Following his double hundred over the weekend versus Leeds/Bradford MCCU, Adam Hose can't wait for the new season to begin and is "very excited" by the challenges ahead for Warwickshire's evolving squad.
The Bears will open the Specsavers County Championship campaign, at home to Kent, on Thursday, with a team much-changed from that which concluded last season against the same opposition at Edgbaston.
Jonathan Trott, Chris Wright and Keith Barker have departed while Ian Bell is ruled out until June following toe surgery.
A lot of us have played quite a lot of cricket but without necessarily having the responsibility we have this year and that’s something we shouldn’t shy away from – it’s something to be very excited about.
Adam Hose
A small nucleus of experienced players remains, but the onus is on those now emerging to now step up and lead. Among those facing that challenge is Hose – and he is very much up for it.
“The responsibility is there now for the younger guys in the side,” he said. “A lot of us have played quite a lot of cricket but without necessarily having the responsibility we have this year and that’s something we shouldn’t shy away from – it’s something to be very excited about.
“We can shape the way that we want to take this great club and it’s something that we should be looking at very positively.”
For Hose, a regular in white ball cricket since joining the Bears, a real chance is now there to nail down the place in the championship team vacated by Trott.
Last year he played three championship games early on but was thereafter omitted due to a combination of the productivity of others and the balance of the side.
“I think you can say that opportunity knocks at the start of every year and this one is no different,” Hose said. “Last year I played a little bit of red-ball cricket, maybe not as much as I would have liked but that’s probably relevant to how well I performed, so hopefully this year I can get some runs under my belt early in the championship.
“I try not to think about it too much. I just prepare as well as I can and hopefully the performances will take care of themselves, but yes, it is a big year.
“I had a brilliant time in New Zealand in the winter. It was really frustrating to have to come back early and leave the Firebirds at quite an important time but I learned a lot and it will stand me in good stead for this year.
“In terms of white-ball there could be a little bit of a new role for quite a few of the lads and, just as in the red ball, it’s a great opportunity for us to take responsibility and take the team and club where we want to go.”
