Rhodes: "I'm proud of them"

The Bears will travel to York to face Yorkshire next Tuesday right back in the qualification race after back-to-back wins.

The second of those, against the Foxes last Thursday, is one the Edgbaston crowd will long remember.

Chasing 303, the Foxes were 217 for two in the 35th over and evidently cruising against a Bears side missing 12 senior players -mostly bowlers.

But, led by a superb spell at the death by Rhodes, those bowlers started taking wickets and some excellent catches were held to send the Foxes into freefall.

The crowd played its full part, cranking up the noise as the Bears pulled off one of the great comebacks...leaving the skipper a very proud man.

"We've had some good wins this season but, with such a young team, that has to be one of the best," Rhodes said. "To hold our nerve and get back in the game after they were cruising it was sensational. It was a brilliant team performance to which everyone contributed and it's great for the young guys to get their first win at Edgbaston. I'm proud of them.

"The way Matt Lamb and Ethan Brookes batted to set it all up was outstanding. It's always good to see a guy get a maiden century he has worked so hard for and that was pretty magical for Lamby - he was pretty tired when he came off! Brookesy was terrific too and for him to get his first fifty put us in a great position.

It was a superb effort by such a young team...though crucial to the win was the bowling of Rhodes. In a classic case of leading from the front, redolent of Dermot Reeve, he bowled the last ten overs from the Birmingham End to build the pressure under which the Foxes crumbled.

"I don't think I'll be doing ten on the spin too often, especially at the death," he said. "I'll get myself on a bit earlier at York!

"It got to about four overs from the end and I looked at Michael Burgess and he just smiled so I knew I was doing ten in a row. It was just to help the young guys through and give them a bit of experience at one end. They did brilliantly at the other end. They bowled really well.

"It was a great win and puts us back in the mix in the group. We've got some very tough games coming up but we have shown we seem to be able to beat anyone from anywhere so if we hold our nerve who knows, we can put some more wins on the board."