Leaders Surrey go to bottom side Worcs
Surrey could seal title this week
Strugglers Yorkshire and Lancashire meet in Roses match
Hampshire (5th) v Somerset (2nd); Notts (3rd) v Essex (4th)
Listen to BBC local radio coverage
In Division Two, it now looks like a three-way fight for the two promotion places.
Warwickshire, who have Chris Woakes free after being released by England, are still in top spot.
But, having failed to beat Durham last week, they are now jut seven points ahead of second-placed Kent, with Sussex a further five points back in third.
As if this game wasn't important enough in any season, at any time of year, in any format, this year's second Roses Match carries with it the added prize of likely safety for the victors and the booby prize of probable relegation for the losers.
Yorkshire have home advantage, but Lancashire will want to make up for losing the the Tykes at Old Trafford when the two sides last met in July. And Glen Chapple's side will be charge up by not only pulling off an unlikely victory against Worcestershire at Southport but then escaping from Taunton with a sensational tie against Jack Leach and Somerset.
Image source, Getty ImagesEngland captain Joe Root was Yorkshire's unlikely matchwinner in this summer's first Roses Match at Headingley in July
Somerset will endeavour to put the pain of not winning that game behind them on the road against Hampshire, while third-placed Nottinghamshire and fourth-placed Essex - both now free from danger, you would think - meet at Trent Bridge.
Jointly heading the bill in Division One this week are the big issues at top and bottom.
Surrey head for New Road, Worcester looking to secure their first County Championship title since 2002. With a 43-point lead over second-placed Somerset, they ought to have done enough already before they have to travel to Taunton next week (Tuesday 18 September) in the penultimate round of fixtures.
Having won 10 of their 11 games so far, Surrey will want to cross the line in style. But they face a bottom-of-the-table Worcestershire side still fighting to stay up - and determined to shrug off back-to-back defeats by relegation rivals Lancashire and Hampshire.
The Pears start the week 16 points adrift of seventh-placed Yorkshire and 17 behind sixth-placed Lancashire. And, 100 miles or so further north from New Road, the two old rivals meet at Headingley for the Roses Match.
It's the 10th of September, it's starting to get cold at nights, it's even colder in the mornings . . . and yet there's still a Test match to finish, T20 Blast Finals Day to come this Saturday and three rounds of this season's County Championship still to go.
This time next summer, in this ever changing crazy cricketing landscape, we'll be in the middle of an Ashes Test series.
Image source, Getty ImagesNew Road, Worcester is the stage for Surrey this week as they attempt to seal the title
But, as far as 2018 is concerned, all the various domestic Championship issues are yet to be settled. And we'll be trying to you keep across this week's events, as they unfold, at all nine grounds.
In Division One, at Leeds, Worcester, Nottingham and Southampton.
In Division Two, at Lord's, Leicester, Chester-le-Street, Cardiff and Northampton.