Time for our first sanitisation break of the Bob Willis Trophy final.

The players break away for a short while to rub the hand gel in and also take a quick drink.

All part of the familiar sights of first-class cricket these days.

Apologies for the lack of sound on our live video stream at present.

Our production team are working on rectifying that as soon as possible.

In the meantime, you can of course listen to live radio commentary from Lord's on either BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra or the joint BBC Radio Somerset and BBC Essex stream available at the top of this page.

Darius Plumdon: Somerset select one spinner and they (rightly) go for Leach over Bess. Bess might look the part (as Mr Vaughan always says) but when it comes to actual spin bowling in Leach (& Simon Harmer for Essex) the best 2 in county cricket are playing this game.

Ben Green off the mark as he pushes the ball into the legside for a smartly-taken single off Jamie Porter.

Decent contest between bat and ball in these first six overs so far.

Image source, Getty Images

Ravi Bopara
Former Essex and England all-rounder on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

I think we will have a result, we will see the match played out but you just never know and that's why it was a good toss to win.

Usually the best day to bat at Lord's is day two or day three.

Runs on the board for Somerset finally.

Tom Abell gets fortunate with his first boundary off Sam Cook as it flies safely along the ground through third man.

Later in the over, he tucks into a short and wide one though and dispatches it brilliantly for four to the point boundary.

Image source, Getty Images

As ever, we'd love to hear from you all throughout this Bob Willis Trophy final.

Tell us where you're either watching, listening or following the action from using #bbccricket

Weather watchpublished at 10:43 British Summer Time 23 September 2020

10:43 BST 23 September 2020

So what has the weather got in store for this first day?

Simon King from the BBC Weather Centre has the full forecast below.

I think the best summary I can add is be prepared for anything and everything!

After that wicket maiden from Sam Cook, Jamie Porter sends down a second of his own from the Pavilion End.

Still no runs on the board.

Ravi Bopara
Former Essex and England all-rounder on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

That was brilliant bowling from Sam Cook, keeping it full, he's started very well.

Sam Cook then to share the new ball for Essex from the Nursery End with a hive of building activity going on behind him as the new Compton and Edrich Stands continue to take shape.

Tom Lammonby get to face his first delivery....

First over under the belt of Jamie Porter.

After a stray first delivery down the legside well taken by wicketkeeper Adam Wheater, he's much more on target forcing Ben Green to play the next five.

Maiden to start.

Here we go then - Jamie Porter will take the new ball for Essex from the Pavilion End.

Before we start, both sets of players and officials take a knee for the Black Lives Matter movement before umpire Rob Bailey shouts "let's play!"

As mentioned, Somerset and Essex are all too familiar with facing each other in an end-of-season encounter to be crowned champions.

But as our match preview below explains, the final of the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy will be a rather different occasion from when they went head-to-head last time for red-ball honours at Taunton a year ago.

Image source, .

Essex didn't quite have things as much their own way in the South Group, but they do arrive at HQ with an identical record to their opponents of four wins and a rain-affected draw.

The County Champions had to wait for other results to come through in the final round for their final spot to be guaranteed as batting bonus points proved hard to come by.

A nail-biting two-wicket win against Kent in the opening round was followed by a more convincing display to beat Surrey by 169 runs before they chased down 196 on the final afternoon to beat Sussex by three wickets.

Four days of near constant rain at Arundel against Hampshire meant they could only get as far as 249-3 in their first innings with an unbeaten 129 from Sir Alastair Cook.

But a nine-wicket win against Middlesex in the last round saw them top the group with 90 points, which was enough to better North Group winners Yorkshire's haul of 87.

Image source, .

Aside from being hampered by the rain at Edgbaston against Warwickshire, Somerset had a near-perfect record in winning the Central Group with a haul of 97 points.

Impressive early wins against Glamorgan and Northants were followed up by what appeared to be another innings win against the Bears, before weather left them two wickets short of completing the victory.

They made up for that disappointment by skittling Gloucestershire for just 76 and 70 at Taunton before holding their nerve to win at Worcestershire by 60 runs in the final round.

Image source, Getty Images

Left-hander Tom Lammonby has well and truly made an impression in his first season of first-class cricket for Somerset.

The 20-year-old opener made back-to-back centuries in the group stage against Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, the latter of which saw him become the youngest Somerset player to carry his bat with an unbeaten 107 at New Road.

That knock arguably proved the difference between the two sides, securing his side's place in this final as they went on to win by 60 runs.

Image source, Getty Images

While Jamie Porter and Sam Cook have continued to be their consistent and reliable selves with the new ball for Essex this season, one of the support bowlers has also caught the eye.

Right-armer Aaron Beard may only have taken nine wickets, but those have come in four appearances at a tidy average of 18.78.

They included 4-21 against Middlesex in the last group game as he helped set up a nine-wicket win to set his side on the road to Lord's.

Beard, 22, also has happy memories of playing against Somerset as his previous first-class career best of 4-23 came in a 151-run win at Chelmsford in June 2019.

Somerset interestingly go with the one frontline spinner in Jack Leach ahead of Dom Bess. James Hildreth is missing with a hamstring injury.

Essex recall Nick Browne to open with Alastair Cook as young batsman Feroze Khuski makes way.

Somerset: Ben Green, Tom Lammonby, Tom Abell (capt), George Bartlett, Eddie Byrom, Steve Davies (wk), Craig Overton, Lewis Gregory, Josh Davey, Jack Leach, Jack Brooks.

Essex: Alastair Cook, Nick Browne, Tom Westley (capt), Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adam Wheater (wk), Simon Harmer, Aaron Beard, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter.