Three Bears inspiring an England fairy tale!
We have some very talented players at the club who are on the cusp of taking their games on to the next level.
Paul Farbrace
PAUL Farbrace believes the presence of three Warwickshire players in the senior England squad acts as a “massive incentive” for others at the club to strive to emulate them.
Three Bears – Chris Woakes, Dom Sibley and Olly Stone – have been with England on tour this winter and are set to play a major role for the national team in a busy 2021, culminating in the Ashes in Australia.
All three are, as well as fine cricketers, excellent role models as both sportsmen and people. And director of cricket Farbrace believes that can only help the likes of Sam Hain, Henry Brookes, Rob Yates and Dan Mousley as they target a rise into Test cricket in the coming years.
“Having Stone, Woakes and Sibley in the England set-up acts as a massive incentive for all our players,” he said.
“When our lads come back from England duty and talk about touring India and Sri Lanka and playing against West Indies and Pakistan in this country last year, the other lads are listening to that and thinking, ‘I want to be part of that.’
“Chris Woakes is just a fantastic person to watch and learn from as a man and a cricketer. Then the guys see how hard Dom Sibley has worked to get in that England team and how stubborn and single-minded he has been and they will say, ‘if I work as hard as that, maybe I can get there as well.’
“People look at Stoney and see his work ethic and how hard he has worked after a tough time with injuries to get in such great physical shape to play for England.
That can only inspire people and have a knock-on effect for all our players who are saying, ‘that’s where I want to be.’
“We have some very talented players at the club who are on the cusp of taking their games on to the next level.
“It can only help them hugely to be able to pick the brains of our current England guys and also those of people like Tim Bresnan and Danny Briggs, who have been there too.”
Meanwhile, Bears’ first-team coach Mark Robinson has praised the input of bowling consultants Dean Headley and Yasir Arafat at Edgbaston while bowling coach Graeme Welch was away with the England squad in India.
Robinson brought in former Kent and Middlesex paceman Headley, who played 28 Tests and ODIS for England, and Arafat, who played all three formats for Pakistan, to work with the Bears’ bowlers in the short term.
“We are just trying to get a number of voices around players and are very lucky to have had these two guys to mind the shop,” he said.
“Dean came in and was great. He’s an ex-england bowler with great pedigree and he did it brilliantly.
“When you come in as a consultant, the danger is you just come in and seek to impose your knowledge on players, but Dean was lovely. He just opened the boys up to conversations and got to know them and helped in that subtle way that experienced coaches can do.
“Yasir was an outstanding white-ball bowler, who also took nearly 800 red-ball wickets and played a number of Test matches, so has a wealth of experience and knowledge to pass on.”