It was as pointed and as well directed a County Championship campaign as Warwickshire could have launched.

They took their top six players to the national qualifiers at Worfield, in Shropshire, on Saturday and some of their very best plans went exactly to order.

Matthew Cryer, to a par of 73, shot 70 in round one. Rob Steele was a shot better than that. And 17-year-old Andy Sullivan signed for another 70.

That made Warwickshire ten below par for their first three matches. It's what's usually known in the trade as a flyer. But not in this trade. Not on this extraordinary day when Lincolnshire, in one of the most daring, muscular, who's-coming-second assaults ever made on this championship, condemned every one of the other nine counties to oblivion.

They beat Warwickshire's first round six-man aggregate by 15 shots and had increased that lead by another five by the end of the day.

Lincolnshire 860, Warwickshire 880, Nottinghamshire 881: that was the one, two, three. Worcestershire finished on 896 while Staffordshire, doomed by their shaky start - two men opened with 81s - were last on 911.

This competition, played over 36 holes with every shot to count, is all about team work. And when Warwickshire's county champion, Paul Randle, came in with a first round 78 after the early heroics, his captain, Andy Kearns, was in positive mode.

Randle had played a series of weak shots to announce his first 12 holes but had then found his touch.

"He kept it together. He played his last six holes in level par," said Kearns.

John Wetton then reclaimed a shot and Chris Evans held things steady with a par round but Lincolnshire were making all the others gasp.

Their first two men out, Steve Dixon and Steve Cox, put them at six under. Then Rob Harris carded a fiveunder 68, Rob Harris shot the same score and Dan Seaman, the son of a fairly famous international goalkeeper, was one under. James Crampton was four under par for his first round and exclaimed: "We deserved this. Because we were robbed last year."

Last year, at Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire had lost by one shot because some inspired soul from Leicestershire had shot 66.

There was a 66 this year, from Derbyshire's Andrew Clarke. But there was scarcely a score on the card that had any relevance to the winners' progress.

"We could have been a few shots better," said Warwickshire's captain. "But we were beaten by a county who played some fantastic golf on the day."

Warwickshire have a mind coach, or whatever it is they call assistants who help with players' focus and he, Stuart Harris, said at half time that it was important that the team keep their attention sharp.

His hypothesis was that if two Lincolnshire men shot 78 and two of his players shot 70s, that was the lead obliterated. A reasonable enough suggestion except that no-one from Lincolnshire shot 78.

For his part, Warwickshire's Steele was six under for the day, Cryer was four under but 17-year-old Sullivan, three under after the first round, finished two over.

He was the man with the second round 78.

But Warwickshire ' s runners-up spot was a one-place improvement on last year and with sport's immortal words Andy Kearns said: "Now we can concentrate on the League."