Rhodes: “There’s a lot of excitement around”

Warwickshire Captain Will Rhodes can't wait to return to the field as reigning Champions.

Following last season’s final day heroics, the Bears will certainly be the team to beat in 2022.

“There’s a lot of excitement around it and a lot of excitement around the club, but so there should be,” said Rhodes. “Going into the new season as Champions hasn’t happened for a few years so quite rightly the club should be excited.

“Its felt like a long winter, but the guys have stuck through it and got on really well and enjoyed it. The talent we’ve got in the squad is fantastic. We’ve got Alex Davies, Chris Benjamin came in at the back end of last season and he’s with us full-time. 

“Jacob Bethell is around us a lot more too, so the talent has gone through the roof and it’s making a few tricky decisions for the first few games.”

The Bears host a strong Surrey side looking to start their own title aspirations with a win at Edgbaston. England trio Rory Burns, Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes are available and likely to be joined by overseas stars Hashim Amla and Kemar Roach.

“We expect a really tough game and they’re a fantastic team who were Champions not too long ago,” added the skipper. “A lot of their core players played in that team such as Rory Burns, Ben Foakes etc.

“We feel like we’re well prepared for what they’ll throw at us, but so will they. They’ll be prepared for what we’ll throw at them, so it makes for an intriguing fixture.”