 Live Stream, with BBC commentary, and a live text commentary. Supporters can get involved by sending their match day comments and thoughts on 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.
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