By Clive Eakin, BBC CWR
The highlight of Mark Robinson’s four-year tenure was winning the County Championship at his first attempt – the Bears’ first title in nine years.
Hampered by injuries and the lack of availability of their marquee overseas signings, the Bears were unable to recapture such heights.
They did finish a respectable fourth place in 2023 but battled against relegation either side of that year, most notably in 2022 when Liam Norwell’s last-day heroics secured an unlikely escape.
Nonetheless, Robinson can point out the Bears are one of only five counties to have preserved their first division status four years running since the resumption of two divisions in 2022.
Expectations are high at Edgbaston, and the failure to be at their own T20 Blast Finals Day party since 2017 has been a source of angst among supporters. Yet the Bears have dominated the group stages, topping their pool in each of the last three seasons.
But the quarter-final stage has been their graveyard, and this summer’s defeat by eventual winners Gloucestershire was the last straw for many fans.
Ian Westwood now steps up 24 years after making his first team debut as a player. He’s been captain and assistant coach and is a throwback to past incumbents who came through the ranks, such as Dougie Brown, Ashley Giles and Jim Troughton.
With Robinson having seen off two performance directors in Paul Farbrace and Gavin Larsen, Westwood will want a good working relationship with the new appointment, which is expected imminently.
