That is what is sometimes called a moral victory - Ajeet Singh Dale bangs in a short one at Luis Reece, who is fortunate to see the ball fly wide of the slips off the edge and away for four.

Derbyshire still going along nicely though. Six overs bowled.

Oof, that's close.

Keith Barker gets one to tail in jjst past Dom Sibley's off stump. He then comes in around the wicket and finds the outside edge of Sibley's bat.

It flies past Liam Dawson at second slip. Encouragement for the evergreen Barker.

Michael Neser serves up a tidy third over of the day. Six dots.

Tom Helm trying to outwit Tom Haines and Tom Clark. Tomfoolery, if you will.

It's not working though as Helm offers Clark some width which he accepts with a punch through the covers to the very short boundary infront of the grandstand, currently populated by school children enjoying a day out at the cricket.

Lovely stuff. Sounds rather like feeding time at an aviary, mind.

Ethan Bamber's radar is a little off too and Haines helps himself to five straight boundaries as Sussex reach 37 inside five overs. Haines has 25. No powerplay here, of course.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Radio Newcastle

The weather forecast in previous days suggested that today could have been a wash-out, it didn't look good at all.

We've got a bit of grey sky around, but it's quite warm and having recently looked at the weather forecast, it looks like we should be ok for the next few days.

Durham decided to put Somerset in after winning the toss. It's a green-looking track and it paid dividends because Ben Raine bowled Tom Abell for four at the end of the first over.

Peter Siddle has come into the Durham side to replace Matty Potts, who has a sore toe. Ben Stokes is playing his first home Championship game since a win against Glamorgan in May 2022.

It's been tough going for the Leicestershire openers with Matt Salisbury prompting another edge from Eddie Byrom.

Once again it drops agonisingly short. Maybe it's time for the slips to take a step forward?

Byrom finally gets off the mark with his 13th ball of the morning - a single off Salisbury, before Billy Root drives for a couple.

There are four Northants slips in place but Jack White overpitches and Adam Lyth drives it confidently through the covers for his first boundary of the game. Stylish.

Michael Neser's first over for Hampshire is tidy enough - and concedes just the two to Dom Sibley.

His second, following Keith Barker's maiden, brings a moral victory for the bowler as he induces a leading edge from Rory Burns which flies through the vacant gully area to the rope.

He then overpitches and Burns helps himself to a more convincing boundary through extra cover.

Almost two for Ben Raine, who ends his second over with a beauty which just misses the outside edge of Tom Lammonby's bat.

A stifled lbw appeal from Paul Coughlin at the start of the next as Matt Renshaw moves right across his stumps, and the Australian then has to dig out a perfect inswinging yorker.

These are testing conditions for batting.

All-rounder Grant Stewart takes the new ball at the other end for Kent and Nick Browne picks up a two, with a single for Dean Elgar meaning both openers are off the mark.

Wes Agar finds the edge of the Elgar's bat in his second over but the ball bounces on its way to Zak Crawley at second slip.

11 dot balls to start with for Agar before Elgar times a punch past mid-on superbly to bring up the first boundary of the day.

A positive start by Derbyshire at Bristol.

Luis Reece chops Matt Taylor down to third man for four in the opening over and when Ajeet Singh Dale is short and wide in the second, David Lloyd clatters it through the covers for another.

Nothing elegant about the latter. Brute force.

Leicestershire won the toss and have inserted Glamorgan - and after the first over you can perhaps see why.

Billy Byrom edges Salisbury's second ball just short of Peter Handscomb in the slips. The Leicestershire bowler then beats the opener's edge with his fourth ball.

Maiden.

Ian Holland's first ball for Leicestershire following his loan move from Hampshire is a no-ball. Billy Root then takes a couple for the first runs off the bat before another no-ball.

Root then edges a drive just short of second slip.

Image source, Rex Features

Congratulations to Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth, who is playing his 200th County Championship game for the county.

He's been in good form so far this season, but is pinned down by Ben Sanderson in the opening over at Wantage Road. It's a maiden.

Surrey won the toss and decide to have first bat.

They make one change in the bowling department, with Cam Steel coming in for Kemar Roach.

Hants are without Tom Prest who fractured his shoulder at Trent Bridge last weekend, Ali Orr who suffered a back spasm yesterday, and Mo Abbas who is rested.

In come Toby Albert for his first game of the season, Nick Gubbins, back from paternity leave, and Michael Neser makes his Hants debut.

Surrey get off to a perfect start as Keith Barker bowls the first ball of the match on to Rory Burns' pads and he tucks it away for four.

Five dots and no scares. The pitch doesn't appear to be blessed with pace.

Tom Haines and Tom Clark open up for Sussex at Lord's in Division Two after the hosts won the toss and elected to bowl first.

A couple of twos and a single for Clark off the opening over from Ethan Bamber have the visitors off and running.

No anxious wait in the dressing room for Somerset's Tom Abell.

Back in the team following a hamstring problem, he's out there to open and takes strike to Ben Raine.

The third ball is directed onto his pads and Abell casually flicks it away square for four.

Essex skipper Tom Westley won the toss and elected to bat first so Dean Elgar and Nick Browne stride out into the middle at sun-drenched Canterbury.

Browne scored 159 on this ground last year and shared a 265-stand with Westley for the second wicket in a high-scoring draw.

Wes Agar takes the new ball. A lot rests on the shoulders of the Australian and Arafat Bhuiyan, with Kent's attack hampered by injury and unavailability.

So, seven of our nine games will make a prompt start.

It's time for action.

Image source, Rex Features

We're only eight weeks into the 2024 season but already the question is being asked as far as the County Championship is concerned - who can stop Surrey?

After starting the campaign with two draws, the 2022 and 2023 champions have reeled off four dominant victories since then and last week rolled over Worcestershire by 281 runs.

When they met Hampshire at the Oval in round four, they won by an innings, twice bowling out their opponents for under 200, and in Dan Worrall, they have the leading non-Essex bowler in the competition, with 26 victims so far.

Hampshire have Toby Albert in for Ali Orr (bad back) and give a debut to Michael Neser. They will be hoping for a similar result to last summer's corresponding fixture - played in September conditions - when they beat Surrey by 52 runs.

We have ball by ball coverage of on all nine games for you, courtesy of our BBC 5 Live Sports Extra and BBC local radio teams - and an extra bit of good news is that the commentaries will once again be available to overseas listeners.

Click the Watch and Listen tab above to choose a game and it will be our pleasure to keep you informed about events elsewhere with regular text updates.