Due to the runaway sucess (!) of this feature, I have put it on the Raggybear archive as a permenent post.
Warwickshire's start to the season has been disrupted somewhat by various injuries and problems with availability of key players. As usual news is a little patchy and in various places, so this is where the Raggybear comes into its own (with its patented traffic light system for availability, specifically for those people who are in a rush, or who are illiterate but with the capacity to recognise names). News as at today is:
Tim Ambrose - was available and waiting on Sunday, will play in the Championship game against Northants this week.
Ian Bell - will join up with the team for this week's championship match
Monde Zondeki - due to join the squad this week and expected to make his debut in the Championship
Boyd Rankin - missed out on last week's game through a lack of match fitness following his recovery from a broken foot but has now picked up a new shoulder injury which is ruling him out for now. He is due to have a scan this week.
Jim Troughton - continues to be troubled by the back injury he picked up before last week's game. Is due to begin training today, but is very doubtful for the game on Wednesday.
Naqqash Tahir - has begun light training following his shin splints problem, is unlikely to play this week.
Jimmy Anyon - has started training again, following recovery from a torn muscle in his right forearm but could still miss out this week. - updated, in the squad for CC match against Northants
Ian Salisbury - is in the squad for the CC game against Northants.
Stuart Hole - last reported to have a hamstring strain on 9th April, still out as far as I know.
Nick James - has fully recovered from the broken toe he suffered in the nets and played for the seconds last week and was in the squad for the FP Trophy game on Sunday.
Monday, 21 April 2008
Injury Update
Monday, 31 March 2008
Bowling Developments and rumours
Tom Allin: a 20yo fast bowler from Devon has been signed on a two year summer contract. He is currently studying sports coaching and management at Cardiff UCCE. He played 4 of Devon's five Minor Counties matches last year and took 33 wickets for North Devon in the Devon League Premier Division. He was clocked at 85mph in the nets at Warwickshire, so certainly seems a promising prospect.
Monde Zondeki: Ashley Giles is still hopeful of having Zondeki avaliable for most of the season, dispite his call up for South Africa's current tour. Warwickshire are waiting to see if there are any developments before looking for a replacement. In the first match of the current tour he did not play in the team, so there is a possibility he will be avaliable for more matches than was initially feared following his call-up.
Majid Haq: He impressed enough on his trial with Warwickshire last week to earn an extended trial in May. He is now touring Nambia with Scotland and will join up with Warwickshire on his return. He said in an interview with The Herald; "They've asked me to come back for another week in May, probably to play some games for the Second XI," he said. "I'm hoping something will come of it but Scotland definitely still comes first, at least until there's something signed. But the first week down there was good. We spent a lot of time in training doing sprinting work which was a real change for me."
Tim Southee: This one almost slipped past me, but the teenage New Zealand bowler may be joining up with the Bears later in the summer. Last week in the Telegraph, Charles Randall reported that Andy Moles, Tim's coach at Northern Districts, has recommended that the teenager links up with Warwickshire following the conclusion of Nez Zealand's tour of England. He may be being lined up to replace Zondeki in the event he is called up to the South Africa team, which would fit in pretty well.
Others: Nick James and Ian Westwood have recovered from a broken foot and thumb respectively and Boyd Rankin is still making progress on his stress fracture, but is not yet fully fit
Monday, 11 February 2008
Injury Update
Ian Westwood has a broken thumb, suffered in a nets session with the bowling machine. He will be out of action for around 4-6 weeks, but may, depending on the nature of the break be out for up to 12 weeks (missing the start of the season).
Boyd Rankin continues to make good progress with his stress fracture and should soon start full training again.
Monday, 15 October 2007
Boyd Rankin Signs
The news hot off the press this morning is that Boyd Rankin has joined Warwickshire from Derbyshire.
He is probably one for the future rather than someone who is going to come in and do well from the off, but it is certainly more raw material for Donald to work with. Injury and form restricted him to just three championship apperances for Derbyshire last season, which in a county which did not have a wealth of fast bowling talent is not a promising sign. However he showed in the World Cup what he is capable of and he certianly seems to have a lot of potential. It will be another test for Donald to see whether he came mould Rankin into a top class bowler.
It will take a long time to get the grass roots of Warwickshire bowling up to scratch, by this I mean the age-group scouting and coaching, but it is certainly the right move in my opinion in the short to medium-term to recruit young promising bowlers and work with them, rather than go for much older short-term fixes.
This is the first signing of the Giles/Donald era and although not the big overseas signing many would have been hoping for, it shows the club is aiming in the right direction.
Meanwhile Nayan Doshi has sort of moved the other way, signing for Derbyshire (although in the Warwickshire squad for the championship game against Sussex he never played). It was largely expected that he wouldn't represent Warwickshire in 2008 after they signed Botha from Derbyshire.