Warwickshire will face Durham at Edgbaston tomorrow buoyed by “as strong a performance as you can get” in their opening Royal London Cup north group game, believes head coach Jim Troughton.
The Bears launched their defence of the trophy, which they clinched with a nine-wicket trouncing of Surrey in the final last September, with an even more emphatic win, by ten wickets away to Northants Steelbacks.
We had a great start but now we have got to keep it going because, with the group condensed into such a cluster this year, games come thick and fast. So momentum is more important than ever.
Jim Troughton
After bowling the Steelbacks out for 151 in 29.4 overs in a rain-affected game, the Bears reached an amended target of 162 in 30 overs without loss as Sam Hain made 89 and William Porterfield 62.
Warwickshire’s superb 50-over of last season has bridged the winter – but, while delighted with the performance against Northants, Troughton knows a lot more hard work lies ahead, starting against Durham tomorrow.
“Durham are a good side and they were in a strong position in their first game when the rain came,” he said. “It will be a tough game but if you look at the North Group they are all tough. It’s a really competitive group.
“We will go in against Durham on the back of as strong a performance as you can get.
“It was a good toss to win, because we knew that the first innings would be interrupted rain, but the guys took advantage and with bat and ball played really well. Rikki Clarke struck a couple of important blows with the ball early on as he so often does in white-ball cricket and Jeetan Patel did his usual fantastic job mid-innings.
“Grant Thornton did really well on his debut. His first spell was nervous, which was absolutely understandable when you think 18 months ago he was playing parks cricket, never mind Birmingham League. But then he settled and bowled with a lot of pace.
“Then Sam and Will knocked off the runs beautifully. It was great to see Sam playing so well and some of his strokes through mid-on, off both front and back foot, were from the very top-drawer. Will provided the perfect foil and rounded off a very strong team effort.”
While the Bears were thrashing the Steelbacks, Durham had begun their campaign strongly, at 194-2 off 34 overs against Derbyshire in their opening game, when rain arrived to wash out the rest of the match. The north-easteners are dangerous opposition, says Troughton.
“We had a great start but now we have got to keep it going because, with the group condensed into such a cluster this year, games come thick and fast,” he said. “So momentum is more important than ever.”
Warwickshire Squad
- Ian Bell (Captain)
- Tim Ambrose (Wicket-Keeper)
- Keith Barker
- Rikki Clarke
- Sam Hain
- Oliver Hannon-Dalby
- Ateeq Javid
- Jeetan Patel
- William Porterfield
- Josh Poysden
- Aaron Thomason
- Grant Thornton
- Jonathan Trott
- Chris Wright
Tickets
Warwickshire entertain Durham in the Royal London One-Day Cup on Bank Holiday Monday (1 May) at Edgbaston; 11am start.
Adult tickets are priced at £15 at all times, whilst Under 16s go completely FREE.
