Dillon Pennington will get us up and running with the opening over of day four, with Colin Ackermann to face the first ball.

Ollie Robinson is at the non-striker’s end.

Play!

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 in position today at the five remaining grounds 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 Somerset against Worcestershire day four.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Radio Newcastle

It could be an exciting day at Trent Bridge, particularly if Notts take two or three early wickets. If that happens they will be in a great position to press for the win.

Durham need some big partnerships to take this one into late afternoon. There was a bit of variable bounce last night, with one or two deliveries shooting along the floor. The batsmen will have to be careful because of that.

But it is also a quick-scoring ground with a tiny boundary on one side. And if Durham get off to a decent start with the bat that deficit will be gone in no time.

To save the game they basicaly need to bat past tea. Partnerships are key, but so too will be the bowling of the likes of Fergus O'Neill, who has taken seven wickets in the game so far, and Farhan Ahmed, the 17-year-old spinner who may be able to get some turn on a worn track.

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Fisher shared in a vital 55-run stand for the eighth wicket alongside Ben Foakes as Surrey battled hard on the third day at Chelmsford.

Fisher made the move from Yorkshire in the winter and believes they have what it takes to avoid defeat.

"I think we've done a fairly decent job overall and we'll back ourselves to be able to bat out for a draw," he told BBC London.

"We've put a lot of work into our batting over the winter to get those lower-order runs - if we can keep batting down to eleven then teams will be fearing us.

"I'm loving it at Surrey - even being out there in the field when we were behind in the game there was still positive messaging, you can tell this team has won and is used to winning."

After playing the role of spectators to the great Tom Banton show on day two, Worcestershire fought back well on Sunday, albeit in a likely losing cause.

Facing a more than daunting 516-run first innings deficit after Somerset's morning declaration, the Pears could have folded with the bat for a second time in the game.

And when both openers were back in the hutch with the score on 40, and then when Kashif Ali was the fourth wicket to fall with the score on 116, that scenario looked highly likely.

However, a superb rearguard action from Adam Hose and Brett D'Oliveira showed the Pears still have some fight left. Their fifth-wicket stand worth 158 almost took them all the way to the close, but Kasey Aldridge removed Hose for 82 with 17 balls of the day left.

The Pears captain remains unbeaten on 71, but Somerset will be confident of wrapping this one up without having to bat again, even on a pitch which has got increasingly easier to bat on.

They need five wickets, while the visitors still require another 236 to avoid an innings defeat.

As always, we'd love to read your views during the course of today's play. Are you happy with the start to the season your side has made? Who will be the key players for your team in 2025? Get in touch.

Nottinghamshire ruled out any prospect of a home defeat as they reeled in Durham's first innings total on Sunday morning and then accelerated with some fine middle and lower order batting.

Lyndon James' third career century against Durham and 75 from Matt Montgomery laid the platform and Josh Tongue's maiden first-class fifty then provided welcome bonus runs as the hosts piled up a 201-run lead.

With four sessions of the match left, the draw still looked the likeliest option, but two quick wickets for Fergus O'Neill and Tongue's well-earned removal of Ben McKinney late on gave the hosts hope of a victory.

On a wicket showing signs of variable bounce, the Durham batters will have their work cut out, but know that two good sessions will salvage a draw.

They have the redoubtable Colin Ackermann (45*) and the dangerous Ollie Robinson (6*) at the wicket and resume 87 runs behind.

Image source, Rex Features

It was tough work for Essex bowling on a flat one on day three at Chelmsford but they managed to work their way through Surrey's powerful batting line up to give themselves a chance of forcing a victory.

Simon Harmer was again to the fore with four wickets and taking two in a spell where three Surrey batters perished for the addition of only eight runs.

Essex will look to the South African once again while Matt Critchley also found some turn late in the day to pick up a couple of wickets.

Surrey will think they cannot make the same mistakes twice - it is still a good pitch for batting and with three days of sun on it you cannot see it having deteriorated too much.

Early wickets will be key for the home side if we are not to be shaking hands on a draw at 5:00pm.

Image source, Rex Features

All results are possible at the home of cricket after an unbeaten century by Max Holden put Middlesex back in the contest against many people's Division Two title favourites Lancashire on day three.

Holden will resume on 135 not out, an innings including 15 boundaries, with his side 189 in front, having been 7-3 at one stage early in their second innings.

Lancashire, though, will still fancy their chances if their bowlers can wrap things up in reasonably short order with a ball that is still fairly new.

"I'm really pleased to convert and put us in a decent position," Holden told the Middlesex website. "We have every faith, whatever score we get, that with the range of abilities in our attack, we can defend anything."

"High pressure remains firmly in charge of our weather, not just today, but also as we go through the week, hence the settled conditions. So lots of dry weather today, a lot of sunshine, just light breezes" - the words of BBC forecaster Carol Kirkwood.

When was the last time the county cricket season began with four days of sunny weather? For those of us with short memories, answers on a (seaside) postcard, please, to the usual address.

Division One

Essex 582-6 dec v Surrey 365 & 9-0 (f/o)

Surrey trail by 208 with 10 wickets standing

Nottinghamshire 579 v Durham 378 & 114-3

Durham trail by 87 with seven wickets standing

Somerset 670-7 dec v Worcestershire 154 & 280-5

Worcestershire trail by 236 with five wickets standing

Warwickshire 454 v Sussex 528 & 126-3

Sussex lead by 200 with seven wickets remaining

Division Two

Middlesex 260 & 288-6 v Lancashire 359

Middlesex lead by 189 with four wickets standing

---Sunday's results

Hampshire 249 & 148-5 v Yorkshire 121 & 275

Hampshire won by five wickets

Derbyshire 391 v Gloucestershire 222 & 259

Derbyshire won by nine wickets

Glamorgan 229 & 248 v Leicestershire 427 & 53-0

Leicestershire won by 10 wickets

Northamptonshire 143 & 114 v Kent 231 & 171

Kent won by 145 runs

Image source, Rex Features

It's been a pretty much perfect start to the 2025 County Championship - unless you are a follower of Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Glamorgan or Gloucestershire.

The weather for early April has been blissfully benign and we have seen some incredible batting by Somerset's Tom Banton, who made 371, and fine bowling from the likes of Kent's Keith Dudgeon and Luis Reece of Derbyshire.

Cricket fan Bill Shakespeare once said: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."

Which teams in the five matches that have reached day four will be tasting the riches of victory today? Stay with us to find out. Play starts at 11:00.