The Balearic Shearwater and Neil Carter
Tomorrow will be the day when Warwickshire bounce back with a vengeance.
The 1st XI will defeat Worcestershire to inject belated life into their T20 campaign while the 2nd XI press home their strong position, earned by diligent batting from Nathan Newport, Andy Miller, Calum MacLeod, Dougie Brown, Phil Neale and Junead Zaman today, to earn their first win of the season, against Lancashire at Rugby School.
Let's hope the noble Balearic shearwater, named this week on the RSPB Red List of most endangered species and which is now thought to face a greater risk of global extinction that the giant panda, bounces back with a vengeance too.
In 51 Twenty20 innings for Warwickshire, Neil Carter has never been dismissed between 20 and 24 inclusive.
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Brian Halford - Brian Halford’s look at Edgbaston.
Afraid I don't share your optimism Brian. Anyone even vaguely attached to Warwickshire knows that we haven't had a power play / death bowler for many, many years (and, I might add, nothing seems to have been done to put that right).
Our batting, as you've previously indicated, is orthodox, and apart from Carts and Jim, lacks any power and / or inventiveness.
I realise we have a couple of injuries, but we're playing to different rules than everyone else, fielding lots of youngsters as opposed to recruiting experienced internationals from around the world, compare our team to Northants or Somerset's. I'm not advocating that we go down the Kolpak route, but at the moment I think it's just not fair on our own, very promising, players and we should have done more to bring others in for the immediate future.
We're in danger of seriously damaging the progress of our developing players. I worry, particularly, for Chris Woakes where I think the expectations are way too high. I really can't see that it's part of his education to be smacked around the park in every one day match.
Yes, that's a good point about Chris Woakes, Bozza. It would have been interesting to see how bowlers of previous generations, including the great ones, would have fared going through the FPT and T20 mincer time after time in the first six weeks of their first full season.
In the corresponding weeks of 1988, when Allan Donald was 20 and in his first full season, just like Woakes now, he played two champo matches, three Benson and Hedges and one Refuge Assurance game.
Interesting stats.
I've nothing against playing young players, indeed I'm totally in favour of it. I just think they should be introduced gradually, one or two at a time, for short spells, into a more stable and experienced team.
I certainly think Chris should be playing regularly in the Championship, but as our main, go-to, bowler, I just can't see it.
By the way, what quirk of evolution produced the blue footed booby?
What possible advantage lies in having blue feet in this struggle for the survival of the fittest?
It's so that when they are up flying on sunny days predators can't see them from below.
I'm backing Carter to blast his first T20 century tonight!
That'd be great Caveman. I'd settle for a whizz-bang fifty and bowling figures of 2 for 30-odd.
Heavens knows where we'd be if we'd ditched Carts, as seemed likely a couple of years ago. He's the mainstay of both our batting and bowling in one day cricket.