Jofra Archer returned to county cricket for the first time since 2021 but played a role with bat rather than ball as he chipped in with 31 to support centurion James Coles as Sussex reached 322-9 at Durham.

The defending champions Surrey are in control against Worcestershire as they dismissed the home side for 209 before closing on 47 without loss in reply.

Ben Slater was out four runs short of a century but the leaders Nottinghamshire are 298-6 and going well at against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge.

It rained runs at Edgbaston as Tom Kohler-Cadmore blasted a century and shared a 186-run opening stand in partnership with Josh Davey with Somerset 327-3 against Warwickshire.

Charlie Allison made a second first-class century for struggling Essex to help them to 292-8 against Hampshire at Chelmsford.

Good days for all of the top three yesterday with Nottinghamshire and Sussex building solid totals against Yorkshire and Durham respectively while Surrey dominated Worcestershire on both sides of the ball.

Somerset will hope to force their way into the title mix and they were hugely impressive with the bat on day one against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

The tussle between Essex and Hampshire - with the victor assured of moving clear of relegation trouble for now - remains finely poised.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Radio Newcastle

It's a sunny day in Chester-le-Street, but it isn't half windy. We have gusts of about 45mph, which will make things interesting for the players.

The first job for Durham is to end the Sussex first innings. The last pair are in, with James Coles on 117 from 190 balls. He was dropped twice yesterday on 36 and 95. How costly will that be?

The Durham bowlers worked hard to get the wickets though, especially with the Kookaburra ball and for a while it looked like Sussex were going to leave a few too many runs out there. But a quickfire 31 from Jofra Archer helped put a partnership together of 57 for the ninth wicket, which certainly helped their cause.

And all eyes will be on him later when he has the ball in his hand. He will be bowling in the Championship for the first time in four years. It will also be interesting to see what Australian fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu can do on his Sussex debut.

Division One

• Durham v Sussex 322-9
• Essex 292-8 v Hampshire
• Nottinghamshire 298-6 v Yorkshire
• Warwickshire v Somerset 327-3
• Worcestershire 209 v Surrey 47-0

Division Two

• Gloucestershire 187 v Derbyshire 116-2
• Lancashire v Kent 213-3
• Leicestershire v Glamorgan 305-5
• Northamptonshire v Middlesex 397-8

Image source, PA Media

Good morning.

We have had a bit of wind and rain over the past 24 hours but we're all set for day two of the County Championship and there's plenty for us to get our teeth into.

Jofra Archer will have the red ball in his hand for Sussex at some point this morning for the first time in four years.

The champions, Surrey will look to take control of their game with Worcestershire as they chase a fourth successive title.

And can James Anderson inspire winless Lancashire against Kent?

Whoever your team is we've got it all covered for you so let's get cracking shall we?