Rain, rain, go away...published at 12:39 British Summer Time 13 May 2021

12:39 BST 13 May 2021

Meanwhile, prospects of play aren't looking too hot in the west...

Worcestershire decided to put Durham in on a misty morning here in Chester-le-Street. And, although the sun is now burning through the haze, it has been a difficult session for the batsmen.

It appears to be another slow pitch on this new square, with plenty of low bounce on offer. Alex Lees decided the best approach to Joe Leach's bowling was to bat outside his crease and outside the line of off-stump.

Leach appealed for numerous lbws but because he was coming around the wicket there was no interest from umpire Steve O'Shaugnessy. He did get lucky in his final over though when he struck right-hander Will Young low on the pads while coming over the wicket. He fell for five having faced 31 balls.

He wasn't meant to be playing in this one but has stayed on for an extra week to allow Cameron Bancroft more preparation time after he emerged from quarantine following his return from Australia.

Durham then lost skipper Scott Borthwick for four, caught low at third slip by Tom Fell off Charlie Morris.

No great surprise, this...

A few runs flowing for Durham since the loss of Scott Borthwick.

Alex Lees has angled Charlie Morris to third man and flicked Josh Tongue to fine leg to bring the fifty up.

Jofra Archer is back on at Hove and Jack Leaning and Jordan Cox are trying to survive for Kent.

Be interesting to see how many overs he gets through in this second spell.

May well have been a conversation between Lord's and Hove about Archer's workload this week.

Still no news on the other four games with it remaining wet in many parts of the country.

I'd certainly wager there is almost no chance of play at Taunton or Cardiff today.

Chelmsford and Lord's could brighten up this afternoon.

A second wicket for Worcestershire and Scott Borthwick has gone for just 4.

Really nice catch down very low by Tom Fell at third slip.

Soft hands Scotty lad!

A nice early piece of work for Jofra Archer to blow away the cobwebs.

4-3-6-2 for his first spell back after his hand injury.

At the other end, Ollie Robinson continues to press his own England claim.

Seven overs for just five runs for him.

But there'll be no mammoth stand today between Will Young and Alex Lees.

Young, the New Zealander, has got into a serious tangle trying to defend Joe Leach.

He's squared up, struck on the back pad, and looks plumb in front.

Alex Lees and Will Young shared a double-century stand in Durham's last game - the trouncing of Warwickshire at the Riverside.

They've been sent in this morning and are being made to watch and wait by a typically-disciplined Worcestershire attack.

Worcestershire have proved there's more than one way to skin a cat so far this season after five draws - largely due to terribly benign pitches at New Road.

But they've racked up the bonus points and sit just a point off the top two.

Durham have played some good cricket this season and have been ahead in all four of their games.

After some final-day frolics they finally got their win with a thumping over Warwickshire and are also well-placed to push for the top two in Group 1.

A meeting of two beleaguered sides on the south coast.

Kent have had a wretched time of things, three straight defeats including an utter shellacking at Glamorgan before a rain-ruined match last week.

They sit bottom of Group 3 with Sussex a place above them.

But Sussex will be so frustrated. They got into winning positions against both Yorkshire and Lancashire only to lose both games.

As such, they sit 38 points behind second place and will hope the return of Jofra Archer will help them to a much-needed victory.

It's a bit of a yucky day across the British Isles and we'll do well to get a full day in anywhere today.

Taunton looks like bearing the brunt of it and no surprises to see a delayed start there.

Also no play at Lord's but the forecast suggests play will be possible there soon.

Already the morning session has been wiped out at Cardiff.

A toss took place at Chelmsford but the start has now been delayed.

Thankfully they're under way at Hove and Chester-le-Street so we do have some cricket.

May's not really delivered much in the way of nice weather yet, has it?!

With a yellow warning for rain in place for much of the West Country and showers expected across the rest of the UK throughout the day, unfortunately I think we're in for a bit of a frustrating day...

And here’s a full rundown of which England players are available to their counties for this round of fixtures, including confirmation of Jofra Archer’s return...

• Jofra Archer (Sussex)
• Dom Bess (Yorkshire)
• Rory Burns (Surrey)
• Zak Crawley (Kent)
• Ben Foakes (Surrey)
• Dan Lawrence (Essex)
• Ollie Pope (Surrey)
• Joe Root (Yorkshire)
• Reece Topley (Surrey)
• Mark Wood (Durham)

Group One

• Essex v Derbyshire
• Durham v Worcestershire

Group Two

• Middlesex v Hampshire
• Somerset v Surrey

Group Three

• Glamorgan v Yorkshire
• Sussex v Kent

Image source, Getty Images

England fast bowler Jofra Archer is back in Sussex’s red-ball team for the first time since September 2018 as he steps up his recovery from injury.

Archer hasn’t played since the fifth T20 international between England and India on 20 March, having suffered a bizarre hand injury after an incident with a fish tank, as well as having to manage an elbow issue.

He was forced to withdraw from the IPL because of the problem, but his competitive comeback starts today against Kent.

Hello and welcome along to our live text coverage of the opening day of round six of this year’s County Championship.

We’ll be talking you through the action from six fixtures across the next four days.

And we’ll be keeping a particularly close eye on how a certain someone fares...