Jamie Porter appears to have been bowling a fuller length in 2019 than in previous seasons, and although he has picked up his fair share of wickets, he has also leaked a number of boundaries.

There's another to end his second over at Taunton as Tom Abell puts it away through the off-side to open his account in this innings.

After his 17 wickets last week, Kyle Abbott is at it again for Hampshire, bowling Kent's Zak Crawley for a duck. Ollie Robinson is also gone, cleaned up by Keith Barker for two and Kent are 3-2 after three overs at Canterbury.

Nothing doing yet for the bowlers in the other two games with Surrey 7-0 after three against relegated Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire 10-0 in the fourth against Warwickshire.

The square leg umpire has moved to point to avoid the glare of a low sun.

Chris Dent leaves Ben Sanderson outside off stump. Maiden over.

Don't lose heart - Durham and Glamorgan fans. Conditions are getting better.

Almost a second wicket for Sam Cook as he produces a beauty to end his opening over, which beats Tom Abell all ends up. A maiden it is.

Just the one run off Ben Sanderson's first over.

A shout for lbw by Brett Hutton against James Bracey but he's well forward. Not out.

It's a jumper day for the fielders here under gloomy, autumnal conditions.

Maiden over.

Glamorgan will have to wait a little longer than Gloucestershire and Northants to get their final bid for promotion underway - as BBC Sport's Martin Emmerson explains:

Jamie Porter immediately finds movement and raps Murali Vijay on the pads with the opening delivery of the game.

"The wickets is very dry," says Essex batsman Varun Chopa on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra.

After an exchange of singles, Vijay collects the first boundary of the game by stroking the ball effortlessly through the covers as Porter overpitches.

Northants are relatively safe here insofar as they only need four points to go up to Division One.

Gloucestershire need a draw, a couple of batting points and three bowling points to seal promotion.

Maiden from Brett Hutton. Ben Sanderson will bowl from the Pavilion End.

Hmm. The clouds are gathering over the ground...

Alex Wharf and Rob Bailey, both former England players, are the two umpires for the title decider at Taunton.

Somerset have chosen to bat first on a wicket which is expected to offer plenty of assistance to the spinners, judging by the two teams selected.

Murali Vijay and Steven Davies are the Somerset openers and Jamie Porter has the new ball for Essex.

Here we go!

Two changes for the hosts since the penultimate Championship round. Graeme van Buuren and George Hankins come in for Tom Smith and Jack Taylor.

Just the one change for the Northants team after the win at home to Durham last week with Emilio Gay coming in for Rob Newton - who has a hand injury.

Brett Hutton will bowl to James Bracey - who opens with Gloucestershire captain Chris Dent.

from @CleaveO: "Good luck @tomabell1, external and all the @SomersetCCC, external lads this week. Fingers crossed weather gods in our favour so we can make history. #GoWell, external#WeAreSomerset, external#SOMvESS, external"

from RWhitey15: "@EssexCricket, external best of luck to the lads this week, amazing season so far, bring it home!"

from Mr_tea82: "Essex may have won the hit and run tournament but the real business starts today at Taunton. Don't lose this game and we are champions proper! #SOMvESS, external#bbccricket, external"

from Nokeeroe: "#bbccricket, external - good luck to Essex County Cricket Club over the next 4 days in their quest to lift the County Championship trophy for 2018-19."

The weather is set fair - for now.

It's not looking good from mid-afternoon onwards though.

Gloucestershire need to avoid defeat in order to reach the top flight.

Three bowling points and a batting point would be enough for Northants to go up.

Image source, Rex Features

What if Somerset and Essex somehow finish level on points - which team will win the title?

For the answer to that, we must consult rule 16.2.8 in the ECB playing conditions:

"The side which has the highest aggregate of points gained at the end of the season shall be the Champion County of their respective Division. Should any sides in the Championship table be equal on points, the following tie-breakers will be applied in the order stated: most wins, fewest losses, team achieving most points in contests between teams level on points, most wickets taken, most runs scored."

The two sides could only finish level on points in the event of a Somerset victory - and if so, the Cider Men would take the title for their 10 wins to Essex's nine.

Bad news for Durham fans and especially frustrating for Glamorgan - who must win well here and hope Gloucestershire lose to have a chance of promotion.

But on the plus side the forecast looks more promising overall than it does at Bristol - where Glamorgan's promotion rivals Gloucestershire and Northants are playing.

Rain is expected in Bristol this afternoon.

In contrast, sunny intervals are expected in Durham all day.

As always, we have ball-by-ball coverage on each of the nine games in the final round of County Championship fixtures.

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra will be at Taunton for the title decider, along with Anthony Gibson and Stephen Lamb from BBC Somerset and a daily pairing of Nick Gledhill, Dick Davies or Paul Newton for BBC Essex.

Choose a game from the links on at the top or the right-hand side of the page to tune in, and we'll do our best to keep you up to date on the other matches with text updates.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Rex Features

Division Two champions Lancashire are untouchable at the top of the table - and their goal this week against Leicestershire is to preserve their unbeaten record for the season.

Northants and Gloucestershire are firm favourites for the other two promotion places and face each other with a draw likely to send them both up to Division One for 2020 - but Glamorgan are still clinging on in the hope that they can force their way into the top three.

The Welsh county need to win their away game against Durham, taking as close to maximum points as possible, and hope there is a positive result, one way or the other, at Bristol.

The highest points total Glamorgan can achieve is 184 - so Northants only need four points to be certain of promotion, and Gloucestershire require nine.

We wish we could tell you that this week's weather in Taunton will be wonderful - but judging by Bee Tucker's forecast for the west of England (below), it won't.

That is good news for Essex, as they only need to avoid losing to Somerset to win the Championship title for the eight time. Let's hope, though, that the weather gods are cricket fans and have a last-minute re-think of what they are going to send our way.

If you want to know what the weather has in store for the other eight games, visit the BBC Weather website.

Image source, Rex

Are there any circumstances in which Somerset could win the game, but not the title?

It's stretching the bounds of reality - but maybe.

• Somerset all out for under 200 - Somerset 0 pts, Essex 3 pts
• Essex reply with 400 + inside 110 overs but lose nine wickets or are bowled out - Somerset 3 pts, Essex 5 pts
• Somerset score 400 + in second innings, Essex bowled out for less than their target

In those circumstances, Somerset would take 16 points for the win + 3 bowling points, giving them 19; and Essex would earn 8 bonus points. Somerset would finish the season with 227 and Essex 228.

If that scenario comes to pass, we will buy a couple of hats and eat them.

Of course, there may be alternatives involving a team following on, but thinking about that would only induce a major headache......