Not a huge amount to tell from the opening 40 minutes or so at Taunton as Somerset batsmen Azhar Ali and Tom Abell have nudged their side onwards. There have been a couple of edges and false shots but no discernible chance of note for the Notts bowlers.

That's led to the introduction of double spin. Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin has been on for a good while, now debutant slow left armer Liam Patterson-White is on too.

With four wickets in hand in their first innings, Kent could still carve out a handy lead.

Darren Stevens brings up the 300 by guiding Sam Curran through backward point for two.

for Steven Croftpublished at 11:34 British Summer Time 9 July 2019

11:34 BST 9 July 2019

Lancashire 235-4 v Northants 442

Lancashire continue to fight hard at Wantage Road as Steven Croft reaches his half-century from 82 balls, including 10 boundaries. His partnership with centurion Alex Davies is now worth more than 100 runs too.

Lancs were 2-2 so Northants will no doubt be a tad frustrated having posted 442.

No surprise to see Kyle Abbott with the ball in his hand at the Ageas Bowl after he claimed three vital wickets in the final stages yesterday to leave Warwickshire on the brink.

Gareth Berg bowling is at the other end with Sam Hain (16) and Rob Yates (12) the men in the firing line.

Dan Wheeler
BBC Hereford & Worcester at Kidderminster

Worcestershire wicketkeeper Ben Cox has just claimed his 300th dismissal in first-class cricket as the home side strike with the second ball of the day.

It was fitting that Cox’s catch was an acrobatic effort - leaping high to his left to grab a gloved hook by Fynn Hudson-Prentice.

Cox gave the air a double fisted punch when the umpire’s finger went up before doffing his floppy sunhat to the applauding crowd.

Peter Siddle and Jamie Porter are the men to start for Essex against Yorkshire duo Adam Lyth and Harry Brook at an overcast Chelmsford.

The weather conditions will have played a strong role in Ryan ten Doeschate's decision to use seam rather than gun spinner Simon Harmer I'm sure, but thus far it's been a fairly placid two overs from Siddle and Porter.

There's been 11 runs already, including a boundary off Brook's pads as leg byes and another he slashed away to the deep cover fence.

Off we go then. The final day between Hampshire and Warwickshire in Southampton, and day three in our seven other matches.

Here we are in all of our matches then:

Division One

• Hampshire 539 & 171-8 dec v Warwickshire 307 & 31-3 (close, day three)
• Yorkshire 208 & 38-3 v Essex 328 (close, day two)
• Somerset 326 & 7-1 v Nottinghamshire 241-9 (close, day two)
• Surrey 271 v Kent 285-4 (close, day two)

Division Two

• Durham 117 & 191-1 v Leicestershire 212 (close, day two)
• Middlesex 172 & 96-3 v Gloucestershire 201 (close, day two)
• Northamptonshire 442 v Lancashire 211-4 (close, day two)
• Derbyshire 108 & 272-6 v Worcestershire 113 (close, day two)

Dan Wheeler
BBC Hereford & Worcester

Days one and two at Kidderminster have been as cheesy and chalky as it gets.

With the moisture from the first day evaporated, it became clear on day two there wasn’t going to be a repeat of the 20 wickets that fell 24 hours before.

Batting still needed patience and Wayne Madsen (60) and Tom Lace (101 not out) did so perfectly.

Lace’s ton spanned more than six hours and it was fitting he brought up three figures off the final over with acover drive dripping with elegance.

His wicket will be prized above all others this morning as Worcestershire, who will still fancy chasing 300 to win, try to minimise Derbyshire’s lead which is already 267.

Image source, SWPix.com

Unless Yorkshire's batsmen can mount a serious fightback, we could be in for a day-three finish at Chelmsford. Tom Westley's 81 and an unbeaten 70 from captain Ryan ten Doeschate helped Essex secure a 120-run lead on first innings.

Yorkshire will resume on 38-3 with Adam Lyth nine not out and Harry Brook on four.

"We bowled nicely in the first session, having been a bit wide on day one. But they showed us how to go about tricky periods. They dug in for an hour and a half, and you have to give them credit," said Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale.

"They took the sting out of it and got their rewards later in the day against some tired bodies. That's what good sides do. You don't see that much in county cricket these days. They showed a lot of patience and resilience.

"The challenge is set for us. We need a few blokes to get hundreds. There's no doubt it's an uphill battle. But Adam Lyth battled hard, which is encouraging.

"Ii's spinning, it's seaming and there's up and down bounce. It's going to be tough. But we're paying the price for some soft batting in the first innings. We felt we'd left 60 or 70 runs out there. And I just want us to show a bit of character."

Image source, Getty Images

Spinners Dom Bess and Jack Leach took eight wickets between them to spin Somerset into an 85-run first-innings at Taunton. Notts were disrupted by Chris Nash having to retire hurt on 50 having been hit on the helmet by a Jamie Overton bouncer.

Somerset will resume on 7-1 after a failed experiment of using Tim Groenewald as a nightwatchman was ended in the opening over of the innings by Notts spinner Ravi Ashwin.

"Chris Nash is okay. He was hit on the grille at the side of his face trying to sway out of the line of the ball. He suffered concussion and misses the rest of the game, but he is a tough old bird and will be fine," Notts batsman Jake Libby told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"Samit Patel is on his way down to replace Chris. We are on the back foot in the game after starting the day so well, but if we bowl well we can still be in the game.

"I enjoyed being back in the thick of the action after weeks of second XI cricket. Facing the pace of Jamie Overton got the old heart rate going."

Remember the saga of Gareth Batty and Amar Virdi from yesterday? It turns out things could easily have got a lot more serious.

To recap, Batty was taken ill ahead play, and as he had played no part in day one, Kent generously gave Surrey the go-ahead to replace him with Amar Virdi, only to be told by the ECB that doing so would breach County Championship rules.

Image source, Getty Images

Surrey therefore closed their innings on 271-9 with Batty unable to bat, but it has since emerged that the ECB ruling came just minutes before the fall of the ninth wicket with Virdi patted up and ready to head for the crease.

Had Virdi made it to the middle, it could have made the game null and void.

"If we had lost a wicket three minutes before, Amar Virdi would have batted and then I don't know what would have happened to the game," admitted Surrey coach Michael Di Venuto.

"It might have been postponed."

At least one match will finish today with Hampshire and Warwickshire into the final day of their game at Southampton.

And it is the home side who are pushing hard for victory after taking three wickets last night.

Warwickshire's target of 404 looks fairly irrelevant. They will need some digging in from their batsmen and probably some help from the weather to secure a draw.