Warwickshire seek consistency
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Revolving door
All change at Edgbaston, with
five new faces in senior positions.
Heath Streak takes over the
captaincy from Nick Knight and
leads a squad bolstered by the
signing of Tim Ambrose from
Sussex and Daniel Vettori as
second overseas player. Keith Piper
and Trevor Penney have retired
and Dewald Pretorius, the South
African quick bowler, will not be
returning because of persistent
injury problems. Off the field
Colin Povey, a former water polo
international has replaced Dennis
Amiss as chief executive and Mark
Greatbatch has succeeded John
Inverarity as director of coaching.
Winter wonderland
Warwickshire cashed in on Ashes
success by announcing a record
post-tax profit of more than
£750,000, some of which has been
used to refit the dressing rooms in
response to Australia's complaints
about cramped facilities.
Warwickshire and England
will now change in palatial
surroundings, including a sauna
and jacuzzi.
Strengths
Vettori's arrival - and the possible
early-season availability of Ashley
Giles if his hip recovers - should
strengthen the spin department
which has been Warwickshire's
weakness. Depth in batting and
seam bowling will give them
healthy selection options.
Weaknesses
Plenty of strokemakers but not
enough grafters in the batting,
which could leave them dependent
on the prolific Knight.
Best-case scenario
Warwickshire believe they have
their best-balanced squad since
the mid-1990s and can challenge
in all four competitions.
Worst-case scenario
If they bat as inconsistently as
they did last season, and Knight
loses form, they could be also-rans.
Young one to watch
Moeen Ali. Religion - he has
become a devout Muslim - and the
England Under-19 captaincy have
tempered natural strokeplay with
responsibility.
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Key man
Nick Knight. Warwickshire need
his stability and consistency if
their strokemakers are to prosper.
What they say
"We got knocked over too easily by
the better sides last season," says
Greatbatch, "so I would like to see
us turn those defeats into draws or
victories. I don't want us to make
life comfortable for the opposition
out in the middle - within the
laws of the game, of course."
Mark Wagh
The signing of Vettori could
be the most important of the
year. Quality spinners are crucial
ingredients to success not only for
their wickets but also because they
reduce the workload of the seamers.
The batting is strong and deep,
and the squad has a good mixture
of youth and experience. Might
be difficult to maintain focus for
the one-day league given a strong
Championship run.
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