If anyone doubted Warwickshire's need for new recruits, their views should surely be dispelled by now.
It was not so much Warwickshire's failure to bowl out Middlesex on the last day of the championship match on Saturday. Bearing in mind the depleted nature of the Warwickshire attack; the bowlers actually did rather well.
But the make-up of a 62-man squad of players invited to The ECB National Cricket Performance Centre next month certainly did make interesting reading. The squad, described by the ECB as containing "the most talented young players in the country" contains just one Warwickshire man; the admirable wicket-keeper Richard Johnson. No county has fewer representatives.
It would, at this stage, be facile to point out what a damning indictment that is of the failure of Warwickshire to identify, develop or retain talent over the last few years.
The current management understand that and are working hard to rectify it. A change of personnel at The Warwickshire Cricket Board, an organisation that could out-do Alistair Campbell in their ability to 'spin' a story, is surely imminent.
It emerged at the end of last week that Warwickshire are attempting to sign five fairly high-profile players from other counties: David Sales, Steve Kirby, Graham Onions, Alex Gidman and Stewart Walters.
It is now understood that further approaches are likely in the next few weeks.
Middlesex pair Ed Joyce and Owais Shah are also both out of contract at the end of the season and Warwickshire's director of cricket, Ashley Giles, admitted that Warwickshire are interested. "They are exactly the sort of high quality players we would be interested in and we'd be foolish not to consider them," he said.
The unspoken implication of such approaches is that Giles has reached the conclusion that this Warwickshire squad needs substantial strengthening before it can be expected to challenge regularly. Fringe players may well win more opportunity over the coming weeks, but if they don't succeed the axe will surely fall.
Eleven players are out of contract at the end of the season (Tony Frost, Neil Carter, Andy Miller, Stuart Hole, Richard Johnson, Michael Powell, Jimmy Anyon, Lee Daggett, Nick James, Navdeep Poonia and Calum MacLeod, who represented Scotland yesterday), while it is possible that some of those on longer term deals could be 'given permission to talk to other counties'; a euphemism for being released.
Giles played down the suggestion that the talk of new signings could unsettle the dressing room, however. "I hope that's not the case," he said. "We're not shipping them all in and we're not going to throw everyone out.
"We're just keeping our options open. It doesn't necessarily mean that we will sign all of them, or even any of them. But if there are quality players out there who we think could take the club forward and add to what we already have, then we'd be wrong not to ask the question, wouldn't we?"
Other counties have been quick to underline their desire to keep their players. But Sales is understood to be unhappy over Northants' reliance on Kolpak players, while Kirby, Onions and Shah are the subject of advances from several counties.
Money will certainly be one factor in attracting them. The opportunity to play first division cricket would be another, while the chance to work with Allan Donald and Giles, an England selector remember, is a major factor in Warwickshire's favour.
It is not all one way traffic, however. The Post understands that Anyon is attracting admiring glances from at least two other counties and formal approaches are expected imminently. As a consequence, Warwickshire are likely to instigate contract talks with the 25-year-old bowler shortly. "We do need to sit down with Jimmy's agent and discuss things," Giles said.
Giles also confirmed that Ian Westwood will continue to stand-in as captain for the injured Maddy, who could be absent until the end of July. His answer did suggest that the idea was up for review if Westwood's own grim form did not improve, however. "As we stand, 'Westy' will be the captain," Giles said. "It could be that the captaincy helps his batting. You get overly internal about your own game and the captaincy will take some of the focus away from his own game."
There was certainly no shortage of effort from Warwickshire's bowlers on Saturday. Only once has Naqaash Tahir bowled more overs in a first-class innings. Jonathan Trott and Jimmy Anyon never have.
And, for a while, it appeared they could pull off a remarkable victory. When Trott, a much improved bowler, trapped Ed Joyce with an inswinger the first ball after lunch, it precipitated a decline that saw Middlesex lose four wickets for 25 runs and left them tottering on 218 for seven; a lead of just 77.
Shorn of the injured trio of Monde Zondeki, Ian Salisbury and Darren Maddy, however, Warwickshire simply lacked the firepower to force home the good position they earned. A stubborn eighth-wicket stand of 117 in 32 overs between Eoin Morgan and Shaun Udal saved the game for the visitors, but could not prevent Warwickshire retaining their place on top of the division two table.
Meanwhile more details of the ground redevelopment became clear. The economic downturn is likely to result in there being a greater emphasis on commercial, rather than residential, property in the development along the Pershore Road, while the almost complete withdrawal of Redrow will result in a greater reliance on companies backed by wealthy individuals rather than PLCs.
During the building, the players' dressing rooms may well be located in the area currently used by the groundstaff, though some county games are highly likely to be played at outgrounds. nWarwickshire's Friends Provident match against Ireland at Edgbaston yesterday was abandoned without any play. Each sides takes a point. Warwickshire are, weather permit-ting, in action against Leicestershire at Oakham today.
