Trescothick ton brightens gloom

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Edgbaston:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY TWO: Somerset 226-2 (Somerset 1pt)
5-8 August 2009

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Match scorecard

Marcus Trescothick hooks another four before the rain arrived at Edgbaston

Marcus Trescothick hit his fifth County Championship ton of the season as Somerset re-enacted a virtual re-run of their last trip to the West Midlands.

A fortnight ago at New Road, the first day of the Worcestershire match was lost, Somerset were put in and Trescothick hit a second-day century.

Moving on to Birmingham, Somerset were again made to bat first after an opening-day washout.

And Trescothick again came up with the goods, hitting 104 out of 226-2.

Again it was carved out mostly in tandem with his county captain Justin Langer, who had also hit a century against Worcestershire.

This time the two high-quality left handers put on 175, of which Langer made 69 shortly before the day's third and final hold-up for rain after tea.

But Trescothick, already the country's leading run scorer this season, was still there.

And he had hit 16 fours before completing the 36th first-class century of his career, from 177 balls, with a pull for six off Neil Carter.

Warwickshire's quartet of seamers, who shared 20 wickets in a comprehensive first win of the season against Worcestershire last weekend, were unable to make much of a green-tinged pitch after Ian Westwood won the toss.

Boyd Rankin struggled for accuracy, conceding the bulk of the 24 extras so far, and Naqaash Tahir did not make the batsmen play as much as he needed to in his new-ball spell.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire have made several changes to their off-field internal structure.

Former Staffordshire opener and Birmingham League general manager Nick Archer has been appointed to the new position of General Manager, Edgbaston Cricket Centre & Warwickshire Cricket Board.

His new role incorporates that previously occupied by long-serving Richard Cox, whose role of Academy Director and Head of Warwickshire Cricket Board Activities has been made redundant.

Former Warwickshire all-rounder Dougie Brown will become the county's designated 'Academy Director', taking over as coach to the Academy players.