Vince: It’s been a ‘boring’ start with ‘less emotional’ cricket
Rob Yates made sure all of Warwickshire’s top three average over 100 after the first three Vitality County Championship fixtures – but his unbeaten 84 couldn’t prevent an inevitable draw with Hampshire.
Yates, opening partner Alex Davies and No.3 Will Rhodes are three of the top four run scorers in Division One so far this season with averages of 123, 120, and 116.
All three attempted to up the run rate in a bid to force a result at the Utilita Bowl but eventually rain won the day and the points were shared.
Warwickshire (455 & 205/4) picked up 13 points to Hampshire’s (365) 10 – with neither side yet to win or lose a game after three rounds.
Hampshire captain James Vince said: “I thought they might have come out more aggressively in the morning session but I guess they felt they were ahead of the game and didn’t want to take any chances in a run chase.
“The pitch didn’t have quite as much pace in it as we would have hoped for.
It showed a few signs of deterioration and spinners might have come into the game at the back end if the weather had stayed away.
“Where normally there would be a few more results knocking around, there are a few more draws with extra points.
"We will have to win some games if we want to be challenging but it is still early stages.
“It has been less emotional cricket on these pitches. There is a lot of time in the field but batting is easier than it has been in recent years.
“A couple of quick victories and back-to-back wins and we can climb the table quickly. It has been a fairly boring start but lots for us to take forward.” Warwickshire head coach Mark Robinson added: “We were having a go.
The boys were determined to bat positively and get into a position where we could look at them, and put them under some pressure.
“We’ve done our best to try and force a victory but the weather hasn’t allowed us to capitalise.
“The bowlers are dying for [a more competitive pitch]. We want a ball that will swing and a surface that the ball will go through on and the edges will carry.” pictured,
Hampshire’s points after three CC matches