Middlesex's Tim Murtagh gets a five-wicket haul in style to end Surrey's first innings.

He bowls Matt Dunn before trapping Amar Virdi lbw with the very next ball to restrict the hosts to 282.

That gives Middlesex a handy 62-run lead in the London derby at The Oval.

Well that escalated quickly...

Sam Cook followed Ryan ten Doeschate back to the pavilion 11 balls later and Matt Milnes then had Essex number 11 Matt Quinn caught first ball for his fourth wicket.

Essex all out for 298 rather abruptly and are 89 runs behind Kent after the first innings.

150 for Ben Slaterpublished at 13:54 British Summer Time 3 August 2020

13:54 BST 3 August 2020

Leicestershire (286-2) trail Lancashire (322) by 36 runs

Leicestershire debutant Ben Slater reaches 150 with his 19th boundary through square leg.

The on-loan Notts batsman has been just as good as he was on day two.

He and Colin Ackermann have added 130 runs for the third wicket, something Lancashire need to change sharpish.

Hampshire's Tom Alsop and Harry Came have done OK since lunch, taking them to 38-3 at Hove.

It looked precarious before the break with the visitors on 20-3 as they chase 245 to beat Sussex.

Barring any surprises this will be the first match of the Bob Willis Trophy to force a result.

50 for Brett D'Oliveirapublished at 13:46 British Summer Time 3 August 2020

13:46 BST 3 August 2020

Worcestershire (347-5) lead Gloucestershire (267) by 80 runs

Brett D'Oliveira went to lunch on 48 and hasn't wasted any time getting to his half-century.

He reaches the milestone off 80 balls and Worcestershire have an 80-run lead with five wickets still in hand.

After claiming two Gloucestershire wickets earlier in the match, D'Oliveira is having a decent start to the Bob Willis Trophy campaign.

And we're off and running once more for the afternoon session...

Not long to go until the players are back out there for the afternoon session.

A quick reminder you can hear every ball of every match on BBC local radio right here on the BBC Sport website and app.

Find your match of choice at the top of this page.

Commentary of Surrey v Middlesex from The Oval also continues on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra this afternoon if you're heading out and about.

While the Bob Willis Trophy is a first-class competition to replace the County Championship in this shortened domestic season, there are some differences in the format.

• A minimum of 90 overs in a day’s play rather than 96.
• Each county’s first innings of a match can last no longer than 120 overs
• The follow-on target increases from 150 to 200 runs.
• The new ball is available after 90 overs rather than 80 overs
• Points awarded for a draw increase from five (in the County Championship) to eight to help mitigate against the impact of weather during a shortened competition.
• All other points scoring remains the same as in the County Championship, such as 16 points for a win with a maximum of five batting and three bowling bonus points in the first 110 overs of a first innings.
• For the final, in the event of a draw, whichever team gains a first-innings lead will be determined the winner when both first innings are completed. In any other circumstance of a draw or tie, the trophy will be shared.

NORTH GROUP: Derbyshire, Durham, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire.

CENTRAL GROUP: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Worcestershire.

SOUTH GROUP: Essex, Kent, Hampshire, Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex.

Rather than two divisions as is the case in the County Championship, The Bob Willis Trophy sees the 18 counties split into three regionalised groups of six.

• Each county plays five four-day matches, meaning they will play the other teams in their group once.
• This is the first round of fixtures with the final round of group matches starting on Sunday 6 September.
• The two group winners with the most points after those five games will progress to the five-day final.

If you're wondering what our BBC local radio commentators are referring to when they mention bonus points and overs limits on innings, let's just remind you of the format for this Bob Willis Trophy and how it differs slightly from the County Championship....

Matt Cole
BBC Radio Kent at Chelmsford

Image source, Rex Features

Essex’s morning at Chelmsford as Kent struggled to make breakthroughs with old or new ball.

Having said that, Ryan ten Doeschate survived a couple of healthy looking lbw appeals from Darren Stevens early on, but the 40 year-old has gone on to an occasionally-dashing 72 not out at the interval.

A wicket shortly before lunch – Simon Harmer leg-before to the impressive young spinner Marcus O’Riordan – will give Kent some hope, while Essex have seven overs remaining to reap more bonus points, and 17 remaining in their first innings.

Mike Taylor
BBC WM 95.6 at Edgbaston

Image source, Getty Images

With Olly Stone absent from their attack this morning, Warwickshire did not cut into the Northants batting as efficiently as on Saturday, but nevertheless remain in the stronger position.

The visitors were bolstered by a 79-run partnership between Ben Curran and Ricardo Vasconcelos, who came together after a sharp Tim Bresnan slip catch gave Oliver Hannon-Dalby the early wicket of Emilio Gay.

Curran drove confidently down the ground and was starting to raise his scoring rate on reaching 50 when he jammed a yorker painfully into his ankle (pictured above).

With movement hampered, he was lbw to Will Rhodes shortly afterwards.

Northants are still around a session's-worth of batting away from levelling the scores, and rather longer to make the game competitive, but have shown the spirit necessary to take on the task.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Newcastle at Emirates, Chester-le-Street

Alex Lees and David Bedingham have batted through the morning to take Durham to a lead of 98 against Yorkshire.

Lees, who spent eight seasons with Yorkshire, will return after lunch needing another eight runs to record the 16th first-class century of his career.

Bedingham, who is on debut, has 68 and their partnership is worth 123.

The deck seems particularly flat now after use of the heavy roller earlier and it's all about batting and batting to build a big lead.

And at 2.4 runs an over, it could take some time yet.

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent at Hove

Image source, Getty Images

245 looks a long way off for Hampshire after some superb bowling from Ollie Robinson for Sussex.

His opening spell has reduced the visitors to 16-3 just before lunch, including picking up the big wicket of Hampshire stand-in captain Sam Northeast for just 2.There’s a lot of work for young pair Tom Alsop and Harry Came to do in the afternoon session.

Image source, Getty Images

North group:

Emirates, Chester-le-Street: Durham (103 & 194-2) lead Yorkshire (199) by 98 runs

Trent Bridge: Derbyshire (239) trail Nottinghamshire (324 & 172-7) by 257 runs

Worcester: Leicestershire (274-2) trail Lancashire (322) by 48 runs

Central group:

Bristol: Gloucestershire (267) trail Worcestershire (336-5) by 69 runs

Taunton: Somerset (296 & 210-3) lead Glamorgan (131) by 375 runs

Edgbaston: Warwickshire (369-8) lead Northamptonshire (142 & 135-2) by 92 runs

South group:

Chelmsford: Essex (282-7) trail Kent (387) by 105 runs

Hove: Hampshire (153 & 27-3) need 218 more runs to beat Sussex (176 & 221)

The Oval: Surrey (267-7) trail Middlesex (347-6 dec) by 78 runs

As mentioned, that is indeed lunch time around the grounds on this third day.

Stick with us, we'll show you how the scores stand in all nine fixtures in a short while.