Squad: Yorkshire vs Warwickshire, Rothesay County Championship

Warwickshire First Team Coach Ian Westwood has named a 13-man squad for this weekend’s trip to Headingley with three changes to the group that drew last time out against Nottinghamshire.

Aussie overseas allrounder Beau Webster comes straight into the squad having landed at Edgbaston on Tuesday and is in line to make his first appearance for the Club.

Sri Lankan quick Vishwa Fernando – who’d signed a short term deal covering Warwickshire’s April red ball fixtures – has moved on at the end of his contract.

And the third change sees former SACA (South Asian Cricket Academy) batter Zen Malik – who signed a two-year deal ahead of this season after impressing on trial – drafted into the squad as additional top order batting cover.

Malik was one of the leading run scorers in the Second XI County Championship last season and hit 112 (163 balls) in a Second XI friendly against Worcestershire’s Seconds at Portland Road last week.

Bears allrounder Dan Mousley also opted to get some batting time under his belt in the friendly and hit 186 in the first innings, including 20 4s and four 6s.

Squad

Davies (c)
Taz Ali
Bamber
Barnard
Booth
Hain
Hannon-Dalby
Malik
Mousley
Shaikh
Smith
Webster
Yates

How to follow

Members and supporters can follow the match live in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free-to-watch stream and a live text commentary. You can also see a ball-by-ball feed and watch highlights of all the action.

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.

Injury update: Woakes working his way back into Warwickshire frame

England Bear Chris Woakes continues his recovery from an ankle injury and is moving closer to making a return for Warwickshire in the Rothesay County Championship.

Woakes spent time this week training in the nets with Bears teammates and under the watchful eye of England strength and conditioning staff.

This weekend’s trip to Yorkshire comes too soon for the 36-year-old but Warwickshire First Team Coach Ian Westwood hopes to be able to call on him later this month.

Westwood has been boosted by news that overseas signing Tom Latham lands at Edgbaston next week and is close to a full recovery from the broken hand he suffered in the nets with his New Zealand side Canterbury.

New Zealand’s Test Captain had been due to join Warwickshire in early April but the fracture put his arrival back several weeks.

Westwood said: “Tom has started hitting balls again; the surgeon and specialist are happy with the way his hand is healing so we’re optimistic and confident that he can hit the ground running. Fingers crossed he’ll be given the all clear for our next home game against Surrey.

“Woakesy is coming back from his ankle problem. It’s great to see him with us in the nets and he will continue to build up. He’s not ready for the Yorkshire trip and I wouldn’t like to put a timeframe on it. We’ll just have to wait and see how he keeps progressing over the next few days and we’ll keep reviewing how he’s doing.

“And Chris Rushworth is progressing well as he works his way back from a calf problem. He will start bowling soon but needs to go through the process of building up his overs and getting back to bowling and match fitness.”

Bears vs: Yorkshire’s England posse pose Headingley threat

A quintet of England stars await Warwickshire at Headingley in what’s expected to be a stern test as Bears aim to record back-to-back wins on the road.

England’s leading run scorer and former Captain Joe Root and Harry Brook – who is closing in on 100 international appearances – have both been cleared by England to line-up for their home county.

They are expected to slot into a side that already features Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Adam Lyth.

Bears First team Coach Ian Westwood, said: “We know the quality Yorkshire possess. They have got their big guns coming back, in Root and Brook who I believe have only been released by England for this one game.

“So we’ll respect Yorkshire but we know what quality we have in our side as well. We’ll go full of confidence after our fantastic win at Durham, we’ll fight hard, we’ll compete and hopefully do enough to come out on top.”

Yorkshire are back in the County Championship top flight having finished runners-up in Division Two last September with five wins and seven draws from their 14 games.

It was a chastening return as they lost their opening Division One game by five wickets at Hampshire having been bowled out for 121 in the first innings.

But they followed that up with a crushing win over Worcestershire by 504 runs as Malan hit 98 and an unbeaten 76.

A draw last time out at Durham leaves the Yorkshiremen eighth in the fledgling table with 40 points.

England trio Malan, Bairstow and Lyth all average more than 50 so far this season (59.40, 56.25 and 50.33 respectively) while pace bowler Curtley-Jack White is the county’s leading wicket taker.

White – who signed from Northamptonshire on a two-year deal having bagged 50 wickets last term – has 12 scalps to his name so far, followed by George Hill with 10.

It will be the 197^th meeting of the two teams in the County Championship with Yorkshire holding the bragging rights with 86 wins to Bears 33.

Sam Hain can hit two milestones this weekend: he needs 40 runs to reach 7,000 First Class runs for Warwickshire, and 90 to make 15,000 career runs in all formats.

How to follow

Members and supporters can follow the match live in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free-to-watch stream and a live text commentary. You can also see a ball-by-ball feed and watch highlights of all the action.

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.