Davies excited to lead Bears into new campaign       

Bears’ skipper Alex Davies is relishing the opportunity to compete on all fronts in the 2026 season, as the countdown to the season continues with just over 50 days to go until the first ball is bowled.

The Rothesay County Championship begins on April 3, with a home tie against Surrey at Edgbaston Stadium, while the Warwickshire Bears’ Vitality Blast campaign begins on May 22 away to Gloucestershire, and 31-year-old Davies is excited by the prospect of competing for silverware across all formats.

“I think the squad’s tracking really nicely,” he said. “We’ve already got a lot of talent in the room, and the recruitment we’ve done over the past six months is really going to help.

“We’ve added some real experience with Keith Barker and Chris Woakes coming back into the fold, and also a couple of bowlers who are slightly different to what we already have. That should give our bowling attack a bit of a different dynamic.

“Trophies are always at the forefront of our minds, but if we keep following our process day in, day out and getting better each day, hopefully the results will come at the end.”

With Barker returning to the club after leaving in 2018 and Woakes retiring from international cricket after last year’s series against India, Davies has a wealth of experience to draw upon in the bowling ranks, as well as additional promising young talent brought in during the off-season.

“We were keen with a couple of those signings that they’d be able to play all formats,” he said. “Jordan Thompson travels the world playing T20 cricket, and his red-ball record speaks for itself, so he covers a lot of bases.

“I’ve played against him for years, Lancashire v Yorkshire, and then Warwickshire as well. He’s a tough competitor, runs in all day, can bat, bowl and field, and the experience he’s gained around the world is going to help us in all formats.

“Barker will predominantly be a Championship bowler, but I’m just excited to have him on my team rather than playing against him. I’ve played against him for about 14 years now. We’ve always had good battles and a lot of respect. He’s already adding to the dressing room with his knowledge and experience.

“Chris Woakes coming back is almost like a new signing for us. He’s played a lot for us over the last few years, but it says a lot about him and the club that after finishing his international career, he still wants to be here. He loves it and still has a lot to offer.

“Nathan Gilchrist fits in really well too. As soon as he was available, we were keen to get him. He’s tall, quick, and his skills speak for themselves. And that’s not discounting the guys already here, OHD, Bams, Boothy, Che. We’ve got a lot of talent, plus a lot of young batters who we blooded a bit last year. Overall, we’re shaping up really nicely.”

The way the English domestic season ebbs and flows naturally makes for highlights throughout the campaign, and Davies is eagerly awaiting the first ball to be bowled in the opening week of April.

“First game of the season is always one everyone looks forward to. And the Pears game at home in the Blast – that’s always one you look out for, so they’re probably the two that stand out for me.

“It’s difficult not to give too much away, but broadly we want to become really dominant at home. That comes down to pitches and how we get those right. In a 14-game Championship season, you’ve got seven at home and you want to be challenging for wins in the majority of those, while nicking a couple away as well.

It’s also about how the new guys fit in and what presence they bring in their roles. We had a really solid year last season, we were second going into the final few games and it just didn’t quite work out. So a lot of it is continuing what we’ve done well and trying to get better along the way.”