Warwickshire Bears Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground Website Captain Nick Knight Squad Overseas player Heath Streak Others Moeen Ali James Anyon Ian Bell Dougie Brown Neil Carter Tony Frost Ashley Giles Alex Loudon Tom Mees Trevor Penney Keith Piper Michael Powell Dewald Pretorius Adam Shantry Naqqash Tahir Jonathan Trott Jim Troughton Mark Wagh Nick Warren Ian Westwood Benefit Dougie Brown
Warwickshire County Cricket Club start 2005 as defending county champions and 11–4 favourites to retain their title. They play their totesport League cricket in Division Two. Warwickshire won the title in 2004 through their batting, and they have further enhanced it with the addition of Alex Loudon.
In the traditional Champion County v MCC match that kicks off the season, Warwickshire fared well, but ultimately lost to what essentially was an England A squad. However, when the Championship started, they immediately imposed their authority by thrashing Division One newcomers Glamorgan by an innings. Their first Sunday League game, against Somerset was abandoned as a draw because of rain.
In the second Championship game, Warwickshire were outplayed by Kent, who should have won. But determination saw Warwickshire through to the draw. The Bears were 9 wickets down when time was called. Then Ian Bell and Ashley Giles helped trounce Middlesex in the Championship. The following day they beat the Spitfires by 19 runs. On 3 and 4 May they beat Holland in the first round of the C&G Trophy.
They then lost to Sussex in first the totesport League and then the Championship. On 17 May they beat Leicestershire at home to progress to the Quarter-Finals of the C&G Trophy. Three days later they beat Derbyshire easily in the one-day league. They then beat Cambridge UCCE by 18 runs in an MCC University match, before trouncing title rivals Hampshire by ten wickets at home inside two days.
The first game of June saw a comfortable 4-day draw away to Surrey, before a 49-run win against the same opposition kept them in the promotion fight in the National League Division Two. Their fine first-class form continued, as they won their third County Championship match in style at Gloucestershire, but they were thumped by Kent in the next game, hampered by a groin injury to Heath Streak. That injury could have been a cause of their seven-wicket defeat at home to Leicestershire.
Warwickshire's long batting line-up came to surprisingly little use in the Twenty20 Cup, as they lost their first two matches, and their first win came against hapless Glamorgan. After six games, they had only scraped five points, and endured two one-run losses to Worcestershire. They managed to get through to the quarter-finals, however, thanks to big wins over Somerset and Northamptonshire. They followed that up with two wins in the National League, over Derbyshire and Durham, and also made it to the C&G Trophy semi-final with a five-wicket victory of Kent. So, going into the Twenty20 game with Surrey, they were on a five-game win streak, and after the scores were tied under the Duckworth-Lewis method the teams had to face off in a bowl-off. Warwickshire lost 3–4 to bow out of the tournament.
Their poor form was continued in the County Championship, where they lost in three days – with only four balls delivered on the third day – against Nottinghamshire. A win over Yorkshire meant that they kept their vital third place in Division 2 in the National League, though, and they advanced to second after defeating Kent. A crucial, and close, three-wicket win against Middlesex in the Championship followed, as Warwickshire jumped up to fifth place in the Championship, half a point ahead of Surrey in the third relegation spot, and they followed that up with a big ten-wicket win over whipping boys Glamorgan. A loss to Nottinghamshire, however, sent them right back into the mire. Some relief came in the C&G Trophy, when Warwickshire thumped Lancashire to progress to the final. Rain cancelled the National League match with Leicestershire, meaning that Warwickshire still trailed the promotion places by two points, and their loss to Sussex the following day did not help. However, they got revenge over Sussex by beating them in the County Championship later on in the week, but the next week saw two losses to Hampshire – first in the Championship and then in the C&G Trophy final.
The one-day losses continued, as the Bears fell to Somerset in the National League on the first Sunday in September, but they recovered with a Championship draw and a League win over Surrey. The latter left them with an outside chance of League promotion, trailing Derbyshire in third place by four points but with two games in hand, but they went up into third place with a win in Scotland, and got a four-point lead and a vastly superior net run rate to the fourth-place with a 102-run win over Yorkshire. Their Championship season ended in fourth place after a 181-run win over Gloucestershire, and despite losing their last National League match of the season to Durham Dynamos, Warwickshire were promoted, and will play in Division One of both the Championship and League in 2006.
Tables
Championship
+ 2005 County Championship – Division One Pos Team Pld W D L Pen BP Pts 1 Nottinghamshire 16 9 4 3 0 94 236 2 Hampshire 16 9 4 3 0.5 92 233.5 3 Sussex 16 7 6 3 0 102 224 4 Warwickshire 16 8 3 5 0.5 86 209.5 5 Kent 16 6 7 3 8.5 99 202.5 6 Middlesex 16 4 7 5 0.5 98 181.5 7 Surrey 16 4 9 3 8.5 97 180.5 8 Gloucestershire 16 1 5 10 2 72 104 9 Glamorgan 16 1 1 14 0 71 88.5
totesport League
+ 2005 totesport League – Division Two Pos Team Pld W L NR T Pts 1 Sussex Sharks 18 13 4 1 0 54 2 Durham Dynamos 18 12 4 2 0 52 3 Warwickshire Bears 18 10 6 2 0 44 4 Leicestershire Foxes 18 10 7 1 0 42 5 Derbyshire Phantoms 18 9 7 1 1 40 6 Somerset Sabres 18 9 8 1 0 38 7 Surrey Lions 18 7 10 1 0 30 8 Kent Spitfires 18 6 10 2 0 28 9 Yorkshire Phoenix 18 5 13 0 0 20 10 Scottish Saltires 18 2 14 1 1 12
Match details
MCC v Warwickshire (8–11 April)
MCC beat Warwickshire by 7 wickets
Warwickshire were the Champion County in 2004, and therefore they kicked off the 2005 season with the traditional match against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's on 8 April. The MCC side was effectively an "England A" team, with the match being the closest thing to a Test trial this season. It rained on and off throughout the first day. Just before 5pm, the captains tossed. Nick Knight of Warwickshire won the toss and elected to bat. However, more rain came down and at around 5pm play was abandoned – the first day of the 2005 cricket season would see no play.
The second day saw 87 overs of play before bad light ended the day's play. Warwickshire put on 347 for 5 declared. Nick Knight's 115 was the first century of the season. Wagh contributed 66 and Trott 75. The third day started with a confident and chanceless first wicket partnership of 109 between Alastair Cook and Matt Prior. Then Cook, who grafted out his innings with careful footwork and plenty of off-side shots, and Owais Shah, who got off to a difficult start, put on 166 runs for the second wicket, before Cook fell for 120. The MCC declared soon after at 275 for 2, 70 runs behind. Warwickshire started their second innings confidently, and were 70 for 3 at close on the third day.
On the fourth and last day, Warwickshire powered on to 225 for 4 before declaring, with Tony Frost top scoring with 91. This set the MCC a target of 296 to win. On a wicket that held up well, Cook added 97 to his first innings century. By the time he was third out at 235, Andy Flower was well set. He scored an undefeated 110 as the hosts won by 7 wickets with eight overs to spare. The MCC remain undefeated in the traditional game against the previous season's traditional county since the fixture was re-established in 1970. The match leaves Prior and Cook in contention for possible future England call-ups.(Cricinfo scorecard)
Warwickshire v Glamorgan (13–16 April)
Warwickshire (22pts) beat Glamorgan (1pt) by an innings and 43 runs
Glamorgan won the toss at a cold Edgbaston and chose to bat. The pitch had been roughed up to encourage turn for the benefit of Ashley Giles. The England selectors will have been pleased that he made the most of it, taking 6 for 44, the third-best figures of his career. First, however, Matthew Elliott, Glamorgan's Australian batsman scored 84 to take his team to a comfortable looking 157 for 3. However, Glamorgan then lost their final seven wickets for just 41 runs. Warwickshire's catching was excellent, as they restricted their opposition to 198 off 63.3 overs, two short of their first bonus point. Nick Knight and Mark Wagh then saw Warwickshire through to 68 for no loss, before bad light stopped play.
After losing Knight and Wagh with only 4 added to the overnight score, the Champion county showed their class. After the start of the day, the pitch calmed down, and England hopeful, Ian Bell, who scored 96, and Michael Powell put on 153 for the fourth wicket. Dougie Brown then helped himself to a half-century being unbeaten on 85 at close, with Powell on 144 not out and Warwickshire on 415 for 4, 217 ahead. Alex Wharf and Simon Jones bowled enthusiastically, but without much to show for it.
The bat dominated on a cold third day, with runs coming at around 5 an over, though this was aided by there being short boundaries. This allowed 362 runs to be scored, even though almost all the third session was lost to bad light. In the morning, Warwickshire's runs flowed freely. Although Powell only add 2, Brown moved on to 122, and Heath Streak had time to score 41 not out before Warwickshire declared on 564 for 8, 366 ahead. Elliott and David Hemp put on 162 for the second wicket. However, Matthew Maynard went for a duck, leaving Glamorgan on 213 for 4 at close.
On the fourth day, Robert Croft and Darren Thomas held Warwickshire briefly at bay with a partnership of 75, but this wasn't enough as Glamorgan succumbed for 323. Warwickshire captain, Nick Knight, said, "Once they were bowled out for 198 on that pitch they were always going to struggle. They then put down three catches, which proved to be decisive. We had a bit of luck so we are not going to start going around saying that we are going to win the Championship just because we have won one match." John Derrick, Glamorgan's coach, said, "Although we batted much better second time around, we made it difficult for ourselves by not scoring enough first innings runs. Warwickshire showed what playing pressure cricket is all about. They bowled with a lot of discipline. They piled up a big score to make sure that we did not get back into the game." (Cricinfo scorecard)
Warwickshire v Somerset (17 April)
Match abandoned – Warwickshire (2pts), Somerset (2pts)
Warwickshire won the toss at Edgbaston and put Somerset in to bat. Mike Burns dominated proceedings with his 107 from 134 balls, supported by Keith Parsons' 51 and James Hildreth's 54, as Somerset scored 254 for 5 in their 45 overs. However, then bad weather put an end to the day's play before Warwickshire had a chance to bat. (BBC scorecard)
Kent v Warwickshire (20–23 April)
Kent (10pts) drew with Warwickshire (10pts)
The first day at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury saw Warwickshire and England left arm spin bowler Ashley Giles take 5 for 86, and Martin van Jaarsveld 118 as Kent finished on 342 for 9. At the end of a second day, Kent took their score to 347. Nick Knight, who scored 100, and Ian Bell, with 63, got Warwickshire off to a good start. But from 179 for 1, Min Patel and Amjad Khan bowled Kent into the match. Warwickshire finished the day on 288 for 7 off 100 overs.