Afternoon:
9°c
Andrew Flintoff bounced back from his latest controversy by taking two for 14 in an excellent first bowling spell of the summer in England colours.
Flintoff was disciplined by the England and Wales Cricket Board for missing the team bus during a squad bonding session in Belgium last weekend. But the all-rounder was straight into the groove with the ball on day two of the warm-up fixture against Warwickshire as England dominated proceedings.
The England talisman finished with two wickets for the cost of just 16 runs, while James Anderson ended with figures of five for 34 as the Bears were bowled out for 102.
Monty Panesar also got in on the act, taking three for 10 in an impressive spell from the City End either side of lunch. With the left-arm spinner desperate to make the team if England choose two slow bowlers for the first Ashes Test in Cardiff next week, it was an excellent statement of intent from him. And while Stuart Broad failed to take a wicket, his 11-over spell featured four maidens and just 18 runs scored.
When England batted again, Ravi Bopara was promoted to open alongside skipper Andrew Strauss, with Alastair Cook held back after his 124 in England's first-innings 290 for eight declared in order to give others time in the middle.
The pair made a steady start to help England to 66 for 0, a lead of 254 with four full sessions of the match remaining, although Strauss had a let-off when he was put down at first slip on 23 off the bowling of Naqaash Tahir.
Bowling at a brisk pace and hitting the bat hard, Flintoff had success in his fourth over when Tony Frost shuffled across his stumps to a ball of full length and was pinned lbw for 14. In his next over, Flintoff removed Jim Troughton with a sharply lifting delivery, which the left-hander could only fence to wicket-keeper Matt Prior.
Much will be expected of Flintoff's Lancashire team-mate Anderson when the Ashes begins next week, but England's new attack leader appears to be able to shoulder such expectation, as he bowled superbly during the morning session, taking four more wickets to add to his dismissal of Warwickshire captain Ian Westwood yesterday.
He first stuck in the fifth over of the morning when he Ian Trott caught behind, and after Flintoff had claimed two wickets of his own, Anderson took over.
He sent his some-time England team-mate Tim Ambrose's off stump cartwheeling out of the ground with a ball that moved away off the seam, before Ateeq Javid was caught in the gully by Graeme Swann, and Flintoff clung on at second slip when Rikki Clarke edged behind to give Anderson his fifth.
With Swann and Panesar bowling in tandem until lunch, Andrew Strauss' men rounded off a hugely satisfying morning session when Panesar took a his first wicket with his eighth ball, tempting Barker into an expensive drive and clean bowling the tail-ender.
Obviously refreshed by lunch, the Sikh spinner soon finished off the home resistance to put England in charge.
England 290-8dec (Cook 124, Bopara 43, Tahir 3-54) and 66-0, Warwickshire 102 (Anderson 5-34, Panesar 3-10, Flintoff 2-14).
