Captain Jim Troughton is confident that Warwickshire have sufficient squad-depth to cope with the injuries that have cropped up as they approach the start of new season.
With six days to go, the Bears are almost certain to be without seamers Boyd Rankin (foot injury) and Keith Barker (hamstring-tear) for the opening championship match against newly-promoted Derbyshire at Edgbaston starting next Wednesday.
But with Chris Woakes available for that match and Chris Wright and Rikki Clarke having bowled with impressive pace and potency in the traditional champions v MCC fixture in Abu Dhabi, Troughton is relaxed about his options – in seam-bowling and other departments of the team.
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“We have lost Neil Carter and Andy Miller from last year and might not have Boyd and Keith for the sart of the season so it’s vital that we have the people competing,” the captain said.
“We have that with the likes of Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Tom Milnes knocking on the door.
“Hannan-Dalby looked good in both Barbados and Abu Dhabi. He has bowled really well with both the white ball and red ball and, in one-day cricket, is keen to put his hand up as as a death-bowler. He relishes that pressure which is great.
“We always knew there would be competition for places and good depth and that’s what we need. We needed it last year when we were without Chris Woakes and Boyd Rankin for a long time and Barker and Wright came through brilliantly.
“Batting-wise I think we are in a pretty good place too. Varun Chopra has been in fantastic form during the winter and just carried that on in Abu Dhabi and we were all delighted that Will Porterfield got his first first-class century for us out there. I am sure there is more to come from him.
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“Ian Westwood missed out in the MCC match but was in great nick in Barbados. I have no concerns about Westy who played brilliantly in the second half of last season.”
Warwickshire have one more warm-up match before the championship season starts. They face the students of Oxford MCCE at The Parks in a three-day friendly starting tomorrow, when some of the younger players will get a chance to shine.
The breezy and sylvan Parks – glorious on a sunny day but distinctly bracing on a cold one – will provide a slightly different environment to the sun-baked empty seats of Abu Dhabi.
But the Bears players involved will have plenty of incentive to excel, insists Troughton.
“It will be a chance for the likes of Tom Allin, Tom Milnes and Recardo Gordon to show what they can do,” said the captain. “And I think the lads might have a few layers on!”
The visit to the Parks will evoke a few memories for Warwickshire’s coaching trinity Dougie Brown, Graeme Welch and Tony Frost – the latter in particular.
Now allied as colleagues in the management team – Brown as director of cricket, Welch as assistant coach and bowling coach and Frost as Second XI coach and batting coach – they were together atThe Parks as players back in 1997 when Frost made his first-class debut.
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It turned out to be quite a lively game. After Oxford batted first and Welch quickly dismissed captain Mark Wagh, wicketkeeper Frost snared his maiden first-class victim, James Fulton, stumped off Ashley Giles.
Then came the Bears turn to bat and Welch and Brown found themselves as two instalments of a hat-trick for seam-bowler Chetan Patel, the first hat-trick by an Oxford player in first-class cricket for 30 years.
The Warwickshire all-rounders enjoyed better fortune with the ball in Oxford’s second innings. Welch harvested 14-7-15-3 and Brown 14.3-4-24-4 as the home side was bowled out for 115 and beaten by an innings and 53 runs.
Over the next three days, it will be the emerging generation that seeks to impress as Brown and Welch observe from the sidelines.
“Oxford is always a good place to play cricket and it will be a very important warm-up game,” said Brown. “Hopefully the weather will be nice and we will get three days of proper match practice which will give the guys a chance to play some challenging, four-day tempo cricket. That will be interesting with guys building up to the start of the season.”
* Warwickshire have renewed their longstanding partnership with Birmingham-based skincare specialists sk:n, as primary sponsor on its white playing shirt for the new season.
The Bears will wear the sk:n logo on the front of their championship shirts for the fifth consecutive year
“Everyone at Edgbaston is delighted to continue working with sk:n,” said Bears chief executive Colin Povey, “particularly the playing and coaching team who have found their skincare consultation sessions and sun-protection products very useful in Barbados and Abu Dhabi.
“For five years both sk:n and Warwickshire CCC have received great benefits from working together and we look forward to continuing this for the foreseeable future.”