"It all dovetails really well" - Simon Kerrigan is relishing his coaching role with the Warwickshire 2nd XI

Look beneath the surface at all successful county sides, however, and you will see that integral to that success is a strong Second XI.  

Second XI cricket - ‘the twos’ to most in the game – is a fascinating world: a unique cocktail of personnel from academy graduates to first-team squad players and from trialists to world-class performers seeking form and fitness. It is part of the furniture, a valued and essential part, of the county game as a pathway to the level where every player wants to be. The departure lounge for Destination First Team.  

Starting this week, when Warwickshire's 2nd XI face Gloucestershire and Somerset in a West Country T20 double-header on Wednesday and Thursday, The Bear will bring you exclusive reports of all their games.

Former Lancashire and England spinner Simon Kerrigan, who joined Warwickshire in 2023, is now Second XI Coach - and relishing the job and its unique challenges.

“I love the role,” he said.

“You’re working with professional cricketers from all the different ranges of experiences and stages of where they are in terms of their game and their careers. From guys who have been established in the game for some time to young players trying to break through. You’re working with professional cricketers and aspiring professional cricketers, whether that’s experienced pros, young pros, academy lads from our pathway or trialists. It is about improving everybody as individuals but also making it competitive. It’s so important that the lads learn how to be competitive and win games of cricket.  

“I’m very fortunate at Warwickshire because the senior pros are all great professionals and brilliant people. There are times when they are disappointed not to be in the first team, but their attitude in the 2's is great. They always contribute and that’s brilliant for myself and Josh Cobb who heads up the Academy. It’s great for the younger guys but we also feel that the pros leave the environment feeling better for the week they’ve just had there.”  

The Second XI fixture-list roughly shadows the senior schedule, just a week or two ahead of it, which brings in another intriguing dimension. Last week, ahead of the Blast, the Twos had a very senior look about them, including a certain Mr Woakes who excelled with bat and ball.  

“Woakesy fitted in seamlessly to the group and the lads loved having him around,” said Kerrigan. “It’s not just Woakesy’s skills on the pitch, it’s how he goes about his prep and everything about him. He’s not one of those guys that the younger lads feel they can’t ask questions to. It was pretty inspiring to watch him bat - he was clearing the net over extra cover at Portland Road. It was great to have him and has been great to have other senior players over the last couple of years.  

“Jake Lintott has joined Kent on loan now but has been brilliant for us. The 2nd XI coach can do things off the pitch but it’s great when you have someone like Jake to drive things on the field. He lives and breathes the professional behaviours and standards that you want and is so competitive as well. Jake can be really proud of his contributions over the last couple of years.  

Warwickshire’s strong start to the Championship season, they currently sit second in the table and are very much in the hunt for the title, suggests that, after some years of transition, the pieces are starting to fall into place. Strong connections between the different levels of coaches at Edgbaston is invaluable, believes Kerrigan.  

“It all dovetails really well,” he said. “We have Ian Westwood at the top and what he wants filters downs, with a little bit of my slant on it, and that then filters down to the academy with Josh and into the pathway. So all the players on the pathway are not getting lots of different messages. It is all focused on what the first-team coaches want which makes the transition upwards smoother.”  

The Bears 2's will play T20s against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham on Wednesday and Somerset at Taunton Vale on Thursday. Reports of the games will be on The Bear.