Twin centuries by Ian Bell and Michael Powell batted Warwickshire into a position of dominance against Surrey on the first day of their Championship match at Guildford. The match had to be delayed by a quarter of an hour as Warwickshire found themselves bogged down in traffic but it was to prove the only obstacle to their progress on a day when Surrey's bowlers failed to spark. The season of 2004 may well come to be remembered as the summer that Bell finally came of age. No longer can he be described as promising. No longer can he be considered unfulfilled. He will continue to improve, certainly, and he will undoubtedly achieve greater things on grander stages but he must now be considered one of county cricket's most accomplished batsmen. Few could match the timing and grace with which Bell plundered 155 yesterday. The statistics are impressive enough - he faced 238 balls and struck 24 boundaries - after coming to the wicket in the second over in conditions favouring bowlers. How sweetly he hit the ball, how classy was his on-driving. The ease with which he destroyed the spinners marked this out as a special innings, and there can be little doubt that those last two lean years are firmly behind him. Despite his inclusion in England's 30-man preliminary squad for the ICC Champions' Trophy, Bell has looked desperately out of touch in the one-day game. Yet this was his third century of the summer in the Championship and he stands only 55 runs short of breaching the 1,000-run landmark for the first time in his career. Bell put on 214 in 50 overs for the fourth wicket with Powell - who faced 180 balls and struck 13 fours in his 110 - surpassing the previous Warwickshire record for the wicket against Surrey of 188 between Alvin Kallicharran (149) and M J K Smith (71), who put on 188 at Edgbaston in 1972. It also equalled the record stand for any wicket at Guildford by any team, matching the effort of Dominic Ostler (192) and Trevor Penney's (70 not out) in 1992. Powell was at his most fluent. Never has he looked so comfortable since he was made captain in 2001, and he is clearly relishing unloading the burden of responsibility. He drove delightfully, clipped through mid-wicket with a flourish and pulled with such power that he outscored Bell for much of their partnership. This was Powell's second century in consecutive Championship innings, following his effort at Beckenham, and his rejuvenation looks complete. The stand by Bell and Powell revived Warwickshire after a sticky start and must have had Surrey's captain, Jonathan Batty, regretting his decision to insert the visitors. Initially it appeared Batty's decision may be vindicated as Mark Wagh, still in one-day mode, slashed to slip and Warwickshire struggled in overcast conditions and on a lively pitch offering appreciable bounce. It could have been even worse. Nick Knight survived a perilously close run-out appeal to the second ball of the match, when Scott Newman's direct hit may have left him stranded, but umpire Vanburn Holder didn't appear to be in a position to judge. Knight survived and looked in decent touch until, moments after recording his 1,000th first-class run of the season, he edged his back-foot drive to a ball angled across him. Jonathan Trott took 19 balls to get off the mark but was just beginning to look comfortable when he top-edged a pull to mid-off. Powell and Bell were soon in their stride and began to dominate as the pitch flattened out. Between them they ensured Warwickshire continued the batting form they had shown before the month-long break for one-day matches, and they resume this morning poised to take maximum batting points for the eighth successive time. By mid-afternoon, Surrey's attack looked utterly toothless as Bell and Powell accumulated runs with ease. Surrey looked quite forlorn in the field and former England fast bowler Jimmy Ormond was reduced to bowling off-spin in a vain attempt to stem the tide. Bell had a couple of moments of fortune. He was dropped twice, once on 25 at second slip off Azhar Mahmood, and on 64 when Batty failed to cling on to an outside edge off Nayan Doshi. But, showing the mental strength that has typified his batting this summer, he didn't let the let-offs ruffle him. Robert Key may have won the chance to replace Mark Butcher at Lord's today. But Bell must be next in line for an England call. Few would bet against that Test debut coming before the end of the summer. | 
