The sun is beating down in south London and Rory Burns and Dom Sibley are opening up for the hosts, with Ethan Bamber taking the new ball for Warwickshire.

Glamorgan begin this round in second place and in contention for promotion - and they will bat first.

The hosts, perhaps with one eye on T20 Finals day this weekend hand first class debuts to Nirvan Ramesh and Ben Whitehouse, while the club's senior bowler Ben Sanderson is rested.

Right then - time for red-ball cricket.

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Surrey's quest for a fourth straight County Championship title resumes with the visit of fourth-placed Warwickshire to The Oval.

Both sides will seek to avoid a white-ball hangover after painful quarter-final exits in the Blast on home soil in the past five days and the Feathers know that a victory this week will surely make it a two-horse race for the crown, with second-placed Notts due to visit in a monumental clash next Monday.

The visitors have a 34-point cushion to the bottom two and follow this trip with another to Essex next week before finishing the season against Notts.

A win for Bears here would really set the cat among all those pigeons in SE11 and they have begun on a high, winning the toss and asking Surrey to bat first.

The hosts will bat first with Ari Karvelas, Daniel Ibrahim and Henry Crocombe the players to miss out among the 14-strong squad.

Keith Barker returns to Hampshire colours and South African all rounder Bjorn Fortuin is on debut for the club.

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It looks like a two-horse involving Surrey and Nottinghamshire but there is no way Somerset will have given up on a first title just yet.

They have a 26-point gap to close on the leaders and are 17 behind second-placed Notts but the match against Yorkshire is the first of two in a row at home and Lewis Gregory's side are looking to win both.

Having reached T20 Blast Finals Day at the weekend, it's back to red-ball cricket for the Cider Boys, who have recalled all-rounder Ben Green from his latest loan at Leicestershire.

Yorkshire are 12 points clear of the relegation places but are leaving nothing to chance - the loss of Pakistan's Imam-Ul-Haq prompted the signing of India opener Mayank Agarwal and he makes his debut.

Image source, Rex Features

The coin has landed in favour of visiting captain Haseeb Hameed, who has chosen to bowl first.

Josh Tongue returns to a strong bowling attack that includes Dillon Pennington and Mohammad Abbas.

Brett Hutton misses out, having played in the last Champsionship round while Calvin Harrison is back with Northants on a fresh loan deal.

The Pears bring in Dan Lategan and Ben Allison in place of fast medium bowler Adam Finch and middle order batter Adam Hose.

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You won’t find too many arguments if you called this the match of the week in Division One.

Durham are second-bottom, stinging from a Friday night Blast quarter-final defeat at home to Hampshire and head to third-bottom Essex, 12 points adrift of them with three games remaining.

Essex had a field day when they last played at home base, piling on 602-6 before having to settle for a rain-affected draw with Warwickshire.

The hosts are without Sam Cook, who suffered a broken thumb playing in another format, while Jordan Cox remains sidelined with a broken rib but Kiwi international all-rounder Doug Bracewell is in line for his seasonal debut.

Durham have David Bedingham available for just the fourth Championship game of the season after South Africa duty but they have left out Afghan leggy Shafiqullah Ghafari.

The visitors have won the toss and will bat first.

Image source, Rex Features

It is 22 years since Leicestershire last played in Division One of the County Championship.

Surely that situation is about to change as they go into the game against Gloucestershire needing a maximum of 21 points from the next three games to be certain of promotion.

They will be without skipper Peter Handscomb for the run-in as he has returned home to prepare for the Australian season, but Pakistan's Shan Masood is a more than handy replacement.

Gloucestershire's hopes of promotion are faint, having won only once so far this season, but who knows what might be possible if they manage victories in their final three games - but they have also lost their captain, Cameron Bancroft, for the same reason.

Image source, Rex Features

As Jofra Archer and Mark Wood seek to prove their fitness for this winter's Ashes tour, there is another fast bowler who would dearly love to join them in Australia.

Like Archer and Wood, Olly Stone is a bowler of undoubted ability, and one who has been capable of reaching the 'magic' 90mph mark.

So, with time running out to claim places on the plane down under, and after a couple of run-outs in The Hundred, Stone has joined Middlesex from Notts on a two-week loan 'to get some miles into his legs'.

It's fourth against third at Lord's, the ground where Stone made his Test debut against Ireland in 2019, and Wayne Madsen makes his 500th appearance for Derbyshire.

What a brilliant servant to the club he has been.

Division One

Chelmsford: Essex v Durham

Durham won the toss and will bat

Taunton: Somerset v Yorkshire

Yorkshire won the toss and put Somerset in

The Oval: Surrey v Warwickshire

Warwickshire won toss and put Surrey in

Hove: Sussex v Hampshire

Sussex won the toss and put Hampshire in

Worcester: Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire

Notts won the toss and put Worcestershire in

Division Two

Canterbury: Kent v Lancashire

Kent won the toss and will bat

Leicester: Leicestershire v Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire won the toss and will bat

Lord's: Middlesex v Derbyshire

Derbyshire won the toss and will bat

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Glamorgan

Glamorgan won the toss and will bat

The BBC Weather X summary says: "A fresh and sunny start to the new week for many. However, showers in the west will develop a little more widely through the day. Some showers in west being thundery."

Could certainly be worse - but maybe a few anxious glances to the heavens in Taunton.

Image source, Rex Features

We are back where we started. Following the mid-summer flirtation with Kookaburra, it is back to Dukes balls for the final three rounds of the County Championship.

But what is the difference between the two? They're both red and round and propelled along the pitch by the same method.

To answer that, we turn to an excellent piece written by Adam Lanigan in July, which said: "A Dukes ball is hand stitched with six rows of threads. This makes the seam more pronounced than the Kookaburra and it maintains its shape for longer, favouring bowlers searching for seam and swing movement.

"The Kookaburra is machine stitched and does not have the same handicraft in its manufacturing. It does swing initially, but loses its shape more quickly and becomes softer."

Division One

• Surrey W 4 - 175pts
• Nottinghamshire W 4 - 166
• Somerset W 4 - 149
• Warwickshire W 3 - 148
• Hampshire - W 2 - 129
• Sussex W 3 - 127
• Yorkshire W 3 - 126
• Essex W 2 - 126
• Durham W 2 - 114
• Worcestershire W 1 - 89

Division Two

• Leicestershire W 6 - 193 pts
• Glamorgan W 5 - 165
• Derbyshire W 2 - 141
• Middlesex W 4 - 138
• Gloucestershire W 1 - 131
• Lancashire W 2 - 127
• Northamptonshire W 2 - 123
• Kent W 2 - 97

Image source, Rex Features

In the town of Desborough, Northamptonshire, there is a residential area called The Wickets.

Wonder how many we will see today as the County Championship returns following its month-long exile for The Hundred and One-Day Cup.

All the important questions remain to be answered over the next three weeks. Can anyone stop Surrey becoming champions for the fourth year running? Who will be going up and who will be going down?

Welcome to our coverage, Now we are into September, play starts at 10.30.