Jonathan Trott has challenged championship pace-setters Warwickshire to push hard for success in not just four-day cricket but all formats of the game this season.

Trott returned to county duty for the Bears against Sussex at Hove last week and reacquainted himself in fine style with a superb 178 to lay the foundation for his team’s domination of the match.

Warwickshire had to settle for a draw after rain frustrated their victory bid. But, having started with wins over Somerset and Lancashire, they have still made an excellent start to the campaign.

And Trott who, like England team-mate Ian Bell will also play in the match against Durham at Edgbaston starting today, reckons the squad under captain Jim Troughton has the ability and, just as importantly, the mentality to sustain their challenge.

“We have got a lot of good players and players who really play for each other which is vitally important in four-day cricket where you spend so much time together over the course of a season,” he said.

“It would be nice to put in a real challenge in the championship and I think we can do that. But we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. One-day cricket is important as well because there is a lot of financial reward there and if we could get in the Champions League that would be very exciting and put us in the shop window for higher honours.

“It has been good to get back among the guys again. I always enjoy coming back and playing for Warwickshire. It was playing with these guys and under Ashley Giles as coach that was the start of something for me in terms of my career and it’s great to come back and catch up with the lads and hopefully make some runs.”

Trott certainly obliged at Hove. He has a mighty record against Sussex, including a ton on his county debut in 2003 and his Bears best score of 210 in 2005 and this time round he added to that haul with 178 in a 407-minute knock which emphatically steered his side away from the turbulence of 13 for two.

“It was a difficult situation with the ball seaming around on the first morning so I was really happy with it,” he said. “You are never quite sure what sort of nick you are in when you come back to England, having played on the subcontinent. It is always a little bit different.”

Trott’s impressive innings at Hove in conditions which were far from straightforward was noted with approval by England supporters who, for the first time in a few seasons, have a concerns about the top order following a tough winter on the subcontinent.

Despite losing their series with Pakistan and only drawing with Sri Lanka, however, England retained their position at the top of the world rankings.

And, as he looked ahead to series against West Indies and South Africa this summer, Trott insists that, with the hectic schedule which is international cricket these days, even the best sides can’t dominate all the time.

“A Test series is a two-horse race and how do you get the same winner in a two-horse race?” he said.

“We are going to come unstuck a few times and when that happens you have to be able to learn from it. I think we learned a lot from our Test series in South Africa and came back realising the standard we need to be at. And now hopefully we realise what it takes to win on the subcontinent.

“We have got South Africa coming up this year and that should be a great series. If we beat them that will be a lot of points for us to strengthen our hold on the number one spot and and stretch ahead of the rest which is what we want to do. It’s a pity it will be only a three-Test series but hopefully we can do the business.”