Warwickshire in command after Lancs squander good start.

Croft was eventually dismissed for 30 after Clarke took a fine diving catch off his own bowling.

Lancashire batted themselves to a standstill on the opening day of their visit to Edgbaston as Warwickshire restricted them to 188-6 before rain curtailed play in the evening session.

The visitors were forced to re-build after stumbling to 126-5, losing four wickets for just 34 runs and the afternoon session profited a meager 68 runs as Lancashire squandered an excellent start.

Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat first in glorious sunshine, but lost Paul Horton for 12 early on after he edged behind to Tim Ambrose off Chris Wright. A 78-run stand between Alex Davies (59) and Andrea Agathangelou (31) put Lancashire back on course and for the first time this season it seemed as if the visitors meant business with the bat.

However, the questionable dismissal of Agathangelou commenced a sour passage for Lancashire, one which they never fully recovered from as they batted with little confidence for the remainder of the day.

The removal of Agathangelou came courtesy of Jeetan Patel (3-52) after he was judged to have edged the ball to Varun Chopra at first slip, despite much doubt over whether or not the ball had in fact come off his pad.

Nevertheless, with little time before lunch Warwickshire had claimed this wicket at a crucial stage and they continued to chip away at the visitors after lunch. Davies needed just one more run after the interval to earn his second fifty in as many matches from 110 balls, but this was to be a brief highlight for Lancashire in an otherwise dismal session of cricket.

Patel continued to inflict damage, removing Davies and Ashwell Prince (12) in quick succession as Lancashire fell to 125-4, having approached lunch on 92-1. Jos Buttler was the next batsman to underwhelm, edging behind off Wright (2-44) which forced Steven Croft and Tom Smith to play with a lackluster temperament in order to recover the situation.

Soon enough their resistance was broken after they had accumulated 49 runs for the sixth-wicket as Croft’s inside-edge ricocheted off his pad, forcing Rikki Clarke (1-33) to perform a tumbling dive to remove the Lancashire all-rounder for 30.

Tom Smith has been a dependable figure all season and continued to prove his worth with an unbeaten 21 from 107 balls, but for all his time at the crease the visitors would have liked to seen a more profitable return.

Glen Chapple (9) was also unbeaten at close of play, as biblical rain forced the first day to be curtailed with 14 overs to be bowled.