Bears boss optimistic to see pace aces make comebacks
WARWICKSHIRE are optimistic fast bowlers Liam Norwell and Olly Stone will be ready for first-team action in the not-too-distant future.
The two pace spearheads have been ruled out of recent Bears games by back and hip injuries respectively, but are making progress towards a return.
While Chris Woakes remains troubled by a knee problem, the prospect of having Norwell and Stone back in contention will be good news for firstteam coach Mark Robinson.
He is pencilled in for the next County Championship match against Lancashire at Edgbaston from June 12.
“Liam is probably the closest to a return,” said first team coach Mark Robinson. “He has had a tough time with one thing after another, with concussion from a nasty blow on the head and now a back injury.
“But he has had an injection and is scheduled to start building up his work today and if it settles down, and he gets the right amount of overs in, he may come into contention for the Championship game at home to Lancashire.”
Robinson says England pace bowler Stone could feature the Blast campaign. He has not played in the first team since last June when he suffered a stress fracture in his back.
“Stoney has had a niggle around his hip cartilage which he picked up in a Second XI match,” said Robinson.
“We thought we had got him back but then he aggravated it in a club game, but he is progressing and is probably about ten to 14 days away from ready, depending how quickly it heals.
“We are definitely hoping he will
Liam is probably the closest to a return. He has had a tough time with one thing after another.
Mark Robinson
play some part in the Blast, though whether he will have the overs under his belt to play a four-day game in that interim period, we don’t know.”
Robinson admits the injuries have been a blow but the absences have opened the door for other players to come in and make an impact.
“It is frustrating. If we had got lucky and Woakes, Stone and Norwell had been in the team at Headingley last week the game would have looked a lot different but, as it was, it was good experience for Henry Brookes and also Nathan Mcandrew who is relatively inexperienced in red ball cricket.”
Warwickshire have lost just once from the opening six Championship games, leaving the Bears 32 points behind Hampshire at the top of the table.