Ethan Bamber is hoping Warwickshire can make the most of the momentum gained by the late flurry of wickets which saw the Bears bowl Surrey out for 328 on the opening day of the Rothesay County Championship at Edgbaston Stadium.
The Englishman opened the bowling alongside former England international Chris Woakes after the Bears won the toss and he picked up three wickets in the opening session as Surrey went in for lunch at 61/4.
After captain Ed Barnard had run out Rory Burns for four, Bamber had Jamie Smith caught behind, trapped Ollie Pope LBW for 20 and then had Dan Lawrence caught in the slips for five.
Bamber’s opening spell set the tone for the Bears’ bowling attack and the 27-year-old was left pleased with his morning’s work, if a little frustrated with the afternoon.
“I think the boys are really pleased,” he said. “I think, if we’re honest, we were really pleased with the first session, but we’re probably slightly disappointed with how we let it get away from us a bit there in the middle. Pop [Graeme Welch] has ingrained within the bowling group a real enjoyment of operating as a group and passing your work on.
“I thought we did that really nicely in the morning session, and I think, as conditions perhaps changed a little bit, the ball got a bit softer, they showed some intent, and they played really nicely, I think maybe we went away from our best ball a little bit.
“The kind of character and desire that emanates from this group, someone like Thommo [Jordan Thompson] coming in, it’s really important. I think we are pleased we were able to stick at it, but we’ll reflect honestly on a few bits.”
Woakes picked up two wickets in quick succession after lunch before Tom Lawes and Ben Foakes set about the Surrey rebuild, with the former being caught by Dan Mousley off Nathan Gilchrist, who then wrapped up the visitors’ innings by bowling Foakes for 128.
The wicket of Foakes followed two in an over by Jordan Thompson, who accounted for Sean Abbott and Matt Fisher on his Bears’ debut, and Bamber hopes that momentum will continue into tomorrow’s batting performance.
“I think it’s a really good wicket,” he said. “There was a little bit there to start, which is always nice as a bowler, and then it got better, and it’s a great place to bat here, and that’s exactly what you expect.
“I think, again, if we’re honest, we missed both sides of the wicket too much, and we pride ourselves on being able to control run rate, even on good wickets.
“For me personally, with the second new ball there, it’s just not good enough at this level, so that’s frustrating. At the same time the boys have bailed me out and we’re in a decent spot, so I’m looking forward to watching them stacking them on tomorrow.”