Battle-hardened Bears eye more success

Last season
County Championship: 2nd Div 1; NatWest Blast: Winners; Royal London Cup: Runners-up

IN:
OUT: Paul Best, Jim Troughton (both retired)
OVERSEAS: Jeetan Patel, Brendon McCullum

2014 in a nutshell
Warwickshire impressed in all three competitions, winning the NatWest Blast, finishing runners-up in Championship to Yorkshire and going to Lord's for the Royal London Cup final only to succumb as Durham made good use of an excellent bowl-first morning. In Jeetan Patel, the New Zealand born offspinner, they had the most unsung overseas player on the circuit; outstanding in short game and long, his worth was at least recognised by the PCA's Most Valuable Player award. Sam Hain lived up to his reputation as one of the best young batsmen in the country by averaging 50-plus in Division One in his debut season at 19 and six bowlers took their Championship wickets under 30s. Warwickshire could not claim to be the most exciting or glamorous side in the land but there was something immensely grown-up about them.

2015 prospects
Their form in 2014 suggests that if any county is well placed to benefit from England's debilitating summons for half-a-dozen members of the Yorkshire squad, and win the Championship, it is Warwickshire. A stable squad is unchanged apart from the retirements of Jim Troughton and Paul Best because of injury. The arrival of Brendon McCullum for the NatWest Blast will not only lift their hopes of retaining the trophy, but will surely persuade the city of Birmingham about the attractions of Twenty20. Ian Bell can still expect to be involved with England but the signing of a three-year contract has neatly voiced his commitment to his home county.

Power brokers
Dougie Brown had an uncertain start in 2013 when he was promoted from within and replaced Ashley Giles as Warwickshire's director of cricket, but that emphasis on continuity looked a good decision last year when Warwickshire played consistent, hard-to-beat cricket. Varun Chopra, a highly reliable opening batsman who has never quite turned England's head, deputised as captain for the injured Troughton for much of last season and was given the job full-time a couple of days before their late-season defeat in the Royal London Cup final.

Key player
It sounds odd to parade Brendon McCullum as a key player when his NatWest Blast contract only amounts to seven games at the end of New Zealand's tour of England. But McCullum's presence in three home matches is an attempt to awaken the Birmingham public into turning out in force at Edgbaston. If McCullum pulls 'em in the benefits could be long-lasting. He is the leading run-scorer in the history of international T20s, with 2105 runs at an average of 35.67, including two centuries and was one of the leading IPL run-getters in 2014, hitting 405 runs for Chennai Super Kings.

Bright young thing
Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a time at which the souls of the dead were meant to return home: a forerunner of the modern Halloween. Sam Hain is a less frightening prospect altogether. At 19, he is very much alive, a contender as the most promising teenaged batsman in the country and with a double hundred in the Championship to his name already, duly taken from last season's bottom club Northants.

ESPNcricinfo verdict
Defending NatWest Blast champions they may be, but not everybody is convinced of the Birmingham Bears' pedigree: Bet365 made them 10-1 sixth favourites before the signing of Brendon McCullum clipped that price in slightly. Surprisingly, Warwickshire are second favourites to Yorkshire for the Championship - a team of battle-hardened professionals at more generous odds than a county that thanks to England calls will be asking a lot of some of its younger players. Interesting.

Bet365 odds: Championship Div 1: 4-1; NatWest Blast: 8-1; Royal London Cup: 10-1