Hands have been shaken. Whites have been donned. Umpires have retrieved their panamas and shades from the bottom of their bags. Time for cricket.

BBC Sounds

If you love listening to the County Championship action, you can access our ball-by-ball radio commentary on most smart speakers, as well as via the 'Watch & listen' link at the top of this page.

Simply tell your smart speaker to ask BBC Sounds to play the fixture of your choice and the day of play. So, for example, today you could say "ask BBC Sounds to play Lancashire v Somerset day one".

Image source, Rex Features

Winning when the pressure is really on is the hallmark of a good side and Somerset proved they are worthy title aspirants by the manner of their 111-run win over Surrey at Taunton last week.

It put them only eight points behind the leaders and provided fresh belief that this could finally be the year they lift the County Championship trophy for the first time in their history.

The challenge now is to put the disappointment of Saturday's T20 Blast final defeat behind them and keep on winning with the red ball - but how will they fare against Lancashire at Old Trafford if the pitch provides less assistance to their spinners, who took all 20 Surrey wickets last week?

Another victory is what captain Lewis Gregory will be demanding, despite the absence of injured Tom Banton, which could offer the prospect of a Cider Boys title triumph on home turf against Hampshire in their last game of the summer.

Image source, Rex Features

Before the last round of games, Surrey held a 24-point lead at the top of Division One and looked all set to become the first team to win a hat-trick of titles since Yorkshire did the treble from 1966-1968.

But their dramatic defeat at Taunton, where spinners Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan, shared 10 wickets on the final day, saw Somerset cut that lead by two thirds.

Surrey could theoretically become champions this week if they win against Durham - who are skippered by Alex Less and have opener Emilio Gay making his debut after arriving on loan - with enough points and Somerset lose to next-to-bottom Lancashire.

The road to the title, though, may still have many twists and turns and Surrey will hope at the very least to stretch their lead again ahead of a tough final game away to Essex at Chelmsford.

Warwickshire head coach Mark Robinson admits his side are not alone in juggling a growing injury list as the season moves into final throes.

With Michael Rae departed for New Zealand, fast bowler Michael Booth (side strain) has now joined Che Simmons (back) on the Edgbaston treatment table.

Dan Mousley has returned from England T20 duty but Robinson feels he needs a bit more red-ball practice and may play in their final match against Notts next week.

Robinson has turned to the loan market for a sticking plaster solution, grabbing Roman Walker from Leicestershire as emergency cover for the final two matches of the season.

“Players around the country face the same challenge – there are lots of tired bodies and minds. It’s a long season,” said Robinson.

Fourth-placed Essex will look to back up a convincing innings victory over Notts last week on their final road trip of 2024.

Image source, Getty Images

There are still 48 points left on the table and third-placed Hampshire are 27 points behind Surrey.

That means mathematically they are still in the title race!

James Vince (pictured above) and his men haven't lost in the Championship since April - with that defeat at the Kia Oval their only loss of the campaign.

He has won the toss and chosen to bat first, with Felix Organ coming into the XI following the draw with Kent last week.

This week they host Worcestershire, who are out of the relegation picture and can now plan for a second successive year in Divison One. The Pears could still finish as high as third in Joe Leach's farewell season.

Having become Lancashire's youngest debutant in the County Championship, 16-year-old Rocky Flintoff was quickly acquainted with the realities of professional county cricket.

After scoring 32 in his first innings against Division One leaders Surrey, his next three innings yielded two ducks and only eight runs.

He was given a rest against Durham last week, but is back in the Lancashire XI today, along with Harry Singh, who makes his first Championship appearance.

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

He was one of the Gloucestershire heroes as they won the T20 Blast on Saturday, but Sussex won't have to contend with Australian batter Cameron Bancroft in Bristol as they look to push for promotion.

Bancroft has been allowed to return home to Australia two weeks early after scoring 1,600 runs in all formats this summer, including 39 off 35 balls as they cruised past Sussex in the Blast semi-finals.

In terms of their possible points total, fifth-placed Gloucestershire are still in the promotion picture, but the reality is that a top-two finish is almost certainly beyond them.

For Sussex, though, they have the luxury of knowing that two draws would be enough to see them return to Division One, from which they were relegated in 2015.

Division One

Southampton: Hampshire v Worcestershire

Hampshire won toss and will bat

Canterbury: Kent v Nottinghamshire

Kent won toss and put Notts in

Old Trafford: Lancashire v Somerset

Somerset won toss and put Lancashire in

Oval: Surrey v Durham

Surrey won toss and put Durham in

Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Essex

Essex won toss and put Warwickshire in

Division Two

Derby: Derbyshire v Middlesex

Derbyshire won toss and will bat

Cardiff: Glamorgan v Yorkshire

Glamorgan won toss and put Yorkshire in

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Sussex

Gloucestershire won toss and will bat

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Leicestershire

Leicestershire won toss and will bat

As things stand, Division Two leaders Sussex need a maximum of 13 points from two games to be certain of a return to the top level of the County Championship next summer.

They are 21 points clear at the top, but will be taking nothing for granted, though, ahead of a tough away fixture against Gloucestershire, who severely dented Middlesex's promotion ambitions last week with a four-wicket win at Lord's.

Yorkshire, in second place, have won four of their last five and are looking to continue that run of form against Glamorgan - who only have one victory this season - at Sophia Gardens.

So the pressure is really on Middlesex, who are 15 points behind the Tykes, to bounce back at Derby and maintain their hopes of regaining Division One status, 12 months on from losing it.

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

Seven players have already reached 1,000 County Championship runs for this season, but there are quite a few more who may have eyes on that particular achievement this week.

Surrey captain Rory Burns needs 11 runs to join the list, and Will Rhodes (Warwickshire, 46), Adam Lyth (Yorkshire, 33), Dean Elgar (Essex) and Keaton Jennings (Lancashire, both 55), Leus du Plooy (Middlesex, 62), Sam Northeast (Glamorgan, 76) and Emilio Gay (Northants, now Durham, 81) are also within striking distance.

So far, no bowler - whether seamer or spinner - has managed 50 red-ball victims this summer.

Those closest to a 2024 bowling half-century are Jamie Porter (Essex) and Olly Hannon-Dalby (Warwickshire, 4 more needed), Jack Carson (Sussex, 5), Dan Worrall (Surrey) and Ben Coad (Yorkshire, both 6), Liamd Dawson (Hampshire, 7), Simon Harmer (Essex) and Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex, both 8) and Kyle Abbott (Hampshire, 9).

BBC Weather summary: "Today is expected to become largely dry and settled after showers in the far north diminish. There will be plenty of sunshine after early low cloud and fog clears. A warm day."

For this potentially crucial week in the County Championship, you can watch a forecast for the rest of the week below.

Image source, Rex Features

We're into the second half of September now and there are just two rounds of games left in this season's County Championship.

There should be some thrilling cricket in store this week, weather permitting, with Surrey and Somerset - who both missed out on T20 Blast silverware on Saturday - locked together in a battle for the 2024 title, and promotion from Division Two still to be settled.

It could be a tough week ahead for Kent, who will almost certainly be relegated if their fail to beat Nottinghamshire at Canterbury, and definitely will be should they lose.

Welcome to our coverage of nine matches. Play starts at 10:30.