Warwickshire County Cricket Club
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2017) |
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Official website | edgbaston.com | |||
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Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Warwickshire.
Founded in 1882, the club held
Warwickshire currently competes in four main competitions. In the County Championship, they compete in Division One (the top division), and last won it outright in 2021 (for a total of eight championship wins). The 50 over Royal London One Day Cup they compete as 'Warwickshire', but for other short-format cricket, they are named differently. For the T20 Blast they are the Birmingham Bears, and they compete in The Hundred (cricket) as Birmingham Phoenix.
Warwickshire's kit colours are all white with a dash of navy blue for the county championship, and for short-format cricket, they use navy blue and gold. Shirt sponsors include Scrivens Opticians (County Championship), Talbots Law (T20 Blast), and Butterkist (The 100). The club's home is
Honours
First XI honours
- Gillette/NatWest/C&G/Friends Provident Trophy (5) – 1966, 1968, 1989, 1993, 1995
- Sunday/Pro 40 League/2016
- Division Two (1) – 2009
- Benson & Hedges Cup (2) – 1994, 2002
- 2014
- 2021
Second XI honours
- Second XI Championship (2) – 1979, 1996
- Second XI Trophy (1) – 2006
- Minor Counties Championship(2) – 1959, 1962
Earliest cricket
Cricket may have reached Warwickshire by the end of the 17th century. The Warwickshire & Staffordshire Journal was certainly aware of the sport in 1738 for it carried a report of a London v Mitcham game at the Artillery Ground on 11 August (London won by 1 wicket).
The earliest confirmed reference to cricket in the county is a match announcement in Aris’ Gazette on 15 July 1751.
There was a prominent club in
Club history
Warwickshire CCC was officially founded on 8 April 1882 at a meeting in
Frank Foster, who first played as an amateur left-arm pace bowler in 1908 but improved greatly in 1910 as a result of slowing his pace to gain accuracy, still stands as Warwickshire's greatest all-rounder. In 1911 he headed both batting and bowling averages and, along with a fully fit Frank Field, enabled Warwickshire to take the Championship from the "Big Six"[2] for the only time between 1890 and 1935. Foster and Field took between then 238 wickets, but in Wisden nobody doubted that Warwickshire's win was largely caused by an abnormally dry summer, and the following three years saw them return to mid-table although Foster in 1914 displayed all-round form equal to that of 1911.
In 1919, with Foster having had an accident that ended his short career, Warwickshire fell to last in the table. They did not improve a great deal until the 1930s when Bob Wyatt's captaincy and the bowling of Mayer, Paine and Hollies moved them to fourth in 1934, but as Paine rapidly declined, they fell away. When Wyatt left for
Yet again, though, a Championship win was followed by a decline and the next twenty years saw the county almost always in the lower half of the table. In 1981 and 1982, with
However they have since been promoted in both competitions (though relegated again in the National Cricket League), won the Benson & Hedges Cup in 2002 and strong performances with the bat saw the county reclaim the County Championship in 2004. Warwickshire were once again promoted in the national cricket league and played in the top division of both competitions in 2006.
Until the year 2005, the club captain was Nick Knight, the coach was John Inverarity, and the Chief Executive was Dennis Amiss, though all three stepped down at the end of the season. Heath Streak was appointed as captain for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, but resigned after one game of the 2007 season on 25 April 2007, and Darren Maddy replaced Streak as captain.
The
Since the end of the disastrous 2007 season, Warwickshire made several changes to the team and management staff. Controversial coach Mark Greatbatch was sacked and Ashley Giles replaced him as Director of Cricket. Former Warwickshire Bear and South Africa international Allan Donald joined the Bears' coaching staff. Fans favourite Dougie Brown also took up an Academy Coaching role. After a successful campaign in Division 2, the Bears were promoted back to the top flight after only a season's absence in September 2008.
Maddy stepped down from the captaincy in November 2008.
Early in 2016, Varun Chopra resigned the captaincy in order to focus on batting, with Ian Bell taking over as captain.[3]
At the end of the 2016 season despite winning the Royal London Cup earlier in the season, Director of Cricket Dougie Brown was replaced by Jim Troughton as Head Coach with former Director of Cricket Ashley Giles returning to Edgbaston to take responsibility for all cricket associated with Warwickshire. Bell resigned as captain on 20 August 2017.
Twenty20 Cup history
This section appears to be slanted towards recent events. (September 2016) |
2003
Warwickshire's first-ever game in Twenty20 cricket was against Somerset at Taunton, where the Bears defeated the Sabres by 19 runs. This result was followed by wins over Worcestershire (by 20 runs), Glamorgan (by 68 runs), and Northamptonshire (by 54 runs). Gloucestershire, who finished first in the division, were the only team to beat the Bears when they won by 8 wickets at Edgbaston. This meant that Warwickshire finished second in the Midlands, West and Wales Division behind Gloucestershire, and qualified for the finals day as the best runner-up.
The finals day was held on 19 July at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Warwickshire met Leicestershire in their semi-final, who they defeated by 7 wickets, with Trevor Penney top-scoring for the Bears with 43 runs. Surrey claimed victory over Gloucestershire in their semi-final to set up a Surrey-Warwickshire final. Unfortunately, Warwickshire were unable to perform in the final and only scored 115 runs. Surrey managed to score 119 runs in just 11 overs and claimed victory.
2004
With expectations high at Edgbaston, Warwickshire entertained Somerset in the first clash of the 2004 season. The Bears secured victory by 7 wickets. After Warwickshire lost to Glamorgan (by 26 runs), things started to look bad for the Bears. Defeats against Worcestershire (by 3 wickets), and Northamptonshire (by 4 wickets), left the team in danger of not qualifying for the Quarter-Finals, but victory over Gloucestershire (by 2 wickets) on the last day, meant that Warwickshire qualified as one of the best third-placed team.
The Bears drew Glamorgan in the quarter-finals. Although they had managed to beat Glamorgan at Cardiff once, Warwickshire were not able to achieve victory again, and lost by 5 wickets to the Dragons, who progressed to the finals day, and eventually went out to the 2004 victors, the Leicestershire Foxes.
2005
With changes to the format for the 2005 season, Warwickshire now had to play 8 games in the group stage to qualify. Their first game of the season was against Worcestershire at New Road, where the Bears lost by only 1 run. This was followed by defeats to Northamptonshire (by 38 runs), and another 1-run defeat to Worcestershire. Warwickshire secured qualification from the MMW division in second after victories over Glamorgan (by 20 runs and by 4 runs) Somerset (by 47 runs) Northamptonshire (by 41 runs), and a no-result against Gloucestershire.
Warwickshire bowed out of the competition in the quarter-final to Surrey. After sharing a nail-biting draw (Surrey 149 (20 Overs), Warwickshire 115 (15 Overs)), a bowl off followed, with Surrey claiming victory 4–3. Surrey would go on to be defeated in the Semi-Final to Lancashire, who themselves lost in the final to Somerset.
2006
Warwickshire started the 2006 season by playing Northamptonshire at the County Ground, Northampton where the Bears won by 24 runs. This was followed by wins over Somerset (by 7 wickets), Northampton (by 20 runs), Worcestershire (by 11 runs); defeats to Glamorgan (by 6 wickets), Gloucestershire (by 3 runs), Worcestershire (by 4 runs), and a no-result against Glamorgan. Warwickshire secured third position in the table, but their record was worse than both Yorkshire and Kent (who both finished third in their respected leagues), so did not qualify for the quarter-final.
The final's day was once again controlled by Leicestershire, who beat Nottinghamshire in a spectacular final that lasted to the last over of the game.
2007
Warwickshire recruited the services of twice winner, and Twenty20 expert Darren Maddy for the 2007 season, and his expertise helped the team to once again reach the quarter-finals of the competition. The Bears started with a victory over Somerset by 7 runs. This was followed by wins against Glamorgan (by 3 runs and by 9 runs) Northamptonshire (by 12 runs), Gloucestershire (by 27 runs), defeats against Northamptonshire (by 4 wickets), Worcestershire (by 13 runs), and no results against Worcestershire. The Bears qualified as the MMW leaders, with 11 points from 8 games.
In the quarter-final, Warwickshire hosted Lancashire in an entertaining game. After Lancashire set the Bears 194 to win, Warwickshire were able to claw back to 187 for 7, and lost by 7 runs. It was Lancashire who would go through to face Gloucestershire, Sussex, and Kent on the Finals day, held at Edgbaston in August.
2012
Warwickshire finished fourth of six teams in the Midlands/Wales/West division, failing to make the quarter-finals.
2013
Warwickshire finished fourth of six teams in the Midlands/Wales/West division, failing to make the quarter-finals. After the season, Warwickshire changed their name to Birmingham Bears for T20 competitions. The Bears has been synonymous with the team for many years and will continue to play under the Warwickshire banner in the other two competitions.
2014
The Birmingham Bears came fourth in the North Group (behind Lancashire Lightning, Nottinghamshire Outlaws and Worcestershire Rapids) to qualify for the knockout stages. They faced Essex in the quarter-finals which they won by 19 Runs, to reach finals day at their home ground. On Finals Day, having beaten Surrey in the semi-final, they went on to beat Lancashire by 4 runs to win their first T20 title.
List of captains
Daes | Name |
---|---|
1882–1883 | D. Buchanan |
1884–1886 | H. Rotherham |
1887–1901 | H. W. Bainbridge |
1902 | H. W. Bainbridge and T. S. Fishwick |
1903–1906 | J. F. Byrne |
1907 | T. S. Fishwick and J. F. Byrne |
1908–1909 | A. C. S. Glover |
1910 | H. J. Goodwin |
1911–1914 | F. R. Foster |
1919 | G. W. Stephens |
1920–1929 | F. S. G. Calthorpe |
1930–1937 | R. E. S. Wyatt |
1938–1947 | P. Cranmer |
1948 | H. E. Dollery and R. H. Maudsley |
1949–1955 | H. E. Dollery |
1956 | W. E. Hollies |
1957–1967 | M. J. K. Smith |
1968–1974 | A. C. Smith |
1975–1977 | D. J. Brown
|
1978–1979 | J. Whitehouse |
1980–1984 | R. G. D. Willis |
1985–1987 | N. Gifford |
1988–1992 | T. A. Lloyd |
1993–1996 | D. A. Reeve |
1997 | T. A. Munton |
1998 | B. C. Lara |
1999–2000 | N. M. K. Smith |
2001–2003 | M. J. Powell
|
2003–2005 | N. V. Knight |
2006–2007 | H. H. Streak |
2007–2008 | D. L. Maddy |
2009–2010 | I. J. Westwood |
2011–2014 | J. O. Troughton |
2014 | V. Chopra |
2015–2017 | I. R. Bell |
2018–2019 | J. S. Patel |
2020–2023 | W. M. H. Rhodes |
2024– | A. L. Davies |
Players
Current squad
- No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
- ‡ denotes players with international caps.
- * denotes a player who has been awarded a county cap.
No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batters | ||||||
3 | Amir Khan | England | 15 September 2005 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
12 | Chris Benjamin | South Africa | 29 April 1999 | Right-handed | — | UK Passport |
15 | Hamza Shaikh | England | 29 May 2006 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
16 | Sam Hain* ‡ | England | 16 July 1995 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
17 | Rob Yates | England | 19 September 1999 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
35 | Will Rhodes* | England | 2 March 1995 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
All-rounders | ||||||
1 | Moeen Ali ‡ | England | 18 June 1987 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | Captain (T20); England central contract; White ball contract |
2 | Jacob Bethell | England | 23 October 2003 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
19 | Chris Woakes* ‡ | England | 2 March 1989 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | England central contract |
30 | Ed Barnard | England | 20 November 1995 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
80 | Dan Mousley | England | 8 July 2001 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
— | George Garton ‡ | England | 15 April 1997 | Left-handed | Left-arm fast | |
Wicket-keepers | ||||||
11 | Kai Smith | United Arab Emirates | 28 November 2004 | Right-handed | — | UK passport |
61 | Michael Burgess* | England | 8 July 1994 | Right-handed | — | |
71 | Alex Davies* | England | 23 August 1994 | Right-handed | — | Club captain |
Bowlers | ||||||
14 | Danny Briggs* ‡ | England | 30 April 1991 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
18 | Craig Miles | England | 20 July 1994 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
20 | Oliver Hannon-Dalby* | England | 20 June 1989 | Left-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
22 | Chris Rushworth* | England | 11 July 1986 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
23 | Jake Lintott | England | 22 April 1993 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm unorthodox | |
24 | Liam Norwell | England | 27 December 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
27 | Michael Booth | South Africa | 12 February 2001 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | UK passport |
32 | Hasan Ali | Pakistan | 2 July 1994 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas player |
99 | Che Simmons | Barbados | 18 December 2003 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | UK passport |
— | Richard Gleeson ‡ | England | 2 December 1987 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | White ball contract |
Notable Warwickshire players
This list of "famous" or "notable" sporting people has no clear exclusion criteria. Please help to define clear inclusion criteria and edit the list to contain only subjects that fit those criteria. (June 2012) ) |
England
- Dennis Amiss
- Bob Barber
- Ian Bell
- David Brown
- Tom Cartwright
- Tom Dollery
- Frank Foster
- Ashley Giles
- Eric Hollies
- John Jameson
- Nick Knight
- Dick Lilley
- Tim Munton
- George Paine
- Keith Piper
- Willie Quaife
- Boyd Rankin
- Dermot Reeve
- Gladstone Small
- A. C. Smith
- M. J. K. Smith
- Neil Smith
- Paul Smith
- Tiger Smith
- Dick Spooner
- Jonathan Trott
- Jim Troughton
- Bob Willis
- Chris Woakes
- R. E. S. Wyatt
India
Ireland
Kenya
New Zealand
- Martin Donnelly
- Brendon McCullum
- Jeetan Patel
- Tom Pritchard
- Roger Twose
- Daniel Vettori
Pakistan
- Younis Khan
- Waqar Younis
- Mohammad Yousuf
Scotland
South Africa
Sri Lanka
West Indies
- Shivnarine Chanderpaul
- Lance Gibbs
- Alvin Kallicharran
- Rohan Kanhai
- Brian Lara
- Deryck Murray * Kraigg Brathwaite
Zimbabwe
For a full list of Warwickshire players see
Records
First-class runs
Qualification: at least 20,000 runs[4]
Player | Run |
---|---|
Dennis Amiss | 35,146 |
Willie Quaife | 33,862 |
Mike Smith | 27,672 |
Tom Dollery | 23,458 |
Bob Wyatt | 21,687 |
First-class wickets
Qualification: at least 1,000 wickets[5]
Player | Wickets |
---|---|
Eric Hollies | 2,201 |
Sydney Santall | 1,207 |
Jack Bannister | 1,181 |
Joseph Mayer | 1,142 |
Tom Cartwright | 1,058 |
David Brown |
1,005 |
Other records
- Notes
- ^ Brian Lara's 501* in 1994 is a current world record.
Birmingham Bears
Personnel | ||
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Captain | Natwest T20 Blast wins 1 | |
Official website | edgbaston.com/bears/ | |
|
Birmingham Bears are a
Under the guidance of Dougie Brown and captained by Jim Troughton Birmingham won 7 of their 14 group games, finishing fourth in the North Group and qualifying for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals they defeated Essex by 19 runs, qualifying for Finals Day. In their Finals Day semi-final, they defeated Surrey by 16 runs, setting up a final with Lancashire. In the Final they defeated Lancashire by 4 runs, securing them their first Twenty20 title. The overseas players were Shoaib Malik and Jeetan Patel, who finished the season as leading wicket-taker with 25 wickets.
This season captained by Varun Chopra Birmingham won 10 of their 14 group games, finishing top of the North Group and qualifying for the quarter-finals. Once again they met Essex in the quarter-finals, defeating them again by 24 runs. At Finals Day however they lost their semi-final to Northamptonshire who would go on to win the title. Jeetan Patel returned as an overseas player, but was this year joined by fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum. The Bears also set the highest team score of the competition, scoring 242/2 against Derbyshire in the group stages, with McCullum scoring 158 not out in this game.
Once again under a new captain in Ian Bell Birmingham performed poorly, finishing sixth in the North Group winning just 6 of their 14 games. Jeetan Patel returned as overseas player for a third season, this year joined by wicketkeepers Luke Ronchi and Matthew Wade who both played half the tournament each.
Under new leadership for the fourth season, this time by former New Zealand international Grant Elliott and new coaching in former player Jim Troughton the Bears improved on their previous season, winning 8 of their 14 group games, finishing third in the North Group qualifying them for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final they met Surrey defeating them by 6 wickets in a high-scoring game, qualifying them for Finals Day. In the semi-final they met Glamorgan, winning by 11 runs qualifying them for the Final. However, they lost the final to Nottinghamshire by 22 runs. Patel returned as overseas player for a fourth season, this year joined by Colin de Grandhomme, with captain Elliott qualifying as a Kolpak player due to being born in South Africa.
Under the same captain and same coaching, with the same overseas players, the Bears missed out on the quarter-finals for just the second time in their history, winning just 6 of their 14 group games. Former England international Ian Bell though finished as third top run-scorer, finishing the season with 580 runs from his 14 games.
Notes
References
Footnotes
- ACS(1982). A Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS.
- ^ Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Middlesex, Kent and Surrey.
- ^ "Chopra stands down as Bears Captain with Bell appointed successor". edgbaston.com. Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
- ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ^ "Moeen Ali to lead Bears in 2023 Vitality Blast campaign". Edgbaston. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Ali backs Twenty20". Skysports. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ "Birmingham experiment in the balance". ESPNCricinfo. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ "Woakes denies Flintoff as Birmingham win Blast". ESPNCricinfo. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ "Mens - Birmingham Bears". Birmingham Bears. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
Bibliography
- Harry Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962.
- Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999.
- Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970.
- Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951.
- Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions.
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – various editions.
- Warwickshire County Cricket Club Yearbook – various editions (esp. 2004).