Ed Barnard stars for Warwickshire in Essex yet again

Warwickshire’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup captain followed up his personal-best 165 in the Vitality Championship reverse in May by carrying his bat with a 140-ball 173 to underpin a seven-wicket victory over Essex.

Barnard, whose previous best was 161, was ably assisted in match-defining stands by Rob Yates, Will Rhodes and Michael Burgess as last year’s semi-finalists eased home with 14 balls to spare.

Barnard said: “It was pretty special. It was one of our highest [run chases}. We knew it was a good pitch, short boundaries and good outfield, so we were pretty pleased with that one.

“I think we chased relatively well last season without really there being any big scores, apart from the game against Durham when we were real close, so this is really satisfying.. Hopefully it kick-starts us in this comp.

“It was a nice pitch to bat on. I rode my luck a little bit to start with, but I’ve been feeling good with the bat for a while, especially with the white ball, so it was nice to make it count and be there at the end.

“I ticked off my personal-best last time I was here, so I like playing here! Hopefully there will be a couple more to come at some point.

“I think it [captaincy] takes a bit more of a toll in the field – I make a few wrong decisions – but batting I can just get on with it. There aren’t too many things to get in the way dealing with captaincy. But I’ve enjoyed. I enjoyed the taste I got of it against Staffordshire and I’m looking forward to the rest of the comp.

“We’ve got a really good squad here with some good young players coming through as well as some good experienced heads in there. I think we’ve got s good shot in this competition. We fell a bit short last year but hopefully we can go all the way this time.”