It's a pretty sepulchral scene in Birmingham at the moment. Durham won the toss and opted to field, but the rain arrived before they could do so. Ben Stokes is in their side, with Dom Sibley set to open for Warwickshire when the skies clear.

There was a very brief rain interruption at Trent Bridge, but hardly any time was lost as the shower quickly passed over the ground. Notts are still striving for their first wicket.

No breakthrough yet for Surrey at the Ageas Bowl. Joe Weatherley has the game's first boundary, gliding a short-of-a-length delivery from Kyle Jamieson down to third man. Four overs gone.

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Not so long ago, Nick Gubbins and Sam Northeast were thought of as possible England players.

Both appeared for the Lions - but neither was quite able to make the leap from second-stringers to Test squad.

Now they are hoping a change of scene can provide fresh impetus and both are making debuts for new clubs today.

Gubbins is Middlesex's highest scorer in the Championship this summer with 514 runs, but has been allowed to join Hampshire on loan ahead of a permanent move, while Northeast has left the Ageas Bowl for a short spell with Yorkshire.

Image source, Rex Features

Luke Fletcher and Brett Hutton are sharing the new ball for Notts after Steven Mullaney put Derbyshire in. They have started with a brace of maidens to Luis Reece and Tom Wood.

Yorkshire won the toss and are batting at Wantage Road, on a pitch already used in three recent T20 matches.

George Hill is Adam Lyth’s new Yorkshire opening partner, with Sam Northeast primed to make his debut at three, having joined on loan from Hampshire this week.

New Zealand's Kyle Jamieson is immediately handed the new ball by Rory Burns at the Ageas Bowl. There are a couple of runs for Joe Weatherley, but that's all. A good start by the big Kiwi.

It's just started raining at Edgbaston so the start has been delayed between Warwickshire and Durham.

But the players are out in the middle at four of our seven games.

Where will the first wicket fall?

As usual, our BBC local radio teams are in place to bring you ball-by-ball coverage of the seven games. Choose a commentary from the audio promos at the top of the page and while you're listening, we'll provide you with regular text updates on the other matches.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Somerset, six-times runners-up in the 21st century, have a 10-point lead in Group Two, but they are leaving nothing to chance and have New Zealand opener Devon Conway in their side for the next two games.

He has already proved his worth by averaging 78 in five T20 Blast appearances.

Surrey are fourth in the same group, 18 points behind, and they have turned to the ranks of the new world Test champions to add some extra firepower to their side.

Paceman Kyle Jamieson had match figures of 7-61 against India at the Ageas Bowl and Surrey hope he can produce something similar against Hampshire - but he will be up against New Zealand team-mate Colin de Grandhomme, who is set to play for the home side in their next two games.

No play at Hove before lunchpublished at 10:52 British Summer Time 4 July 2021

10:52 BST 4 July 2021

Sussex v Glamorgan - start delayed

It'll be a day of heavy showers but it's overnight rain which means there will be no play between Sussex and Glamorgan until at least 13:40 BST.

The umpires will inspect the pitch at Hove at 12:45 to see if play can get under way after lunch.

Image source, Rex Features

Across the seven games we have England Test players Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Rory Burns, James Anderson and Zak Crawley all in action.

For all-rounder Stokes, it'll be his first County Championship appearance for Durham since July 2018, when he took eight wickets in a defeat by Gloucestershire.

While batsmen Burns and Crawley have been regulars for Surrey and Kent respectively, Sibley and Anderson have only featured sporadically for their counties this season.

Group One

Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire, Trent Bridge - Notts won toss and put Derbyshire in

Warwickshire v Durham, Edgbaston - Durham won the toss and put Warwickshire in

Group Two

Hampshire v Surrey, Ageas Bowl - Surrey won the toss and put Hampshire in

Somerset v Leicestershire, Taunton - Leicestershire won the toss and put Somerset in

Group Three

Lancashire v Kent, Old Trafford - toss delayed because of rain

Northamptonshire v Yorkshire, Northampton - Yorkshire won the toss and will bat

Sussex v Glamorgan, Hove - no play before lunch

It's not great - but let's hope the promised 'sunny spells' concentrate themselves on the locations of our seven matches.

When the County Championship began in April, all 18 sides had a chance of winning the title. Over the next two weeks, that number will be reduced to six - with the top two in each group qualifying to play in Division One in the next phase.

At this stage, Derbyshire, Middlesex and Sussex are the only sides that definitely cannot do so.

But Worcestershire, who only have one match of their initial 10 to play, could join them if at least two of the teams above them in Group One reach 122 points or more following games starting today.

It's a similarly precarious situation for Kent in Group Three. They can only reach 123 points with two maximum-points victories, but Lancashire already have 126 and another two points for Yorkshire would take them to 124.

Image source, Rex Features

England saw off Ukraine in Rome - but can our county cricket teams beat the UK-rain today?

Let's hope so as red-ball cricket returns after a four-week hiatus for the T20 Blast - with a handful of England stars likely to be involved.

We have seven games starting today, with Gloucestershire v Middlesex to follow tomorrow.

Welcome to our coverage. Play starts at 11:00 BST.