Greatbatch fights desperate rearguard

Mark Greatbatch: 'When you're bowled out for 100 you're always pushing s*** up hill' © Getty Images

Mark Greatbatch has come out fighting after widespread reports that his contract would be terminated after Warwickshire were relegated from both the Pro40 and County Championship top flight.

"I've got a contract [that lasts for another 12 months]," he told the Birmingham Post. "It's been a lot of fun ... I can look myself in the mirror. I've met some good people and some not so honest people. There have been more positives that negatives generally."

Many at Edgbaston would dispute his claims that the cricket has been fun this summer, and the level of unhappiness among the membership is growing.

His relationship with the players will not have been helped by his assessment of them. "When a team plays well, the players get the accolades but then they lose the coach bears the brunt," he told the newspaper. "I've always said we need to re-strengthen. We're short of quality. We have some ... but we need to strengthen.

"We've tried very hard. There's been no lack of effort. But when you're bowled out for 100 you're always pushing s*** up hill. We've lost games because we've not competed on day one."

"We've been playing as individuals. We need to be collectively better. We're all bitterly disappointed. For ourselves, the fans and the club. There aren't many belly laughs in our dressing room."

The feeling around Warwickshire is that Greatbatch will pay for the on-field failures and that could be as early as this week when he meets to discuss the situation with Colin Povey, the chief executive.