County Championship 2021: Warwickshire preview

Captain

Will Rhodes

Last year

3/6 Central Group

Player movements

In: Danny Briggs (Sussex), Jake Lintott (unattached), Tim Bresnan (Yorks), Pieter Malan (SA), Carlos Brathwaite (WI, T20)

Out: Alex Thomson (Dur, loan), Liam Banks (released), Tim Ambrose, Ian Bell, Jeetan Patel (all retired)

Key player

Sam Hain – following the retirement of Ian Bell, and with Dom Sibley’s England commitments limiting his availability, Hain will need to find the consistency against the red ball which has so far eluded him. While the former Australia under-19 international’s white-ball numbers are staggering, he averaged just 18 in first-class cricket last summer, enduring his third century-less campaign in the past four years.

Bolter

Jake Lintott – with Danny Briggs arriving to fill the sizeable shoes of Jeetan Patel, Lintott’s red-ball opportunities may be limited, but it’ll be fascinating to see how the left-arm wrist-spinner shapes up if he is unleashed.

Following brief spells at Hampshire and Gloucestershire, the 27-year-old – who is head of cricket at Queen’s College, Taunton – earned a three-year deal off the back of an impressive T20 Blast campaign for the Bears.

County Championship 2021: Warwickshire Fixtures

Warwickshire v Derbyshire, Thursday April 8, Edgbaston

Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire, Thursday April 15, Trent Bridge

Warwickshire vs Essex, Thursday April 22, Edgbaston

Durham v Warwickshire, Thursday April 29, Riverside Ground

Warwickshire v Worcestershire, Thursday May 6, Edgbaston

Essex v Warwickshire, Thursday May 20, County Ground

Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire, Thursday May 27, Edgbaston

Derbyshire v Warwickshire, Thursday June 3, County Ground

Warwickshire v Durham, Sunday July 4, Edgbaston

Worcestershire v Warwickshire, Sunday July 11, New Road

Wisden says

It’s a time of transition at Edgbaston, with Mark Robinson – a World Cup winners’ medal on his CV – replacing Jim Troughton as coach and Bell, Patel and Tim Ambrose calling time on their illustrious careers. At 26, Will Rhodes is the youngest skipper on the circuit but he continues to go from strength to strength, hitting his maiden double-hundred last summer and impressing with his calm leadership. A misfiring batting line-up is likely to be their biggest issue but that should be offset by a strong stable of seamers which features the beanpole metronome Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Liam Norwell and – all being well – a fit and firing Olly Stone.

Prediction

4th in Division 2