Luck of the Draw

Warwickshire begin their last derby match of the summer today against Worcestershire at New Road looking for the victory they need to push claims for a promotion spot.

Since the Twenty20 cup ended Warwickshire have largely been serving up uninspiring cricket, with a host of draws at home. It is one of the quirks of the county championship scoring that a high scoring draw is worth almost as much as a low scoring win. Indeed a team are much better placed to play the cautious game and get a high scoring draw every match, than they are playing fast and loose and winning 50% of their games.

However much the lack of entertainment value is bemoaned however, we must remember the events of last season and Warwickshire’s lack of spine and fight, particularly at Scarborough. The first thing to achieve in a rebuilding job is to lay solid foundations and make the team hard to beat. From there the team can then push on and start turning those draws into wins. There has been some grumblings about the pitches prepared this season at Edgbaston, which have led to not a single win for Warwickshire, however George Dobell in The Post rightly points out that this is on the instructions of Ashley Giles to help ensure the batsmen get time in the middle, and no doubt to play the county points scoring system to their advantage.

Given the relatively even playing field in Division 2 it is difficult to accurately say how many more points Warwickshire will need to get promoted. It could well be that 3 draws will be enough, however a win against Worcestershire this week would certainly go a long way towards improving both their chances and the good mood of the supporters.