Hannon‑Dalby confident as Warwickshire sit 11 points clear ahead of final County Championship round
Olly Hannon‑Dalby, speaking at Edgbaston on the eve of the final round of the County Championship, said Warwickshire, 11 points clear, are nailed‑on favourites to clinch the title and that the side are “in the groove a bit.” He had just come out of training and expressed belief the team could finish the season strongly.
Warwickshire began the campaign with two wins from their first eight games but have accelerated, winning four of their last five matches. The victories over Essex and Glamorgan were completed in two days, a sequence that saw them move ahead of 2025 champions Nottinghamshire and follow up on Somerset’s stumble at Headingley last week. The squad’s recent form has placed them in a position to decide the championship in the final fixture.
Hannon‑Dalby, described in the piece as 6ft 7in of medium‑fast heritage craft, highlighted what he sees as the team’s bowling strength. He said: “Our bowling has massive depth. Ethan Bamber has had an outstanding year with 60 wickets, and then Chris Woakes has been around the majority of the season. To be able to throw an English legend the ball every now and then is unbelievable – and his demeanour when he plays, how he carries himself is amazing. In fact our depth in general is great, everyone has played and contributed.”
He has played a prominent role since returning from a loan spell at Worcestershire, topping the Edgbaston averages with 27 wickets at 18 after spending the first four games of the summer on loan. On that spell he said: “I’d never been on loan before. It wasn’t the way I would have designed my season but we have a really strong bowling attack and my opportunities were limited. To be able to get some overs in my legs in those early weeks of the season was brilliant and I’m really grateful to Worcestershire for taking me. I could have stayed at Edgbaston and played for [Warwickshire’s] second team but it is different to championship cricket. To know that I was playing, bowling well, contributing for Worcestershire, meant I was ready to hit the ground running.”
Reflecting on a previous title season and his own availability, Hannon‑Dalby recalled Warwickshire’s last championship in the Covid‑affected 2021 season and the subsequent Bob Willis Trophy match at Lord’s, when he was injured for the later part of that period. He said: “This time around is very exciting from a personal point of view, to be fully involved. When this last batch of games started five weeks ago, we just wanted to give ourselves the chance to be in the hunt, and now we have destiny in our hands going into the last game. We’ve just got to bat and bowl and field well and if we can do all those things, well, hopefully … also, everyone is fit for the last game of the season, I’ve certainly been involved in campaigns when there are only one or two fit bowlers still standing.”
Asked about his physical state after playing eight matches for Warwickshire and four for Worcestershire, Hannon‑Dalby said: “The season is hard, it has ebbs and flows, but by this time of year you are used to the workloads and we’ve helped ourselves by shovelling a few four-day games into two-day games and manufacturing more rest for ourselves. When you get to this stage you are in the groove a bit.” He also drew on his experience of a dramatic end to a previous season, when on the final day of 2022 he was bowling at the other end one for 40 as Liam Norwell’s nine for 63 saved Warwickshire from relegation; Hannon‑Dalby said: “At the end there was absolute elation but the day itself was horrific, the feeling that you were going to get relegated the entire time. The last couple of hours were pandemonium – I wouldn’t want to do that again.”
Hannon‑Dalby noted his recent consistency across seasons and his commitment to the club, saying that after taking 50 championship wickets in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and enjoying a fruitful 2026 he signed a new three‑year contract this summer which will make him a Bear as he moves into his 40s. “A brilliant club that have been very kind to me,” he said. On the place of the County Championship in the modern game he added: “Cricket has changed a little bit, there are lots of offshoots, and the franchise world of course. But on a day-to-day basis, the measure of you as a cricketer is either Test cricket if you can play it, or otherwise the County Championship. To do well in county cricket is incredibly satisfying, and being able to win the championship is a great marker in your career. It says a lot that the great Chris Woakes could have sailed off into the sunset, but he has stayed for weeks like this.”
Warwickshire will host Leicestershire in their final match; win that game and they will be champions, and, as set out earlier in the reporting, a draw combined with six bonus points would also secure the title. By Sunday, we will know how the die fell.