Westwood praises Bears’ character in Essex victory

Warwickshire County Cricket Club picked up their first victory of the season in a thrilling contest with Essex at Edgbaston Stadium, and Head Coach Ian Westwood was effusive in his praise of his squad.

The Bears secured a 41-run victory on Day Four of their Rothesay County Championship clash by taking ten wickets in the day, led by the returning Keith Barker who took three wickets in his first over to set the tone.

Westwood was pleased with not only Barker but also the rest of the bowling attack as they moved to second in Division One.

“I really had to ride the waves of emotion throughout that game,” he said. “There was never a dull moment, two good teams, and with always something happening out there. I think we played really well in patches. I thought the bowling and fielding was top class. But it’s important that you win these games for the belief, for the confidence and obviously the points. I’m really pleased overall that we got the win.

“That first over Keith bowled, to get three in an over is pretty special. We were confident that we had a good chance coming into today, as batting hadn’t been easy on that pitch. We’d got seven wickets in the session the day before, so we knew if we bowled well, we’d create chances. but it’s a sort of total that the batting side are never out of, so it’s important to take early wickets, which we did.

“I thought Ethan Bamber had another outstanding game, but all the seamers contributed at certain times, even right down to the end there where Beau [Webster] hadn’t bowled that many overs, but he’s able to come in fresh and get those two important wickets for us at the end.

“I thought it was a joint effort from the bowlers. Ed Barnard bowled his six maidens in a row, keeping it so dry at one end and you get the rewards of that at the back end of the game. It was a great performance by everyone.”

The Bears’ Head Coach now hopes to see his side build on this maiden victory of the season, starting with Friday’s trip to Trent Bridge for a clash with defending champions Nottinghamshire.

“We’d like to win games a bit more comfortably if we could. But these games are important to win for the belief. You can stand in and say we played well and we’ve put in some good performances, but ultimately, you need to win some of these games and to get over the line today was important for the season.

“I’m looking forward to that week. We’ll assess where everyone is. There’s some really tired bodies and boys up there. We’ve put everything into the last few weeks. So we’ll see how everyone’s feeling over the next couple of days, but we’ll take a strong squad to Trent Bridge.”