Two T20 wins put Warwickshire on the brink

Warwickshire, who last year were so nearly relegated from Division One of the County Championship and who were playing T20 cricket in Division Two, currently sit top of Division One of both the County Championship and of the T20 league. Whether they go on to win either competition will be decided in the next few weeks, but whatever happens they have shown what good coaching, good support from the men's set-up, good team spirit and a good attitude can do in cricket.

On Sunday in the T20 format they beat both Lancashire and Sussex, which means with just two games to play they lead Kent, Berkshire and Lancashire by five points. With four points for a win they need to beat either Kent or Middlesex next Sunday at Beckenham to be crowned T20 champions. And it would be thoroughly deserved for a team that is devoid of "megastars". True they have Amy Jones, Jenny Gunn and Becky Grundy in their midst, but only one other player will be appearing in this year's KSL - Georgia Hennessy. Only Notts in Div 1 of the T20 have less KSL players (3). It is a competition that Warwickshire would have liked to have had their own team in, but they lost out when the ECB handed out the franchises in January, presumably to Loughborough who were selected to represent the Midlands. Warwickshire seem to have set out to show what they are capable of, both on and off the field.

Sussex's Freya Davies (C) Don Miles 2016

At the other end of T20 Div 1, sit Sussex - last year's T20 champions. They are yet to win a game, although they have had two rained off. As well as losing to Warwickshire this weekend they failed to chase down Lancashire's below par 110/5 on a good batting track at the Edgbaston Foundation Ground. Their batting was woeful as they plunged to 58/8 in the 13th over, and only sensible batting from 9, 10 and 11- Tara Norris (6), Freya Davies (17), and Sally Clarke (10), saw the last two wickets add another 34 runs. Sussex have it all to do next week when they meet Notts and Berks at Hove. Two wins will mean that they leap-frog Notts and perhaps keep their place in Div 1 for another season. But they will need to bat and field a lot better than they did this weekend.

The only other game next Sunday is the Lancashire v Yorkshire clash at Leigh CC. If Yorkshire were to lose then they could find themselves bottom of the league, if results go Sussex and Notts' way. No doubt it will be a passionate game and one good performance could swing it either way.

In Div 2 Somerset picked up two important wins on Sunday against Staffs and Surrey, despite having no Anya Shrubsole in the team (still recovering from injury). It puts them two points ahead of Surrey and three points ahead of Wales (who demolished Worcestershire in their only game on Sunday) and Essex (who comfortably beat Durham in their only game). With Somerset due to take on Durham and Worcestershire in Durham on Sunday to conclude their season, they are in the box seat. One win will mean that they can only be overtaken by Wales, who travel to Totton to take on Hampshire and Staffs, while Surrey and Essex have just the one game against each other at Garon Park to wrap up their T20 season. It looks like Somerset will be making the jump back into Div 1 next year, but who will come with them? Wales have it within their own hands, but can they grasp the chance?

MD
18/VII/16