Pieter Malan is clearly in the mood for scoring in the Pears- Bears County Championship derby at New Road.

He has already struck three boundaries to go to 23 out of Warwickshire's score of 24-1 after nine overs.

From 26 balls, two more than Malan, England opener Dom Sibley has made 1.

Kent have won the toss and will bowl first against Sussex against Canterbury in the Group Three wooden spoon affair.

The start there, remember, has been delayed by an hour due to a positive Covid case in the Kent camp that has caused a squad reshuffle.

As a result, the hosts have five players making their Championship debuts.

No surprise that Gloucestershire opted to bat after winning the toss today.

The winner of their clash with Hampshire will definitely progress to the final group - and the loser will not.

Gloucestershire, in second spot, have a six-point cushion over their visitors so batting first gives them an ideal chance to control the tempo of the game. A draw would be good enough for them so they will want a big first-innings total.

They are doing comfortably so far, Miles Hammond hitting three early boundaries. He's unbeaten on 17.

Steady start for Notts openers Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater at Chester-le-Street, having seen out the first six overs from Chris Rushworth and Matty Potts.

A fairly quick start for Group Two leaders Somerset at Surrey and Devon Conway is having quite the summer, isn't he?

He's impressed for his new county after scoring that memorable 200 on debut for New Zealand at Lord's.

And the Kiwi has already hit a couple of boundaries off Ravi Ashwin to move swiftly on to 16no at the Kia Oval.

A few unfamiliar names in the Kent line-up today - due to a Covid case that has forced much of their first-team squad to self-isolate.

As England have shown in the past few days, though, it's an opportunity for someone to come in and make a name for themselves.

And with not a fat lot of pressure either - Kent and Sussex are basically playing to avoid the Group Three wooden spoon at Canterbury and little more than that.

They start at midday, an hour later than scheduled due to the late reshuffle.

Early wicket also for reigning red-ball champions Essex.

Tom Wood is bowled in the fourth over of the day by Sam Cook.

A sound start for Essex, who need two other results to go their way to stand a chance of sneaking in to the Group One top two.

New man in to join Luis Reece is Brooke Guest.

We're all a bit nervous today, I imagine.

No better way to forget those butterflies than a nice seven-odd hours of glorious cricket.

Dominic Leech is making his County Championship debut for Yorkshire and has an early shout for LBW turned down in his first over against Keaton Jennings.

In his next over the 20-year-old then almost finds the edge of Alex Davies's bat.

No breakthrough yet - buy the Tykes must be hopeful.

Play is under way across the country in eight of the nine fixtures in the final round of fixtures in the opening group stage of the County Championship.

The only delay is at Canterbury where Kent have had to name a new squad after a confirmed Covid case. They will begin at 12:00 BST.

Derbyshire v Essex - Derbyshire elected to bat

Durham v Nottinghamshire - Durham chose to bowl

Worcestershire v Warwickshire - Bears elected to bat

Gloucestershire v Hampshire - Glos chose to bat

Middlesex v Leicestershire - MIddlesex chose to bat

Surrey v Somerset - Somerset elected to bat

Glamorgan v Northamptonshire - Northants chose to bat

Kent v Sussex - delayed start

Yorkshire v Lancashire - Yorkshire chose to bowl

As ever, you can listen to ball-by-ball commentary from all nine games.

To tune in, click on the audio links at the top of this page.

With two of the six Division One places already taken - by Yorkshire and Lancashire - you might think that there's nothing riding on events in Leeds over the next four days.

But you couldn't be more wrong. Never mind the small matters of who tops Group Three, and the points taken on to the second stage, there is the much larger factor of Northern pride at stake.

Image source, Getty Images

The Roses match may no longer attract the packed houses of long ago - when the County Championship was domestic cricket's only competition. But it is still a keenly fought contest.

Yorkshire will be looking to avenge the innings defeat they suffered in Manchester at the end of May - and Lancashire will be looking for a first Championship win in Leeds in 10 years.

Still an awful lot to play for. As is best illustrated that Lancashire have Jimmy Anderson in their line-up.

Yorkshire have won the toss and put the Red Rose in to bat.

Here's why Sussex could well be favourites to avoid the Group Three wooden spoon.

A Covid case in the Kent camp means the players who featured in Friday's T20 Blast game - a large proportion of the squad - must isolate.

Joe Denly, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leaning, Jordan Cox, Darren Stevens and Matt Milnes are among the players who will miss out.

Kent will instead be forced to field an almost second string side, although Heino Kuhn is available and will captain the team.

Image source, BBC Sport

In contrast to the other groups, pretty much everything is decided in Group Three.

Yorkshire and Lancashire will battle it out for top spot in the Roses clash at Emerald Headingley - and with points from matches between the top two carried into the next stage, it's still an important match.

Northants and Glamorgan will duke it out for third place while Kent and Sussex tussle to avoid the wooden spoon - and while Sussex start the day bottom, they could well be favourites to win that one...

Image source, BBC Sport

Group Two is equally intriguingly poised.

The big match in the final round of fixtures sees Gloucestershire host Hampshire in what is virtually a winner-takes-all affair.

Gloucestershire are in the box seat with a six-point advantage, meaning a draw will almost certainly be good enough to progress.

Leaders Somerset need 14 points to guarantee progression but with the two sides below them playing each other, they should be through.

Their opponents, fourth-placed Surrey, are not totally out of the equation but they will need to thrash Somerset and claim a 24-point win to have any hope.

Image source, BBC Sport

Nottinghamshire have put themselves in pole position as the leaders of Group One - avoid defeat against Durham at Chester-le-Street and they will be through to the final group stage.

Durham, in third place, must, in reality, beat Notts to stand a chance of snatching a top-two qualification spot - as a draw is unlikely to be enough.

With Notts and Durham playing each other, a draw should be enough for second-placed Warwickshire to progress. They travel to Worcestershire for a Midlands derby.

Defending champions Essex still have a chance but they need to beat Derbyshire and hope both Warwickshire and Durham fail to win.