Warwickshire continue great start to season

Keith Barker bowled Warwickshire to their third County Championship win of the season with his maiden 10-wicket match haul which set up a crushing nine-wicket victory over Durham at Edgbaston.

The former England youth international footballer followed up his five for 33 in the first innings with his third five-wicket haul in as many matches to finish with match figures of 10 for 70.

Left-armer Barker unsettled Durham with his pace and movement off the pitch and through the air and undermined Durham's second innings by taking the first three wickets before he returned to polish off the flimsy resistance after tea.

Durham were dismissed for 139 and Warwickshire needed only 7.4 overs to knock off the 36 runs they required to seal a three-day win.

England captain Andrew Strauss failed to capitalise fully on an early life, making a far-from-convincing 49 on the second day of Middlesex's game against Worcestershire at Lord's.

The first day's play was wiped out by rain and bad light and only 40 overs were possible on Friday to leave the game seemingly draw-bound.

Middlesex struggled in bowling-friendly conditions early on after being put in, but Strauss and fellow opener Sam Robson put together a stand of 80 to leave Middlesex comfortably placed on 148 for two at the close.

England and Lancashire fast bowler James Anderson recovered from illness and injury to claim five for 82 against Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford - but the visitors ended day three on course for victory.

By the close, Chris Read's attack had reduced Lancashire to an abject 39 for five, still 289 runs short of their distant victory target of 328.

As well as Anderson, more encouragement for the England selectors was the sight of Stuart Broad going a long way towards proving his fitness ahead of the West Indies Tests by removing Paul Horton for a second-ball duck and Karl Brown for seven in an accurate new-ball spell.

Then his team-mate Graeme Swann had Ashwell Prince caught at slip for 14 in his first over, a wicket which was sandwiched by Andre Adams accounting for Stephen Moore and Steven Croft.

It may only have been the fact that bad light at Old Trafford ended play 21 overs early which prevented Read's bowlers completing their victory inside three days.

In Division Two, Kane Williamson and Benny Howell started a Gloucestershire fightback that dashed Derbyshire's hopes of an innings victory in their County Championship match at Derby.

Howell scored only his second first-class 50 while New Zealand Test batsman Williamson showed his international pedigree with an unbeaten 106 as the visitors closed on 219 for two, a lead of 37, when bad light ended play at 1800 BST.

The prospect of the game going into a fourth day looked remote when Gloucestershire lost their last wicket to be bowled out for 206 and were forced to follow-on 182 runs behind.

Left-arm seamer Tymal Mills took career-best figures of four for 25 as Essex headed in to the final day of their match against Glamorgan at Cardiff with a chance of victory.

For Glamorgan Stewart Walters made his second consecutive half-century but the hosts could only make 187 all out, 72 behind Essex on first innings.

And at the close, after a day featuring five interruptions for bad light, Essex were five for nought, an overall lead of 77.

David Sales made the first half-century of the match as Northamptonshire went into the final day of their clash against Hampshire in control.

Hampshire were skittled before tea for 154, 64 runs behind the hosts' first-innings total of 218, with James Vince making an unbeaten 46 off 74 balls and Northants captain Andrew Hall taking for for 24.

Northants then extended their lead to 240 as they closed on 176 for five, with Sales making 58 off 96 deliveries, including seven fours, and David Balcombe the pick of the visitors' bowling, taking two for 63.

Finally, Yorkshire's march towards victory was held up by a combination of bad weather and unexpected resistance from Leicestershire's Matt Boyce and Josh Cobb on the third day of the match at a bitterly cold Scarborough.

The fourth-wicket pair added an unbroken 88 together before Leicestershire closed on 102 for three, the grim conditions having allowed for only 37 overs in the day.

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