Bears halted by Derbys' Palladino

County Championship Division One, Edgbaston

Close, day one: Derbyshire 226, Warwickshire 14-0

Warwickshire 3pts, Derbyshire 1pt

Tail-ender Tony Palladino led the rescue for newly-promoted Derbyshire with a half-century to hold up county champions Warwickshire on the first day of the new season at Edgbaston.

With New Zealand Test spinner Jeetan Patel taking 3-37, the Bears had Derbyshire in trouble on 117-7.

But Palladino made 68 to help the visitors reach 226, Chris Wright also weighing in with three wickets.

Warwickshire then moved to 14-0 in four overs before the close.

Even without three frontline seamers, Chris Woakes (rested on ECB orders) and injured pair Boyd Rankin and Keith Barker, Warwickshire captain Jim Troughton had backed the Bears' below-strength attack by choosing to bowl first on a hazy morning.

Derbyshire's return to the top flight marked their first game at this level since the inaugural season of two-division County Championship cricket in 2000. They looked to have too much firepower until being held up by Palladino's spirited knock, the former Essex fast bowler hiting eight fours and a six to earn his side a batting bonus point before ending up last out to youngster Tom Milnes.

It took a fine catch by Bears captain Jim Troughton, running back from mid-off, to end Palladino's last-wicket partnership of 55 with Mark Turner.

But the key wicket was Patel's removal of former Warwickshire batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

In his last spell in England with the Bears in 2011, the West Indies left hander scored 539 runs in seven inning. But, on his return to Edgbaston, he took nearly two-and-a-half hours to make 15, the second of Patel's three victims inside 19 deliveries.

On the day he was awarded both his county cap and a new four-year Bears contract, Wright made an impact in front of watching national selector Geoff Miller, earning two slip catches inside the first hour on his way to a haul of 3-48 in 26 overs.

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Wright signs new deal with Bears

Warwickshire have signed England Lions paceman Chris Wright on a new-four-year contract which ties him to Edgbaston until the end of the 2016 season.

The 27-year-old ex-Middlesex and Essex fast bowler has been a huge hit since arriving at Edgbaston, initially on loan, from Chelmsford in August 2011.

"Joining Warwickshire has revitalised my career," said Wright, with 62, the Bears' top wicket taker last summer.

He credits Bears bowling coach Graeme Welch as the key to his success.

2011 - 22 wickets in four Championship games 2012 - 67 wickets in 16 first-class games 2013 - 11 wickets in one and a half games But Wright, whose existing contract was due to expire at the end of this season, insists that it is not any change of action which has paid dividends - more the inspiring effect that highly-acclaimed former Bears medium pacer Welch has had on his mental outlook.

"I don't really think I've done any technical work here," Wright told BBC WM.

"It's more a mental emphasis. I'm not talking about really funky sports science, it's just playing to the right game plan, doing the right things and being confident.

"The environment here is fantastic with a great coaching team that's helping the players reach their potential. There is such an expectation to win games.

"It's a massive club. You feel like you're playing for the Manchester United of cricket.

"Working day to day with Graeme Welch has helped me become a stronger, faster and a smarter bowler."

Playing only his 22nd first-class game for the Bears on Wednesday, Wright claimed another three scalps against Derbyshire on the first day of the new County Championship season to reach 100 wickets for Warwickshire.

That came in front of England national selector Geoff Miller, on the day he was also awarded his county cap.

“Chris Wright's journey to becoming an England Lions opening bowler in 18 months proves what can be realised with talent, hard work and dedication”

Dougie Brown Bears director of cricket And, having last week been included in England's provisional 30-man Champions Trophy squad, on the back of his winter Lions call-up in Australia, and taking a match haul of 8-110 against the MCC in Abu Dhabi, Wright's international career has truly taken off.

"Chris has been an instant success here at Edgbaston," said new Bears director of cricket Dougie Brown. "He formed a potent new ball attack with Keith Barker last season, winning recognition as one of the leading fast bowlers on the county circuit.

"His standards in training set a great example to the younger members of the squad.

"His journey to becoming an England Lions opening bowler in 18 months proves exactly what can be realised with talent, hard work and dedication."

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