Coach Robinson wants Bears to 'match the desperation' of Steelbacks in crucial Blast clash
Birmingham Bears coach Mark Robinson has told his players to 'match the desperation' of Northants Steelbacks in Thursday night's big Vitality Blast clash at the County Ground (6.30pm).
Bears will arrive in Northampton having already secured a home quarter-final date, with their win over Derbyshire Falcons on Sunday guaranteeing them at least second place in the North Group table.
But there will be no resting on their laurels from the Edgbaston side, who have named an unchanged squad for the trip to Wantage Road as they aim to claim the win that will see them finish top of the table with a game to spare.
The Steelbacks will be striving for the win they need to quarantee a place in the last eight for only the second time in eight years, and Robinson, a former Northants pace bowler, has told his players they will need to match the intensity of the home side.
“We’re top so far and we’d like to finish that way,” said Robinson, who has guided his team to nine wins in 12 North Group matches so far. “We’ve done it the previous two years and it would nice to mirror it again.
“We’ve had a few setbacks personnel wise, but we’ve kept our standards high and our habits consistent. Touch wood so far, we’ve found our rewards.
"We know we’ve not won anything, but we’ve reached the first objective.
“We just want to win games as that’s what we’re about all the time.
“This is a big game for Northants and we need to make sure we match their desperation to win."
The Bears are without injured former Steelbacks man Richard Gleeson, while Pakistan pace bowler Hassan Ali also misses out with an elbow problem. England's Moeen Ali is included.
The Steelbacks have also named an unchanged squad from Sunday's eight-overs-a-side win at Durham, with Australian Ashton Agar retaining his place after the decision was made not to recall Sikandar Raza following his international commitments with Zimbabawe.
Steelbacks squad v Bears: David Willey (c), Ashton Agar, George Bartlett, Ravi Bopara, Matthew Breetzke, Emilio Gay, Freddie Heldreich, Lewis McManus (wk), Gus Miller, Ben Sanderson, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Jack White Saif Zaib.
Bears squad to play Steelbacks: Moeen Ali, Alex Davies (c & wk), Ed Barnard, Chris Benjamin, Jacob Bethell, Michael Booth, Danny Briggs, Zak Foulkes, George Garton, Sam Hain, Jake Lintott, Craig Miles, Dan Mousley, Rob Yates