NEW Zealand captain Tom Latham is set to make his Warwickshire debut in the County Championship clash with his former club Surrey.
Latham is fit to play after his arrival at Edgbaston was delayed by four weeks.
He broke his hand in the nets with his New Zealand club Canterbury in March.
But the injury did not require surgery, and the 33-year-old, who landed in Birmingham on Tuesday, is in contention to make his first Bears start.
Latham said: “It’s nice to finally be here.
“It’s been great to meet all the guys and get stuck into a bit of training.
“I was disappointed to be ruled out for the first few games. But now I’m here, I want to make up for lost time, put my best foot forward and help the team win games of cricket for Warwickshire.
“I’ve been back hitting for a couple of weeks, everything is tracking in the right direction, and I’m looking forward to the game coming up in a few days.”
Latham made five red ball appearances for Surrey in 2023 (ave 39.75), hitting three 50s and a high score of 99 against Somerset.
He is a father-of-two and has moved to the area with his family during his Warwickshire stay.
Latham added: “It’ll be nice to play Surrey first up. There’ll be a few familiar faces in their side and it’ll be good to catch up with them.
“But I’m on the other side now. I’ll be doing all I can to play a role for the Bears and get another win on the board.
“Surrey are a quality side. We’ve seen it over the last few seasons with them winning the Championship title.
“But I’ve been keeping tabs on Warwickshire’s performances from New Zealand and the guys are in good form, especially that performance up in Leeds last week.
“Hopefully I can come in and add a little bit to the group, and we can put in another good performance against the defending champions.”
Warwickshire expect batter Sam Hain to have recovered from a back tweak that ruled him out of last week’s win at Yorkshire.
Hain jarred his back at home but has netted this week and is in contention to slot back into the side for the visit of Surrey.
Chris Woakes has been another familiar face in the nets as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury, but still needs more time before he makes a Bears comeback.
However, fast bowler Michael Booth – who has enjoyed a fantastic start to the season with 16 wickets in four games – has an ankle injury and drops out of the squad.
Warwickshire First Team Coach Ian Westwood, said: “Tom has rehabbed well at home, he’s come to us fit and is excited about playing. He’s trained well with us, he’s eager to get going and is ready to go against Surrey.
“But it’s a bit too soon for Woakesy. He’ll keep building up and hopefully will be playing a couple of games for us quite soon.”
