Director of Cricket Paul Farbrace makes no bones about Warwickshire's ambitions in the Royal London Cup which starts next week, stating unequivocally: "We want to win it."
After a warm-up against Cheshire at Chester Boughton Hall on Sunday, the Bears will start their 50-over group campaign against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham next Tuesday.
They will be without 11 senior squad members away playing in The Hundred, so younger players will have an opportunity to shine. But that does not diminish the desire to challenge hard to bring the trophy to Edgbaston, insists Farbrace.
“We want to win it – absolutely,” he said. “We’re not going into this tournament thinking it’s just a developmental exercise. We want those younger players to stick their hands up and say ‘I’m here, I need to be playing in your team.’
“We’ll have 11 players out of a squad of 26 unavailable due to The Hundred, which shows how well we played in the T20 this summer. So now those younger players will come in and they are not just being put in there to make the numbers up, they are there to play well and put in performances that win us games of cricket. That’s what you need to do if you are a cricketer on a county staff.
“It’s a brilliant opportunity for a month for these young guys to show what their capable of. I’ll be expecting our young players to be getting not just 20s and 30s or one or two wickets but making match-shaping contributions.
The Bears will look for big contributions from India international all-rounder Krunal Pandya who has joined them for the whole 50-over campaign.
The 31-year-old left-arm spinner and batter made his ODI debut against England last year and struck the fastest half-century (26 balls) in history by a debutant in ODI cricket.
“Krunal will bring us a lot of experience and high quality,” said Farbrace. “We will get ten overs out of him every match and he’s someone who will strike a long ball with the bat. He is a very exciting player to have around and his experience and knowhow can only help the younger players around him.”
