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
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
The curtain raises
Finally the months of waiting are nearing an end and the new cricket season is nearly upon us. Warwickshire open their Division 2 campaign against local rivals Worcestershire tomorrow at Edgbaston.
The squad for the game is 12; D Maddy (captain), I Westwood, M Powell, J Trott, J Troughton, N Poonia, T Frost, A Botha, L Daggett, T Groenewald, N Carter, B Rankin.
Brian Halford reports in today's mail that Jim Troughton is an injury doubt with a back twinge. He also speculates that Boyd Rankin is not a definite inclusion due to his recent return from injury and indicates that Powell will be included (by implying Poonia is cover for Troughton).
My feeling is that Warwickshire are unlikely to go in with only 3 seamers, and that the only decision will be which two out of Powell, Poonia and Troughton play at 4 and 5. I feel Poonia deserves a chance after his combative 65 in the draw against Oxford UCCE last week, and if I was selecting I would probably leave out Powell (cue his selection and a double hundred).
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
Pre-Season Game on
The Worcester News reported a few hours ago that the New Road ground is fit to host tommorrow's pre-season friendly between Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The first game to be played at the ground since the floods of June last year.
The match starts at 11am and is free admission.
The squad for the game has been announced on the Warwickshire website as;
Maddy, Carter, Westwood, Trott, Troughton, Poonia, Frost, Botha, Groenewald, Daggett, Anyon, Woakes, Parker.
I've been a little quiet over the past week, but normal service has now been resumed ahead of the start of Warwickshire's pre-season proper.
Friday, 21 March 2008
Zondeki to arrive late
Events outside of their control have conspired to weaken the bowling attack for at least the opening game of the season against Worcestershire, and possibly beyond, as Monde Zondeki was called up to South Africa's tour of India.
While it appears to be good news for the player, it is not quite so good for Warwickshire as they lose arguably their only truly fast bowler. The call comes following another ugly dispute in South African cricket over race and quotas. Andre Nell was dropped from the tour party in favour of Charl Langeveldt, purely on grounds that Langeveldt is mixed-race and therefore fulfils one of the mandatory "coloured" player slots in a touring party. Upset by this turn of events Langeveldt withdrew from the side himself, saying "I have always fought for a place in the team but I don’t want to be put there because of my colour".
In 2002 South Africa, under Ray Mali stating they were moving from the divisive quota system to a softer "target" system, but since Mali stepped up to the ICC Presidency following the untimely death of Percy Son, the CSA have moved back towards stricter quotas of 7 "coloured" players in a touring party of 15, or 6 in a party of 14. The new, more combative head of the CSA, Norman Arendse, is keen on the quota system, but this is not a popular position and resulted in a recent cautious vote of confidence from the General Council of Cricket South Africa in his leadership
Following Langeveldt's withdrawal Zondeki was called up as a replacement into the side and has said he was overjoyed at the call; “It is nice to be rewarded for all the hard work I have put in this season,” he commented. “I wasn’t expecting it quite yet but I will grab every opportunity that I get. I toured Sri Lanka in 2005, so I do have some experience of the conditions on the sub-continent.”
Reports from South Africa though are mixed, with the main focus, understandably being on the circumstances of his call, which is unfortunate for a player who was the leading wicket taker in the South African domestic season. Independent Online, a South African news site is particularly scathing of the policy of quotas and comments that the call may not be in Zondeki's best interests, notably in the article "Zondeki is a quota player and he knows it".
Meanwhile Warwickshire are left to plan for Zondeki's absence from certainly the first match against Worcestershire and likely for the duration of South Africa's tour of England.
Friday, 14 March 2008
Majid Haq set for trial
I have to admit that this is not exactly ground breaking news, however I couldn't resist the chance to show off about my surfing prowess having tracked down the following story in the Paisley Sports Express (Paisley is in Scotland incidentally)
Scottish International all-rounder Majid Haq will have a week long trial with Warwickshire next week to try to win county playing deal. He is scheduled to arrive on Monday.
The 25-year-old is a off-break bowler, who primarily provides control during the middle overs of one-day cricket, but is better known for his hard-hitting batting at the top of the innings. He met Ashley Giles at the Cricket Scotland annual awards dinner at the close of the season and this was when the possibility of a trial was first discussed.
Haq told Paisley Express Sports: “Hopefully it will go well as it’s a good chance to make a living out of cricket.
“I’m not really nervous about it as over the past season I’ve played against the top internationals for Scotland and I’ve also played in two World Cups.
Haq added: “Everyone who knows anything about county cricket will tell you Warwickshire is in one of the top three or four teams along with Lancashire, Surrey and Yorkshire.“It would be a great chance for me to develop my cricket although at this stage I don’t want to look too far ahead.
There you go it might not be a big story but for once the Raggy Bear has beaten the Post and Mail to the drop, not to mention the Edgbaston website, but then to be fair I beat the Edgbaston site to most stories.See also : Embarrassing retraction (!!)
Edited by Raggybear at 22.12 15/10/2008
Monday, 10 March 2008
Ambrose in for the long term
Cricket 365 are carrying an interview with Ashley Giles, in which he states that he believes Tim Ambrose did enough on debut to ensure that he is the long-term answerfor England's wicketkeeper position. With a first innings 55, two catches and only 1 bye conceeded in just over 193 overs.
He said "I can see Tim playing for England for a long time and consequently I don't think Warwickshire will be seeing him for a long time."
"I was watching Tim the other day and he looks like he has taken to the role easily. He's got very good hands and to also get a half-century on your debut is really pleasing. Hopefully he will keep on producing because it is great for England and great for Warwickshire in the sense of producing another Test cricketer."
He finished by saying, "That is the risk you take when you have good players [losing them to England] but you've got to have strength in depth and we've got a good young keeper in Richard Johnson while Tony Frost, with his experience, is coming back to the club."
It is great news for England and Ambrose that he made such an assured debut, but not so good news from the point of view of Warwickshire's forthcoming domestic campaign. It will be a big season for Ambrose in the England side, but an equally big one for Richard Johnson.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Pollock deal off
It was confirmed earlier in the week that Warwickshire have terminated their interest in signing Shuan Pollock for the forthcoming season. It was felt that his commitments in the IPL would mean he would only be available for the latter half of the season. This follows on from news a few weeks ago that Shane Warne would not be playing for Hampshire until July or August due to IPL and other personal commitments.
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.
Friday, 1 February 2008
Pre-Season tour cancelled
Firstly before I comment on this news it is worth saying that Colin Povey has recommended any supporters who have booked trips to Grenada with the intention of watching the team should contact him without delay.
Now onto some thoughts. This is being portrayed by the club as a cricketing decision, based on the fact that the players did not perform last season, so do not deserve an overseas jaunt as a "reward" before they have earned it. It is possibly signs of a harder line being taken by the club. It has also been stated by the club that it is nothing to do with the record financial loss last year, or the upcoming need to finance the ground development. Although when the trip was planned quite a while ago and was planning to depart on 13th March, it seems a strange time to make the decision. It is also worth pointing out that Giles himself announced the plans for this tour back in November, this is not a hang over from the old regime. So I am not sure we can say it is signs of a harder line to plan a preseason tour 8 weeks after the team have performed dismally, only to cancel it 8 weeks before they are due to fly out.
However I have two points to make, firstly that I feel it is shocking that the Birmingham Post and a part-time blog are ahead of the club's website on news of this magnitude for supporters who may have booked to travel abroad. This is another example of poor communication on the part of the club. There is nothing at all on the official site.
Secondly (and you may know I love a good conspiracy theory), I have found an article on the club website from earlier in January stating "..if you want to take either of these trips [to Belfast or Grenada] with the Bears this season we will need payment and details by the closing date of Friday 25th January. To secure your places please email David Bunce by the date above. Obviously if we do not reach the minimum number of passengers the tours will have to be cancelled. The players would love your support so book now and travel in style with the Bears".
Now it seems to me a very big coincedence that the week following the deadline where they are saying if they don't have enough people signing up to the supporter packages they will have to cancel the supporter tour, they have in fact cancelled the entire tour.
I guess the last thing to say that is although the players will not be going to Grenada with the club, the following have all been away playing cricket (that I know of) this winter:
Bell (England - Sri Lanka & New Zealand), Trott (Lions - India), Ambrose (England - New Zealand), Maddy (Hong Kong Sixes, ICL), Zondeki (South Africa - he lives there!), Macleod & Miller (Australia Grade Cricket), Rankin (ICL), Woakes (England U-19, Sri Lanka, Malaysia). I'm not saying any of these players haven't deserved these trips at all, but we must be careful not be make the mistake of assuming by cancelling the tour the club have condemned all its players to a full rainy offseason in the West Midlands!
Thursday, 17 January 2008
More rumours on Pollock
Cricinfo are reporting this morning that Yorkshire and Sussex have registered in interest in signing Shaun Pollock, although Warwickshire still remain favourites. The Telegraph is also saying Sussex have been in negotiations with him since before Christmas (in an article about Warne's poker commitments!), which is a little odd. Sussex already have their one overseas for this season (Mushtaq Ahmed) confirmed way back in September time, so could only sign further non-English players as kolpaks. You can't sign a kolpak who is a current international, so it does raise the question of why a county who already have an overseas player are talking to a current international, with a view to getting them as a kolpak player. Seems a very strange state of affairs.
I know Warwickshire aren't exactly the model of non-Kolpak players and certainly aren't a model of taking local born talent and developing it (a plausible 11 from next season could contain 7 players born overseas - Trott, Ambrose, Botha, Carter, Groenewald, Zondeki, Pollock), but I think it's a bit much for Yorkshire to attempt to have a side containing both Rudolph and Pollock as kolpak signings. Its just not cricket.
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Cold Snap
Frost has returned to Edgbaston.
Sorry, forgive the puntastic opening to this article, the actual news is that former Warwickshire wicket keeper, Tony Frost has been tempted out of retirement. It appears Giles was keen to bring in some experienced cover, with Tim Ambrose appearing to be on the verge of getting his chance in the England set-up.
That would leave the only other wicketkeeper in the squad as 19yo academy player, Richard Johnson. Who was granted a full contract at the end of last season. Rather than hunt around for a backup, Giles has raided the ground staff and persuaded Frost to reverse his retirement.
It could be a sensible decision, but only if Ambrose does not become first choice for England. Frost spent last season playing in the Warwickshire league and I believe he will be able to provide cover for the odd game. However he is 32 and has not played any first class cricket since 2006, he also retired in the first place partly due to injuries. I would not be comfortable in him playing virtually every one day and first class match in the event Ambrose becomes first choise for England.
The forthcoming England tour of New Zealand will have a say in Warwickshire's season, as we will have a much better idea following that of Ambrose's immediate future in the England set-up. It is likely that the squad for the return fixtures against New Zealand in England will be announced following the first couple of Championship and Friend's Provident Trophy games. It is likely that any Warwickshire players featuring for England in both Tests and One-Dayers would only then be avaliable for the Twenty20 at the begining of July and for a brief period in the middle of August.
If; and with the selection policy on wicketkeepers, it is a big if, England pick Ambrose for the summer it will almost certainly mean first team cricket for Richard Johnson at some point next season.
Lastly in the course of researching this article (believe it or not I do spend a few minutes checking my facts!) I found that Cricinfo have got ageing former Surrey seamer Richard Johnson (age 33) in the Warwickshire squad, rather than young academy wicket keeper Richard Johnson (age 19).
Friday, 19 October 2007
Loudon to retire
It has been announced today that Alex Loudon will retire from First Class cricket to concentrate on becoming a Stockbroker. Although his performances over the past season and a bit have not been as consistent as they might have been, he has still been a powerful force at No6 or No5 for the Bears.
He didn't always score a weight of runs, but often seemed to save his best for games when it was needed most. I remember a few low scoring games where he held the tail together and helped Warwickshire post a decent total.
Sadly I think he will be remembered as a player who never quite fulfilled his potential. It was not so long ago that he was on the verge of an England senior cap, mainly for his bowling, but also for his ability in the middle order. It is probably not unfair to say since that winter his game has gone backwards in both disciplines, notably his bowling. I felt he had the potential to go on and become a really good cricketer and with his skills it could have been him and not Graeme Swann who was filling the second spinner slot in Sri Lanka last week. Had he taken his initial opportunity he may even have become England's first choice spinner for a while in the absence of Giles. Unfortunately he didn't seem to posses that final quality that turns a merely good cricketer into a great one. It might be that his dual career ambitions contributed to this, that he didn't quite possess the hunger to excel at cricket when he had other options to fall back on. I may be being unfair here, because the likes of Troughton and Trott and lately Ambrose have achieved a similar level of recognition with England from the Warwickshire ranks without (yet) stepping up to international standard.
He will be sorely missed at Warwickshire where he fulfilled a vital and complex role. He had a decent cricket brain and took charge of the team on numerous occasions and his batting, as I've said was decent down the order. Warwickshire will struggle next season to find someone to fill his position, they may come to depend more on the top order for runs and the likes of Troughton might find himself bowling a few more overs. The leadership issue might be more complex, with Brown, Streak and Loudon all missing for next season (not to mention Knight and Wagh from last) the Bears may struggle for leadership and tactical help for Maddy and some of the younger members of the squad will have to step up.
I wish him all the best in his future career ambitions and I won't be surprised at all to see his name cropping up in the minor counties in the next few years.
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Update on Players
Last updated 13/01
The situation going into next season seems to already be a bit clearer, with most of last season's playing staff either confirmed as staying or going. I've stuck it all together as a little re-cap.
Neil Carter - Decided to accept the new offer of a one year contract, after being almost certain to leave a few months ago (Mail Oct 9th)
Dougie Brown - Believed to have been offered a coaching only role with Warwickshire, but also has a coaching and playing role on the table from Essex. Is weighing up his options and has not yet decided. Only recently completed a stint in Sri Lanka commentating for TMS on the One Day series. As of 14/11 he has been confirmed as the new academy director.
Alex Loudon - Is keen to continue to train to be a stockbroker and previously has been given 8 months out of the year under contract, and undertaken training during the offseason. It is believed that Warwickshire are only offering a 12 month contract at the moment, effectively forcing him to choose whether to give up cricket or stockbroking for the time being. I did read somewhere that other counties were interested by George Dobell indicated in The Post that he would not go to another county. As of 19/10 he has confirmed he will retire from cricket.
Darren Maddy - remains under contract and has accepted the captaincy for next season
Michael Powell - has agreed a new one year deal, after being out of contract at the end of this season. (Post Oct 12th) Also confirmed as 2008 Benefit recipient.
Ant Botha - He has signed until 2009. He is not actually a Kolpak, as he discovered his dad was not his real dad, and his real dad was born in England. (IC Birmingham)
Vaughan Van Jaarsveld - Another problem registration, ultimately he will play in the squad from next season, as he is marrying his fiancée in the offseason, who apparently has an EU passport. (Forum) Has now decided he doesn't want to play for Warwickshire and will remain in South Africa (18/11)
Ian Bell - Povey has assured the members at the forum that he is on a very long term contract, which is good news following his frustration at not been picked for the C&G semi-final.
Jim Troughton - signed up for next two seasons (club website)
Tim Groenewald - signed up for next two seasons (club website)
Nick James - Has signed a new one year deal and will probably have to show some improvement to stay.
Andrew Miller - Has signed a new one year deal, but I have to confess I haven't a clue who he is?
Richard Johnson - Academy wicket-keeper, who has signed a one year deal and will be official No2 to Tim Ambrose. (Confusingly reported on 16/11 has having been offered a one year deal - so don't know if I am just way ahead of the game or what?)
Boyd Rankin - New signing, see below post.
Ian Salisbury - Newly signed (17/11) to boost the spin bowling department and to bring in some experience (age 38)
Sanath Jayasuriya - Has been signed as overseas player, but just for the Twenty20 cup.
others under contract:
James Anyon
Lee Daggett*
Luke Parker*
Navdeep Poonia*
Naqqash Tahir
Jonathan Trott
Ian Westwood
Stuart Hole*
Calum MacLeod (16/11)
* - I am just assuming this based on the article in the Post that stated that only Brown and Loudon remained unconfirmed as to contract deals and I have seen no confirmation that they have been released. However they are fringe players...
Mystery Men:
Monde Zondeki - Is now the hot favourite for the overseas slot for either the whole season (presumably minus the Twenty20 - see above), or possibly until the SA tour of England kicks off in the second half of the summer, if he is called up.
Alfonso Thomas - signed for the tail end of last season, but no confirmation as to whether he will be back. He didn't really do enough to convince Giles/AD in my opinion. But I cannot find any confirmation of his status.
Stephen Flemming - has confirmed he will not be rejoining Notts next year, has been linked with Warwickshire
Shane Bond - random linkage, haven't heard anything remotely concrete. His involvement in the ICL makes it less likely I think.
Niall O'Brien - It was reported that we had made an approach to Northants on Aug 15th (IC Birmingham), although it is all based on Tim Ambrose getting an England call. Nothing since and Richard Johnson is confirmed as No2 to Ambrose for next season, indicating there is not any movement behind the scenes.
Shaun Pollock - Since announcing his retirement from international cricket on 11/01 the rumour mill has sprung into action. Giles has confirmed he is interested in signing him and he might be available as kolpak, as he is no longer an international.
Ones that got away:
Heath Streak - Has retired from the end of the season and his wholehearted commitment will be missed in the dressing room.
Nayan Doshi - As predicted in this blog a while back, Doshi will not represent Warwickshire. He has signed with Derbyshire for next season.
Michael Barnes - Has been released by the club
Adam Shantry - Has been released by the club, but thankfully for him has signed a two year contract with Glamorgan. I believe he could go on to be a decent player for them.
Mushtaq Ahmed - did anyone really think he was going to leave Sussex? Only the prospect of learning his trade under the tutelage of Giles would have a chance of convincing him.
I'll keep updating this list as and when anything is revealed...
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.
Sunday, 9 September 2007
Some Thoughts on Next Season
At the moment it is not certain which division Warwickshire will be playing their Championship cricket in next year, but what is clear is that some changes will need to be made before their campaign starts.
I have had a lot of trouble finding out information about who we are signing, who we aren't signing and who we are releasing so more for my own use than anything else I have been trying to compile as much information as possible on our player activities at the moment:
Neil Carter - Has now been offered a new contract following the club's earlier announcement around August 2nd that he was surplus to requirements. It has not been announced whether he will be accepting this deal or not. (members forum, IC Birmingham)
Dougie Brown - Will not be offered a playing deal next season, but curiously is still meeting Povey on 17th September to "discuss his future". On September 06th it was reported that him and Reeve had offered their 'support' to the club, which seems to indicate a coaching function. (Members forum & IC Birmingham)
Alex Loudon - Is out of contract this season, but has expressed a desire to stay with the club (12th August - Post)
Michael Powell - is out of contract this season, but wants to stay (12th July - Mail)
Nayan Doshi - Following all the problems with his registration it seems as if he might not play for Warwickshire at all. He has had an operation on his shoulder and the club will monitor his progress. He has signed some odd contract that no doubt Mr Povey feels is awfully clever, but the upshot seems to be if he doesn't recover he won't really have a contract. It remains to be seen whether he would play with Botha.. (Forum)
Ant Botha - He has signed until 2009. He is not actually a Kolpak, as he discovered his dad was not his real dad, and his real dad was born in England. (IC Birmingham)
Vaughan Van Jaarsveld - Another problem registration, ultimately he will play in the squad from next season, as he is marrying his fiancée in the offseason, who apparently has an EU passport. (Forum)
Heath Streak - Has retired from the end of the season. I must confess I was never completely convinced by him as a bear, but this is a very good article on his contribution to the club.
Ian Bell - Povey has assured the members at the forum that he is on a very long term contract, which is good news following his frustration at not been picked for the C&G semi-final.
Jim Troughton - signed up for next two season (club website)
Tim Groenewald - signed up for next two season (club website)
Alfonso Thomas - he's South African, he's a little over medium pace. What's not to like? No confirmation yet, but I fully expect him as a Kolpak next season.
Michael Barnes - Has been released by the club (club website - updated 11/09)
Adam Shantry - Has been released by the club (club website - updated 11/09)
This is all the info I have on the current playing staff, if anyone knows anything else, please post a comment.
Rumours/potential signings:
Mushtaq Ahmed - at 37, one for the future. I don't think anyone apart from Mr Povey thinks we can get him. Latest news is that the post reported 05/09 that Povey hadn't given up on getting him, despite him agreeing a new contract with Sussex, because there have been "complications" in the negotiations. Confirmed on Cricinfo and the Guardian that he has signed for two more years with Sussex (11/09)
Stephen Flemming - has confirmed he will not be rejoining Notts next year. Although with NZ touring next year do we really need another half-seasoner??
Shane Bond - really? Do we not have enough injured seemers!? Anyway at least he is a real quick, but see above for problems with NZ players.
Boyd Rankin - Appears we might just be trying to raid Derbyshire. Has been reported that we have made a formal approach. But only 4 CC games for mediocre mid-table Div2 Derbyshire tells a story. I don't have any faith in our bowling coaching to bring through talent, so I don't see the point in signing him.
Niall O'Brien - It was reported that we had made an approach to Northants on Aug 15th (IC Birmingham), although it is all based on Tim Ambrose getting an England call. Not sure why he would want to come as an understudy...
It seems to me that our seem bowling department is the one that needs the overseas boost. Mushtaq is going nowhere and each county is only allowed one overseas - so where is Naved-Ul-Hasan going? 50 wickets at 28 in the championship suggests he is no slouch, he is out of the reckoning in the international team at the moment and Pakistan have virtually no cricket during the English summer, so he would almost certainly play every game. We are going after the wrong Sussex player in my opinion.