COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Trent Bridge:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY THREE: Nottinghamshire 388, Warwickshire 219 and 298-3 (Notts 7pts, Warwicks 4pts)
11-14 August 2009

Trott hit 20 boundaries in his 121 off 177 balls

Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell found form ahead of the decisive Ashes Test to bat Warwickshire back into their game with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

They had hit 1 and 15 respectively in the first innings, but shared a stand of 188 for the third wicket after the Bears had been asked to follow on.

Trott was out just before the close for 121, while Bell was unbeaten on 92, having faced 205 balls for his runs.

Warwickshire were 298-4 at stumps on day three for a lead of 129.

With the in-form Mark Ramprakash declaring himself keen to make a dream comeback should England's selectors shake up a misfiring middle order, the pressure was very much on Bell and Trott to deliver.

Trott called into England's squad in the fourth Test defeat in Leeds - though he did not play in the match - was the more aggressive of the pair and hit 20 fours from 177 balls before he was lbw to Ryan Sidebottom for 121, his fourth hundred of the season.

Bell, with 64 runs from three innings in this summer's Ashes, hit 10 boundaries.

Warwickshire began the day on 214-9 and added only five to their total before Charlie Shreck uprooted Boyd Rankin's leg stump.

In the follow-on, an obdurate opening partnership of 53 between Ian Westwood and Ant Botha hinted at a frustrating day for the title-chasing hosts.

Westwood looked hopelessly out of touch but still dug in to face 52 balls before he eventually edged Mark Ealham behind for 11.

That brought Bell to the wicket and after his dismissal by Sidebottom in the first innings, the left-armer was immediately brought back into the attack.

But Botha did a good job of protecting England's number four from the home side's premier bowler and Bell settled in with a solid on-drive for four off Ealham.

He survived one scare on 14 when Andre Adams was denied a confident lbw shout after lunch, but looked increasingly assured as the afternoon wore on.

After Botha had sliced Adams to Samit Patel in the gully for 67, his best score for Warwickshire, Trott was lucky to survive his second ball with an inside edge which narrowly missed the stumps.

But the right-hander remained positive with a series of drives on either side of the wicket to post his fifty from only 39 balls.

Read rotated his bowlers regularly in a bid to upset the batsmen's rhythm but found little joy, with Trott's edge off Samit Patel on 56 representing a half-chance which slip Ali Brown failed to reach.

Trott reached his century after tea by pulling Patel for four, and it took the new ball for Nottinghamshire to finally break through, with Sidebottom's sharp in-swinger trapping Trott lbw.

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