Warwickshire finally get a decent signing

[Speedboy Salesman]

With the inclusion of Sanath Jayasuriya in the Twenty20 squad, I'm finally happy that we have a decent signing! He'll throw the bat around with Carter at the top of the order and now at least we have a pretty good spinner in the side

[engssmoothcriminal]

“Sanath has vast experience in all forms of cricket but especially the one day format. He will be a great man for the younger members of our squad to learn from and his knowledge of the game will be crucial in the Twenty20. I am looking forward to working with him next summer.”

A cynical person would question;
a) Who exactly are all these young stars that Gilo keeps mentioning ad nauseum?
b) i) How many experienced senior pros do these youngsters actually need given the presence of an already sizeable 30+ contingent Maddy, Salisbury, Carter Powell and so on and so on....?
ii) Given there's a sizeable and potentially high quality coaching staff of Giles, AD, Piper, Brown e.t.c now in place these old players are so desperately needed to help out why?
c) Given we already possess two quality 20/20 openers in Carter and Maddy, plenty of spin options and a 20 year old Englishman in Nick James who definitely has the potential to replicate what Jayasuria can do as well as being a better fielder (remembering that poor fielding cost us the quarter final against Lancs) surely a high class fast bowler would have been a better option?
d) Should a club that just announced record losses be wasting yet more money on a high profile (i.e not cheap) short term O/S locum so soon after the VVJ debacle?

Apart from that keep up the good work Gilo just can't wait for next year .

[Speedboy Salesman]

I wouldn't say Maddy is a "quality Twenty20 opener" Jayasuriya can clearly knock Maddy from his opening position. Carter on the other hand is superb. and a very useful bowler is Twenty20. James has a lot of potential, possibly eventually taking over the Loudon void.

[engssmoothcriminal]

Well firstly the good news Zondeki might possibly be our O/S player for next year.

The soul crushingly bad dear god why won't you make it stop news Tony "32 years old and retired from the first class game 2 years ago because he felt he was no longer physically up to the demands of county cricket" Frost has been told to dust off the gloves as he's now (if Ambrose is away with England) first choice keeper .

Cricinfo - Warwickshire bring back Frost
"As a club we want to be positive and support our younger players and we feel that Richard Johnson [the reserve keeper] would benefit from more matches with the second XI before being thrust into first team cricket. Tim's position in the England set-up is not guaranteed but until we know more about his long-term commitments we now have an experienced and committed replacement for what is such a crucial position in the side."

Yet more backing for our talented youngsters from Gilo .

[Speedboy Salesman]

well done Ashley Giles for holding more youngsters down. Johnson could've at least been given a chance.

[JacktheBeard]

I always seem to struggle to keep up with the comings and goings at Bears HQ at this time of year. What happened with the Pollock situation, was it ever more than talk?

[engssmoothcriminal]

Originally Posted by JacktheBeard

I always seem to struggle to keep up with the comings and goings at Bears HQ at this time of year. What happened with the Pollock situation, was it ever more than talk?

He only wanted to play the 20/20 and not the whole season. We (with the signing of Jayasuria for that period)wanted the reverse so it was never going to happen.

And yet more depressing news with Zondeki replacing Langeveldt (damn the man’s integrity ) on the tour of India he’ll miss the first few games of the season and one suspects the second half of the summer with the touring South African side we’ll be looking for another O/S player to fill the gap. Apparently Andy Moles alerted us to a promising young New Zealand all rounder by the name of Tim Southee as a potential O/S player at the end of last summer and was roundly ignored by the powers that be . I guess now that his salary has probably trebled he’ll become are number one choice for the second half of the season.

Still at least we’ve signed yet another bowler taking our first team squad ever closer to that elusive 30 mark (fingers crossed). Though on the brightside he’s 20 and English which roughly translates to 2 years in the 2nd XI before being released.

Tom Allin signs for Warwickshire - Birmingham Mail