Rock-solid Rees holds Warwickshire

Glamorgan are doing their best to derail Warwickshire’s bid to close their promotion-winning campaign in the LV County Championship with a victory at Edgbaston.

The newly-crowned Division Two champions seemed safe when leaving a target of 403 after their dismissal for 280, but Glamorgan responded with vigour with Gareth Rees unbeaten on 54 in a dash to 122 for one in 25 overs.

David Hemp, in what could be his last match as Glamorgan captain, was the man out, caught behind for 44 when surprised by a rising delivery from Boyd Rankin.

When the third day began 30 minutes late because of heavy dew, Warwickshire held a lead of 177 but wobbled for a time as the impressive Adam Shantry bagged three more wickets in the best performance of his short career with three counties.

Jim Troughton and Tim Ambrose edged the left-armer to wicketkeeper Mark Wallace and Tony Frost was finally prised out, leg-before for 62, after completing 1,000 runs in a season for the first time.

When Shantry came back after tea and finished the innings with Ian Salisbury’s dismissal on the cover boundary, he had taken 5-52 and posted a match return of 10-129 against the team which released him last year.

David Harrison sustained Glamorgan’s seam attack for much of the morning but Warwickshire were back in the driving seat before he achieved belated success.

Ian Salisbury contributed a feisty 39 to pass 7,000 runs in 20 years of first-class cricket

Likewise, former Australia Test bowler Jason Gillespie had no luck as he headed to retirement from first-class cricket.

For the third day in succession the afternoon session produced a hundred partnership as Neil Carter made his second half-century of the match and Warwickshire newcomer Rikki Clarke went beyond 50 for only the fourth time in two championship seasons.

The recent move to Edgbaston has presented Clarke with another chance to live up to the potential which propelled him into the England team in Tests and one-day internationals in his early 20s.

He made only two fifties for Surrey last season and endured a sorry spell as Derbyshire’s captain this summer, reaching fifty just once in 10 championship matches before he was allowed to join Warwickshire on a three-year contract.

After a duck in the first innings, he turned his home debut into a success story by making 81 with 10 fours from 163 balls before Harrison’s perseverance was rewarded with a catch behind the wicket.

A stand of 112 with Carter ended when his partner went for 51, holing out at deep square leg off Ryan Watkins, and Harrison (3-74) secured another well-deserved wicket when Chris Woakes carved a short ball to point.

However, Salisbury made sure that Warwickshire’s lead topped 400 with a hard-hitting 39. In the process the 38-year-old former England leg-spinner reached 7,000 first-class runs after 20 seasons in county cricket.