Sabatical

Apologies for the lack of coverage over the past month, a combination of changing my job and Warwickshire slide into mediocrity have conspired to prevent me finding either the time or the motivation to write anything. I realise this is disappointing to all my loyal fans and I'm hoping to be able to resume a more normal service for the rest of the season, even though much of my blogging will be from Yorkshire, where my new job is (and who know a thing or two about playing cricket).

I'm updating the player availability list HERE, but the main news is that Monde Zondeki has limped out of the current championship game with Middlesex and has a groin injury. This may keep him out for a while and South Africa have given him a central contract, this coupled with Langaveldt's international retirement means he is likely to be unavailable from June anyway, and may now not play before then. I think that Warwickshire were spoiled to a certain extent with Steyn last year, but for me Zondeki has been something of a disappointment. He has bowled much faster that anyone else in the side, but he looks too easy to score runs off at times and has not often been trusted with the new ball. A return of 9 wickets at 42 in 4 championship matches, if it is to be the last we see of him will not ensure he goes down in the memory in the same way as Steyn.
Sanath Jayasuriya has been called up by Sri Lanka after premature reports of his international demise. This means he will not be appearing in the Twenty20 cup for Warwickshire, especially disappointing as he is in great form and knows that the wooden thing is held by by the thin end and you hit the ball with the flat bit. Warwickshire's batsmen could have learnt much from him.

On a brighter note Warwickshire have included Troughton and Tahir in the team against Middlesex, both for the first time this season due to injuries. I'm a big fan of Tahir, not least because he's a local Moseley lad. Hopefully he can put his injuries behind him and go on to have a successful season.

At at the moment Darren Maddy is the team's most penetrative bowler in the championship and
this is no statistical anomaly. A couple of times he has come on as first change, and surely it is only a desire to save face that prevents him from taking the new ball. Meanwhile, comparatively Salisbury and Carter are worth their place on batting alone. Indeed based on the statistics you would probably have Carter opening with Maddy (in bowling and batting) with Salisbury coming in at 4.

I have been amusing myself in recent weeks by listening for the first "comeon WARRIX, we're better than this". Like the first swallow it is now a sure herald of the summer, although the shouts of "bring back Greatbatch" in the FP game a few weeks ago was a rare treat. I think there was a healthy dose of irony mixed in, but it is hard to tell. For the members of Warwickshire, particularly ones such as myself that don't travel to many away games, these are difficult times. In this past calender year we have seen Warwickshire win; 1 Friends Provident game, 1 Pro40 game and 3 Twenty20 games. You have to go back to April 28th last year for the last championship win at home. We have not seen a win of any kind yet this season. The one day cricket in particular has been woeful, with Maddy desperately shuffling the pack when Warwickshire bowl, his only option at times to have people bowl in 1 or 2 over spells to prevent the batsmen settling, something that has largely failed to work.

I'm off down to Edgbaston later this morning to see how the game develops, but with a bowler light I cannot see that a win is a realistic expectation.