IF Lancashire are to achieve the vital win they need from their Championship game against Warwickshire it will have to be done the hard way after a tough day in the field.

The visitors finished on 308 for four when bad light brought an early close. The stars of the day were Ian Bell and Dougie Brown who both hit centuries for the second match in a row.

It had looked good for Lancashire shortly before lunch when Gary Keedy helped reduce Warwickshire to 92 for four. An opening partnership of 72 had been ended when Mark Chilton picked up his first Championship wicket of the season by having Nick Knight caught behind before Keedy got three in quick succession.

He had Mark Wagh (41) caught and bowled before getting Jonathon Trott (9) taken at short extra cover and then trapping Michael Powell lbw three balls later. It was an impressive spell from Keedy, particularly as it came on the opening morning, and he got some deliveries to turn and bounce considerably.

But it was a day of toil for the seamers as Glen Chapple, Dominic Cork and Sajid Mahmood all tried to find some life from the pitch.

Cork attempted to bounce out the batsmen and despite troubling Bell and Brown and no success while Mahmood was given the new ball to try some extra pace.

Chris Schofield was given his first Championship outing of the season and bowled five respectable overs of leg-spin, suggesting that he could have been entrusted with a bit more work.

But the two Warwickshire batsmen could not be shifted as their partnership reached 216 by the close. Bell was unbeaten on 106 off 229 balls and Brown 120 from 231 deliveries, having reached their fourth and second tons of the season respectively.