County Championship: Bears rally against Durham with Jonathan Trott half-century

Trott's 137th first-class half-century helped him go past 12,000 runs for Warwickshire

Specsavers County Championship Division Two, Edgbaston (day one):
Warwickshire 184-6: Trott 67*, Rhodes 36, McCarthy 2-24 Rushworth 2-43
Durham: Yet to bat
Durham 2 pts, Warwickshire 0 pts
Scorecard

Ex-England batsman Jonathan Trott lit up a gloomy day at Edgbaston as he crafted an unbeaten 67 for Division Two leaders Warwickshire against Durham.

After a late start following the loss of the morning session to rain, the Bears made 184-6 before an early close because of bad light in Birmingham.

Opener Will Rhodes made 36 before the Durham bowlers took control.

Chris Rushworth and Barry McCarthy each took two wickets - with Rushworth claiming the 400th of his career.

McCarthy removed Ian Bell lbw with his fifth ball, then persuaded Sam Hain to edge McCarthy to former Bears wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter.

Fellow seamer Rushworth, who had earlier removed opener Dom Sibley to reach his first-class career milestone, then came back to clean bowl the usually obdurate Tim Ambrose with a full-length ball which hit middle and off.

But in the company of captain Jeetan Patel (10 not out), Trott ended the day just 33 shy of a 46th first-class century, in his penultimate home game at Edgbaston.

With four games left, Warwickshire started the day 15 points clear of second-placed Kent on top, while Durham are in eighth, 31 points ahead of bottom club Glamorgan.

Warwickshire first-team coach Jim Troughton told BBC WM:

"It was a tough day for batting. When we arrived at the ground in those conditions we pretty much knew we would be put in. The ball swung all day and there was a bit of nip and we acquitted ourselves well in those conditions.

"By no means are we in a commanding position but, with 180 on the board and a bloke who is in and scoring runs we now have to treat the rest of the innings with real care and challenge the guys who are still to bat to play a big part and get us to 250 or above.

"Trotty has played well against Durham this year. He did it in tricky conditions up north as well. He played his role really well and if we can have him batting a considerable amount of time then we can hopefully get a total from which we can try to put Durham under pressure."

Durham fast bowler Chris Rushworth told BBC Newcastle:

"It was nice to get the wicket early and get the 400 out of the way. It had been playing on my mind a bit and I had hoped to get there in the last match.

"But it is done and dusted now and I can look forward to the rest of the game.

"Hopefully I can keep my fitness going and get a few more in the years to come. This seemed a long way off back in the day (after I got released) but everyone knows how proud I am to be back at Durham.

"To each a milestone like this, I know how proud my family are as well. It's always nice to reach milestones but I would swap them for silverware with Durham any day and the way things are going those days might not be too far away."