County Championship: Bell and Barker sound success for Warwickshire

Warwickshire made it three wins out of four last week, easily overcoming Durham who now find themselves rooted to the bottom of Division One. After a scratchy start to the campaign, Ian Bell finally made some runs for his county. His 120 will surely restore some confidence in time for the West Indies Test series as he performed well against a decent seam and spin attack. What will also give the Edgbaston side encouragement is that their second-string attack have really done the business for them so far. Keith Barker added another ten wickets, almost doubling his career tally in first-class cricket already this season. Chris Wright has also provided excellent support so selectors have a pleasant problem of what to do when Chris Woakes and Boyd Rankin return from injury. At the other end of the scale, champions Lancashire lost their third match out of four, victims of Nottinghamshire's strong bowling line-up. It was another low-scoring affair and, while the England trio of Patel, Broad and Swann were allowed a rare outing for the county, it was veteran New Zealander Andre Adams who stole the show, taking 10-50 for the match, boosting his total for the summer to 28 already. He could well be amongst the most prolific bowlers in the competition for the third consecutive summer. Swann contributed five wickets but Broad looked out of sorts. For the opposition, his national team-mate Jimmy Anderson was far more impressive, claiming 5-82 in the second innings. Rain on the first few days at Lord's led to a forfeited innings by Middlesex and a last day target of 283 for Worcestershire. The batting side failed miserably with all the home team's bowlers, including Steve Finn, amongst the wickets. Middlesex advanced to third and face second-place Notts this week. There could be more mutually agreed declarations ahead here and elsewhere in the face of another swathe of wet weather. Wayne Madsen's century and Tony Palladino's 5-47 forced Gloucestershire to follow on at Derby but Kane Williamson's first innings of 2012 for the away team secured a draw. His 128 spanned two century partnerships, the largest with fellow Kiwi Hamish Marshall. Derbyshire remain top of Division Two as Kent didn't play. However, Yorkshire move up to third after an innings defeat of Leicestershire. A masterful 182 from Jonny Bairstow, eight wickets from Steven Patterson and a fine all-round display from Anthony McGrath proved too much for the visitors, for whom Matthew Boyce's century was the only bright light. As elsewhere, most of the play at Northampton was concertina-ed into the last two days because of the weather, and the home side recorded their first victory of the 2012 Championship. Michael Carberry's 61 was the highest individual score of the game but it was Northants' David Willey whose 5-39, his third 'five-for' so far, which proved decisive on the final session. At Cardiff, rain was again a major factor, and Glamorgan and Essex were fairly evenly-matched. If it hadn't been for Alviro Petersen's 145, rubbing his old side's nose in the dirt, Essex may have succumbed. As it was, the draw keeps them in fifth and the Welshmen bottom. Wagg and Waters have been taking wickets, but where are the runs going to come from?