Warwickshire out to end Twenty20 jinx
Warwickshire will tonight embark on their Twenty20 campaign for the 2010 season determined to thrive in the new enlarged group format – and then go on and sink their quarter-final jinx in the tournament.
Since Twenty20, the brainchild of then Bears marketing chief Stuart Robertson, landed in the English cricket calendar in 2003, it has brought the Bears the full gamut of emotions. T20 has given them some great games and heaps or promise – but ultimately more frustration than achievement.
Only once in those seven years have Warwickshire failed to qualify from the group stage, a trend which indicates that, all along, they have had a pretty good grasp of the format. But then their progress has hit a wall at the quarter-final stage which has been their downfall on five occasions.
That wasn’t a problem in the inaugural year because there were no quarter-finals. The Bears qualified from the group straight into the semi-finals and, rather ironically under a coach in John Inverarity who, safe to say, didn’t regard T20 as top priority, went on to reach the final before being eclipsed by Surrey by nine wickets.
Thereafter, Warwickshire have invariably played strong and attractive cricket to escape the group phase only to perish in the quarter-finals in circumstances ranging from the deeply frustrating to the downright bizarre.
In 2004, they ran into a strokefest by former team-mate David Hemp and lost to Glamorgan by five wickets at Cardiff. In 2005 came the infamous debacle at The Oval when nobody, including the umpires, appeared to have a firm grasp on the rules and, amid crepuscular chaos, Surrey eventually went through by winning a bowl-out with the moon bright in the sky.
After failing to qualify for the quarters in 2006, there was more last-eight disappointment the following year when Muttiah Muralitharan landed in England on the morning of the game and promptly took four for 18 to drive Lancashire to wards victory at Edgbaston.
In 2008, Kent, assisted by Bears captain Darren Maddy deviating from the well-worn team plan, triumphed by 42 runs at Edgbaston. Then last season came a comprehensive defeat to Sussex for Ashley Giles’s side under the floodlights at Hove.
So Warwickshire have an increasingly annoying jinx to overturn this season if they are to reach the finals day at The Rose Bowl on August 14. But for those in the Bears’ dressing-room that hoodoo is very much a bridge to cross if they reach it.
To get to that point they first have to negotitiate a group stage which is bigger and tougher than ever before. Warwickshire face 16 group matches over the next six weeks, starting against Northamptonshire at home tonight and culminating against Leicestershire at Grace Road on July 18.
With the likes of Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Durham in their group for the first time, the Bears must sustain high levels of performance, mentally and physically. But captain Ian Westwood insists they will relish those challenges
“We are in a different group this year and will face teams we haven’t played before in this type of cricket,” said the skipper. “So it will be a bit of a learning experience for all the teams.
