Brown won’t let Lord’s win paper over the cracks
Warwickshire 219 & 279-7d Lancashire 152 & 28-3 - Stumps, Day Three
WARWICKSHIRE’S director of cricket Dougie Brown admits that all is not rosy at Edgbaston just because his side won the One-Day Cup at Lord’s last Saturday.
A crushing win over Surrey gave Brown his second trophy in four seasons since he succeeded Ashley Giles as Warwickshire’s playing supremo but success in the 50 overs competition has to be tempered by another disappointing season of under-achievement in the County Championship.
Warwickshire appeared to be title contenders when they trounced Surrey at Guildford in July but they fell away so badly that they found themselves dragged into a relegation showdown with Lancashire here.
“Leaving Lord’s with a trophy is great. There are 17 other teams that haven’t managed to do that this year. It’s always nice to have a trophy in the cabinet,” Brown said.
“But I am not saying for one minute that the garden is rosy. There are a number of things we have to work on.We have already identified what they are, we just need to do something about it, which we will do.
“Should we be in this position in the first place? Probably not. In early August we were right up there.We were leading the division at one stage but, while other teams have gained momentum, we have lost momentum.
“We could say the weather has intervened at inappropriate times. In four games we have lost a day due to weather when we have been in a strong position.
“But, ultimately the only people we have to blame for being in this position is ourselves.
“On paper we have got a great squad but, unfortunately, we play on grass. If the squad isn’t playing to its optimum it doesn’t matter what people say or think. Ultimately it’s about what we do. That is what it’s about.”
Brown has already started discussions with his players about areas for improvement and will hold a formal de-brief with his squad net week before plans for the winter are drawn up.
“Me, Ian Bell, the management will debrief and get to a place where we have some clarity of what the winter looks like. If we do it six weeks down the line it loses a lot of impetus,” Brown said.
A lack of consistent runs from the top five has already been identified as an area of concern for Brown but attempts to strengthen the batting have been frustrated by Keaton Jennings’ decision to stay with Durham.
Brown has high hopes that academy products Liam Banks, Alex Mellor, Matt Lamb, Andy Umeed and Aaron Thomason will emerge to fill gaps that will need to be filled in an ageing squad but accepts that he is under pressure to deliver more silverware.
“There is no-one who has been a manager or coach for a wee while who has not been in a position where they feel under pressure. If they say they haven’t they are probably lying,” Brown said.
Sam Hain and Keith Barker did their best to relieve the pressure on Brown in this low-scoring contest.
Hain applied himself diligently to help Warwickshire secure a valuable batting point after another flaky first innings batting display.
Barker then impressed against his native county by taking four wickets in 20.5 miserly overs which gave Warwickshire a handy first-innings lead on a pitch on which batting was expected to become increasingly difficult.