Warwickshire batsman Ateeq Javid believes that a productive winter in club cricket in South Africa has left him well-equipped to follow up his breakthrough season in 2013 with another strong campaign.

Javid spent the four months up to March this year with Tygerberg Cricket Club and played a key role with bat and ball for the Cape Town-based outfit.

After his fine season for the Bears last year, the 22-year-old jumped at the opportunity to play some competitive cricket abroad during the winter.

And he reckons the experience has set him up well for the Bears ‘ campaign this year – although, with all the county’s star players available, he was always fully aware that he might not be in the 11 for the championship opener against Sussex at Edgbaston this week.

“I had a really good winter, basically just reinforcing what I did at Warwickshire last season,” Javid said.

“I spent a lot of time batting and bowling and it was really good experience for me playing in those conditions.

“After last season with Warwickshire I just wanted to carry on playing through the winter rather than go indoors and pratice on indoor wickets.

“Now it is a case of not trying to change too much from what I was doing last year.

“It was really pleasing to score two championship hundreds last season and I was happy with the way I played, especially in some of the situations under pressure when some of our senior batsmen were injured.

“But now I am just trying to put that season behind me and focus on this season and cement a place in the top order.

“It will be quite hard to get in the team in the opening weeks with world-class players like Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott around but I can take a positive out of that because, even if I don’t play, I can learn a lot from them.

“It is a plus just having them around and talking to them and learning about how they operate.”

Javid believes that he will reap a lot of benefit from the responsibility thrust on him, especially with the ball, during his four-month stint in Cape Town.

“It was a good standard of cricket, similar to what I played in the year before in Australia,” he said.

“I was their first-choice spinner whereas in previous years I had been second spinner so just bowled here and there.

“But last winter I opened the bowling in the Twenty20 and bowled first-change in the two-day stuff.

“On and off the field it was a great experience.

“I met loads of people and it was a different culture, though I am used to being away in the winters.

“Since I was 16 I have been going away with the England set-up and in the last few years have been to Australia, Tasmania, Melbourne and Cape Town.

“It’s great to do that during the winters because you come back with batteries fully charged and raring to go.”

Javid is raring to go, yes, but when will he get the chance to ‘go’ in the championship for the Bears this season?

With all the England players available, somebody is having to miss out.

“We have a lot of experienced players,” Javid said. “We have international players, world-class all-rounders coming in down the order and also Jeetan Patel coming back which is a really big boost for us.

“There is a lot of quality in the squad – so if we are all fully fit I might struggle to get a game.”

Meanwhile, Warwickshire have secured a new three-year partnership with Birmingham City University.

The university, which has around 22,000 students from 80 countries, has agreed a deal under which it becomes one of the lead partners of the club and sponsors the “Birmingham Bears” team in next season’s Twenty20.

As part of the deal, the University will receive perimeter advertising at Edgbaston Stadium and branding on the collar of the players’ T20 shirts.

The two parties will also work together to utilise the sports and media assets of the stadium for students.

Bears commercial director Gareth Roberts is delighted by the new link-up.

“Like Edgbaston, Birmingham City University has recently opened new world-class facilities and it’s fantastic to work with a renowned organisation that shares our ambitions,” he said.

“We have much to look forward to at Edgbaston with ‘Birmingham Bears’ Friday night T20 matches coming this summer and an Ashes Test Match next season.

“We are thrilled that Birmingham City University are part of these plans to showcase the city on the biggest stage, and we look forward to working with their team.”

During this summer, Edgbaston will host the Twenty 20 Finals Day in August and, before that, seven Bears home games, including five on Friday nights.

“This is an excellent opportunity for Birmingham City University to work in partnership with Warwickshire for the benefit of our students,” said university vice-chancellor Cliff Allan.

“They will be able to take advantage of relevant work-based, research based and large scale event management projects.

“The university will also work closely with the club to identify opportunities to engage local communities in sport and education activities. Sponsoring the Birmingham Bears NatWest T20 Team strengthens our links with exciting Birmingham organisations.”