Ah, now the big man is out. Rory Kleinveldt biffs Glamorgan's teenage seamer Lukas Carey to short cover and is out for a 58-ball 86.

There are a few early wickets to tell you about.

Nottinghamshire's Michael Lumb has just edged Leicestershire seamer Ben Raine behind for 30 to leave Notts 79-2. England man Alex Hales comes in at four.

Big Rory Kleinveldt is still going for Northants - the all-rounder is up to 84 off 56 balls - but Northants have lost a couple of early wickets against Glamorgan. They're 293-8 and 192 ahead.

Gloucestershire nightwatchman Liam Norwell has been pinned lbw by Kent seamer James Harris to leave the visitors 21-2 at Canterbury.

Luke Keeble:  Tom Westley gets my vote. Been on the cusp for some time now, will prove himself in Division One.

Michael Shaw:  Watch out for Sam Curran. 

Image source, Rex Features

Huge appeal from James Anderson, he thinks Varun Chopra has nicked him behind.

Umpire Nick Cook shakes his head, as does Jimmy.

It may have just clipped Chopra's thigh. Anderson is bowling superbly so far this morning.

Two overs so far from James Anderson - three runs, plenty of swing.

Lancashire need early wickets you feel with the sun set to beat down on Chelmsford all day.

Image source, Rex Features

After the carnage of yesterday evening, it's been a more sedate start at Headingley this morning.

Kyle Abbott and Liam Dawson are at the crease for Hampshire - both are gritty characters - and they'll need plenty of that.

Ben Coad, who has taken all five wickets to fall, is steaming in once again.

Hants still trail by 208.

Fifty for Sangakkarapublished at 11:09 British Summer Time 8 April 2017

11:09 BST 8 April 2017

Surrey 333-3 v Warwickshire

And there it is. Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara brings up his 85th first-class fifty with his seventh boundary of the innings.

It's been a fairly reserved knock by Kumar's standards so far - 130 balls to get there - but there's absolutely no rush.

Surrey are dominant. 

James Anderson opens the bowling at the other end and immediately finds some swing, going past Tom Westley's outside edge.

Swing and Jimmy - dangerous combo.

Meanwhile, at The Oval, Kumar Sangakkara resumes just three away from his 85th first-class half-century.

To go with his 56 hundreds.

Good player is Kumar.

Image source, Getty Images

The players are out, sun cream slapped on, day two is all set.

In Chelmsford Kyle Jarvis will open the bowling for Lancashire, bowling to Essex opener Varun Chopra...

Once again the BBC is providing live ball-by-ball radio coverage from every county game this season.

Our six local radio teams are in place, probably eating cake already, and ready to go.

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra will also have commentary from Essex v Lancashire.

To tune in, click on your desired tab at the top of this page.

During this opening round of fixtures - I'm asking you to let me know which one player you think will shine in 2017?

Mark Stoneman, Gary Ballance and Ben Coad put themselves in the hat on day one - but it's a long old season ahead.

Get in touch with your thoughts, and anything else county cricket related, using #bbccricket on Twitter.

The star of the opening day of the County Championship was undoubtedly Mark Stoneman , who hit a wonderful 165 on his Surrey debut against Warwickshire. He told BBC Radio London, very modestly, that it's all about finding a rhythm.

He said: "I must admit I was pretty nervous for the first half hour or so, adjusting to my surroundings and to the expectation I have put on myself to do well for Surrey, but I eventually got into a nice rhythm and took it from there." Simple.

Image source, Rex Features

Meanwhile, young England star  Haseeb Hameed , who scored 47 yesterday against Essex, says he batted through pain for Lancashire after picking up a hand injury before the match.

"The finger is fine now," he said. "It felt almost back to normal. It was a bit of a freak incident last week, injuring it in the warm-up and it was quite painful when I batted."  

Adam Whitty
BBC Radio Kent

It's another absolutely gorgeous day here at the St Lawrence Ground. There isn't a cloud in sight as we look forward to another day of action.

Gloucestershire find themselves 9-1, with nightwatchman Liam Norwell reappearing alongside opener Chris Dent.

Darren Stevens, who turns 41 this month, took the huge scalp of Cameron Bancroft last night, to set up an exciting second day.

We will see whether Kent's 298 all out in the first innings was a good score or not.

Image source, Rex Features

• Mark Stoneman scores 165 on Surrey debut
• Gary Ballance makes 120 in first game as Yorkshire captain
• Yorkshire seamer Ben Coad takes 5-18 to leave Hants 58-5
• Northants skittle Glamorgan for 101 - Kleinveldt then smashes 23-ball fifty
• Stuart Broad takes 3-45 for Notts; Chris Read takes 1,000th first-class catch

Division One

Yorkshire 273 v Hampshire 58-5 - Hampshire trail by 215 runs

Surrey 327-3 v Warwickshire   

Essex 39-2 v Lancashire 319 - Essex trail by 280 runs  

Division Two

Northants 268-6 v Glamorgan 101 - Northants lead by 167 runs

Leicestershire 251 v Notts 52-1 - Notts trail by 199 runs

Kent 298 v Gloucestershire 9-1 - Gloucestershire trail by 289 runs

Click here  for the full scorecards. 

Weather forecastpublished at 10:47 British Summer Time 8 April 2017

10:47 BST 8 April 2017

Nine hours of sunshine at Chelmsford - thank you very much!

And it's a similar story at the other five grounds today - fill your boots guys.

Image source, Rex Features

When I woke up this morning, I had to do a double take as I peered through the blinds - there was perfect blue above me and a little yellow round thing in the sky. 

"This is Birmingham," I thought to myself. "This never happens. It must be a dream, I'm going back to sleep."

But the reality is - it's one of the most stunning April days you will ever see, and absolutely perfect conditions for this second day of the 2017 County Championship season.

Stay right here for all the action...