Preview: Warwickshire v Northamptonshire, Royal London Cup

Report: Yorkshire v Warwickshire, Royal London Cup

Warwickshire face Northamptonshire in the Royal London Cup at Edgbaston tomorrow knowing they have no more margin for error in their quest for qualification.

The Bears need to beat the Steelbacks and then win their last two games, away to Surrey and at home to Somerset, next week to force their way into the knockout stage.

That is a big ask for the highly inexperienced side that the Bears have fielded in the RLC due to the unavailability of more a dozen senior players - but it is by no means beyond them, insists wicketkeeper/batsman Michael Burgess.

The last three matches have all brought uplifting displays from the young Bears. They beat Derbyshire and Leicestershire and then, on Thursday, pushed Yorkshire close at York thanks to an exhilarating century partnership between 17-year-old Jacob Bethell and 20-year-old Dan Mousley, playing their fifth and first List A games respectively.

Their fluent and fearless batting was, says Burgess, pretty "special" to watch.

"Mous and Beth showed the quality of young talent we have in the squad and the beauty of this competition has been that young lads who maybe wouldn't have got a go if everyone was fit and available have got their chance," he said.

"Up at York, it really was a bit special for two such young lads to bat the way they did. It is difficult to walk out in that match situation and be brave enough to take the game on and they did it brilliantly. They will take a heap of confidence from that.

"Other young players have stepped up in other games too and there is a real belief in the camp that we can win any game. We probably need to win the remaining three to qualify for the knockout phase but that's something we think we can do.

"Looking back at York, Mous and Beth were brilliant but a few of the senior lads up the top of the order, myself included, could have done things differently and, if we had done, we could have got the job done.

Another injury blow landed on the Bears at York when seamer George Garrett, having bowled excellently, pulled a hamstring, so he joins an absentee list which includes all the senior bowlers on the staff.

Squad

Will Rhodes (c), Jacob Bethell, Ethan Brookes, Jordan Bulpitt, Michael Burgess (wk), Karl Carver, Manraj Johal, Matt Lamb, Dan Mousley, Ed Pollock, Kiel van Vollenhoven, Rob Yates.

How to follow

Members and supporters can watch the live stream from Edgbaston via the Match Centre on edgbaston.com and through the Edgbaston app (available for free on iOS and Android).