Latham's Bears arrival delayed by hand injury

Tom Latham was part of New Zealand's beaten Champions Trophy final side against India on 9 March

Warwickshire have been hit by a pre-season injury issue that will delay main overseas signing Tom Latham's arrival at Edgbaston.

Wicketkeeper Latham, 32, has suffered a broken finger while practising in the nets with his domestic club side Canterbury before this week's Plunket Shield game in Wellington.

The New Zealand Test captain was, in any case, already scheduled to miss the Bears' opening game against Sussex, starting at Edgbaston next Friday (5 April).

But he may now be sidelined for a few more games on top of that.

"Tom was always missing the first game," Bears captain Alex Davies told BBC Sport. "But he's now done a bit of damage to his hand, so his arrival is put back a few weeks.

"It was always going to be me and Rob Yates opening, with Tom fitting in at three. Rob's established himself at the top of the order now and has had England Lions recognition on the back of it."

As to who will keep wicket in the Championship for the Bears this summer, following the premature retirement of Michael Burgess over the winter, Davies admits he, Latham and highly-rated 20-year-old Kai Smith, yet to make his Bears first team debut, are all in the frame.

"We haven't yet made that call," said Davies. "Obviously I did it for years with Lancashire, but Tom [Latham] is also an option, when he's fit.

"And we've got Kai Smith, who's going be an absolute superstar. He just needs an opportunity to show what he can do."

Davies 'desperate' to win title with Bears

Heading into his second season as county captain with Warwickshire, Davies cannot hide the hunger he feels at wanting to lead the Bears to the title.

He was on Lancashire's books when they ended their long title drought in 2011, the year before the Bears won it in 2012 - with a side that included new first-team coach Ian Westwood, the replacement when Mark Robinson was sacked on 13 February - before their most recent success four summers ago under the now departed Will Rhodes.

"I was only an academy player in 2011 but I was there around it, feeling the buzz," said Davies. "And Warwickshire have won two since then. There's a lot of guys in this dressing room, Westy being one of them, who know what it takes to win one.

"There's only been seven Warwickshire captains who have lifted the trophy and I'm desperate to be number eight. I've only got 'X' years left and I won't quite feel fulfilled if I haven't won a Championship by the time I pack in."

Bears captain Alex Davies will start his second season since supplanting Will Rhodes as skipper

Warwickshire were the last side to win the title, in the first post-Covid season of 2021, before Surrey's three-season reign of dominance began.

And Davies admits that a lot of hard work needs to be done after a 2024 summer in which the Bears won only once in 14 matches.

"Last season was a middling year," he said. "We played some really good cricket at times, but there were also days when we weren't quite good enough.

"It's all about being consistent and eradicating those really bad days. We had too many injuries and weren't able to take 20 wickets and we have to put that right.

"The lads are still hungry, we've made some good overseas signings and the Championship is still the pinnacle. But you can only do it by building day on day and not having any days off. There were days last year when we let ourselves down."