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Warwickshire started their defence of the County Championship title in respectable fashion with a high-scoring draw against Surrey at Edgbaston.
Whilst Will Rhodes and his side experienced early struggles with the bat and found difficulty in manufacturing wicket-taking opportunities after losing the toss and being asked to field first, the Bears responded emphatically and proved, yet again, that they have the power to compete for the domestic game’s biggest honours.
Centuries from Matt Lamb (106) and Michael Burgess (178), as well as critical contributions from the tail, saw the home side garner a first-innings lead and claim the all-important extra batting points with a score of 531.
Surrey will also be encouraged with their batting performance, Ryan Patel (75), Ollie Pope (58) and Jordan Clarke (50) all hit half-centuries, while Ben Foakes showed why he appears to be firmly considered as England’s first-choice wicketkeeper with an innings worth 132.
Like their opposition, the visitors found wickets hard to come by and will need a much-improved showing with the ball if they are to take 20 wickets at The Oval against a Hampshire side who romped to victory in their season opener against Somerset.
Here are three things that we learned from when two of the country’s most prestigious outfits went head-to-head as the 2022 English cricket season began.
Sibley and Burns England returns unlikely -for now-
England’s struggles in the Test area can be attributed to a number of factors, mostly dependent on views of personnel and governance. However, no one has arguably attracted a greater volume of criticism than former openers Dominic Sibley and Rory Burns.
Understandably, some voiced a consistent belief that the absence of orthodox batting technique in both batter’s games meant that they would inevitably fail to make the grade at the highest level.
Despite little complaints being made when Sibley lost his place to Haseeb Hameed last summer and as Alex Lees replaced Burns after a disappointing Ashes series, both may have sensed that England’s defeat in the West Indies could present an opportunity to make a swift return to the squad.
Sibley, especially, will have been eager to demonstrate his winter improvement having proceeded to decline an offer to join the Lions’ tour to Australia and then enjoyed a prolific pre-season with runs aplenty and at a higher strike rate, his lack of scoring options was something that heavily frustrated supporters.
Nonetheless, he fell for a golden duck when attempting to showcase an attacking cover drive against his boyhood club with Kemar Roach finding an inside edge which sent the ball flying into the stumps.
The 26-year-old will know his Test match career will not be based on the number of attacking shots he plays however, instead he must find a rhythm that ensures he scores runs. And plenty of them.
It would probably be fair to say that Burns has enjoyed more success on the international stage when compared to Sibley, and an England opener that has made their debut since the retirement of Sir Andrew Strauss, for that matter.
Therefore, a return to the Test set-up would not be beyond the realms of possibility if the Surrey skipper scores runs throughout the opening stages of the season. Yet, dismissals such as his one in the first innings will not earn him any sort of recognition.
He wasted the chance of making a noteworthy contribution to the cause when softly chipping a full delivery straight back into the hands of left-arm spinner Danny Briggs for 44, before finishing 22* in the second innings.
The signs are not overwhelmingly positive, but, of course, it is far too early to judge and decide on either batsman’s immediate England prospects.
Which spinner should Surrey settle with?
Will Jacks has undoubtedly established himself as a key figure in Surrey’s white-ball plans as a destructive, powerful young batsman who can also contribute significantly with his handy off-spin. Though, questions must be asked about the decision to go into the first match of the season with the 23-year-old as Surrey’s front-line spinner.
Five wickets at an average of 82.60 across 12 innings is certainly underwhelming, a record you could possibly expect from a second-spinner as opposed to someone who will singlehandedly win matches with the ball.
Jacks’ performance was somewhat reflective of his bowling statistics. A return of 1-93 from 36.5 overs is indicative of the toothless threat he provided.
He should not be written off. As a matter of fact, a role at six as an all-rounder would, perhaps, be more suitable. When Foakes returns to international duty, he could make way for the return of Amar Virdi, allowing Jamie Smith to move up to five.
England are known to be keen admirers of Virdi, signified by the decision to take him on tours of Sri Lanka and India across the winter of 2021 as a reserve off-spinner. 119 wickets across 39 matches at an average of 29.55 is a notable record and at 23, there is still room for improvement, which could eventually lead to international caps.
Former England international, Monty Panesar has already outlined Virdi as somebody who could fill the boots of Jack Leach as England’s first-choice spinner.
It would be naive of Burns and Surrey to ignore the talents of Virdi and also Dan Moriarty, who should also be mentioned in the spin conversation.
Having initially been part of the MCC ground staff, Moriarty broke through into the Surrey side in 2020 and despite only playing six first-class matches at the time of writing, he has picked up 35 wickets at 24.65 and even has a 10 wicket match to his name.
Certainly, an interesting theme to watch out for across the season.
Bears boast an unprecedented wicketkeeper depth
Burgess’ knock was an incredibly vital one. Even after Lamb’s best efforts, Warwickshire still found themselves 230 runs behind, a deficit that would have been far too great to recover from without the former Sussex man’s contribution.
This only emphasised further how important a figure Burgess has become for Mark Robinson’s well-oiled side.
He has proved to be an excellent gloveman, capable of standing up to not only spin but also seamers, as indicated throughout Oliver Hannon-Dalby’s spells with the ball. The 27-year-old also possesses a worthy batting record too, one which has developed significantly since arriving in the West Midlands and continues to do so.
Averaging 35.83 from 54 matches, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that those in and around the England set-up, particularly the Lions, could do far worse than consider Burgess as a contender to provide competition to Foakes.
He somewhat epitomizes the turnaround that Head Coach, Robinson and Director of Cricket, Paul Farbrace have overseen at Edgbaston, built on savvy business, character and work ethic after joining on an initial two-year loan spell from Hove.
With Burgess’ performance such a standout takeaway from the draw, it begs the question, do Warwickshire possess the best depth of wicketkeeper options on the domestic scene?
A move for native Lancastrian Alex Davies won plaudits and was fairly unexpected given the Bears’ top-order strength and Burgess’ form.
Not many teams are able to call upon someone of Davies’ nature in reserve, he became the first Lancashire wicketkeeper to pass 1,000 first-class runs in a season and has scored 4,682 runs at an average of 36.57, taking 170 catches and 16 stumping across 90 red-ball appearances.
Those statistics do, however, make it seem an unreal prospect for Davies to play second-fiddle throughout the Championship season, even if he is not handed the gloves.
While the game’s longest format needs the utmost care and attention possible right now, it must also be acknowledged how strong Warwickshire will be in limited-overs cricket thanks to their ‘keeper depth.
Davies boasts a healthy record in the shorter formats and was part of the Southern Brave side which won The Hundred in its first-ever edition, as does one of last year’s breakout stars, Chris Benjamin.
South African-born Benjamin has made less than 20 senior appearances at the time of writing but nonetheless averages 45.75 across his 11 T20 appearances alongside keeping wicket, making a huge impression as a late addition to Birmingham Phoenix’s squad upon recommendation from Moeen Ali.
He is also keen to prove himself as a cross-format batsman, hitting an impressive century on his Championship debut against Lancashire at Old Trafford.
There is a case to claim that each player would find themselves as a first-choice wicketkeeper and batsman at certain counties across the country. One thing is sure though, Warwickshire are not complaining.
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