Who are the players to watch? Who’s in the squad? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What is the fixture list? Your questions answered
Coach: Mark Robinson
Captain: Will Rhodes
Overseas: Pieter Malan (South Africa)
Ins: Danny Briggs (Sussex), Manraj Johal (youth), Jacob Bethell (youth)
Outs: Tim Ambrose (retired), Ian Bell (retired), Jeetan Patel (retired), Liam Banks (released), Alex Thomson (Durham, loan)
Fixture list: April 8 – Derbyshire (h), April 15 – Nottinghamshire (a), April 22- Essex (h), April 29 – Durham (a), May 6 – Worcestershire (h), May 20 – Essex (a), May 27 – Nottinghamshire (h), June 3 – Derbyshire (a), July 4 – Durham (h), July 11 – Worcestershire (a)
Remind me what happened last year?
Warwickshire finished third in the Central Group and sacked their head coach, Jim Troughton. On the face of it, an odd decision. However, what that third-place finish doesn’t show is the club failed to win a match all season.
By a quirk of geography, Warwickshire ended up in favourable group – Somerset, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Glamorgan, and Northants – and, if you accept Somerset’s position as the strongest team, Troughton would have felt confident of securing a second-place finish. Instead, they drew four matches and lost one, a 78-run defeat away at Gloucestershire. It just about summed up their season when Ian Bell fell 10 runs shy of a century against Glamorgan, denied a fairytale ending to his career by Timm van der Gutgen.
Unlike some other counties, Warwickshire can’t even blame the weather for their glutton of draws – they lost just one day to rain of a possible 20. Instead, they just embodied the mood of a nation sick of Zoom quizzes: present, but just going through the motions.
Seamer Olly Hannon-Dalby in action
What’s happened over the winter?
As mentioned, Warwickshire chose to part company with Jim Troughton at the end of the 2020 season and only sourced a replacement in January – but what a replacement. Mark Robinson coached Sussex to seven trophies between 2005-2015 and won the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup with England. If anyone can help Warwickshire navigate their transition out of the Bell-Ambrose-Patel era, it’s him.
Elsewhere, chief executive, Stuart Cain, is beginning his first full season at the helm and faces the unenviable task of tackling the club’s debt, Covid-affected budget, and the redevelopment of Edgbaston, scheduled for completion in 2023.
Who’s arrived and who’s left?
Aside from head coach, Jim Troughton, Warwickshire lost three other legends in the off-season following the retirements of batsman Ian Bell, spinner Jeetan Patel and wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose. For the first time in over 20 years, Warwickshire start a season without one of the trio on their books and they leave very big shoes to fill.
All-rounder Alex Thomson has joined Durham on a two-month loan deal in a bid to get for first-class experience under his belt, while batsman Liam Banks was released at the end of his contract after failing to make an appearance in 2020.
Brought in to replace Patel is former Sussex spinner Danny Briggs. Although known primarily for his white-ball skills – he is the all-time leading wicket-taker in the Blast – the 29-year old has 270 red-ball wickets to his name at an average of 34.77.
Pieter Malan, meanwhile, has been recruited to replace Bell. The 31-year old South African has scored over 10,000 first-class runs, including 34 centuries and 45 fifties, and is available for the whole season.
Academy products Jacob Bethell and Manraj Johal have also earned professional contracts.
Who will be the key men in 2021?
It’s hard to look beyond captain, Will Rhodes: 423 runs – the fifth-most in the tournament and over 200 more than his nearest teammate – and an average of 52.87 with the bat. With the ball, he collected 10 wickets at 24.5. His high score of 207 against Worcestershire deserved more than a 13-point draw and his reliability with both bat and ball is exactly what you want from your captain. He just needs to find a way to win games…
Warwickshire’s other key man is Oliver Hannon-Dolby. With Olly Stone likely to involved with England in some capacity and Henry Brookes still in his infancy as a bowler, Hannon-Dolby will once again bear the brunt of the work with the ball. Last season he bowled 196.3 overs - 80.3 overs more than his nearest teammate - and took 25 wickets at 20.92. Mr. Reliable, just like his captain.
One to watch
Henry Brookes has already been identified by Ashley Giles as a future Test player. The 21-year old fast bowler made his first-class debut in 2017 and has 55 red-ball wickets in 19 appearances. If he can secure regular game time this season, he has the potential to ease the burden on Hannon-Dalby and see if he can live up to Giles’ expectations.
Also keep an eye on Sam Hain. The 25-year old is a phenomenal white-ball batsman, averaging 59.78 in List A cricket, but is yet to fully deliver on the red-ball circuit. Hain scored 146 runs, including two half-centuries, in five appearances last season but is capable of so much more. A crucial year for the Queensland-native.
What can we expect from this team this season?
Warwickshire have once again lucked out with the groupings, being placed in Group 1 alongside champions Essex, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Durham and Worcestershire. At a minimum they should be targeting a top-four finish and ideally be in the mix for the second Division One qualifying spot.
However, since winning the County Championship in 2012, Warwickshire have been relegated (2017), promoted (2018), finished second-bottom in Division One (2019), and had a winless season (2020). Making predictions with any certainty is, therefore, tricky.
Robinson has been candid with his ambitions, stating – to the delight of Warwickshire fans – that he expects to bring silverware to Edgbaston. However, he was also the first to admit that it may be a bridge too far this season. Instead, he’s aiming to “put building blocks in place for sustained success” – or, to put it another way, perform respectably in 2021.
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