** Championship table:**
Hampshire 58.5 points
Warwickshire 55
Lancashire 54.5
Nottinghamshire 52
Yorkshire 41.5
Somerset 26.5

An excellent win - and credit to all the bowlers used. It sets up a fascinating match against Somerset next week.

Mikkyk wrote:

Not sure I've ever seen a batsman refuse to walk after edging to first slip like Thompson just did!

Stuart Broad did it in a Test v Australia - but I agree that it's slightly bizarre. In the case of Broad, the Australians were infuriated because the umpire gave it not out and they had no reviews left.

Not wishing to tempt fate but - looking good so far this morning!

Hampshire have won, with thanks due to Keith Barker - career best figures of 7-46 and 48 runs in a low-scoring game.

Davies was keeping at Taunton today and managed two neat stumpings.

FuerteventuraBear wrote:

Hain faced 2 balls and was out twice.

A king pair for Sam; and also a pair today at Taunton for Tom Abell.
Hain and Abell - an almost biblical quadruple failure.

The fact that he is Chair of the Cricket Writers' Club shows how highly regarded he is by his peers.

George has announced on Twitter that he has resigned from ESPN Cricinfo.
He has been a great supporter of county cricket, often a thorn in the side of the ECB and, though he sometimes denies it, very much a Bear at heart.
I hope he soon finds a new home for his writing because county cricket needs him.

I’m having a day at Taunton today and the Somerset batting looks as fragile as the Bears’. Next week’s match could be over in a couple of days although I think Gary Barwell produces better pitches that have a balance between bat and ball. So maybe give it three days.

I agree that batting looked really difficult. If conditions continue that way, there will surely be a definite result.

Preview from the Yorkshire perspective - Malan in their squad:
https://yorkshireccc.com/news/view/9520/match-preview-yorkshire-vs-warwickshire

I have thought for a while that his best bet would be to move to another "lesser" county so I think this could be a good move for him. When he wasn't picked for the quarter final, the writing was on the wall.

I agree that Robert Brooke's book is a great read.
As for Foster's speed, his reputation was that he gained pace off the pitch and he was tall by the standards of the day so got plenty of bounce. So I would say he was lively rather than genuinely fast. He was very accurate which made it easier for "TIger" to stand up to him.

Congratulations! You win the (non-existent) prize.
Samuel Beckett played two first-class cricket matches for Dublin University against Northants as a fast-medium left arm bowler, just like Frank Foster. I suspect that whereas Foster was more fast than medium, Beckett was more medium than fast.
The other oddity is that it is just possible that they met. When poor Frank Foster was in the mental hospital where he spent the last ten years of his life, one of the other inmates was Lucia Joyce, the daughter of James Joyce. Samuel Beckett had been in a relationship with her and it is known that he visited her at the hospital. So in my imagination, he and Frank Foster met there on one of his visits and compared notes about left arm quick bowling.
Anyway, back to reality!

What does/did Irish playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett have in common with Warwickshire's greatest ever all-rounder, Frank Foster?

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.