The sun sets

Warwickshire ended the season today with a win against Glamorgan to end on a high. It also ensured that they would not finish the season with the inglorious statistic of having won the league without once winning a match at home. It brought to an end an unhappy sequence of games stretching 12 matches and nearly 15 months (to 5th May 2007), the last time they won a home match.

So the primary aim of the season has been accomplished; promotion back to Division 1 of the championship at the first time of asking. So by this measure the season should be considered an unqualified success. Unfortunately this does not tell the whole story.

From a purely 'balance sheet' perspective Warwickshire have done well, however the cricket played at Edgbaston this season has largely not been of the entertaining variety. They have flickered brightly at times and have put in some great performances, but it has been very much a case of the ends justifying the means. The objective in virtually every championship match played this season has been to ensure against defeat. I imagine that for the armchair spectator this has been a more enjoyable season than for the Edgbaston regular.

I do not wish for a minute to come across as begrudging the team their success or seem unhappy that they have won the division and gained promotion. For their results they completely deserve to be champions.

No-one at Warwickshire can be held accountable for the damp summer, which has resulted in a lot of cricket being lost and has ruined a lot of matches across the country. However regarding entertainment and excitement it is telling that of matches this season at Edgbaston only 2 have entered the forth innings. The first of the season against Worcestershire, when a Warwickshire rearguard saved the match, and today's game when they bowled out Glamorgan to win. The other 6 matches were abandoned as draws at various points in the second and third innings of the match and none of them were remotely close to being results. As I said much of this is due to the weather, but it does not change the fact that this does not make for interesting cricket watching.

Ashley Giles, along with his coaching team, has done well so far in shaping the players at his disposal into a solid squad who are hard to beat. Their next challenge will be to ensure this group of players can compete in Division One.