Warwickshire have unfinished business with the Royal London One-Day Cup and skipper Varun Chopra is desperate to set the record straight in 2015.
The Bears made it all the way to Lord’s last year in the inaugural Royal London One-Day cup but they slipped up at the final hurdle as Durham were crowned champions.
It was nearly the perfect end to a fine season for Warwickshire who won the t20 competition and finished second in the County Championship.
But after defeat in the final, to go with their loss to Hampshire at Lord’s back in 2012, Chopra and co are confident of going one better this time around.
“Our 40 and 50-over cricket has been pretty strong over the past few years,” he said.
“Three finals at Lord’s but we have only won one of them back in 2010 though.
“It’s a decent record and this year hopefully we can win this year “The day out at Lords is one of the highlights of the county cricket season, it’s up there with t20 finals day.
“We want to get back there and hopefully go further. We have got a good squad with a lot of depth, guys who can come in and contribute.
“But it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out with the new rules, to mimic the international game.”
Chopra is referring to the changes that came into effect on July 5, designed to redress the balance between bat and ball.
Gone are batting power plays and catching fielders in the first ten overs, as well as ring restrictions in the final ten overs and Chopra as captain will have to get his head round it quickly.
But the opening batsman’s first job is to get back to scoring runs for his side after an inconsistent first half of 2015 – he made a pair against Yorkshire in the County Championship this week.
“It’s been a bit tricky,” he added. “I am quite happy with two centuries at this stage of the season but I have been getting out before I have really got in.
“I need to try and get some starts and hopefully we can build from there.
“I still feel like my best years are ahead of me, I don’t think I am in my prime yet as a batsman and I am still working hard to improve.”
Royal London are proud sponsors of one-day cricket, see www.royallondoncricket.com
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