Coventry Telegraph

Sport Welch is bowled over by strength of Bears’ attack

- By BRIAN HALFORD

GRAEME Welch has saluted a bowling unit whose quality left Warwickshi­re as the only county in either division of the County Championsh­ip to net full bowling points in 2018.

The Bears’ advance to the Division Two title was powered by bowlers who excelled consistent­ly. The attack was led by the indefatiga­bly excellent Jeetan Patel, with 56 wickets at 22.79 runs apiece, but three other bowlers passed 40: Olly Stone, 43 from just nine games at a remarkable 12.21 apiece, Chris Wright, 41 at 31.20, and Keith Barker, 40 at 16.80.

That quartet all played key roles but injuries caused disruption at times and that’s where strength in depth showed itself with Ryan Sidebottom, Henry Brookes and Olly Hannon-Dalby sharing 61 wickets at 23.54 in 18 games.

“Although we had a lot of injuries over the summer, the unit always worked really well and that was the most pleasing thing for me,” said bowling coach Welch. “Whenever we asked someone to come in they did a good job.

“We built pressure and that shows in the stats. We averaged 23 runs per wicket and took a wicket every seven-and-a-half overs. That is topend bowling. It was a really great effort from all the bowlers – led by Jeets, who topped 50 wickets yet again and bowled with such skill and consistenc­y.”

It was a satisfying return to Edgbaston for Welch, who was reappointe­d as bowling coach at the start of the year. But his brief is not just to deliver short-term results but also create a conveyor belt of bowling talent, which will be needed with three experience­d bowlers – Barker, Wright and Boyd Rankin – having just left the club.

“Times change and squads have to evolve, that’s the nature of sport,” Welch said. “We have lost some guys who were brilliant for us but have signed Liam Norwell and Craig Miles and I’m really looking forward to working with them. At their age, with the amount of firstclass cricket they have already played, it’s exciting to think what they might achieve.

“There are also big opportunit­ies now for our younger guys. It was disappoint­ing to lose Henry Brookes halfway through the season but the way he bowled early on showed what a great prospect he is, probably not just for us but for England as well.

“I think Will Rhodes has real quality as a bowler and could at some stage be a third or fourth seamer for us. He’s come on a lot with the ball, as has Matt Lamb.

“I’m looking forward to working with them through the next few months and also with Aaron Thomason and George Panayi, who are going to have a big winter. I’m going to do a lot of technical work with George and Aaron – they could be the next cabs off the rank.

“The next 18 months is a great opportunit­y for them to become part of the first-team attack.”

 ??  ?? Graeme Welch, inset, praised Jeetan Patel and the Bears’ bowling attack
Graeme Welch, inset, praised Jeetan Patel and the Bears’ bowling attack

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