Bell boosts England hopes

On the day Flower was announced as the full-time successor to Peter Moores at Lord's, Bell was making his case for international selection as Warwickshire flourished in LV County Championship Division One against Somerset.

After faltering at 66 for three, losing Darren Maddy and Jonathan Trott to successive balls from Ben Phillips, Bell and Jim Troughton steered Warwickshire to 189 without further loss at the close.

With Flower due to formulate his Ashes plans later this week, Bell's innings could not have come at a more opportune time.

He struck 13 fours in his unbeaten 84 in a match interrupted by bad light and combined with Troughton to dig the Bears out of trouble.

Meanwhile, Dominic Cork found form for new county Hampshire as Worcestershire were skittled for a paltry 132 at the Rose Bowl, with 14 wickets falling on a day that saw the morning session lost because of overnight rain.

Cork claimed a return of four wickets for 10 runs from his eight overs to mop up the Worcestershire tail.

Wickets fell at regular intervals for the visitors. Opener Daryl Mitchell was the top scorer with 31 runs while only three other Worcestershire batsmen reached double figures.

Kabir Ali picked up two early wickets as Hampshire were reduced to 10 for three in reply before recovering to 76 for four at the close thanks mainly to Jimmy Adams, who was unbeaten on 33.