BIRMINGHAM Bears captain Alex Davies says he wants to ‘dominate the group again’ as they prepare for their opening 2025 Vitality Blast clash at Trent Bridge.
Bears go to Nottingham Outlaws tonight (Friday) with the overall aim of making it to Finals Day.
Last season, they missed out to Gloucestershire in the quarter-finals, when seemingly well placed.
But Bears must rejig their bowling attack options for the curtain-raoser as Davies is without the services of seamers Richard Gleeson, Hassan Ali and Chris Woakes.
Gleeson has been signed by Mumbai Indians for the resumption of the IPL – the delayed final taking place on June 3 – while Ali does not return from Pakistan international duty until 6 June and Woakes is with the England Lions alongside teammate Dan Mousley.
Overseas all-rounder Beau Webster misses the Bears Blast summer following his call up by Australia for the World Test Championships final at Lord’s and subsequent tour of the Caribbean.
But Davies said the absences open doors for other bowlers to stake a claim in his and First team Coach Ian Westwood’s T20 plans.
The captain said: “We’re missing a couple of guys for the first few fixtures, but that creates opportunities for other players.
“We’ve had that in the Championship where we’ve not played the same team many times on the bounce. That’s given us the chance to look at other guys who’ve done well and it shows the squad is in a healthy place.
“We’re all looking forward to it. We’ve done well in white ball in recent seasons, with a good win ratio, without going the whole way but we’ll be looking to go one better to Finals Day this year.
“We’re not looking that far ahead at the moment, though. We want to dominate the North group again.
“A lot of work needs to go in before we start thinking about the knockout stages. Let’s get the first couple of games under our belt, then we have a few days off before games come thick and fast. We’ll be trying to do what we’ve done in previous years in the group.
Bears will follow up the Nottingham game with a match against Durham less than 24 hours later (Edgbaston, Saturday, 4pm).
Davies added “Two Blast games in 24 hours is a tough start, but it’s the same for everyone and something we’ve come to get used to over the years.
“Guys who’ve played a lot of Championship cricket are feeling it physically, but for me it’s more the mental turnaround and how we can switch between formats and get ready for Blast.”
