A county-record last-wicket stand of 214 between Nick Knight and Alan Richardson put Warwickshire in a commanding position at the end of the second day of their game with Hampshire at Edgbas-ton.

The pair had come together late last night with the home side on 274 for nine, but by the time Richardson was dismissed for 91 in mid-afternoon they had guided them to a daunting total of 472.

The marathon stand smashed the county's previous best of 141 and was only 21 runs short of the highest ever last-wicket stand in the English game, a partnership of 235 recorded by Kent's Frank Wooley and Arthur Fielder in 1909.

Hampshire finished the day on 89 for three in reply, but still trail by a daunting 383 runs.

Knight and Richardson were two batsmen at the very height of their game and they both recorded career-best scores in the Birmingham sunshine.

As England toiled in the field at Lord's, Knight gave the selectors a timely reminder of his talent in the four-day arena with his customary free-flowing style and almost effortless shot-making.

Resuming on 151, the Warwickshire opener finished unbeaten on 255, beating his previous highest first-class score by 22 runs.

Knight occupied the crease for over 10 hours in an innings that included 31 fours and three sixes.

The Hampshire attack struggled throughout to contain the England one-day star who looked to cut loose at any opportunity.

Off-spinner Shaun Udal came in for particular punishment, finishing with figures of none for 140 as Knight proved equally adept at cutting and pulling anything dropped too short or driving anything marginally over-pitched.

One six in particular, bludgeoned over deep extra cover as Knight danced down the wicket, was as good as anything that is likely to be seen in the rest of the season.

If anything though, the achievements of last-man Richardson were even more impressive.

The 26-year-old's best innings before today had been an unbeaten 17 against Northamptonshire in 2000, but he crashed the Hampshire attack to all sides of the ground on the way to a magnificent 91.

He hit ten fours and a six in a 199-ball knock that will surely see him move steadily up the Warwickshire order in the near future.

This was no village-green slog either, Richardson played with a poise and assurance that made a mockery of his previous failures with the bat.

After a day and a half in the field the Hampshire openers must have been champing at the bit for an opportunity to spend some time at the crease, but Derek Kenway lasted just four minutes before Melvyn Betts trapped him leg before for one.

Fellow opener Will Kendall took time to find his feet but had begun to look settled at the crease before Ashley Giles, released by England yesterday, surprised him with a bit of extra turn, leaving Dougie Brown a routine catch at silly point.

The Warwickshire attack displayed a discipline lacking in much of Hampshire's bowling earlier in the day and Giles White took 120 balls to make 36 before becoming Giles' second victim, holing out to Ian Bell at short leg.

SCOREBOARD:

Overnight: Warwickshire 274-9 (N V Knight 151 no).

WARWICKSHIRE

First Innings

N V Knight not out 55

A Richardson st Pothas b White 91

Extras (b2 lb4 w4 nb8) 18

Total (163.1 overs) 472

Fall: 1-55 2-107 3-108 4-118 5-154 6-170 7-214 8-253 9-258.

Score at 130 overs: 9-347

Bonus Pts: Warwickshire 3 Hampshire 3

Bowling: Mullally 38-14-92-3, Mascarenhas 24.5-11-59-3, Tremlett 23-8-69-2, Udal 44.1-7-140-0, Johnson 12-3-47-1, Prittipaul 15-4-31-0, Kendall 4-0-11-0, White 2.1-0-17-1

HAMPSHIRE

First Innings

D A Kenway lbw b Betts 1

W S Kendall c Brown b Giles 25

G W White c Bell b Giles 36

R A Smith not out 10

N C Johnson not out 8

Extras (lb3 nb6) 9

Total 3 wkts (45 overs) 89

Fall: 1-1 2-48 3-81

Mascarenhas, S D Udal, C T Tremlett, A D Mullally.

Bowling: Pollock 9-5-6-0, Betts 10-3-28-1, Giles 16-6-30-2, Richardson 5-1-8-0, Brown 5-1-14-0

Umpires: M R Benson and R Palmer

Bonus Pts: Warwickshire 3 Hampshire 3