Image source, Rex Features

If you’d been asked on a frigid Friday morning in February to predict the state of play in the County Championship when Essex travelled south over the Dartford Bridge in late May bound for Canterbury, you’d probably have guessed right.

A third of the way through the campaign and the visitors are seeking a win to keep pace with early leaders Surrey while Kent are looking for a victory which would haul them out of the relegation zone.

There have been anomalies on the road to round seven, of course, not many would have picked Kent to register an historic win at Old Trafford while few might have expected Essex’s sole defeat to have come at the hands of Somerset, but here we are.

Zak Crawley will seek to follow-up his Kent best 238 in the defeat at Taunton last week against Sam Cook and Jamie Porter, who have a Division One-best 28 wickets apiece, while Jordan Cox makes a swift return to Canterbury having hit a fine century and amassed a huge stand with Matt Critchley (pictured) to ensure victory over Warwickshire last time out.

Both Cox and Critchley also made centuries as Kent clung on for a high-scoring draw at Chelmsford in April.

Despite having Wes Agar back, with pacemen George Garrett, Nathan Gilchrist, Matt Quinn, Beyers Swanepoel and Charlie Stobo unavailable, and having lost the toss for the sixth time in seven games, another draw might be considered a good result for the hosts.

While Joe Root and Harry Brook have drawn much of the limelight in Division Two this season, the latest round of fixtures before the County Championship break brings a top-of-the-table clash at Lord's.

Second-placed Middlesex trail pacesetters Sussex by seven points so will be looking to leapfrog the visitors and claim top spot.

The unbeaten hosts will be looking to build on two wins from their last three games, including a thrilling two-wicket away victory over Glamorgan last time out.

Sussex had a nervy, but impressive win of their own last weekend at Headingley as they bounced back from a heavy defeat at Glamorgan with a 21-run victory over Yorkshire, as England bower Ollie Robinson took seven wickets in a low-scoring clash.

Leicestershire are still looking for their first win of the season but sit third as the division's only other undefeated side after six draws. They host sixth-placed Glamorgan.

The Foxes battled superbly to draw with Gloucestershire on Monday and face a Glamorgan side who pushed Middlesex all the way after inflicting Sussex's sole defeat of the campaign so far.

Gloucestershire, in fourth, head to bottom side Derbyshire on the back of rewriting the record books at Grace Road last week where they posted a record first-class score - a monstrous 706-6 declared.

Image source, Getty

It all went well with the ball for Ben Stokes last week, the England captain taking seven wickets for Durham, albeit in a losing cause as they went down by 60 runs to Lancashire despite scoring 414 in the fourth innings.

Stokes will be in the field again after Durham put Somerset in, but he will also be in the mood for runs this week after managing scores of only two and 18 at Blackpool.

Somerset's eight-wicket win over Kent moved them up to second place in the table, and they will be boosted by the return of former captain Tom Abell, who has finally shaken off a hamstring problem.

It will, though, be the final appearance in this stint for Australian opener Matt Renshaw, who has contributed 403 runs to the cause so far.

Image source, Getty Images

It's very rarely dull around Yorkshire CCC, with lots of chat at the moment about chairman Colin Graves' belief that the club needs private funding to survive.

On the field, they need to find a way to start winning County Championship games after last week's three-day defeat at Hove in a low-scoring match left them next to bottom of the Division Two table

They have also lost new-ball bowler Ben Coad to injury and will not have the services of Joe Root or Harry Brook for the game at Wantage Road, but there is compensation in the arrival of Sri Lanka left-armer Vishwa Fernando, who begins a three-match deal.

Northants are also without a win so far, but they could not have come any closer at Derby last week when spinners Rob Keogh and Liam Patterson-White shared nine wickets in the final innings and in opener Emilio Gay, they have a batter bang in form with 661 runs to his credit.

Division One

Chester LS: Durham v Somerset

Durham won the toss and put Somerset in

Southampton: Hampshire v Surrey

Surrey won the toss and will bat

Canterbury: Kent v Essex

Essex won the toss and will bat

Old Trafford: Lancashire v Warwickshire - no play before lunch

Worcester: Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire - no play before lunch

Division Two

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Derbyshire

Derbyshire won the toss and will bat

Leicester: Leicestershire v Glamorgan

Leicestershire won the toss and put Glamorgan in

Lord's: Middlesex v Sussex

Middlesex won the toss and put Sussex in

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Yorkshire

Northants won the toss and put Yorkshire in

It was an old familiar story over the winter months as New Road - now newly re-named Visit Worcestershire New Road - once again fell victim to flooding.

But finally, almost two months into the County Championship season, Worcestershire are back where they belong, but...... typically, there has been some rain and there won't be any play before lunch.

The Pears were on the receiving end against Surrey last week and have yet to win in Division One following last summer's promotion.

Notts also suffered a setback last week as they were beaten by Hampshire despite a first-innings century by Lyndon James - they have Liam Patterson-White back in the squad after a loan stint with Northamptonshire.

It's been a wet start to the day in Manchester and the umpires have already decided no play will be possible this morning, with an early lunch scheduled for 12:30.

Having broken their seasonal duck at Blackpool last week, Lancashire will be looking for another positive performance on their return to Old Trafford, spinner Jack Morley replacing pace bowler Saqib Mahmood, who is rested.

There is mixed news for Warwickshire, who have additional pace bowling options for the game at Old Trafford, with Craig Miles fit again and Hasan Ali released from the Pakistan squad.

There will be no Sam Hain in their batting line-up, though, as he sits this one out because of concussion protocols and spinner Danny Briggs is absent after suffering a finger injury in training.

Image source, Rex Features

The weather was very kind in the previous round of Championship matches, so how are things looking today?

BBC Weather is warning of thunderstorms in some areas over the Bank Holiday weekend, but today looks likely to be less dramatic.

It has been a damp start in some areas (more on that in a moment), cloud elsewhere, and the best of any sunshine today is expected to be in the south and south east.

Image source, Rex Features

Last week's seventh round of the Championship was a hugely enjoyable advert for county cricket.

Seven of the nine games ended in a positive finish and Derbyshire v Northants was a nail-biter which saw the home side cling on for a draw with the final pair together at the crease.

Can we expect more of the same this week? Let's hope so.

Once again we have a full complement of nine games for you. Welcome to our coverage. Play is scheduled to start at 11:00.,