Stokes still on England radar

Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder, has been offered encouragement by the England management that he can win a return to international contention after being sent home from the Lions' winter tour of Australia for disciplinary reasons.

In February, Stokes and Kent's Matt Coles were punished for "contravening their conduct obligations" and dismissed from the touring party, after a second offence that coincided with Andy Flower's arrival in Australia to check on the Lions. Stoke recently met with Flower, England's team director, and Ashley Giles, who is in charge of the limited-overs sides, and was told to stay out of trouble and focus on his game.

"They told me it's not a clean slate but a cross has not been put through your name either," said Stokes, who played five ODIs and two T20 internationals for England in 2011. "Just keep playing your cricket and keep performing, that was the message."

Stokes' untimely return from Australia attracted unwelcome headlines for the second time in his career - in December 2011 he was arrested for obstructing a policeman in his duty, in what was believed to be a drink-related incident. On this occasion, Flower, Giles and England's managing director, Hugh Morris, have moved quickly to remind him of his responsibilities.

"People have made their minds up as to what happened and you can either believe it or not," Stokes told the Sunday Times. "I've got to learn from it. I'm not putting it behind me, it's always going to be on my mind, but I now know what Andy Flower, Ashley Giles and Hugh Morris want from the players they want to pick.

"It was an eye-opener. It has given me a lesson not just in cricket but in life. You learn by your mistakes, I guess, and if any situation comes along again that resembles those two, I'll know the right thing to do. We've got to remember we are role models for kids and think of the impression we give them as professional sportsmen."

Having long been considered one of England's most-talented prospects, his international career stalled after elevation to the limited-overs sides as a batsman two summers ago. A finger injury that required three operations was a major setback and then a back problem hampered him in the early part of last season but his bowling has continued to develop, complementing a first-class batting average of 37.13.

"You would have to run over it with a truck to damage it now," he said of his right index finger. "Getting it fixed then was the right thing to do because otherwise I probably wouldn't be bowling now. When I first started bowling for Durham I was a bit of an 'I'll-give-it-a-go' sort of guy but last year I was given a lot more responsibility, bowling in more high-pressure situations, and that helped my confidence and consistency. I tend to swing it. Mind you, if you can't swing it up here in Durham, you probably can't swing it anywhere."

Batting at No. 5 and coming on first-change with the ball for Durham will give Stokes the chance to press his England case in both suits. Performances on the pitch and a more mature attitude off it will also have to go hand in hand.

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Bangladesh need six wickets to level series

Zimbabwe 282 and 138 for 4 (H Masakadza 46*) need another 263 runs to beat Bangladesh 391 and 291 for 9 dec (Mushfiqur 93, Nasir 67*, Shakib 59, S Masakadza 4-58)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The moment Ziaur Rahman hit Brendan Taylor's pad in front of the stumps and the umpire raised his finger, Bangladesh were closer to a rare Test win. At the end of the fourth day of the second and final Test, Zimbabwe were 138 for 4, chasing a 401-run target set up by Mushfiqur Rahim's 93.

The Zimbabwe captain's wicket was the one Mushfiqur would have wanted more than the seven runs by which he missed his third Test hundred. After umpire Ian Gould lifted his finger, it was easy to see and hear what it meant to the fielding side which was screaming for joy. Zimbabwe were 96 for 3, with their best batsman and captain out of the equation with a day remaining.

Malcolm Waller also fell to Ziaur for 15, missing a straightening delivery as his lack of footwork shackled him to the crease. Shingirai Masakadza was sent in as the nightwatchman at 118 for 4 with more than 15 overs remaining in the day, a strange decision but one which ultimately paid off. His elder brother Hamilton held his own at the other end, unbeaten on 46 off 94 balls.

Zimbabwe started the fourth innings positively but in the tenth over, Regis Chakabva played inside the line of a Shakib Al Hasan delivery which spun past to strike off. Vusi Sibanda fell soon after for a 50-ball 32, driving one straight to Sohag Gazi at short cover off Shakib.

Mushfiqur would thank his lucky stars that finally bowlers other than Robiul Islam stood up. Ziaur bowled a 10-over spell, mainly focused on being accurate. He hardly has pace like he did a few years ago, but managed to bring in his shoulders to generate speed. Shakib and Gazi bowled tightly too, both using a typical left-arm spinner and offspinner's line. There was hardly a loose ball.

Bangladesh declared about an hour after lunch on 291 for 9, going ahead of the home side by exactly 400 runs. Shakib, Mushfiqur and Nasir Hossain hit their second fifties of the game.

Nasir stretched the lead with the tail, making an unbeaten 67 and scoring most of the 40 runs that came after lunch. Apart from his effort, Bangladesh's dominance was also due to captain Mushfiqur's attentiveness to the situation.

He made 93 before being brilliantly caught at gully by Sibanda off Hamilton Masakadza, and his persistence was crucial to his side's staying power. Along with Nasir, he had to see off the first half-hour, which has often produced wickets in Harare. Though they hardly found boundaries because the home side had deep fielders on both sides, they played carefully. Zimbabwe bowled wide too, and the batsmen cut out the rash shots.

Mushfiqur and Nasir were happy picking up singles until the captain began to open up with a mistimed scoop and a slog-sweep - both off Elton Chigumbura. He had earlier hit a cover drive that sped to the boundary but the wicket had slowed down, and bounce was also on the low side. He and Nasir added 84 for the sixth wicket, back-to-back 80-plus partnerships for Mushfiqur, after his fifth-wicket stand with Shakib on the third evening.

Taylor missed the long hours put in by Keegan Meth, who is out with a right knee injury. He was seen sitting on the sidelines with his feet up and knee strapped. Hamilton Masakadza, bowling medium-pace, took three wickets but was never going to be as big a threat to the visitors. Kyle Jarvis did not bowl with the venom of the first Test, but Shingi Masakadza remained steady and picked up four wickets.

Had the Zimbabwe bowlers put up a better show even on the fourth morning, the Test match could have remained competitive. Bangladesh got most of what happened on the fourth day their way, though there again was the odd leg-before decision that they were denied. They would still take it, given they are closing in on a Test win for the first time in nearly four years.

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Attacking Warner brings relief to Delhi

Delhi Daredevils 164 for 5 (Warner 51*, Dinda 3-31) beat Pune Warriors 149 for 4 (Finch 37, Uthappa 37, Yadav 2-24) by 15 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A counter-attack in the middle order from David Warner and a miserly 18th over in the chase from Umesh Yadav brought some relief for Delhi Daredevils in the form of a victory in the battle of the bottom-placed teams this season. The win was only their second, as the Pune Warriors bowlers faltered after making inroads into Daredevils' batting order and the batsmen struggled to step up when it mattered against some impressive fast bowling at the death in the chase. Warriors now find themselves at the bottom of the table in what is a third poor season in a row.

Raipur is further from Delhi than it is from Pune (1253 as opposed to 1025 kilometres), but on its IPL debut the crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Daredevils and got the result they desired. Warner restored their faith in the side with a surge he launched in the 13th over of the Daredevils innings and retained the tone during a stand of 53 with Kedar Jadhav that took his side to 164. Yuvraj Singh and Luke Wright looked on track to chase that down until they ran into Umesh, whose skillful use of alterations in length and pace accounted for both wickets and all but consigned Warriors to their seventh defeat.

Warner was charged with the responsibility of leading Daredevils' recovery after the loss of Virender Sehwag and Unmukt Chand in a space of three deliveries. He did that successfully by reserving the harshest treatment for a spate of poor deliveries offered to him by the Warriors bowlers, who generously pitched on a length. And he was powerful enough to comfortably clear boundaries longer than there have been at other venues this season.

He began with a clean, straight six off legspinner Rahul Sharma, then pulled IPL debutant Kane Richardson over deep midwicket. Ashok Dinda's failed attempts at bowling the yorker resulted in three fours drilled down the ground in one over, before Richardson, in the penultimate over, was struck, again, over wide long-on and his head. The 19th over cost 21 runs, including another straight six by Jadhav, who, too, was severe on the length ball. The last five overs yielded 63 runs, 34 of those from the last two.

Robin Uthappa and Aaron Finch have been a productive opening pair and their 72-run stand gave Warriors a strong platform. Both were dismissed, Finch albeit unluckily, by deliveries bowled down the leg side by Irfan Pathan in the 11th over, but Yuvraj and Wright batted fluently. Yuvraj unleashed a stylish drive and cut off Irfan in his next over, collected a couple of boundaries past fine leg, while Wright flat-batted the seamers past the ropes on two occasions.

The stand was worth 50 in 45 balls at the start of the 18th over, when 37 runs were needed. Umesh began with two dot balls to Wright, one of them a yorker, before slipping in a slower one to deceive the batsman, who holed out. Yuvraj was only able to score two runs off the next two, and top-edged one straight to deep square leg when Umesh dug in a short delivery to finish the over. Steven Smith can be a finisher, but 35 runs off two overs was a task that proved beyond him.

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Warwickshire last pair thwart Somerset

Warwickshire 158 (Thomas 3-29) and 427 for 9 (Chopra 108, Ambrose 65, Clarke 61*, Evans 55, Leach 5-63) drew with Somerset 406 (Petersen 136, Buttler 119*) and 266 for 4 declared (Compton 105*, Kieswetter 59*)
Scorecard

Dougie Brown hailed Warwickshire's "incredible strength of character" as their tenth-wicket pair survived for 21.1 overs to deny Somerset victory at Taunton.

Rikki Clarke and Oliver Hannon-Dalby resisted for the last 78 minutes of the match to help the champions escape with a draw and leave Somerset, winless after their first three games, sitting sixth in the Division One table.

In a pulsating finish to a high-quality game that should underline the attraction of county cricket, the Warwickshire pair resisted - with a mixture of luck, application and pure determination - an impressive spell of surprisingly quick bowling form 19-year-old Jamie Overton as Somerset pressed for victory.

In the end, though, the lack of experience in the attack showed - Warwickshire were not forced to play at enough deliveries in the final hour - and Clarke, in particular, provided another demonstration of his growing maturity and reliability in batting out the final 45 overs of the game.

"They showed exactly what Warwickshire is about," Brown, Warwickshire's director of cricket, told ESPNcricinfo afterwards. "They showed that we play as a team and for the team and we never accept defeat. We have something at Edgbaston that you just can't buy: it's called team spirit and we leave here taking great encouragement from this performance."

Somerset may consider themselves unfortunate. Oliver Hannon-Dalby was inexplicably reprieved by umpire Nick Cook after he had clearly edged the impressively hostile Jamie Overton to the substitute keeper Jos Buttler with 11 overs to go and the umpires also made the bewildering decision to take the players off for two overs for bad light just as the sun came back out from behind the clouds. It cost Somerset two overs.

But they will also rue some self-inflicted errors. Somerset spurned at least four catching opportunities on the final day - Clarke was the beneficiary on two occasions; one a straightforward chance to James Hildreth at slip - and must also reflect on the wisdom of not enforcing the follow-on towards the end of the second day of the match.

Somerset led by 248 runs after the first innings but, instead of asking his bowlers for another burst on the second evening, with 13 overs left in the day, Trescothick instead decided to extend his side's advantage. He might also have declared Somerset's second innings earlier.

"It was a brilliant advert for the county game," Trescothick said phlegmatically afterwards. "It was a great game and it was on TV.

"You always reassess your decisions, but I don't regret the follow-on decision at this stage. The bowlers were tired and the pitch was flat. No-one means to drop catches, but we missed some crucial opportunities and that cost us."

Warwickshire also deserve much credit. While the pitch remained comfortable for batsmen and the bowling attack was somewhat green - it included two teenage seamers and a 21-year-old spinner - to resist for 144 overs was remarkable. It was the highest score Warwickshire have ever made in the fourth innings of a first-class match and is believed to be their longest ever fourth-innings in terms of overs faced.

It says much for the positive outlook in the Warwickshire dressing room that, despite chasing a target of 515, they did not abandon victory hopes until their sixth wicket fell. That ambition may have counted against them, though, when Tim Ambrose's fluent half-century was ended when he top-edged a pull - Hildreth caught it running back from slip to within 10 yards of the third man fence - and Laurie Evans' excellent three-and-a-half hour show of defiance was ended when he chased a wide one and edged a cut to slip.

Earlier Varun Chopra - missed on 94 when he drove a tough caught-and-bowled chance back at Alfonso Thomas - completed the 12th first-class century of his career and Chris Woakes, batting at No. 6 in this game (Warwickshire utilised a nightwatchman in their second innings) with an idea to his potential role with England, composed a pleasing 42. They still only finished 88 runs short.

With so much to admire, then, it is a shame that the drama was overshadowed by some disappointing umpiring. While everyone accepts that human frailty comes with the territory, the standard of decision-making in this match was so low that it threatened to compromise the meaningfulness of the encounter. So many important decisions were wrong - some of them far from difficult - that the game took on an element of chance.

Quite apart from the men given out incorrectly - there were several but Nick Compton, William Porterfield and Chris Wright, given out lbw on the last day to a ball that would have bounced over the stumps, could feel particularly aggrieved - the umpires also made a horrendous mess of the light issue.

First they insisted that play continue in the rain - Woakes was bowled in remarkably gloomy conditions - and then took the players off just as it stopped and the light brightened. By the time Cook, by some distance the worse of the two umpires, utilised the TV coverage to review two appeals for catches - neither was out - it appeared that even he had lost confidence in his decision-making.

At least Jack Leach will remember this game with more affection. Leach, 21-year-old and playing his third Championship game, used to be employed to park trolleys in a branch of Sainsbury's supermarket in Taunton, but here took his maiden five-wicket haul as he was rewarded for his control and persistence; 24 of his 44 overs were maidens. It seems safe to assume he left those trolleys in good areas.

But while Leach demonstrated admirable control, he is not a big turner of the ball - he was reliant on the foot-holes when bowling Chopra, sweeping, behind his legs - and he lacked the bite to inflict the fatal blow. While delighted with his own performance, he admitted the result "felt like a loss" afterwards.

"We batted badly in our first innings," Brown said. "But we bowled well in both innings against a batting line-up that is Test class from one to six and we batted well in the second innings."

It seems neither of Warwickshire's last-wicket heroes will play their next game. Clarke, who pulled a hamstring, will not play in the Championship match against Sussex starting on Wednesday, while Boyd Rankin will come in for Hannon-Dalby. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell will also play.

Craig Kieswetter, who was forced off the field at lunch having sustained a blow to his right-hand when standing up to the stumps off Peter Trego, is also an injury doubt for the next match and will require some sort of scan to ascertain the extent of the damage. In Buttler they possess a remarkably keen and able deputy.

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Rubel Hossain down with chicken pox

Rubel Hossain has contracted chicken pox, becoming the latest Bangladesh seamer to suffer a physical setback. He will miss the limited-overs leg of the Zimbabwe tour, after picking up the illness on Friday.

Rubel had earlier been rested for the second Test due to a shoulder niggle, and had gone down with fever on the first night of the second Test.

"We cannot send him back now because the disease is contagious and he has to travel by plane, plus he is weak now," said team manager Tanjib Ahsan Saad. "But after he recovers, which is expected to be six to seven days, he will most likely travel back home."

With Rubel out, the remaining seamers are Robiul Islam, Ziaur Rahman, Sajidul Islam and Shafiul Islam. The team management may retain Robiul for the ODIs, following his good form in the ongoing Tests.

Meanwhile, Shahriar Nafees and Enamul Haque Jr left Harare for Dhaka on Saturday evening to make way for Abdur Razzak and Shamsur Rahman, who will join the limited-overs squad.

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Lancs blunted by Nash hundred

Kent 244 (Nash 50, Powell 57, Anderson 4-57) and 178 for 2 (Nash 100*) drew with Lancashire 395 for 7 dec (Katich 93, Brown 87, Croft 64*, Prince 58)
Scorecard

On the evidence of this match, both Lancashire and Kent are going to struggle to take 20 wickets on a regular basis this season. Even if rain had not taken out two sessions a draw would still have been the likely result and Kent played out the final day with Brendan Nash continuing his strong early season form with an unbeaten hundred, although he had to work hard against James Anderson.

Kent were on the edge of a wobble when Robert Key was given caught behind off Glen Chapple although the former captain was clearly unhappy with the decision and stomped off the field hitting his pad with his bat. Another quick wicket, with the deficit still more than 100, would have opened a door for Lancashire but it never came despite Anderson's efforts.

Last season, his first for Kent, Nash averaged over 47 - no mean feat in a wet summer - and his hundred in this innings followed three consecutive fifties to start the season. Nash innings rarely stick in the mind and there is more than a hint of Kent's coach, Jimmy Adams, in the way he plays. There will not be much flamboyance, but he is providing plenty of substance to the top-order.

James Tredwell, in his second game as Kent captain, knows his team can improve but he praised their resolve. "We faced a few challenges in this game and have come through them pretty well," he said. "The first day was probably ideal bowling conditions in the end, having won the toss and had a bat, but we came through that with real fight, then again on this last day. Lancashire have a high-class bowling attack. It was really tough at times on the first day but the resolve was great."

The pitch was on the sluggish side, which did not help attempts to force the pace, but the way Lancashire batted late on the third day and into the final morning showed that brisk run-scoring was possible. Simon Katich, who fell to the first ball he faced today, Steven Croft and Chapple were able to play with freedom because of the platform they were given - so it is difficult to be too critical - but the bowling attack is going to need as much time as possible to force results.

However, Gary Yates, Lancashire's assistant coach, was delighted with the team's approach. "We are pleased how we are playing, and frustrated that we lost quite a bit of time to the weather," he said. "Maybe if we had more time we may have been able to force a result. But fair play to Kent, they batted well and we never really got into a position to force a victory.

"We would like to have had at least one win, but we have played good disciplined cricket and if we continue to do that we will get rewarded with victories sooner rather than later.

"Momentum can be picked up throughout the season and we have played really, really solid cricket. We have set up first-innings leads in both games and without the rain I think we would have set up victory in at least one of those games."

Most of Lancashire's threat with the ball on the final day came from Anderson, who was outstanding, looking a class above the other bowlers (although Kyle Hogg and Matt Coles were excellent), as an England bowler should when he returns to county cricket. He conceded one run in his first seven overs, had Sam Northeast - a talented young opener - playing and missing at four balls in one over, hammered Michael Powell's foot with a rapid yorker and had a high-quality contest with Nash yet still ended wicketless.

Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner, was Lancashire's other main hope on the final day after the declaration following a heavy shower, which left 79 overs remaining in the game. He made the first breakthrough, taking Northeast's off stump with a lovely delivery, but there was not a huge amount of assistance from the pitch and Nash played him excellently.

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Magnificent Root secures stunning victory

Yorkshire 177 (Root 49, Onions 5-63) and 339 for 6 (Root 182, Rashid 50*) beat Durham 237 (Mustard 70, Bresnan 4-41) and 275 for 4 dec (Stoneman 109, Benkenstein 61*) by four wickets
Scorecard

Joe Root produced arguably the most substantial innings of his fledgling career to banish the pessimism that had fallen prematurely upon Yorkshire's season and leave Durham contemplating the sort of defeat that Riverside folklore had deemed all but impossible. Root got out with the scores level, to a ball delivered by Callum Thorp off a few paces, but as he had 182 at the time and Yorkshire won by four wickets from the next ball, he will be forgiven that.

History was entirely on Paul Collingwood's side when he declared Durham's second innings late on the third day and left Yorkshire needing 336 for victory. No opposing side has ever successfully chased a target of that magnitude in Chester-le-Street and this was April, with the trees still barely in leaf and the council mowers leaving ruts in the nearby parks.

But Root, young of body but mature of brain, has already displayed a prodigious appetite for big challenges. Durham will rue two close calls that might well have turned the game as he neared his century. Had he been adjudged run out on 87, when Mark Stoneman struck direct from point, or given out caught off the glove by Paul Collingwood on 93, when he skittishly reverse-swept Will Smith, the story might have been very different.

But it was not. Those blips apart, his certainty was striking. When Yorkshire secured the fourth-largest run chase in their history with 6.1 overs to spare - all of them achieved in the past eight years - Root was gingerly strapping off his pads, protecting a finger battered by Chris Rushworth during his six-hour stay, after guiding Yorkshire to a victory that few imagined was within their compass. An enterprising unbeaten half-century by Adil Rashid also played its part, allowing Root the liberty to play within himself after tea.

Collingwood, Durham's captain, was magnanimous in defeat. "We have seen an exceptional innings today by Rooty. I really think it's so impressive how a young lad can play an innings like that. We threw everything at him and he came through it. He has a steady head and a superb technique. The rhythm of his innings, everything about it, was exceptional. I've got absolutely no qualms about the decisions. The run-out was probably too close to call and, as for the catch, I was appealing for lbw as well.

"I still don't know the pitch well enough and as a home captain I should do. This has taken me by surprise. In the past year we have bowled sides out for less than 150 repeatedly to win games on similar-looking pitches. Unfortunately this pitch just seemed to die in pace."

One of the enduring images of England's winter is of Root blocking. He blocked in Nagpur and he blocked again in Auckland. Measure it in terms of sun block and his entire winter was factor 50. It was rarely pretty, but he fulfilled his protective role perfectly. On this occasion, he made do with factor 15 and let himself live a little.

Sometimes you watched this mere slip of a lad committing every sinew to England's cause in the winter and feared he might never play a shot again. Thrown into England's ranks so young, his game was narrowed down into an obsessive battle for survival.

Root placed the innings above his double century against Hampshire last season, a defensive innings between the showers to save a game. "I set out my stall at the beginning of the season to start to win matches for Yorkshire and I'm really pleased I managed to contribute," he said. "England definitely stood me in good stead. I have definitely grown because of it. I just try and play the situation and if that means bat long, I try to bat long. The pitch was a lot deader than it was on the first couple of days."

Yorkshire lost three wickets by lunch. Chris Rushworth removed Alex Lyth and Phil Jaques - the latter to a fifth-ball duck - in the space of one over, and Andrew Gale has also persished, an attempted cut at Keaton Jennings which flew to Collingwood at slip.

Then Jonny Bairstow's love-hate relationship with the pull shot continued. It got him out twice in the match, Ben Stokes was the bowler second time round as Bairstow again tried to pull with control and picked out the finer of two catchers. But Root reached his hundred, only his fifth in first-class cricket, with an off-drive against Scott Borthwick and by tea the rate was down to 3.5 runs an over.

Stokes, looking fit and fired up, found a bit of swing ahead of the second new ball to dismiss Gary Ballance, who was caught at the wicket with 102 needed. But Rashid played with attacking intent, so enabling Root to tick along and - almost - bat through to victory. When the second new ball came, Yorkshire's target was down to 53 from 24 overs - and Root lashed Rushworth's first delivery with it to the cover boundary. It was some statement; it was some innings.

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Leach sucks life out of Warwickshire

Warwickshire 158 and 144 for 3 (Chopra 81*) require 371 more runs to beat Somerset 406 and 266 for 4 declared (Compton 105*, Kieswetter 59*)
Scorecard

At first glance, it may appear Warwickshire are in something of a tight spot in Taunton. At second glance, too.

It is true that they would have to break a variety of records if they are to overhaul their victory target of 515 in a minimum of 143 overs. Not only have they never scored more than 417 to win in the fourth innings of a first-class game (they made 417 for 2 to defeat Glamorgan in 1983, with Andy Lloyd making a century and Alvin Kallicharran a double-century), but only one team in the history of first-class cricket has managed as many as 515. And West Zone's 541 to beat South Zone by three wickets in the Duleep Trophy final in Hyderabad in February 2010 was played over five days. For Warwickshire the draw is the more realistic target. And even that is ambitious.

But, if ever a side was to chase down 500, these may be the circumstances. On a pitch that remains flat and even-paced and against an attack that contains two teenage seamers and a 21-year-old spinner playing his third Championship match, Warwickshire's openers constructed an opening stand of 108 with such ease that a Somerset side not unacquainted with snatching defeat from the jaws of victory could have been forgiven a few nervous moments. Had William Porterfield not been the victim of a disappointing decision - he was deemed out to a catch at short leg despite the ball not coming within six inches of his bat - Warwickshire might have resumed with all ten wickets in hand.

As it was, Jack Leach - who may well find himself third choice left-arm spinner at the club once George Dockrell is fit and Abdur Rehman returns - claimed two wickets in two balls in the dying overs of the day to snuff out any hopes that might be building in the Warwickshire dressing room. Jim Troughton, who looks as if he may be suffering vertigo batting as high as No. 3, left one that pitched in line and would have hit leg stump - a fine decision from the umpire - while Ateeq Javid, as timid as a rabbit in a box of foxes, prodded his first ball to silly point. Warwickshire will resume on day four requiring another 371 to win. It is a most unlikely proposition.

Leach was impressive. While Warwickshire's spinner, the former New Zealand international Jeetan Patel, dropped short relatively often and was hit over the top on several occasions, Leach's control was so good that seven of his 15 overs were maidens. He is only on a summer contract and may find opportunities at Taunton limited but, on this evidence, there is no reason he should not enjoy a future at this level.

The fact that Varun Chopra remains into the fourth day may yet prove crucial, however. Such is his willingness to play away from his body, that bowlers must feel they are always in the game against Chopra. But, far more often than not, he connects with his back-foot forces, his cuts and his drives off front foot and back that their hopes must often turn to despair. There are few more elegant players in England.

But, at a higher level, against faster bowlers capable of generating more bounce, one wonders whether it is a technique that would serve him well. It may prove that Chopra is one of several Warwickshire players - the likes of Rikki Clarke, Chris Woakes, Tim Ambrose, Keith Barker, Boyd Rankin and Chris Wright could all be grouped in the same category - who might be considered as top-end domestic cricketers, but not quite able to command a permanent position in the international side. From a county perspective, it is the perfect balance.

Certainly it was interesting to compare Chopra and Nick Compton, who made a century earlier in day to help Somerset to a declaration about an hour before tea. While Chopra is happy to aim strokes through point and cover, Compton leaves with admirable discipline in an attempt to eradicate risk from his game. Chopra may have more scoring opportunities and appear more elegant but Compton - for now, at least - looks the more compact, solid and likely to see off a hostile new-ball attack.

To be fair to Compton, he did demonstrate a few more aggressive strokes as he accelerated in an attempt to set up the declaration. He brought up his century - the 19th of his first-class career - with a beautifully struck six into the old pavilion and also unveiled some pleasing square drives and cuts. The manner in which he celebrated his century suggested his appetite for runs remain far from sated. With Craig Kieswetter, who batted fluently, he added 134 in 27 overs, looking increasingly comfortable against Warwickshire's tiring attack.

Woakes, who demonstrated the virtue of moving the ball both ways by trapping Alviro Petersen to one that nipped back off the pitch and James Hildreth to one that swung in, was the pick of the bowlers, though Wright delivered a sustained spell of short-pitched bowling that might have bothered a player less assured than Compton.

The sight of Clarke leaving the pitch with a hamstring strain was not encouraging for Warwickshire. While he insisted it was not a serious problem, he must be a doubt, as a bowler at least, for Warwickshire's match against Sussex starting on Wednesday.

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Wells double compounds Surrey struggle

Surrey 351 and 66 for 1 (Smith 43*) trail Sussex 526 (Wells 208, Joyce 98) by 109 runs
Scorecard

Sussex haven't won at The Oval since 1994 but have a chance to break that run after building up a good lead and asking Surrey to bat out the final day for a draw.

Graeme Smith, Surrey's captain, led an excellent riposte as his side faced 17 overs before the close with an unbeaten 43 in 46 balls. He will be relieved after failing in his first two innings for his new club but will know tomorrow's biggest challenge may well be against Monty Panesar on a wearing wicket.

Panesar may be the only hope for a positive result on a surface that appears to be getting slower and lower. Sussex would have liked more than their solitary success by the close, Steve Magoffin swinging a full ball into Rory Burns who drove and edged behind, but the reality is the wicket is not competitive enough.

Panesar's initial burst on the third evening did not suggest he can win the match on day four. Smith biffed his first over for 14, putting a full toss past mid-off, a half-volley past mid-on and a short ball through square leg. Smith has already negated a much-vaunted English spinner on this ground in the past 12 months - Graeme Swann finding no joy in the Test match last July - and Smith will undoubtedly seek to unsettle Panesar tomorrow en route to a morale-boosting draw.

His side have been on the back foot for the past two days, having failed to take advantage of being 247 for 3 in their first innings. They crumbled to the second new ball, whereas Sussex thrived against it on the third morning and picked up the scoring rate.

Luke Wells predicted a fresh ball would be easier to score against and so it proved as he and Ed Joyce extended their partnership to exactly 200 before Joyce, like he did in the season opener at Headingley, failed to move through the 90s and was bowled by a Gareth Batty slider. It was the high point in Batty's day. He recorded an undesirable career record, with the most expensive innings figures he has sent down in the Championship.

Matt Prior played around with him in a typically jaunty half-century in 36 balls. Batty tossed it up just outside off stump and went over extra-cover; he bowled straighter and went past fine leg; he bowled flatter and went past backward point. Prior was a breath of fresh air that broke up what was an uninspiring day as the contest between bat and ball that thrived on the second afternoon was totally lost.

Luke Well was the beneficiary, going through to a career-best 208. The way he plays suggests that he is not one to waste opportunities. He took full advantage to become only the fourth Sussex batsman, after CB Fry, Murray Goodwin and Ranjitsinhji to make a double century against Surrey. It was also the highest individual score by anyone in a first-class match involving these two teams and the first Sussex double-hundred at The Oval since 1903.

His century was completed off Vikram Solanki on Thursday and it was the same bowler that allowed Wells to flick to deep point to bring up his double hundred as he emulated his father, Alan - whose sole Test cap came at The Oval - and uncle, Colin, in scoring double centuries in the County Championship.

"Luke was brilliant," Sussex captain Ed Joyce said, "200 from a young man is an incredible achievement. It's great that he's got runs because he failed in the first game and didn't look in great nick but it's good to know that everyone's now got a few.

"He loves batting. When he got his hundred he was talking straight away about getting 150 and then 200. He just keeps going and it's great to see because even if he's in bad form, if he does get that score he'll make it a big one. He's got a bright future for sure."

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Taylor accepts England challenge

Derbyshire 256 and 143 for 5 (Chanderpaul 57) trail Nottinghamshire 443 (Taylor 112, Cowan 59, Hales 56) by 44 runs
Scorecard

If Derbyshire do turn out to be the whipping boys of Division One - not that anyone should wish that upon such well-managed and progressive newcomers - then James Taylor's century in this match may not be held to be of particular value. On the other hand, if Taylor's Test career is rebooted sooner rather than later, it could be seen as an important moment.

Either way, it has put Nottinghamshire in a position of strength, with the potential to complete a victory here despite the threat of showers on the final day, especially after the fillip of Shivnarine Chanderpaul's wicket late in the afternoon, soon after he had completed his second half-century of the game and when looking absolutely set. With Wayne Madsen gone too, not much batting remains for Derbyshire to clear their arrears, let alone give themselves anything to work with.

If there is a batsman with something to prove in the early part of this summer, then it is Taylor, whose rise from pint-sized wreaker of terror among Division Two bowling attacks to Test-class middle-order batsman might have seemed inevitable to some of his admirers but when it came last August suffered a false start.

Taylor, who moved to Nottinghamshire the winter before last after scoring freely for Leicestershire, was picked when Ravi Bopara withdrew from the second Test against South Africa. It did not help his cause to find himself unwittingly caught up in the Kevin Pietersen storm, although he will not fall on that or any other excuse to explain his modest performance. It was not seen as good enough to be retained for the winter tours and his absence from the list of names in the England Performance Squad indicated all too clearly that the selectors want to see more.

Taylor, for his part, has no quarrel with that assessment. "It was a disappointment," he said. "I had a taste of Test cricket and it was amazing to get in that England side in the first place but I didn't deliver the way I wanted to.

"But I learned a lot from last season and in some ways it is good to have a setback to kick you up the backside. There is a difference in quality between second and first division. It is definitely a step up, although I don't think my own performances were a reflection of that.

"Sometimes though you need to take a step back to take two steps forward. I know where I stand with England and it is just down to me to score as many runs as I can."

In the event, it was just the mindset that was needed here, on a slow pitch that has rewarded graft. Taylor's approach was first not to get out, taking his cue from Chanderpaul. From 67 overnight, he scored only 26 more before lunch, without one boundary, negotiating 77 balls against a Derbyshire attack who maintained their discipline and again offered few easy pickings.

When his century came - incongruously from a false shot, an edge between first and second slips that brought only his fifth four - it was the slowest of his 14 so far in first-class matches, from 265 balls and 14 minutes short of six hours. He shared a stand of 52 with Stuart Broad but the support he had from Luke Fletcher was equally important in getting him over the line, the bowler sticking by Taylor more than an hour.

Broad's knock was eventful, to say the least. He can bat when he is of a mind but he rode his luck spectacularly as Derbyshire's fielders somehow managed to drop him three times in the space of five balls before Tim Groenewald at last clung on to a top-edged hook.

The stricken Andre Adams batted with a runner in his last appearance before an anticipated five-week lay-off with a torn calf muscle and though he could contribute no more than a swing and a nick Nottinghamshire did finish with a lead of 187. Taylor fell for 112 when, finally taking a risk or two, he skied David Wainwright to mid-off.

Derbyshire were soon up against it, losing two wickets for 24 and though Chanderpaul gave them hope in a partnership of 83 with Madsen the departure of both in the space of five overs put Nottinghamshire back on top. Chanderpaul felt he was unlucky to be given out caught behind, claiming the ball brushed his thigh rather than the bat, but the wicket was one that Fletcher deserved. Broad went wicketless and it was Harry Gurney, an improving left-armer, who struck the second decisive blow when Madsen was leg-before. Then Patel had Ross Whiteley taken at slip to leave Derbyshire hoping for a good last morning and a wet afternoon.

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