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THE MAN in charge of protecting our children from paedophiles has stuck his head well and truly above the parapet by stating he doesn't think every offender should be jailed.
Child protection chief Jim Gamble argues that some paedophiles should be given a police caution and managed within the community instead.
BIG-HEARTED Brummies are known for digging deep when it comes to raising money for a good cause. And Acorns Children's Hospice is no exception.
But today comes the depressing revelation that the charity, which provides crucial care for some of our sickest children, is being targeted by thieves.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Now then...it's a sparkling, sunny morning. Cricket ahoy. Three questions.
Can Warwickshire and Hampshire, either by brilliant cricket or, if needs be, a spot of collusion, make a contest out of this rain-damaged game?
Should they collude, if necessary, or does that detract from the supposed intensity of championship cricket?
Should the leg-bye, that pointless carbuncle on the face of cricket, be abolished with immediate effect?
When Hampshire visited Edgbaston in the county championship in May 1977, opening the batting for them were Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge.
Has there ever been a better opening pair than that in the history of world cricket?
Naqaash Tahir strikes with a great ball that flattens the off-stump of Dimitri Mascarenhas. Shane Warne is fortunate to survive a huge lbw shout first ball.
133 for 6. If Warwickshire can knock the rest over sharpish, they will be in a position to put Hampshire under real pressure.
Paroxysms of excitement in the press box as cake arrives, courtesy of an extremely kind person.
Warne, having never looked comfortable, edges Tahir to Sangakarra at second slip. Tahir 2 for 26 from 15 overs. 147 for 7.
Tahir bowling very well, with good support from Steyn who is again unlucky to be wicketless before being replaced by Groenewald.
Pied wagtail at wide long-off.
Groenewald to Carberry. Carberry, on the offensive having reached 50 from 119 balls with nine fours, smashed a glorious straight drive. Groenewald just gets a hand to it and deflects the ball on to the stumps.
Tremlett run out for 6. The unluckiest way to go.
169 for 8. Two balls later, Carberry lofts straight and Loudon takes a fine catch at long-off, not far from the pied-wagtail. 169 for 9. Bears in business.
A Naqaash slower ball torpedos Bruce lbw. Tahir 3 for 41. Hampshire 169 for 7 to 169 all out.
A great effort from Warwickshire this morning.
An excellent effort by Warwickshire, that. All the seamers bowled well, backed up by very good catches, not least two crackers by Alex Loudon.
Nice chap, Loudon. Former Eton scholar. From an affluent background.
Not like me. I came from a poor family. One year, in fact, things were so tight that Mum and Dad gave me an empty box for Christmas and told me it was an action man deserter.
Darren Maddy and Ian Westwood are dealing well with the new ball, despite some testing bowling, when James Bruce jags a lifter back into Maddy and hits him in a very, very painful place.
Much ribald laughter from Hampshire's player.
Not from Maddy. Retired hurt 9. Kumar Sangakkara goes in ten minutes before lunch. 25 for 0.
It's not often you say that the actual fabric of a Big Brother house is important to a house, but this year it might well be.
While many see to think the cooker (or the kewker as those increasingly irritating twins keep calling it) in the bedroom, the bath in the living room and the fridge in the garden is about upsetting people, if you scratch beyond the conflict card there could be a deeper meaning to it all.
By having things mixed up you could actually reduce tension in the house.
Maddy's pain only increases as Sangakkara, facing his fifth ball, drives a return catch to Stuart Clark. Out for 5. 25 for 1.
Lunch: Warwickshire 25 for 1. Westwood 11 (37 balls - a gutsy effort against some impressive bowling by Bruce and Clark), Trott 0.
To the eighth ball after lunch Jonathan Trott, pinned in the crease, falls lbw to Bruce.
Maddy is still in discomfort so in comes Troughton. 33 for 2. Game on.
Jim Troughton smashes two cover drives for four off successive balls from Bruce then attempts a third and edges to Warne in the slips.
Troughton is sent on his way with a pretty charmless verbal blast by the bowler.
It's getting a bit heated out there. Corinthian Casuals, Hampshire are not.
Westwood and Loudon launch a thrilling counter-attack, striking 11 fours in a 50 partnership.
106 for three.
The main scoreboard at the Pavilion End has misfired and is spouting gibberish. Considering the amount it cost and the length of time it has been there, the ongoing erratic nature of that board really is a poor state of affairs.
Westwood reaches 50 from 88 balls with seven fours.
A really good, gutsy knock, it steered Warwickshire out of early travails but then Westwood drives Mascarenhas to short extra cover. Caught by Clark for 51. 126 for 4.
Ambrose comes in. Maddy remains retired hurt.
A helter-skelter day's cricket careers onward as Ambrose chips a catch to mid-off off Mascarenhas and departs for 0.
The tenth wicket of the day already. Maddy returns. 135 for 5. Loudon 48 not out.
Maddy essays a big drive at a wide one and edges Clark to the wicket-keeper. Out for 24. 168 for 6. Loudon not out 60.
Despite all the rain, this match could be heading for an intriguing final day tomorrow.
Just shows you can never tell. I was moaning to me dear old Nan about all the rain on Wednesday night and saying this game would probably be another draw and she said: "Barry," (she never could remember me name) "look on the bright side. It's better to think you are half-dry than to know you are all wet". Spot on, Nan.
The procession of wickets continues. Groenewald edges Clark to slip and departs for 10. Naqaash edges Warne to slip for 5. The twelfth and thirteenth wickets of the day. 184 for 8.
Loudon, unbeaten on 67, has just played the shot of the day, the match and arguably the century when he pulled Clark for six into the Rea Bank Stand where the ball landed with a firm thud, dislodging a nidifying corn-bunting from the upper tier.
Tea. Warwickshire 198 for 8. Loudon 67, Steyn 14.
Lettuce? Frankly, it's over-rated.
Loudon is on 89, facing Warne. A straight six brings up the 250 then successive fours off the next two balls take the batsman to a wonderful century, from 136 balls with 17 fours and three sixes.
A century, including 86 from boundaries, against a strong bowling attack on a slow wicket. A very fine innings indeed.
Steyn contributed a useful 26 and last man Anyon has now stuck in there to add 45 so far with Loudon.
262 for 9, 93 in front.
And Loudon goes for 103, stumped Pothas b Warne.
262 all out, a first innings lead of 93.
Hampshire 37 for 1, still 56 behind.
Interesting selection conundrum for the Bears after the ECB made Ian Bell available for the Friends Provident Trophy visit to Worcestershire on Sunday.
Bearing in mind that Warwickshire are unbeaten in one-day cricket, indeed all cricket, this season, does anyone deserve to be dropped?
Should Belly play?
I haven't spoken to David O'Leary for two years and he has barely crossed my mind during that time.
So why, last night, did I dream that I was weeding David O'Leary's garden?
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Edgbaston is bathed in sunlight and all is set fair for what will hopefully be a cracking final day's play.
Essex County Council has banned hanging baskets on lampposts on health and safety grounds. A report has recommended that children should not be encouraged to put their hands up in class because it might intimidate shyer pupils. The RSPB is now opposed to the word 'cock' to describe male birds.
Has the world gone mad?
The twelfth ball of the day brings the breakthrough as Naqaash Tahir delivers a superb away-cutter that Michael Brown edges to Tim Ambrose. Hampshire 44 for 2, still 49 behind.
The Goons were over-rated.
Michael Lumb edges Dale Steyn to Tim Ambrose - a richly-deserved first wicket of the match for the South African.
Hampshire 71 for three, still 22 behind. Game on.
Three magpies on outfield.
To cure a wart, stroke it with the underside of a dead snail, then go and find a rural crossroads in Suffolk and bury the creature there.
The wart will heal rapidly.
Michael Carberry drives recklessly at Jimmy Anyon and edges to Ambrose. Out for 2.
Hampshire 85 for 4, still seven runs behind.
John Crawley taking root unbeaten on 32 from 83 balls. He's the main man now.
Lunch: Hampshire 119 for 4. (26 in front). Crawley 40, Pothas 23.
Crawley, on 40, was dropped by Trott in the slips off Anyon. Could be costly.
And, by the way, which legendary Warwickshire bowler owned a spaniel called Fifi?
Hampshire 162 for 4, Crawley 53 (142 balls), Pothas 53 (57 balls). 68 ahead.
A draw starting to look likely, barring some quick wickets or some very rapid runs followed by an adventurous declaration.
If this game is drawn, Warwickshire will take 9 points, one less than they require to move top of the table.
A third successive rain-damaged draw beckons as Nic Pothas steers Hampshire safely towards sanctuary with an unbeaten century. 118 not out. 268 for 7.
Crawley (73) and Mascarenhas (20) lent solid support. Warne out second ball, flailing Tahir wildly to mid-off, for 0 - the sort of shot that suggested the Australian had lit a fag and left it on the ash-tray before he came out.
Good morning ladies and gentleman.
A sunny day at New Road. Ian Bell and Lee Daggett are in the Warwickshire side. Jonathan Troot and Jimmy Anyon drop out. Heath Streak is fit after a sore back and plays.
Moeen Ali plays for Worcestershire. Warwickshire won toss and bat.
Good morning ladies and gentleman. Apologies that team news was not registered, as planned, at 10.30am. Forgot to press the button!
Trott and Anyon rested. Bell and Daggett play. Streak fit.
Warwickshire won toss and bat but Westwood falls lbw to the fifth ball of the day, a speedy yorker from Kabir Ali.
25 for 1 (6 overs). Maddy 8, Sangakkara 15.
Worcestershire could regret getting Sangakkara in in the first over. He has just brought up the 50, in the ninth over, with a brace of blistering back-foot cover-driven fours off Kabir Ali.
Maddy, meanwhile, settling for almost invisible anchor role. 55 for 1 (10 overs). Maddy 10, Sangakkara 43.
New Road looking sensational in the sun. Hope the impending ground redevelopments are sensitive.
92 for 1 (15 overs) Maddy 30, Sangakkara 59.
Maddy bursts into life with four, six, four from three successive poor leg-side deliveries from Bollinger. Sangakkara reached 50 from 41 balls.
Warwickshire 120 for 1 from 20 overs.
Maddy 47, Sangakkara 68. Spinner Ray Price has wrested back a measure of control for Worcestershire.
Crowd: decent, but not the full house a sunlit local derby might be expected to attract.
141 for 1 (25 overs). Maddy 56, Sangakkara 80.
A visitor to the New Road press box has just described the delightful, elegant Ladies Pavilion to our right as "two sheds".
Philistine!
Sangakkara reaches a brilliant century from 91 balls with his twelfth four. Also hit a six which landed smack on the boundary rope.
Sangakkara runs himself out for 115, ending a partnership of 199 (the best by either side in the history of this fixture) with Maddy.
It was the only way Worcestershire were going to get rid of the Sri Lankan. A terrific innings from 99 balls with 15 fours and a six,
199 for 2 (32 overs). Maddy 79, Bell 0.
Spectators are on their feet for the third time today. First two times were for Sangakkara's century and departure. This time Maddy reaches his ton.
A fine knock by the captain, posting his century from 110 balls with seven fours and two sixes.
Bell mises out though, chipping to extra cover for 6.
234 for 3 (41 overs). Maddy 103, Troughton 7.
262 for 5 (45 overs). Troughton 23 not out including two big sixes.
Worcestershire have dug in though and kept battling.
Geese, apparently, retain their fertility until well into their 90s.
Groenewald smites some late blows, including a six into the car-park by the cathedral off Bollinger, to reboot the innings after Worcestershire had reeled the run-rate back in quite well.
Warwickshire finish on 303 for 6. Sangakkara 115, Maddy 106, Troughton 33, Groenewald 21 not out.
Worcestershire 51 for 0 (ten overs). Solanki 25 (having just welcomed Groenewald into the attack with three fours in an over), Jaques 21.
Jaques, on 10, was dropped by Sangakkara at slip of Daggett.
Game on. Worcestershire 98 without loss after 15 overs. Solanki 51, Jaques 41.
Solanki batting fluently and has hit Groenewald out of the ground on the way to 50 from 52 balls with six fours and a six. Jaques less convincing at times, dropped on 10 by Sangakkara at slip off Daggett.
Worcestershire 150 for 0 (23 overs). Solanki 70, Jaques 68.
Nottinghamshire and Durham are on top in their matches elsewhere. The Bears could take a big step backwards in the race for the semi-finals if they lose this one.
Solanki posts the 200 partnership in the 30th over by cutting a Loudon long-hop for four.
Next ball, Solanki reaches his century from 82 balls with 10 fours and two sixes.
A mangificent partnership and the Bears have looked pretty toothless. 207 for 0.
Solanki cuts a Loudon long hop for four to raise the 200 partnership. Next ball he reaches his century from 82 balls.
A magnificent partnership goes on. 214 for 0. Solanki 105, Jaques 96.
90 needed from 18 overs. With Notts and Durham going well elsewhere, Warwickshrie need to win this one.
The long-awaited breakthrough arrives when Jaques bottom-edges Steyn to Ambrise and departs for 102. The record opening stand of 223 is over.
224 for 1 (33 overs). Solanki 108, Moeen 1.
Moeen Ali clips Daggett to mid-wicket where Maddy takes a good low catch.
228 for 2. 76 needed from 16. Solanki on 108, Smith 4.
Piece of cake?