I was delighted to see Warwickshire win the County Championship today and put to bed the ghosts of last year’s near miss. I’ve read and heard people say that the Bears choked last year when they couldn’t get the wickets to secure the win at the Rose Bowl, but I think that is a load of crap (ok, so I am biased).
The facts are that it was a flat pitch and a draw was always the most likely outcome in that match. Critics also seem to overlook the fact that Warwickshire weren’t really even in the title race with about 3 or 4 games to go last season, it was supposed to he a two horse race between Lancs and Durham, and Warwickshire gatecrashed the party late on and almost left with the spoils.
Back to this year and Warwickshire have pretty much been there or thereabouts from early on in the season. Since the mid season break for the T20, I think that Warks have pretty much dominated, with only a slight blip a couple of weeks back briefly threatening to derail their title charge.
It was also great to see the County’s England players turn up to join the celebrations, I believe this underlines the unity and team spirit within the club.
Other notable mentions go to bowlers Chris Wright and Boyd Rankin who have excelled at the club. Wright was basically an Essex reject, while Rankin is getting talked about in England circles these days, a laughable thought just a couple of years back.
Varun Chopra has also had another brilliant season to go with last years, he must now surely be in the reckoning for the vacant England openers spot that needs filling for the tour of India and beyond. Geoff Miller was present to see his 195 and with Ashley Giles on the selection committee, Chopra must now be a serious candidate for England.
Speaking of England, and I now see that Andy Flower is the latest person to be rested. That’s two of the anti Pietersen brigade, Swann and Broad, and now the coach.
Now I’m not defending what Pietersen has done, I never have, but the more I see of this situation, the more convinced I am that someone somewhere is out to get him.
It seems a little ironic to say the least that on top of all the convenient leaks to the media, Flower, Broad and Swann all get rested. Are they trying to provoke a response from Pietersen so they can throw the book at him once and for all?
On the flip side of the argument, and if as I suggested above is the case, then why are people seemingly so keen to see the back of Pietersen? Is it the case that he has been an almighty pain in the backside who needed removing? Who knows, it could be true.
If that were the case though, I’d rather someone just come out and say so – instead of this (what appears to be a) ridiculous situation.