Warwickshire County Cricket Club has added five young seam bowlers to squad for the 13-day pre-season tour of the United Arab Emirates, which begins on Saturday.
Dan Douthwaite
Twenty-year-old Douthwaite is a right-arm Fast Bowler and hard-hitting batsman who is currently at university in Cardiff and plays for Cardiff MCCU. He came through Surrey’s development programme and impressed Bears’ Sport Director Ashley Giles in a recent MCCU day at the ECB’s National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough.
Sam Grant
Grant (21) is a left-arm Fast Bowler who played against the Bears in last year’s Second XI T20 Finals Day at Arundel, taking three wickets for just four runs in 3.2 overs. He has also played four First Class matches for Loughborough MCCU.
Grant Thornton
Right-arm seamer Thornton helped Berkswell CC to the Birmingham & District Premier Division title last year with 34 wickets at an average of 18.12. The 24-year-old also featured for the Bears in several second team games in 2016.
Mitchell Spencer
Right-arm Fast Bowler Spencer (24) has played five Minor Counties Championship games for Staffordshire and played second team cricket for the Bears last season.
Henry Brookes
Bears’ Academy Fast Bowler Brookes was outstanding for England U19s in the recent tour of India, playing two Test matches and five One-Day-Internationals. The 17-year-old broke into Knowle & Dorridge’s first team in the Birmingham & District Premier League last year and has been part of the Warwickshire Development of Excellence programme since the U10s.
Jim Troughton, Warwickshire CCC First Team Coach, said: “Dan, Sam, Grant, Mitchell and Henry have spent time training with the senior squad throughout the close season, and three of them played second team cricket last year.
“All five have shown real promise in training and the pre-season tour is the perfect opportunity for the coaching team to see them in competition action against First Class opposition. We also want to look at their characters and see how they deal with pressure.
“With Mark Adair, Aaron Thomason and George Panayi working their way back to full fitness following back injuries last year, there will be plenty of opportunities for the five bowlers to impress as there’s also a need to balance the workloads of our senior bowlers ahead start of the season on 7 April.”
