Postpublished at 5 overs

5 overs

Warks 15-0 v Surrey

You don't really expect to see maximums this early in a Championship game, do you?

Jordan Clark digs in a short one and Alex Davies and pulls it away beyond the short boundary at square leg.

Andrew Radd
BBC Radio Northampton

Luke Procter decided to bat first, I wonder if he's walking back to the pavilion having second thoughts.

He presented Luke Wells with the very simplest of catches and the Northamptonshire captain is back in the pavilion to be replaced rather earlier than he would have wanted.

Will Williams ought to have good memories of this ground. Three years ago he played in the heatwave match and he bowled very well and made vital runs. That was an absolute brute of a ball.

Solid start with the ball by Essex, with Jamie Porter and Shane Snater sending down a maiden apiece in the first five overs.

Just one boundary for the batting side so far, courtesy of Adam Lyth. He has nine of Yorkshire's 10 runs so far, with Fin Bean on one at the other end.

Slater dropped on 1published at 11:13 British Summer Time 9 May

11:13 BST 9 May

Notts 9-0 v Hants

Haseeb Hameed edged one off Kyle Abbott's first ball of the morning which didn't quite carry to the slips and got through for four, and now Slater has given another chance.

This time it carried at a nice height to Toby Albert at second slip but he has put it down. Early in the piece to get one in your direction but that should have been grabbed – a big let off for Notts.

That's a freebie for Asa Tribe, who clips a low full toss from George Garrett through mid-wicket for four.

By the way, 18-year-old Ekansh Singh is making his first-class debut for Kent in this game. Good luck to him.

Nathan Smith is given the new cherry for the second over ahead of Matthew Fisher and Tom Lawes on his first Surrey appearance.

Alex Davies dabs the game's first run to the right of gully.

A tidy first over by Grant Stewart at the Spitfire Ground.

Zain ul-Hassan helps himself to a couple of runs to get the scoreboard moving. Asa Tribe is his opening partner.

He's the first sporting Asa we can think of since footballer Asa Hartford. If you know of any others, use #bbccricket to let us know.

Jamie Porter gets this one up and running, tearing in from the Graham Gooch End to bowl the opening over to Adam Lyth.

Lyth is off the mark quickly, steering Porter away on the off side for three, with Fin Bean yet to score.

Jordan Clark takes the new ball for Surrey at Edgbaston. Three slips are poised for any edges that may come their way.

He is right on the money with his opening delivery, which Rob Yates plays defensively to mid-on.

Right then. Six games we have for you. Time for action.

Image source, Getty Images

Division One's early season pacesetters Notts hand a debut to Pakistan international Mo Abbas following his winter switch to Trent Bridge - and with perfect timing it comes against the team with whom he spent four seasons on the south coast.

The addition of his quality to the bowling attack – Abbas has 758 first-class wickets at an average of 20.66 – will help Notts given Fergus O'Neill (currently No 1 in the wicket-taking list with 21) has moved on and Josh Tongue is absent.

Brett Hutton, who has 15 wickets already, will aim to get into a fruitful partnership with Abbas.

Hampshire are looking to break a run of three drawn games. After sending Yorkshire packing in the opening round, Ben Brown's side have drawn with Surrey, Somerset and Durham.

At least their skipper could not be in better form, Brown having posted a match-saving 162 against Durham on a flat pitch at the Utilita Bowl last time out.

Image source, Getty Images

One the one hand, Lancashire are unbeaten since their descent to Division Two – the flip side is that the pre-season title favourites are yet to win a game either.

The Red Rose head to Wantage Road in sixth place, already 28 points off the top two – and somewhat relieved to have preserved that undefeated record after batting out the final afternoon against Gloucestershire to secure their fourth consecutive draw.

They have seamers Will Williams and Anderson Phillip back in the side to offset the ongoing injury absences of Tom Aspinwall and England’s record Test wicket-taker James Anderson.

Northamptonshire – still seeking their first victory under new head coach Darren Lehmann – have already claimed a moral victory over their opponents, having forced them to follow on in last month’s drawn game at Old Trafford.

Lehmann has named a side with one change from Northamptonshire’s defeat in their most recent outing, a 132-run reverse against league leaders Leicestershire as Liam Guthrie replaces Justin Broad.

BBC Sounds

You can follow every ball of every County Championship match with the BBC this summer.

Along with our live text coverage our BBC Local Radio and 5 Live Sports Extra commentary teams will be out in force to ensure you do not miss a thing.

You can listen via the BBC Sport website and app but also on most smart speakers - just ask BBC Sounds to play the game you want but also state the day as well.

For example, ask BBC Sounds to play Warwickshire against Surrey, day one.

Image source, Rex Features

One win from four does not really do justice to how well Sussex have played on their return to the top flight and they will look to rebalance the scales with a win against winless Worcestershire at Hove.

A thumping nine-wicket defeat against Notts last time out for John Simpson's side was a reality check after an unbeaten start in which draws with Warwickshire and Surrey sandwiched a win over Somerset.

But they can draw positives from the batting of both Tom Haines (513 runs) and Simpson (463) who sit one and two in the batting charts after four rounds (or five for Durham and Somerset).

For Worcestershire this is already looking to be a tough ask this season with a draw against Somerset offering false hope given that it was followed by a record-breaking loss against Yorkshire, a narrow one against Essex and a six-wicket defeat by Durham.

The Pears will be looking for a response with the bat after a miserable capitulation against Durham in the second innings when they were skittled for 81.

Image source, Getty Images

The lure of heading home to Headingley proved too strong for Anthony McGrath – but the former Essex head coach is back on familiar ground as he brings his Yorkshire side to Chelmsford today.

McGrath finds himself up against ex-Yorkshire playing colleague Chris Silverwood – the man he initially assisted at Essex and who is now back in charge following his successor’s decision to rejoin the White Rose county at the end of last season.

It’s been a mixed start to the campaign for both teams, with Essex in eighth place following a first defeat of the season at Taunton after Somerset recovered from 78-5 to chase down a target of 321.

The home side, already without England hopeful Jordan Cox after he was injured during the game at Taunton, are also missing all-rounder Paul Walter due to a hamstring problem.

Yorkshire, one place and eight points below their hosts, will be seeking to add to their sole victory so far, a resounding 504-run success against bottom side Worcestershire in April.

Image source, Rex Features

It was once said of Yorkshire that they could whistle up fast bowlers from the coal mining workforce whenever they needed one.

Nowadays, it seems Surrey can do the same when it comes to experienced international cricketers to bolster their squad.

England's Jason Roy will play his first Championship game for seven years and New Zealand all-rounder Nathan Smith makes his debut for the reigning champions, but there is no place in their XI today for Australian signing Kurtis Patterson.

They will fill the gap left by Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope, who are taking a breather before Test duty later this month, while Tom Latham has recovered from a hand injury and plays for the Bears.

Image source, Rex Features

Glamorgan fell one wicket short of registering their first Championship win of the summer against Derbyshire on Monday.

At the same time, Kent were on the wrong end of a two-wicket defeat as Middlesex chased down a target of 365 at Lord's.

Both teams, therefore, has good reason to be 'on their game' this week, although the home side must manage without England's Zak Crawley at the top of the order.

Seam bowler James Harris is in the Glamorgan team after passing fitness tests - but they cannot call on Australia's Marnus Labuschagne, who will start a two-game deal next week.

Division One

Chelmsford: Essex v Yorkshire

Yorkshire won toss and will bat

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Hampshire

Hampshire won toss and put Notts in

Hove: Sussex v Worcestershire

Worcestershire won toss and put Sussex in

Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Surrey

Surrey won toss and put Warwickshire in

Division Two

Canterbury: Kent v Glamorgan

Kent won toss and put Glamorgan in

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Lancashire

Northants won toss and will bat

Good news.

"Today will be a dry and settled day with plenty of sunshine for most. Patchy cloud will develop for a time in the afternoon, mainly in the south-west, where the odd brief shower cannot be ruled out."

That's the BBC Weather summary for today and as we don't have a game in Taunton, Bristol or Cardiff, we should be laughing (not literally).