Frank Watson
BBC Hereford & Worcester

Worcestershire skipper Brett D’Oliveira (90*) is playing with tremendous responsibility as his side attempts to salvage a draw from this game.

Nightwatchman Adam Finch was the only casualty in the first 90 minutes and Matthew Waite. (19*) proving a staunch support.

Attritional stuff!

150 up for Durhampublished at 12:32 BST 7 April

12:32 BST 7 April

Notts 579 v Durham 378 & 152-5

Graham Clark and Colin Ackermann trade singles to bring up the Durham 150.

Ackermann cracks another single and Clark flicks another as the deficit crawls down below 50.

Spin at both ends at Taunton, but the turn is slow and both batters have time to get on the back foot and play it safe.

Matthew Waite sees out a maiden to Archie Vaughan.

Somerset skip Lewis Gregory responds and brings back strike bowler Kasey Aldridge.

And with just his second ball he runs one past Brett D'Oliveira's outside edge with a ball which keeps a little low. A single takes the Pears captain to 90.

Craig Overton does a Stuart Broad and swaps the bails around to change the bowler's luck.

Matthew Waite takes three off the last ball to keep the strike.

Postpublished at 12:29 BST 7 April

12:29 BST 7 April

Essex 582-6d v Surrey 365 & 75-2

I'm not sure how long this Paul Walter experiment will last as Jamie Smith pumps him into the seats behind square for six and then follows it up with a back-foot drive to the cover boundary for four.

Smith then reaches for a wide one and misses - no foot movement with that one - are Essex hoping to lull him into something? Well, the next ball is cut away ferociously for four more.

250 lead for Sussexpublished at 12:29 BST 7 April

12:29 BST 7 April

Warks 454 v Sussex 528 & 177-5

It's been tough going for Sussex this morning with only 50 added in an hour and 25 minutes.

There was some early intent from James Coles but he's now gone for 47 and scoring has otherwise been limited.

Tom Alsop is 11 from 53 balls.

Certainly no dream of a lunchtime declaration now you'd think.

Postpublished at 111.1 overs

111.1 overs

Middx 260 & 363-8 v Lancs 359

Tom Aspinwall starts a new over with a short, wide delivery and Max Holden carves it away for six.

Holden now has 172 not out - his eighth-wicket partnership with Jack Davies this morning added 69 to the Middlesex total.

Zafar Gohar is a handy number 10 in this innings from Middlesex - but he takes his life in his hands by trying to keep out a yorker with a horizontal bat, rather than a vertical one.

Fortunately for him, he chops down at the right moment and the danger is averted.

The ball squirms under Joe Clarke as Durham add a bye to their total.

Josh Tongue then gets a lifter to take off and Graham Clark does well to get out of its way.

Three from the over - relatively profitable from the watchful visitors.

They've chalked just 30 runs off the deficit this morning which now stands at 57.

We'll have spin for the first time today as Farhan Ahmed replaces Lyndon James from the Stuart Broad End.

Here's something we don't see too often for Essex - Paul Walter is going to have a bowl.

The left-arm seamer started life as a bowling all-rounder but these days opens the batting for Essex and is rarely given the ball - what has Tom Westley seen to make this move?

Jamis Smith drives Walter's third delivery to the long-off fence.

Image source, Rex Features

A poor shot.

Tom Bailey sends down a wide one and Jack Davies just dangles the bat horizontally and guides a catch to Tom Aspinwall at point.

It was there for the square cut but he didn't put any kind of oomph into the stroke.

That's the 16th five-for of Tom Bailey's career. The Middlesex lead is 258.

Brett D'Oliveira rocks back on his backfoot and plays a late cut to send Jack Leach through square leg for four.

A rare attacking shot in a splendid show of concentration from the Worcs captain.

A single takes him to 84 off 210 balls. His innings ticks round to 10 minutes shy of four-and-a-half hours.

Now we have spin at both ends as Archie Vaughan is introduced.

50 up for Surreypublished at 12:15 BST 7 April

12:15 BST 7 April

Essex 582-6d v Surrey 365 & 50-2

Dom Sibley clips a wayward Shane Snater delivery down to the long-leg boundary.

Snater has 1-8 from his five overs.

How are Lancashire going to take these three wickets?

George Balderson has been the pick of their attack this morning but since Tom Bailey dismissed Henry Brookes with the first ball of the day, there has been nothing doing.

Jack Davies tries to pull a short one from Tom Aspinwall, but plays too early and it comes of the toe end. No run.

Fergus O'Neill offers Josh Tongue a few pointers before running in for his third over of the morning.

Graham Clark turns his first ball into the legside before Colin Ackermann gives Notts skipper Haseeb Hameed his second piece of fielding in successive balls. He scampers back to keep the Durham batter down to two.

Ackermann is the big fish for the home bowlers. Durham need 60 more runs to make the hosts bat a second time.

Matthew Waite has plenty of company surrounding the bat as Jack Leach comes in for his 35th over.

But he's a model of defensive solidity as he dabs out a maiden.

Mark Church
BBC Radio London commentator

Essex will be pleased.

Ollie Pope was looking to be positive but punched his bat on the way back to the pavilion.

It'll be interesting to see when Shane Snater bowls to Jamie Smith because he took a couple of steps down the wicket yesterday and one nipped back and bowled him.

Scott Read
BBC Radio Lancashire

I'm not ruling out a successful Lancashire run chase (later on), but I'm not ruling in that they'll even got for it. It's intriguingly balanced.

Lewis Gregory bends his back and sends a bouncer flying over Matthew Waite's head.

While Somerset are firmly in control, they are going to have to work hard for their wickets.

Waite clips a single off his pads to complete the over and retain the strike.

Image source, Rex Features

Some breaking news from the world of cricket for you with Harry Brook confirmed as the new captain of England's white-ball team in both the 50-over and T20 formats.

Brook succeeds Jos Buttler, who stepped down from the role following England’s early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy last month in Pakistan.

Brook has played 26 ODIs for England, scoring 816 runs at an average of 34.00, with a top score of 110. In T20Is, he has earned 44 caps, has a highest score of 81 and was part of the team that won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022.

You can read the full story by clicking here.