First Team Coach Mark Robinson said his players are eagerly awaiting the challenge of facing LV= Insurance County Championship Division One favourites Surrey when the title holders arrive at Edgbaston this week.
Surrey – led by England opener Rory Burns – are tipped by bookmakers to make it two titles on the bounce following 2022’s triumph.
They posted an early season statement of intent by beating Hampshire last time out – guided home by Ollie Pope’s unbeaten second innings 122 – and Robinson knows the game will act as a barometer of his side’s progress.
Warwickshire have enjoyed an equally impressive start to the red ball campaign having beaten Kent by an innings and 14 runs at Edgbaston two weeks ago and only rain denying Will Rhodes’ men a likely victory at Somerset in the opening round of fixtures.
Robinson is buoyed by the way his seam attack has gelled – with overseas signing Hassan Ali settling well, Chris Rushworth taking wickets, and Chris Woakes returning – and some blistering batting performances.
He said: “The boys have done well. We’ve already got a few hundreds under our belt (Hain 165 & 119, Davies 118, Yates 128) which is brilliant, the bowling unit is gelling and we’ve caught well behind the wicket.
“Yes we’re only two games in but we couldn’t have asked for a much better start and we’ve laid on some great entertainment for our supporters.
“Surrey are a big club with some talented overseas bowlers, current and former England players, and they’re the champions so it’s a good test for us.
“But the overriding emotion for me and the players is excitement; we want to take on the best and test ourselves.
“Is the match a barometer of where we’re at as a team? Yes it will be, but the game won’t define our season.
Robinson expects to name a largely unchanged squad for the Surrey game but one name that will be missing is Jacob Bethell.
The young all-rounder – who made his England Lions debut this year – has been diagnosed with a stress fracture to his back and, while it won’t require surgery, it means he’ll need time out to recover.
“The prognosis is that he won’t be able to bowl again this summer which is a real blow because he’s a genuine all-rounder,” confirmed Robinson. “Hopefully he’ll be able to play at some point with the bat alone as I’m told that won’t affect the injury.
“We’re all hurting for him and have our fingers’ crossed for a speedy recovery. But we have strength in the side and it means there is an opportunity for somebody else to step forward and impress.
“Elsewhere, Liam Norwell needs a little more time before he can return to bowling and Danny Briggs is close to full fitness and will come into consideration.”
Squad
Will Rhodes (c)Hassan AliEd BarnardDanny BriggsMichael BurgessAlex DaviesSam HainOlly Hannon-DalbyDan MousleyChris RushworthChris WoakesRob 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.
_s6bZ9Ri.png?clxf=t_general_medium)
%20(1).png?clxf=t_general_medium)
.png?clxf=t_general_medium)
_Q3P0zzz.png?clxf=t_general_medium)
