County round-up: Chanderpaul makes light of Bears' depleted ranks

Warwickshire may he short-handed after the loss of three bowlers and a batsman to a combination of injury and international calls but Shivnarine Chanderpaul underpinned their efforts to secure the win that will put them on the heels of title-favourites Lancashire by doing what he does best at Headingley yesterday.

The veteran West Indies batsman, in his second Championship appearance for the county, helped establish a first-innings lead over relegation-threatened Yorkshire with a typical marathon innings, passing 150 after five and a quarter hours at the crease.

The 37-year-old left-hander rescued an innings that had begun shakily with the loss of two wickets for five runs by sharing stands of 68 with Jim Troughton and 111 with wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose, whose contrasting 66 included a sequence of six consecutive boundaries off seamer Rich Pyrah and spinner Adil Rashid.

Warwickshire could be as little as two points behind Lancashire by the end of this match, which is remarkable for the fact that they were docked eight points for a substandard pitch earlier in the season.

It was a demoralising day for Yorkshire and one that was not made better by news of Worcestershire's progress at the Rose Bowl, where Hampshire were bowled out for 179.

Worcestershire, a point behind Yorkshire but with a game in hand, then reached 68 in reply before losing their first wicket.

Keith Bradshaw, the most pioneering and adventurous of all MCC's chief executives, resigned for family reasons yesterday. He will return to Australia following the recent death of his mother in Tasmania.