Chris Wright begins his Warwickshire sign-off in style

Warwickshire 170 for 2 (Rhodes 101*, Sibley 65)) lead Gloucestershire 127 (Wright 5-32) by 43 runs
Scorecard

Warwickshire totally dominated the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston, closing on 171 for 2 after bowling the visitors out for 127.

On their first Championship visit to Birmingham for ten years, Gloucestershire must have wished they had stayed away longer after their illness and injury-affected side folded spectacularly in the afternoon session.

Experienced seamer Chris Wright led the demolition with 5 for 32 as the visitors, having reached 52 without loss, lost all ten wickets for 75 runs in 27.4 overs. Well though Wright and his colleagues bowled, they were abetted by some feckless batting with several wickets due to shots more suited to white-ball cricket.

The Division One leaders then built ruthlessly on their bowlers' work as openers Will Rhodes (101 not out) and Dominic Sibley (65) took them past Gloucestershire's score.

There was no clue as to the carnage ahead as Gloucestershire openers Miles Hammond and Chris Dent put 50 on the board but then they fell in successive overs. Hammond edged Ryan Sidebottom behind and Dent was trapped lbw by Jeetan Patel.

A stand of 49 between James Bracey and Benny Howell took the score to a respectable 101 for 2 but Patel's dismissal of the former, lbw, just before lunch paved the way for a post-lunch dismantling of the innings.

Wright, who will join Leicestershire on a two-year contract after this season, started the collapse in the first over of the afternoon when Howell lifted carelessly to point. The seamer then knocked out Ryan Higgins' off-stump before Keith Barker removed Ben Charlesworth, caught behind, and Craig Miles who pulled to midwicket.

Miles was not the first batsman to contribute to his own downfall and nor was he the last as George Drissell lifted Wright to mid-off. That left the former Middlesex and Essex seamer within sight of his 11th first-class five-for which he duly completed by making a mess of Matt Taylor's stumps and trapping Gareth Roderick lbw.

Gloucestershire having scored 21 for 7 in 13 overs after lunch, Rhodes and Sibley rattled up 69 in 16 overs up to tea to complete perhaps the most one-sided session in the history of the county championship.

The opening pair added 161 before Sibley inside-edged Higgins on to his pad and was caught at gully. Nightwatchman Wright soon fell lbw to Chris Liddle but Rhodes posted his third Championship century of the season in the penultimate over of near-perfect day for as the Division Two leaders.