Division Two leaders Sussex head to Northampton on the back of a thrilling win over fifth-placed Leicestershire just four short days ago.

It was their fourth victory in eight matches this season and gave them a narrow eight-point lead, with six rounds of matches left to play.

Second-placed Middlesex overcame bottom side Derbyshire at Lord’s for their third win of the campaign but face a stern away test in Leicester.

The top-two have a 25-point cushion over Yorkshire who propelled themselves into third with their first victory of the season, crushing Glamorgan by an innings at Scarborough.

The White Rose head to another out ground today - Queen’s Park, in Chesterfield - to take on winless Derbyshire.

And there’s more festival fever in the beautiful environs of Cheltenham where second-bottom Gloucestershire host fourth-placed Glamorgan who sit 27 points outside of the promotion spots.

The coin lands in favour of visiting captain Tom Westley, who has decided to have a bowl.

The Essex XI is unchanged since the previous round.

Two changes for Surrey since their last game. Tom Lawes comes in for Gus Atkinson and Ryan Patel replaces Ollie Pope.

Image source, Rex Features

With this match being the last before the County Championship goes into cold storage until 22 August, it can set the tone for how the run-in shapes up.

Hampshire are in no-man's land in fifth, but the pressure here is on opponents Kent.

Their innings defeat to Lancashire last week in the battle of the bottom two has left them 25 points adrift of safety.

Another big loss at the Utilita Bowl could leave them with too much to do when the red-ball stuff returns in a few weeks.

There is no Zak Crawley at the top of the order for this one, but they do hand a debut to Feroze Khushi, who has joined on loan from Essex.

Kent have won the toss and they are going to bowl first.

Durham have made a fine start to life back in Division One and sit handily placed in fourth as they host the side that joined them in the promotion party last autumn.

They welcome back Ben Stokes, but will say farewell to Australian bowler Peter Siddle whose short stint with Durham comes to an end after this match.

Last time out the championship's northernmost county side impressed in having the better of a high-scoring draw away to title-chasing Essex.

Worcestershire have found it harder to adapt back at the top table and a winless first eight games, coupled with three defeats, leaves them second-bottom and facing another relegation scrap.

They give a debut to former England Under-19 spinner Amar Virdi, after joining on loan from Surrey. He replaces Somerset loanee spinner Shoab Bashir.

The Pears put up some resistance before eventually succumbing to an innings defeat at home to leaders Surrey.

New Zealand paceman Nathan Smith returns after being rested against Surrey, but Adam Finch misses out through injury.

Durham also won the reverse fixture back in April by 185 runs and will start as favourites here.

Image source, Getty Images

England cricket aficionados will be keeping a close eye on events in the north east as Ben Stokes pulls on his Durham sweater for the last time before the belated start of the Test summer.

Stokes has played just twice for Durham this season as he continues his return from surgery for a knee injury which has severely limited his bowling in recent years.

It appears - fingers and toes crossed - to have worked.

The all-rounder hoovered up 15 wickets at 16.40, including best figures of 5-98 in defeat to Lancashire, and 4-23 to tee up victory over Somerset.

England’s talisman has added just 20 runs with the bat, in three innings, but Bazball-fuelled Durham are not short in this department.

Ollie Robinson (82.67) - with a stunning red-ball strike rate of 86 - and David Bedingham (80.73) hog the top two spots in the Division One batting averages.

Bedingham has piled up more runs than anyone in the Championship this season - with five centuries - and needs just 112 runs more to reach the magic 1,000 mark.

Jamie Smith is perhaps the most notable absentee in the Surrey squad for this Championship round as he joins Surrey team mates Dan Lawrence and Gus Atkinson in the England squad for the upcoming Test series v West Indies, starting on July 10.

He is one of a number of contenders for the England keeper's spot and has fine form with the bat this season.

He struck 86 at New Road in the last Championship round, taking his tally to 843 runs at 46, with one century and seven 50s.

Image source, Rex Features

Jimmy Anderson's grand farewell from Test cricket is now only 10 days away, so the England legend will don his whites again in preparation for that match against the West Indies at Lord's.

The venue is Trafalgar Road, Southport, a mighty Ben Stokes blow away from Royal Birkdale Golf Club, as Lancashire take on Nottinghamshire in their latest County Championship encounter.

It is Anderson's first match for the Red Rose since May last year but for one week only, he will be a team-mate of Australia great Nathan Lyon.

With a combined 1230 Test wickets between them, it is certainly something for Nottinghamshire to think about.

Somerset will hope for a bit more in the Taunton wicket than they found at Trent Bridge where they had a high-scoring draw against Notts.

Nonetheless, the hosts are handily placed just 11 points behind second-placed Essex and can challenge for the top two with a win against Warwickshire.

The visiting team battled through a tense draw nine wickets down at home to Hampshire on Wednesday evening, where Sam Hain battled through a mini collapse and a painful blow on the hand from fast bowler James Fuller to finish on 111 not out.

Hain has since recovered from that battle and retains his place in the 13-strong squad where Rob Yates comes in for Danny Briggs.

Somerset welcome Shoaib Bashir to their squad after the off spinner completed his loan deal with Worcestershire.

Image source, Rex Features

These teams have been the top two since well before this season and the result of this Oval clash will be crucial for the destiny of both sides.

Just 12 points separate these Division One heavyweights at the top of the table.

Surrey maintain their position in the number one spot after demolishing Worcestershire by an innings and five runs at New Road in the last round.

There will certainly be eyes on Surrey's Dan Lawrence. He joins team mates Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson in the England squad for the West Indies Test series and guided Surrey to a mammoth 490 at New Road with an innings of 175.

There's no Gus Atkinson in the squad for this fixture and Ben Foakes will take the gloves.

The bowling attack will likely be spearheaded by Dan Worrall.

Essex stalled a little bit in their last game where the batting of Dean Elgar and Tom Westley helped the team salvage a draw against Durham after conceding a deficit of 248 on first innings.

The batting of both players will be vital against one of the strongest bowling attacks in the division.

Essex have a very fine bowling attack of their own, with off spinner Simon Harmer and seamer Jamie Porter both in the squad.

Good news for the pacemen, if not spectators, is that the searing temperatures of round eight have cooled significantly and conditions look considerably more manageable for a heavy workload in the field.

More positive news for everyone today is that the covers are likely to stay behind the boundary rope and umbrellas left unfurled, with dry conditions forecast.

And cloud cover is also likely to give the bowlers more spring in their weary step.

There’s a chance of interruptions on day two, as rain is due to sweep in from the west, but nothing too damaging, before more cricket-friendly dryness follows.

Division One

Chester LS: Durham v Worcestershire

Southampton: Hampshire v Kent

Southport: Lancashire v Nottinghamshire

Taunton: Somerset v Warwickshire

The Oval: Surrey v Essex

Division Two

Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Yorkshire

Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Glamorgan

Leicester: Leicestershire v Middlesex

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Sussex

Image source, Rex Features

It seems no time at all since we were pulling up the stumps on our last slice of county championship action and here we all are again.

It’s the second round of matches in this mini slice of the four-day competition, and the last before we break again until late August when the five-game run-in begins.

There’s plenty at stake between now and Wednesday evening, including a mouthwatering clash between table-topping Surrey and second-placed Essex.

The defending champions could pull out a decisive gap with victory, but a big win for Essex could leapfrog them into the top spot heading into the break.

Elsewhere, many eyes will be trained on Southport where Jimmy Anderson returns for his first game of the domestic season for Lancashire as he warms up for his big Test farewell at Lord’s.

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon will also make his final appearance for the Red Rose before he returns home to rest up for the Australian summer season.

And, if that isn’t enough, Ben Stokes will also have another run out for Durham before the small matter of skippering England’s Test campaign.

So let’s take a deep dive into what’s coming up in the next few days.