Ethan Bamber: Warwickshire seamer aiming to become more versatile option in 2026

Having settled into the Championship side well in his maiden campaign, Bamber is keen to develop his white-ball skills and force his way into the limited-overs set-up more regularly.

“I think one always wants to play in all formats and obviously I’m not near the T20 side of the moment so that’s an area I’d love to address,” he said.

“The one-day stuff is similar, you want to be someone who the captain can look at and be like ‘I want them in my team every game’ so I think you’re always looking at areas where you can grow.”

Working with bowling coach Graeme Welch, Bamber said he had been trying to “add a different string to my bow” when bowling on flatter wickets.

“I’m hoping now I understand that better and just within those parameters, I’m just trying to grow and evolve and upskill,” he said.

Although Chris Rushworth has retired, the likes of Ollie Hannon-Dalby, Michael Booth, Chris Woakes and returning Keith Barker will be competing with Bamber for a place in the side.

Bamber described that opportunity as a “incredibly exciting” and said he hopes it will inspire him to keep developing.

“It’s such a privilege to be able to train with people with such high skill and it’s definitely no secret it’s going to be very, very competitive,” Bamber said.

“I think there’s two ways to look at that – one is as a threat and one as an opportunity.

“If you’re in that side, you must be bowling well and Pop [Welch] speaks a lot about the group as a unit and wanting eight of us to contribute to a Championship-winning side and not having to rely on two or three bowlers.

“Every training session is competitive and having to be at that level for everything is something I’ve really enjoyed.”

Warwickshire start the new season at home to Surrey on Friday [11:00 BST].