Preview: Bears v Lightning, Vitality Blast

Alex Davies has praised his side’s character after a perfect start to the Vitality Blast campaign – but he’s warned they’ll need to be at their best to overcome Lancashire Lightning on Bank Holiday Monday.

The wins against Yorkshire Vikings and Leicester Foxes have not been plain sailing.

Bears were stuttering on 51/4 in their opener until Sam Hain and Chris Benjamin’s 97-run partnership sunk the Vikings, while Leicester were 49 without loss inside five overs on Friday night at Grace Road until two wickets in two balls snared the Foxes.

Davies – deputizing until Captain Moeen Ali’s imminent return from the IPL – is pleased at the resilience his players showed to battle through bad patches and secure results but he knows there’s room for improvement.

Bears now return to Edgbaston for a huge clash against Lancashire Lightning, who have also made an unbeaten start to the competition winning their first three matches. Tickets are available for only £17, if purchased before midnight on Sunday.

“Of course we’re delighted with our start,” he said. “There are some encouraging signs but we’ve not put in a 10-out-of-10 performance so far. The lads have shown great character during tough spells in both games.

“We’re in form and have momentum, but I never want a mentality that ‘someone else will do it’. I want the players to have the mindset that ‘I will be the man today’. 

“They can play with confidence and freedom because there are lots of high class batters in the side and a fantastic middle order of Hain, Mousley, Benji and now Maxi (Glenn Maxwell).

“It was hard on Friday leaving out a batter of Yatesy’s (Rob Yates) quality but that shows the talent in the squad.”

Davies says the need for “horrible” conversations to let teammates know they’ve not made the playing 11 has been the hardest part of his debut Blast captaincy. 

“Those chats are not easy but it’s a responsibility I’ve taken on,” added Davies. “The best captains I’ve played under never shied away from that part of team leadership; it comes with the territory.

“Telling Yatesy he was out on Friday was a tough call because we could have gone with an extra batter, but looking at the opposition and conditions we decided to go with an extra bowler.

“The same with Henry in the first game and we all saw what he did with that late call-up when Hass twisted his ankle. That’s exactly the kind of character I look for. 

“It’s a genuine honour and privilege to captain this great club. But it’s Mo’s team, I’m just taking the reins till he gets here.

“Mo and I have been in regular contact while he’s been at the IPL, he’s keeping an eye on what’s going on, and hopefully it’ll be a seamless transition and he can come in and carry on the good work we’ve been doing.”

With Chris Woakes and Paul Stirling linking up with England and Ireland, respectively, there will be changes to the side that faces the Lightning on Monday in what promises to be a thrilling, intriguing contest. Hassan Ali also remains out with an ankle injury.

Davies added: “We have good depth, it’s how you respond to injuries and international call-ups is all part of professional cricket.

“We went in with seven bowling options against Leicester, no one bowled out except Briggsy, so it means a couple of those boys have to step up and bowl more overs. 

“Ed Barnard is also available to come in. He would get into all 18 other Blast teams so that shows the strength we have, and Mo will be returning soon as well to offer another bowling option.

“And players like Bethell and Rhodesy have been smacking it around in the Second XI so there is plenty of quality to call on.

“Lancashire are a very good outfit, one of the most successful teams in the history of Blast so we won’t take them lightly. They are a really strong side on paper but so are we, we’re under no illusions this is going to be a tough battle but we’re up for it.

“We’ll just try continuing to do the things we’ve been doing, score 200 with the bat and restrict them with the ball.”

Squad

Alex Davies (c)
Ed Barnard
Chris Benjamin
Jacob Bethell
Danny Briggs
Henry Brookes
Sam Hain
Oliver Hannon-Dalby
Jake Lintott
Glenn Maxwell
Craig Miles
Dan Mousley
Rob Yates

How to follow

Members and supporters can watch the match live with our Bears Den TV live stream which will be available in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com.

The stream will be hosted by comedian and TMS commentator Aatif Nawaz, while commentary will once again be led by Adam Bridge, who will be joined by guests throughout the competition.

Supporters can get involved by sending their match day comments and thoughts on Twitter via @WarwickshireCCC and we’ll publish the best ones on our live text commentary in the Match Centre.

Supporters can also watch the Live Stream and get instant push notifications of all wickets, innings and match results via the Edgbaston app, which is free to download on iOS and Android.

Match updates will also be available across the Club’s social media accounts, simply search for @WarwickshireCCC.