Dick Davies
BBC Essex

What a glorious day it is here.

Theoretically it's the day you'd want to win the toss and obviously from the Essex point of view it's to be hoped that they take full advantage of that.

But we've all been watching enough cricket to know that things don't always go according to expectations or plan.

Arafat Bhuiyan has certainly asked some questions of Dean Elgar and Nick Browne already this morning but this time he strays onto the pads of Browne who glances away to fine leg for a no-doubter boundary.

Looks like a batter's track, this. The openers have taken 13 overs out of the new ball at a lick under three an over. You'd expect that might accelerate a bit in the hour before lunch.

Matt Cole
BBC Radio Kent

It's a sunny day here at Canterbury and these two sides are primed for this one. Not only because of a rivalry - the battle of the bridge they call it but both sides are desperate for points for different reasons.

Essex are hoping to keep up their assault on the top three of the County Championship and Kent in the bottom two will be hoping for points to take them away from the relegation zone even in this early season.

Here we go. Time for Ben Stokes to turn his arm over with a green-tinged wicket to help him. Big movement from the first delivery which strikes Matt Renshaw amidships.

That should have been two for Liam Dawson.

Rory Burns comes down the wicket to Dawson's second ball which sneaks between bat and pads.

Burns is off balance and out of his crease, but wicketkeeper Ben Brown loses sight of the ball and fumbles allows Burns to recover his ground.

Maiden from Dawson. He took nine wickets in the reverse fixture against Surrey this season and looks in the mood once more.

Kyle Abbotts replaces Keith Barker.

You have to wonder what Ben Stokes - master of Bazball - makes of the way Somerset opener Matt Renshaw is approaching his task at the Riverside. A single off Ben Raine ends the latest over and Renshaw has four not out from 34 balls faced. Playing the conditions.

The Leicestershire pitch is coming under a bit of scrutiny - it looks VERY green.

Glamorgan openers Eddie Byrom and Billy Root have had a few lives here, with lbw appeals and edges to the slips falling short, but they're still there.

Root takes a four off the final ball of Ian Holland's fifth over and joins Byrom on 15.

50 up for Sussexpublished at 11:40 British Summer Time 24 May

11:40 BST 24 May

Middlesex v Sussex 52-0

Tom Haines cuts a wide one from Ryan Higgins backwards of point, past the sweeper, and to the rope to bring up the Sussex 50 from just 52 deliveries this morning. Nine boundaries in fewer than nine overs.

A welcome reminder that T20 cricket is on the horizon.

Nine off Grant Stewart's latest over.

First a short ball heading down leg is helped on its way to the fence almost nonchalantly by Dean Elgar and a few balls later Elgar tries to scramble a single, taking on the arm of Arafat Bhuiyan in the deep, the shy at the stumps is good, but not in time, and the ball flashes away for four overthrows.

Arafat will replace Wes Agar from the Nackington Road End next.

A beauty from Keith Barker which deserved better.

He gets one to angle in and then nip away off the pitch. It misses Dom Sibley's outside edge by an absolute whisker - he did well to miss it to be fair.

Barker then angles another just past Sibley's off-stump.

A good leave and a good probing over from the Hampshire man. Maiden.

Matt Taylor is fractionally short and David Lloyd is quickly in position and pulls it away for six.

That will be Taylor's last for a while as he is replaced by Beau Webster.

Tom Lammonby drives at the opening ball of Paul Coughlin's latest over - it's uppish but flies through backward point for four.

The over ends in similar fashion, although this one is a more controlled stroke by the left-hander, and in between Lammonby pulls away a short ball to the mid-wicket boundary.

He is 17 not out and partner Matt Renshaw has two.

Rory Burns beginning to motor.

Michael Neser goes short and wide and Burns takes full advantage, smacking it square for four.

The Australian goes fuller and Burns flicks it off his legs through midwicket for his fifth boundary.

It should have been stopped by Felix Organ, but Burns won't mind. He moves to 20 off 29 balls.

Image source, Getty Images

Somerset and England's Shoaib Bashir finds a new bit of equipment at the Riverside.

Wes Agar fires in a quick ball which nearly cuts Dean Elgar in half. Best ball of the morning by some distance and the former South African Test captain can only gaze into the middle distance in contemplation after it beats his bat and the top of the stumps before flying through to Harry Finch behind the timbers.

Otherwise serene progress in the Garden of England.

Keith Barker strays down leg and it glances off Dom Sibley's pads to the rope.

He then drives through the covers for his second boundary of the morning. Lovely shot.

Barker gets another to tail in and that's a good leave. Sibley moves to 11.

Anthony Gibson
BBC Radio Somerset

It's Lewis Gregory's birthday today, so many happy returns to him as he turns 32.

And by playing in this match, he equals his personal tally of most successive Championship played for Somerset.

This is his 10th consecutive game which is something he's done twice before.

This illustrates the number of injury problems that he's had, he does have to manage his fitness very carefully.

But he's captain now and he's played in every one one of these first seven County Championship matches as well as the last three of last season.