A balanced report here:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-2021-1244186/lancashire-vs-warwickshire-division-1-1271382/match-report-4
By the way, the mention in the report of Samuel Beckett has reminded me of a quiz question which I will post on another thread.

I guess it's easy for me to be a dashing captain making daring declarations from the comfort of my armchair.

If Warwickshire are wanting to press on to get into a position to declare, it's maybe about time that Dom Sibley got out of first gear.

Andy wrote:

Looks like he's been forced out, shame as he's a lovely gloveman and still young.

Trying to make it as a keeper is tough. I see that Alex Milton isn’t being offered a new contract at Worcestershire.

You can rely on Paul Edwards to wax poetic about the approaching end if the season:
"Give it a month and such moments will be suddenly precious, their memory cherished on cool mornings when trees are suddenly aflame."
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-2021-1244186/lancashire-vs-warwickshire-division-1-1271382/match-report-3

Good to see that he is not only in the England under-19 squad but has also been made joint captain:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/barbados-born-jacob-bethell-to-captain-england-under-19s-against-west-indies-1275685?ex_cid=OTC-RSS

I agree that fitness is the only issue with Norwell.
As for Holder, maybe it is early days but he didn't look much like a Test match bowler from what I saw yesterday. I'll reserve judgement until he has a few more overs under his belt.
He certainly looked as if his batting efforts will be entertaining but very brief!

I wish my day at Old Trafford had been yesterday rather than today. My money is on a draw.

Back in the England squad, so lost to the Bears for the immediate future. I hope he gets a game, rather than being a drinks waiter again.

I Zoomed into a press conference with Mark Robinson earlier in the week.
Here is the piece that I wrote for Deep Extra Cover covering some of the issues that he faces as a head coach:
https://deepextracover.com/2021/08/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-a-head-coach/

The Bears need to stop Kent making it an all-southern Finals Day.
Also, having watched the quarter final matches so far, there has been some truly dreadful fielding. Maybe it's the pressure plus the August dew but there have been so many fumbles and dropped dollies.

I would say he was quite lively as a bowler - Will Rhodes would be about right. But it probably depended a bit on what mood he was in.

Sorry to hear of his passing. He was an outstanding player. And although he was much maligned when he was Chairman of Selectors, he was well ahead of his time in advocating ideas such as four day county cricket, full time contracts and England A team tours.
It's sometimes a shock to realise that the heroes of your youth have grown old. I was lucky enough to be invited to a book launch at the House of Lords a couple of years ago and spotted a stooped old man who looked slightly familiar. It took me quite a while to work out that it was Ted Dexter, looking quite frail and not at all the "Lord Ted" that I remembered.
Anyway, I have happy memories of him in his prime and may he rest in peace.

It would seem that Dan Mousley injured his hand quite badly in practice yesterday. Also, O H-D and Sidebottom are still not fit, hence the signing of Chelmar Holder.

It's comforting to know that senior ECB staff are being looked after in these hard times:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/23/senior-ecb-executives-to-share-21m-bonus-despite-covid-job-cuts?utm_term=841e1c59a4b3e7a06021e95c90760aaf&utm_campaign=TheSpin&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=spin_email

I see that Woakes has bowled now but so has Garrett. Do we know who isn't on the field today and so might be headed for Canterbury via Edgbaston? Lamb?

I agree about Bethell. He applied himself very well. As for Kai Smith, I thought he was quite nervous on the first morning but settled down with the gloves after that. But with Alex Davies arriving next year plus Benjamin and Burgess, we shall have more wicket keepers than you could shake a stump at.

It was a case of men against boys today, Worcestershire's strong team prevailing.
Interesting that Woakes didn't bowl in the second innings even though he was on the field.

An enjoyable day's cricket in the Worcester sunshine.
Woakes bowled well and looked fit.
I'm not sure what will happen on day 3 because I know that the T20 squad have a training session at Edgbaston.

SC_Bear wrote:

We're actually now at the same place we were in in 2002 before T20 arrived. 4 competitions squeezed into a 5 month window. But the 100 and T20 have traction whilst the RLODC and CC have been hollowed out. Something has to give.

We've been members since 1990.We took the refund in 2020 and didn't bother this year. There's little in this interview that gives us much hope we'll be back any time soon especially as we've filled the cricket hole with other stuff - primarily golf.

We keep being told to take the positives - the 100's great, the Blast is vibrant, the RLODC showcases the youngsters etc. But seeing the CC denuded of importance and relegated to to bookend the season is heartbreaking. The 2 division CC helped propel England to number 1 in the test rankings 11 years ago. Players like IJL Trott eased into test cricket effortlessy from the grounding they received at county level. The current CC is a husk by comparison - witness the hapless re-selection of 33 year old Dawid Malan this week and the talking up of James Vince as an Ashes prospect.

I guess at age 58 and 61 respectively we're just attritional, collateral damage - the Hundred money and test match receipts mean that clubs like Warwickshire can probably wave us off with little regret. We're sad to be walking away but at the moment there's little to keep us hanging on.

I agree that Neil Snowball is pretty good at putting a positive gloss on things. I still take his assurances about the continued role of the 18 counties as important.
As for what he says about the various competitions, I hear echoes of George Orwell: "All competitions are equal - but some are more equal than others."