100 up for Surreypublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 7 April

13:55 BST 7 April

Essex 582-6d v Surrey 365 & 103-3

Fifteen runs added since lunch for Surrey.

Interestingly Essex have started this session with Matt Critchley bowling rather than Simon Harmer in partnership with Shane Snater.

300 lead for Sussexpublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 7 April

13:55 BST 7 April

Warks 454 v Sussex 528 & 226-6

Perhaps, if anything, Warwickshire have the bigger sniff of victory this afternoon?

A run-a-ball chase wouldn't be out of the question. They need these final four wickets quickly though with 63 overs left in the game.

With the lead now 300, Sussex are entering calmer waters but still have a little more batting to do.

Tom Alsop is 38 not out

Matthew Waite gets the score ticking after lunch by helping himself to four off Archie Vaughan. His fourth boundary in 109 balls.

He nicks a single to the final ball of the over and moves to 27.

Waite then rotates the strike again to Kasey Aldridge and gives his skipper two balls to get his ton. But the wait goes on.

The size of the lettering on the back of Ryan Higgins' shirt is certainly good news for those in the crowd who haven't brought binoculars with them to Lord's.

It's about twice as big as the names on the Lancashire shirts.

Nothing dramatic occurring thus far.

Ooof! That will jangle a few nerves.

Dillon Pennington gets the first ball of his new spell to lift sharply.

It takes the shoulder of Graham Clark's bat and loops over the slips for four. Enjoy your lunch, Graham?

The afternoon session begins with Matthew Waite playing out a maiden from Archie Vaughan.

Then Kasey Aldride to Brett D'Oliveira who resumes on 99. Will this be the over?

No. The skipper shows admirable restraint to block out six dots. Playing for the team.

Lyndon James gets us up and running at Trent Bridge and starts with a maiden.

He induces that rarest of thing - a Colin Ackermann play and miss.

Dillon Pennington, who took the two wickets to fall this morning, is on at the Stuart Broad End.

Off we go for the final afternoon session at Chelmsford and Shane Snater's first delivery after the interval is driven away for four runs by Ben Foakes.

A leg-slip in position for Essex.

So, we have a target set at Lord's.

Are Lancashire going to have a go at trying to chase it down?

Middlesex are in a group huddle at Lord's - what wise words is Toby Roland-Jones imparting?

Perhaps they were: "I'm bowling the first over, so you lot, on your toes in the field."

A quick reminder of the lunch scores:

Division One

Essex 582-6 dec v Surrey 365 & 88-3 (f/o)

Nottinghamshire 579 v Durham 378 & 177-5

Somerset 670-7 dec v Worcestershire 154 & 337-6

Warwickshire 454 v Sussex 528 & 214-6

Division Two

Middlesex 260 & 407 v Lancashire 359

Everyone loves a cute animal photo, don't they?

Here's one of former England batsman and Warwickshire club president Dennis Amiss, who is celebrating his 82nd birthday today.

For any younger readers, Dennis scored more than 43,000 first-class runs during his career, including 11 Test centuries. In other words, a top, top player.

Police dog Amiss was named in his honour.

Image source, Warwickshire CCC

Somerset need to make themselves "Hundred-ready", says the county's chief executive Jamie Cox in case the competition expands.

The Hundred is currently made up of eight franchises and in February director of business operation of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Vikram Banerjee, said expansion is a "no brainer" if the tournament continues to grow.

Cox, who has been chief executive since December 2023, said while entering the Hundred is not necessarily the end-goal, the club want to be at the front of the conversation regardless.

"Part of our goal is to make ourselves what we call Hundred-ready," Cox told BBC Points West.

Read the full story here

Image source, Rex Features

Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath was left to rue a number of fielding lapses after they suffered defeat by Hampshire on Sunday on their return to Division One.

The home side won by five wickets on day three, but had a few alarms along the way before chasing down a target of 148.

"To give ourselves 150 to defend was always going to be tough. The word is frustration, because I think we created eight or nine chances there, and that could have been a lot different," said McGrath, who moved to Headingley from Essex over the winter.

"But if we cut out a few mistakes, bat better like we did in the second innings, I think it's shown everyone in the dressing room, against Hampshire, who are normally up there, that we can compete and there's some good signs going forward."

Image source, Getty Images

Opening-round wins by Derbyshire don't come around all that often, so it's no wonder that head of cricket Mickey Arthur was delighted by their nine-wicket success against Gloucestershire on day three.

Luis Reece returned career-best match figures of 10-97 and overseas signing Caleb Jewell made two half centuries in their first opening-round win for six years.

"This reaffirms the work we put in pre-season in those cold dark days in the middle of January. The boys have worked unbelievably hard and cricket looks after people who work hard," said Arthur.

"It's only one step but what it does is brings a lot of confidence into our dressing room. Winning is a habit so I couldn't be happier and I hope this is the start for good things to come for us collectively as a team and for a lot of our players individually."

Adrian Harms
BBC Sussex

Image source, Rex Features

The wicket of John Simpson on the stroke of lunch has potentially breathed life into a game that looks to heading for a draw.

Sussex lead by 288, but with only 66 overs left, it’ll take a dramatic turn of events for either side to win this game.

Rob Yates has bowled tidily, taking three of the Sussex wickets to fall, and continued unchanged until 10 minutes before lunch

Five of the six dismissals in this innings have come from spin and should Sussex bowl again, Jack Carson may fancy his chances adding to his four wickets in the match so far

Frank Watson
BBC Hereford & Worcester

An excellent morning for the Pears, who lost only night-watchman Adam Finch as they attempt to bat all day.

Brett D’Oliveira sits uncomfortably on 99 not out at the break having added 49 so far for the seventh wicket with Matthew Waite (22*).

It’s tough out there, though, with Archie Vaughan finding plenty of turn from the footmarks at the River End.

The Worcestershire skipper was fortunate to survive a couple of close shaves against the young off-spinner in the last few minutes before the break and this partnership looks crucial.

Scott Read
BBC Radio Lancashire

Image source, Rex Features

Its a fiver to get into Lords today and free for concessions and those that decided to take up the offer have watched the tail-end of a superb transformation in the match.

At lunch yesterday, Middlesex had recovered from 7-3 to 78-3 but were still 21 runs behind. Thanks to Max Holden, they have set a target of 309.

It was a stunning recovery from the home side, a statement response by a second division title contender.

Lancashire will expect to be pushing for promotion alongside them and therefore leaving Lords with at least a draw already feels like an important challenge ahead.

Image source, Rex Features

Leicestershire had just enough time to wrap up a 10-wicket win over Glamorgan on Sunday at Sophia Gardens.

Having asked for the extra half hour with the home side nine down, Sol Budinger and Rehan Ahmed saw them home on 53-0 in just six overs, a win achieved despite the absence of Rishi Patel, who was injured on the opening day.

"That's a fantastic way to start the season, the most pleasing thing was that we were able to execute our plans pretty well for the three days," skipper Peter Handscomb told BBC Radio Leicester.

"We found it hard to find a man of the match, it was a team performance with bat and ball, the bowling unit bowled beautifully in partnerships throughout the game."

Division One

Essex 582-6 dec v Surrey 365 & 88-3 (f/o)

Nottinghamshire 579 v Durham 378 & 177-5

Somerset 670-7 dec v Worcestershire 154 & 337-6

Warwickshire 454 v Sussex 528 & 214-6

Division Two

Middlesex 260 & 407 v Lancashire 359

Very much Middlesex's morning despite losing nightwatchman Henry Brookes' wicket to the first ball of the day.

Tom Bailey also saw off Jack Davies to complete a five-for but the home side added 119 to their overnight 288-6 to set Lancashire a target of 309.

Max Holden reached a superb 184 before holing out off Ollie Sutton and Luke Wells ended the session by bowling Zafar Gohar for 22.

Can the Red Rose chase this down?