England fast bowlers Jake Ball and Stuart Broad have given nothing away for Notts in this opening four overs, with 22 dot balls from a possible 24.

Yorkshire's Adam Lyth has scored the first boundary of the day but it was a thick outside edge down to third man - still a victory for Broad.

The White Rose, by the way, are chasing 447 to win. Realistically, they're batting for the draw.

Ahem... maybe scratch what I said at the top. Lyth hits two boundaries backward of square on the offside as Yorkshire help themselves to 10 runs from Ball's fourth over.

The morning session is only a few minutes old, but here's an early shot of the day contender from Middlesex skipper Dawid Malan.....

It's pretty murky overhead at the Ageas Bowl and the floodlights are on. Keith Barker and Kyle Abbott have opened up for Hampshire, but Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate have advanced the Essex score by six from the first two overs. Still the small matter of 223 behind, though.

An early boundary for Somerset at Taunton where a low edge by George Bartlett off Mitch Claydon runs away past second slip for four. seven from the over - the lead is now 140.

An uneventful first over at Trent Bridge sees England fast bowler Jake Ball bowl a maiden at forgotten England opener Adam Lyth, who shouldered arms at most deliveries.

England stalwart Stuart Broad will bowl from the other end.

I said England a lot there.

We announce day four of the opening round of County Championship matches officially open for business.

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Notts batsman Joe Clarke has been denied the chance to complete a century in each innings on his Championship debut for the county.

He was 97 not out, following his 112 in the first innings, but skipper Steven Mullaney has decided the declaration cannot wait.

"For Joe and for all of us it’s all about winning and getting the points. I think the call will be made without too much thought about Joe’s hundred, it will be about winning the game," batsman Chris Nash said after the third day's play.

So Yorkshire will start their second innings with a theoretical target of 447 - but survival will be the only thing on their minds.

Once again we have ball-by-ball coverage for you today from our BBC local radio commentary teams.

Choose a game from the links at the top of the page to tune in - and we'll supply the text updates to let you know what's happening everywhere else.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Kent have given themselves a good chance of starting life back in Division One with victory over Somerset, who will start day four with a lead of just 133 runs.

Day three at Taunton saw Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens, 42, win the battle of the veterans when he trapped 43-year-old former England opener Marcus Trescothick lbw.

"Chasing anywhere around 180-200 I think we'd be happy with, but I think we'd take anything on at the minute," Stevens told BBC Radio Kent.

"Even if they set us 220-230 I think we'll have a good two-and-a-bit sessions and we'd be happy with that at Taunton. It's a very good pitch that nibbles a little bit with the new ball but I think you can get through that."

Image source, Rex Features

Hampshire fast bowler Fidel Edwards shows no sign of slowing down at the age of 37, as Essex's batsmen can attest after his first-innings five-for on day three at the Ageas Bowl.

Four of his victims were bowled by rapid full-length deliveries and the Barbadian, whose international career ended seven years ago, is hoping for another productive summer after taking 54 wickets in 2018.

"My rhythm was pretty good. The body is still holding up. I'm not one to bowl within myself, but I try to do what the team needs. If the team needs me to run in and bowl as fast as possible, that's my job. I don't think about my age," he told BBC Radio Solent.

Hampshire need five more wickets for victory, with Adam Wheater unable to bat, and Edwards added: "We have some new players and we're off to a positive start, we got 500 odd and did a pretty good job with the ball so hopefully we can finish it off."

Nathan Buck's 5-54 helped bowl Northants into a strong position against Middlesex on day three.

The visitors were forced to follow-on before a rearguard led by Dawid Malan (55 not out) helped give them hope of securing a draw.

Buck also claimed the opening two Middlesex wickets to reduce them to 10-2 in their second innings.

"I didn't manage to get a five-for last season, so to start with one this year is really nice", Buck told BBC Radio Northampton.

"We're well set if the weather holds off, there's definitely enough in the pitch. If we can get a couple of wickets early on we could go bang bang and get into a position to win the game."

England captain Joe Root hurt his hand while fielding for Yorkshire late on day three against Notts at Trent Bridge and had to be replaced by a sub.

But head coach Andrew Gale has calmed fears that it's anything especially serious at this stage.

The loss of the first day at Taunton apart, we've been pretty lucky with the early April weather over the first three days of our six games. But will there be any wet stuff today?

If you pop over to the BBC Weather website, you'll find a video forecast by Simon King in which he speaks of sunny spells but the possibility of showers in the south.

Hold-ups at Hove and the Ageas Bowl? Let's hope not.

Division One

Hampshire 525-8 dec v Essex 164 & 132-4

Essex need another 229 to avoid an innings defeat

Nottinghamshire 408 & 329-5 v Yorkshire 291

Nottinghamshire lead by 446 with five wickets standing

Somerset 171 & 171-7 v Kent 209

Somerset lead by 133 with three wickets standing

Division Two

Derbyshire 197 & 334 v Durham 171 & 10-0

Durham need another 351 to win with 10 wickets standing

Northamptonshire 445 v Middlesex 271 & 109-2

Middlesex need another 65 to avoid an innings defeat

Sussex 173 & 308 v Leicestershire 252 & 99-1

Leicestershire need another 131 to win with nine wickets standing

Questions, questions, questions....

Will Notts give Joe Clarke time to try and complete a second hundred against Yorkshire? Do Essex have enough wickets in hand to stage a great escape against Hampshire?

And who will come out on top in the low-scoring Somerset v Kent game?

We'll have the answers for you - and be keeping you up to date with the three Division Two games as well.

Welcome to the climax of the opening round of the County Championship. Play starts at 11:00 BST.

Image source, Rex Features