If the achilles tendon injury afflicting Matt Prior does not heal pretty soon, and assuming Jos Buttler's glovework does not reveal appreciable benefits from his brief encounter with Peter Moores at Old Trafford, then the debate over whether Jonny Bairstow begins the summer Tests as England wicketkeeper might be fairly short.
The Yorkshireman is the man in possession in any event, having replaced an out-of-form Prior for the last two Tests in Australia. Some might say it is for others to prove they are worthy, rather than for him to feel he must defend his position, yet Bairstow himself clearly feels he must bolster his own case, rather than leave anything to chance.
Back in the Yorkshire side for the first time in this Championship season, having been ruled out thus far because of the broken finger he suffered in a pre-season friendly, he contributed handsomely to Yorkshire's continuing dominance here, turning his overnight 22 into what would have been his side's third century had umpire Jeremy Lloyds been in a more generous frame of mind.
Instead, Lloyds gave Bairstow out leg before to Chris Rushworth for 95, a decision that prompted discussion in the television studio, where the Sky team mulled over replays that suggested the ball might have cleared the stumps had it not thudded into Bairstow's back leg. The batsman himself did not look convinced, certainly, and rubbed his upper thigh pointedly as he began the walk off.
Afterwards, following the usual script, he spoke about doing as well as he can for Yorkshire and letting the rest take care of itself, but then made reference specifically to his two brilliant innings against South Africa at Lord's in 2012 as setting the standard to which he not only wishes to aspire but believes he can, with a little less inhibition.
"I just need to play for England a bit more like today if I'm honest," he said. "That's something I haven't necessarily done. I've not necessarily gone out and played the way Jonny Bairstow has done in county cricket. That's something I want to do a bit more of.
"The way I played at Lord's against South Africa in the first and second innings was how I want to go about my cricket and always have done."
It might take more than a fresh surge of confidence to convince those with doubts over his batting technique -- doubts he did little to quell in his four innings at the end of the Ashes series -- but perhaps the new faces in England's coaching staff will help him to address those without compromising too much the way he wishes to play. Having Yorkshire's former assistant coach Paul Farbrace on board will doubtless help in that respect.
Clearly, the Bairstow who replaced the disgraced Kevin Pietersen at Lord's in 2012, answering the call with two superb attacking innings of 54 and 95, is the one Peter Moores and company would like to see again.
He did not dominate in the way he can here -- his boundary count was relatively modest -- but he still looked in reassuringly good order. He and Andrew Gale, his captain, put on 198 for the fourth wicket, putting Yorkshire in full control.
Gale, having taken the brave decision to leave himself out of Yorkshire's previous match, found the fluency that he had lacked on the opening day, attacking short and wide deliveries with much more conviction and while he may have enjoyed some of his previous 15 first-class hundreds more, there was a wide smile on his face when he completed this one, as if a burden had been lifted.
A half-century from Adil Rashid added further to the angle of Durham's bending morale. Graham Onions, strangely out of sorts, finished with two wickets in two balls, but when Gale declared at 589 for 8 Yorkshire had amassed the third highest score made on this ground.
The only flaw in the day from Yorkshire's point of view was their failure to take more than one wicket in 19 overs with the new ball, at the end of which Mark Stoneman, Durham's reliable opener, was on 48, with the air of a man intent that it is only the start.
Essex 281 v Leics 255/2
"Maybe we should put an ad in the paper," joked Essex bowling coach Chris Silverwood as drinks were being taken, with 15 overs left in the day. By then, Leicestershire were on the cusp of 200 for the loss of two and Silverwood's already depleted attack was another one short, with Tymal Mills succumbing to a side strain during his 11th over.
Seeing Tanveer Sikandar with the second new ball, bowling at a pace best described as "extra medium", it was hard not to sympathise.
The crowds here are quicker than most to mutter their disdain for poor performance, much to the dismay of those in the radio booths, who end up having to close their windows to prevent their microphones from picking up the odd expletive muttered between huffs.
The absence of David Masters and Graham Napier blunted Essex's attack considerably, but the appreciation for those fit enough to take to the field was audible. Naturally, it waned as the day wore on, breaking off for applause as Ned Eckersley brought up a classy and patient hundred. That Leicestershire were 2 for 1 was a very distant memory.
Lancastrian loanee Oliver Newby took the wicket with his second ball for his new county; a cracking delivery that decked across the left-handed Matthew Boyce.
An over after his success, he came agonisingly close to another intervention. On nought, Smith was hurried into a pull shot by Mills, who had struck his torso the ball before. The ball sailed high towards the Hayes Close End, where Newby made good ground from fine leg but was unable to catch the ball cleanly after diving.
For all the crowd's initial understanding, easier balls were misfielded. Kishen Vellani dropped Ned Eckersley at point on 37 and missed a close run out chance after the same batsman had passed fifty for the first time this season.
There is a lot of wisdom dotted about this ground. Retired players from glory days litter the place like yesterday's wedding confetti, but with none of the nuisance.
Graham Gooch spent the last couple of days floating around Chelmsford, spending the lunch interval speaking to members. Grant Flower was also a visible presence.
In the press box, the former England-Essex duo of Keith Fletcher, still heavily involved in the club's next generation, and Derek Pringle, the eyes and words of the Daily Telegraph for this match, indulged in nostalgia.
They reminisced of a fast bowler in the eighties who, having convinced the 2nd XI coach to give him a chance to open the batting in a four day game, planted the first ball of the innings over the River End, onto the dual carriageway.
Remembrance and sensibility were side by side today - and nothing in the present day intrigues those associated with the club more than Mills.
A hush descends on Chelmsford whenever he reaches the top of his mark. It is a hush that is as much patience as it is anticipation. For them, the potential was evident since the first time Mills managed to don that fitted white shirt over his cruiserweight boxer frame.
But they have seen the succession of deliveries down the leg side, the sky-high bouncers that have James Foster clutching for the stars and the wides that have first slip wincing. He had good balls in among this mix and the word is that an assessment on the extent of his injury will be made in the morning. For Angus Fraser, present at Chelmsford in his guise as England selector, Mills' lack of control will not have gone unnoticed.
It is important to congratulate Leicestershire for their professionalism throughout. It would have been easy for their batsmen to show little respect to this bit part attack. But a tactful approach, characterised by Eckersley's 275-ball century, sees them well in control of the game.
Nathan Buck built on his fine work yesterday to bowl aggressively this morning and to produce a beauty to finish off Velani and then another take out Newby's middle stump. Those wickets gave him career best figures of 5 for 76. Plagued by injury since an impressive 2010 season that saw him take 49 Division 2 wickets, this was only his second five wicket haul.
Eckersley started scratchily compared to Smith, who brought up his third fifty-plus score of the season with great fluency. There was a second century of the season in the offing, but a misjudged sweep off Monty Panesar found the hands of the sub fielder at square leg.
Angus Robson ensured there was no further loss, using a flattening pitch and a tiring attack to put his pair against Glamorgan in the previous match behind him.
His second career fifty featured some nicely timed drives down the ground. Even now, in only his sixth first class match with no hundred to his name, it is hard to imagine he will ever have an easier opportunity to bring up three figures. The same goes for Leicestershire and their first Championship win for nearly two years.
Gareth Andrew's career-best five-wicket haul put Worcestershire in control on day two in Cardiff as they fired out Glamorgan for just 155.
Visiting skipper Daryl Mitchell added only eight to his overnight 101 as his side finished on 240 - but that proved enough for a first-innings lead of 85.
Andrew, with 5 for 40, ripped through the Glamorgan line-up; captain Mark Wallace's unbeaten half-century was the only resistance of note. Mitchell and opening partner Matt Pardoe then took their side's lead into three figures before rain and then bad light stopped play.
Resuming on 232 for 9, Worcestershire, seeking a third win in four games this season, added eight in six overs before Mitchell edged to wicketkeeper Wallace to give Dean Cosker figures of 5 for 39.
But if the early conclusion to the innings gave Glamorgan any encouragement, it did not last long as they lost openers Jacques Rudolph and Gareth Rees in successive overs with the score on 12. South African Rudolph made seven before edging Charles Morris to keeper Ben Cox and Rees became Andrew's first victim, lbw for 3.
He then removed Murray Goodwin lbw for a second-ball duck and a recovery to 53 for 3 at lunch proved to be a false dawn.
Will Bragg and Stewart Walters' partnership of 38 was ended when Andrew trapped the latter leg before for 18 and then added the scalp of Bragg, caught at second slip by Mitchell for 24. By that point, just two runs had been added in the afternoon session but Wallace and Jim Allenby dug in for a half-century partnership.
Allenby hit spinner Saeed Ajmal for six and four, either side of a Wallace boundary off Andrew, to take the partnership past 30 as both men knuckled down to their task.
Glamorgan's hundred came up with an Allenby single off Ajmal but after Wallace hit Morris for four, Allenby fell to a juggling catch by Mitchell off Ajmal. Wallace found further support from Graham Wagg, who made 19 from only 23 balls before being bowled by Jack Shantry.
Ajmal removed Cosker for 2 and Will Owen for a duck, the latter caught by on-loan England Twenty20 opener Alex Hales, before Wallace reached a 78-ball half-century from the next delivery.
Andrew returned in search of his fifth wicket and, after being hit for four by Tom Helm, had the No. 11 caught behind next ball to secure his best innings figures in first-class cricket. Ajmal finished with 3 for 48.
Mitchell took six from Wagg's opening over and eight off Owen in the eighth in an otherwise low-key start to Worcestershire's second innings. He was on 16 when stumps were drawn, with Pardoe on 4.
Rob Key passed 18,000 runs in first-class cricket with a magnificent century as his 197-run partnership with Brendan Nash put Kent firmly in control against Surrey at Canterbury.
Key struck 126 on day two as Kent closed on 355 for 4, a lead of 70.
Nash matched his captain's score before becoming the first of the duo to go, the pair having taken their side's total from 131 for 328 with their third-wicket stand.
It was a first hundred of the season for both players, whose combination took the match away from the visitors.
Surrey managed to add just nine more runs to their overnight total of 276 for eight before Stuart Meaker and Jade Dernbach were sent packing. And they were immediately up against it in the field.
Key and Sam Northeast put on 101 for the first wicket before the latter was caught by Aneesh Kapil off Meaker for 53.
Daniel Bell-Drummond only managed 11 before being bowled by Matt Dunn, but Nash joined Key and took the attack to Surrey.
Key swept past the 18,000-run landmark before bringing up his ton with a glorious straight drive. It was his eighth County Championship hundred against Surrey.
Nash was scoring at a faster rate, spending just less than half as long at the crease as his skipper. He hammered 19 fours and a six in his brilliant innings before Zafar Ansari finally brought the partnership to an end, Rory Burns with the catch.
Key's 206-ball innings, which included 14 fours, came to an end when he chipped a Meaker delivery into the offside and was caught by Dominic Sibley.
Ben Harmison and Darren Stevens were unbeaten on 19 and 2 respectively at the close.
Meringues, balsa wood, talcum powder. A variety of metaphors connoting flimsiness have been employed to suggest the frailties of Lancashire's batting in 2014. Ramrods, a gun barrel, bullets. The similes used to explain the virtues of Sussex's bowling for much of this still young season have been equally instructive.
So when Chris Nash's powerful, if hardly irresistible, forces came into contact with the very moveable objects known as Lancashire's batsmen, something approaching cricketing carnage was predicted. So it proved. This game's much-vaunted uncertainty can only do so much, we thought.
But even Werner Heisenberg, who knew a thing or two about uncertainty, might have been pushed to suggest that there was an unlikely quality about Lancashire's collapse to 80 for 6 in a mere 34.5 overs.
Even Robert Peston could not have deepened the gloom pervading the Old Trafford pavilion in mid-afternoon on the second day of this game. "It's all right redeveloping the ground," grumbled one member, "What about redeveloping a few of the ruddy players?"
At this point, Tom Smith, who has actually been in vaguely respectable form, was joined by the diminutive wicketkeeper Alex Davies, who was only playing his sixth first-class match because Jos Buttler is with the England squad.
Wile Smith is in decent nick, Davies is a determined little so-and-so in the Lancastrian tradition of George Duckworth and Warren Hegg.
And even as the skies darkened around Old Trafford this May Bank Holiday, the pair lifted the mood of the home supporters with a truculent, industrious, unbroken stand of 77 for the seventh wicket. When bad light ended play 21.3 overs early, Smith had passed forty for the fourth time in seven innings and Davies was 41 not out, which is his career-best
Smith measures 6ft 3ins in height, seven inches taller than his partner, and their batting styles reflect the difference. The experienced all-rounder utilises his height to drive the ball in an imperious fashion; Davies prefers cuts, pulls and deliciously timed clips off his hip. Smith is a genial fellow, who smiles a lot and is self-deprecating about his talents; Davies, you sense, likes a fight and relishes the struggle.
Both batsmen displayed a secure defence and, indeed, this was a sine qua non for anyone hoping to resist Nash's bowlers, particularly Steve Magoffin, whose 3 for 31 runs from 17 overs were nothing less than his deserts.
The Australian began Lancashire's subsidence when he moved one off the seam and had a blameless Paul Horton brilliantly caught one-handed by second slip Michael Yardy, who dived to his left to complete the snare. Magoffin then had Luis Reece lbw, playing no shot. The rookie opener has scored 62 runs in seven Championship innings and must hope that the rest of May affords him kinder wickets than the green seamers of April.
Lancashire were poorly placed on 32 for 2 at lunch and their decline accelerated in the early afternoon. Magoffin's accuracy was too much for Brown's defensive push and Prince's back foot slash off James Anyon inside-edged the ball to Ben Brown. Prince remains the prize wicket for Lancashire's opponents, although that title does not take much earning at the moment.
Steven Croft was recalled for this game but played down the wrong to his fourth ball and lost his off stump to Anyon. He trudged off, possibly reflecting that scoring 197 off Yorkshire's second team at Northop Hall, a picturesque but small ground in North Wales, is not ideal preparation for playing Divison One cricket.
Lancashire's travails on Monday were completed - although no one thought it so at the time - when Luke Procter misread slow left-armer Ashar Zaidi's length and was lbw on the back foot for 26. Once again, most frustratingly for himself and others, Procter had played himself in, only to get himself out.
The rest of the day belonged to Smith and Davies, who both played outstandingly well against a fine attack. Indeed, Sussex should be in the hunt for the County Championship this summer.
One cannot be so sanguine about Lancashire's prospects. The Old Trafford side's Division One batting woes in 2012 were chronicled in black-bordered detail at the time.
This season Lancashire's average partnership going into this game was worth just 21.5 runs. Raising that bar should not be the responsibility of Alex Davies, although there can be little doubt that he would be up for the fight.
Has Somerset been more famous than in 1976? That was the question in the long room at Taunton as a cider jar was raised to the memory of Adge Cutler, the former lead singer of The Wurzels who died 40 years ago to the day.
Adge never enjoyed the true fame his band achieved two years after his death but he began sleepy Somerset's rise to prominence.
The county's cricketers have certainly had a go.
Three years after I've Got a Brand New Combine Harvester topped the charts, Brian Rose led Somerset to a one-day double. But could any of Top of the Pops' 15 million viewers name him? It was Adge who set Somerset on the path to penetrating the national consciousness.
Marcus Trescothick also enjoys the label of legend around these parts and he is slipping back into form to silence the whispering of the R question. A miserable 2013 of injury, poor form and some embarrassment for his side has been shrugged off and a century last week at Hove was welcome proof - not that it is necessarily needed - of his credentials as the right man to lead Somerset's rebuilding.
Here he led a smart response to Nottinghamshire's 440 but the reply could have been more intimidating with a number of wickets at poor moments - the opening three wickets all added tallies either side of fifty. Alviro Petersen's classy half-century ensured Somerset did not slip out of the game which was possible at 180 for 4 after James Hildreth tried to flick Andy Carter across the line just after tea and was immediately given out lbw.
Alfonso Thomas also kept Somerset in the contest with a morning spell of 4 for 31. Both overnight batsman failed to go much further. Chris Read edged behind in the third over of the morning four short of what would have been a first Championship century since April 2012. Thomas also got Patel to nibble a catch behind for only 16 more; Peter Siddle skewed a drive to point and Jake Ball was cleaned up swinging wildly. It completed his first five-for of the season.
Somerset failed to grab a third bowling point but could be very content at their comeback from a session of mayhem on the third evening.
Trescothick then put his side in a strong position at 157 for 2. He made a pleasing 72, caressing several cover drives, one off Peter Siddle the best piece of timing in the match. Anything slightly short was cut or pulled or guided in typical fashion. It took a smart piece of bowling to remove him; Siddle drawing him into driving a length he had not done so previously and getting a feather edge behind the stumps.
He should never have got that far. Steven Mullaney put down a sharp chance at second slip when Trescothick had just 6; a lively opening spell from Ajmal Shahzad - playing in place of Harrey Gurney who is away with England - produced a thick edge. After the dropped chance Somerset made swift progress until Siddle removed Trescothick two overs before tea.
Petersen took over and, like Samit Patel, shrugged off the slippery situation to play strokes by reading the ground, not the scoreboard. His first scoring strokes were four, four, six, six; the latter a second maximum off Patel which cleared the Botham stand and scuppered any hope Read had of a few steady overs of spin to plug a gap in their attack after first-change seamer Jake Ball limped off the ground after only two overs.
Petersen added fifty with Craig Kieswetter who will resume with a handy start; he has a chance to impress England selector Mick Newell and timed two nice flicks off his legs before the close.
Nick Compton rather squandered his chance to impress Newell. After surviving a mighty appeal for caught behind when on nought, Siddle appeared to have laid a crate of his beloved bananas on the decision but Neil Bainton was unmoved and Siddle was incensed. But after a calm 25, Compton played a careless cut that produced an edge to Rikki Wessels which gave part-timer Mullaney, who bowled 17 overs in Ball's absence, his 30th first-class wicket.
Siddle's only other wicket was the opening breakthrough, a lovely nip-backer that removed the off stump of Chris Jones who until that point had looked comfortable. Jones, fresh from Durham University, is set for a big season with Arul Suppiah having retired last summer and played handily here without getting a solid score to ease his nerves after three cheap innings.
Tim Ambrose could lay claim to being the forgotten man of English cricket. In the last of his 11 Tests, in Barbados in early 2009, Ambrose made an unbeaten 76 and kept tidily enough in tricky conditions as West Indies batted for the best part of 200 overs.
Yet now, playing the most consistent cricket of his career and aged only 31, Ambrose is hardly given a passing thought when the discussion about potential England keepers comes around. Even when his old friend and colleague Matt Prior - the two traded the gloves at both Sussex and for England - is struggling with an achilles problem that is beginning to concern the national selectors, Ambrose's name is barely considered.
Perhaps that is understandable. Ambrose lost his way following his England experience and, as he battled depression, struggled to maintain a place in the Warwickshire team. He also struggled with a hip problem that has curtailed his involvement in limited-overs cricket in recent years and has seen much younger talents such as Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow emerge.
But Ambrose remains a fine player. And unlike Buttler or Bairstow he is not at the stage where he is learning his game, but might be considered an experienced, mature cricketer at the peak of his powers. He is, it might be noted, five years younger than Brad Haddin, the Australian keeper who did so much to win the Ashes.
Here Ambrose, cutting and sweeping especially well, turned a threatening position into a dominant one and provided a reminder of the technique and temperament that were once deemed good enough to win him a Test call-up and saw him produce a series-turning century in a Test against New Zealand. This was the 12th first-class century of his career but only the third since September 2009.
At one stage on the second day here Warwickshire, six down and 27 runs behind, were facing the prospect of conceding a first innings deficit. But a seventh-wicket stand of 175 in 45 overs between Ambrose and Jeetan Patel was followed by a stand of 113 between Ambrose and Chris Wright as Warwickshire eventually carved out a lead of 295.
"I think the chances of an England recall have gone for me," Ambrose said. "But I wouldn't say no if I was asked. Matt Prior has been, alongside AB de Villiers, the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world over the last couple of years and if he is fit there is no question he should play. There are some very good young keepers coming through; players I admire a lot. So playing for England is not something I've thought about."
But after the set-backs of the past, Ambrose is content to simply be playing cricket with a smile on his face. After enjoying a few happy years under Peter Moores' management at Sussex, he lost his way for a while after England dispensed with him.
"I was watching Sam Hain bat yesterday and thought: what a brilliant, uncomplicated game cricket is when you're an 18-year-old.
"It was the same for me and Matt Prior at Sussex. We were the only 18-year-olds in a dressing room where everyone else was 30. And we were made to feel welcomed and valued all the time. It was a great environment.
"Yes, for six to eight months at the end of 2010, I didn't want to play cricket any more. I was lucky, in retrospect, that it happened at the end of a season and I was lucky that I had the support of Ashley Giles and Warwickshire as a club. They were very good to me and gave me a contract when I wasn't even sure I wanted one. I have to praise them massively.
"Like other people in a similar position, I probably came back too early. But I am enjoying my cricket more than ever at present and I think I'm playing better than ever."
Patel looked a modest signing when he first joined Warwickshire. But having made a maiden first-class century in his maiden first-class innings for the club - 120 against Yorkshire here in May 2009 - he has developed into a valuable all-round performer and produced the best cricket of his career for the club.
He now averages 27.27 for them with the ball (compared to a career average of 38.16) and, after this, the second first-class century of his career, 30.08 with the bat (compared to 22.82).
He could arguably be considered the most valuable overseas player who might be considered almost an ever-present in the county game these days. His recent decision to decline New Zealand's selection on their Caribbean tour only underlined how much he values his long-term relationship with Warwickshire.
His attacking style dispirits opposition. He is not afraid to hit in the air and is able, by accident as much as design, to hit the ball into unorthodox areas. And, even on this slow-scoring surface, his century took just 134 balls; 56 fewer than Ambrose.
Perhaps Middlesex were a little unfortunate. While their reckless batting squandered the first use of this pitch on day one, their three frontline seamers stuck to their task pretty well but found that such an easy-paced pitch was ill-suited to their back of a length style.
More versatile bowlers might have adapted, but credit is due to the batsmen more than blame to the three seamers. This is a fine batting surface.
The support bowling and fielding, however, was poor. By mid-afternoon, Middlesex looked a dispirited bunch with several balls eluding ambivalent fielders and heads dropping as Chris Wright, playing against one of his former clubs, produced a passing imitation of Ian Bell against bowling that would not have been considered adequate at club level.
"We were put to the sword," the Middlesex coach Richard Scott admitted afterwards. "We were given a lesson in how to occupy the crease and have given ourselves another mountain to climb."
The pitch remains flat and Warwickshire, with Oliver Hannon-Dalby having sustained a side strain that is likely to keep him out of action for a month, are now a bowler light.
But Middlesex were bailed out by a great innings from their captain last week. They surely need other batsmen to take responsibility here if they are not to slide to a heavy defeat.
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