Bears seamers need to raise the bar again, insists Woakes

The Bears’ seam quintet – Woakes, Ethan Bamber, Olly Hannon-Dalby, Michael Booth and Ed Barnard – worked superbly as a unit to power their side towards a thrilling one-wicket win over Sussex. That match, against fellow title-challengers, was a tough test. Next comes an even tougher one as reigning champions, and current Division One leaders, Nottinghamshire visit Edgbaston tomorrow.

It is a mouth-watering prospect. With the Bears just five points behind Notts in the table, if either side wins, they will take a giant stride towards the title. Warwickshire will go into the match buoyed by last week’s victory which owed much to the high quality work of the seamers.