Donald, Sreesanth and Frost.

Three rather different chaps - from Bloemfontein, Kothamangalam and Stoke-on-Trent - paid farewell to Warwickshire's playing set-up this week.

Allan Donald.
Championship debut for the Bears: April 1987 v Glamorgan at Edgbaston.
First victim: John Hopkins, caught by Geoff Humpage for seven. (Also dismissed Rodney Ontong lbw twice in the match).
"A.D" will be a huge miss as a bowling coach. Revered by the up-and-coming bowlers, importantly, not just because of what he did as a player but because of his influence as a coach. Ashley Giles has a big gap to fill here.
What struck me about A.D is that here is a guy who was so great as a cricketer yet has remained so humble as a man. I was reminded of that last Saturday evening when we went for a meal in Canterbury. At first the service was perfunctory, if not downright poor, then the bloke in charge, it having been pointed out to him who was in the restaurant, came back over in gushing overdrive. "An honour..." "May I say..." "Can we get you..."
Pretty naff, to be honest, and something that A.D must have encountered about 27,070,050,000,408 times in his life. But he was courtesy itself and obliged with smiles and small talk and, at the end, when the camera came out, posed for a picture with this bloke, then that bloke...
A thoroughly impressive chap, Mr Donald. And not totally lost to the Bears. He is organising next season's pre-season trip to Bloem so Warwickshire's seamers will get in some work with him in advance of their assault on the championship title next year.

Sreesanth.
Championship debut for the Bears: August 2009 v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
First victim: Adam Voges, caught by Ian Bell at gully. (Also hit a six into the committee room).
As he fully outlines in tomorrow's Birmingham Mail, "Sree" would love to come back to Warwickshire at some point.
Would that benefit the Bears? Tough call.
Sreesanth's input for six weeks was never less than interesting. Highly-strung and high-maintenance, he didn't put in a match-winning performance but certainly sparked the team into much their best spell of the season - five successive wins in September so far.
He relished the experience. "In India you are like a superstar everywhere you go," he said. "Here it is totally different with me going to the laundry and making my own bed and my own breakfast."
I wonder if, given a longer stint in county cricket, the novelty of roughing it in such fashion might wear off!
Sreesanth is a highly-talented cricketer and an intriguing bloke but perhaps his presence in the dressing-room might prove a handful longer-term. Not because there is any malice in him - beneath the privileged background and the megabucks there is a nice, if truly bizarre, human being. But his internal swings and struggles could become a time-consuming distraction as matches come thick and fast during a county season.
If 'Sree' does return, probably another short burst would be best.

Tony Frost.
Championship debut for the Bears: May 1997 v Yorkshire at Edgbaston.
First victim: Anthony McGrath, caught off Allan Donald for 0. (Also took catches off Ashley Giles and Dougie Brown in that innings).
"Jack" has returned to the groundstaff, this time probably for keeps. Last season, his superb batting was one of the biggest factors in Warwickshire's promotion. It was always going to be tough for him to follow that this year against First Division bowlers and, especially saddled with opening the batting due to Darren Maddy's absence, it proved a struggle.
Frost now returns to his education towards one day becoming head groundsman at Edgbaston. In Richard Johnson, the Bears have a worthy deputy - and, at some point, challenger - to first-team wicket-keeper Tim Ambrose.