So that brings a close to the first day of the County Championship's return.

Dark skies in the main, but some bright lights performing on the first-class stage.

You can read all about them on our Counties page of the BBC Sport website and app where we'll have close of play reports from the three Division One matches plus a round-up of what happened elsewhere.

We'll also return on Tuesday with all the action on day two of this round. Be sure to join us across BBC Sport from 10:45 BST.

Until then - thanks for being with us.

Division One:

Ageas Bowl: Hampshire v Yorkshire 197-6 - Hampshire won toss and elected to bowl

Old Trafford: Lancashire v Warwickshire 259-3 - Warwickshire won toss and elected to bat

Taunton: Somerset v Nottinghamshire 282-6 - Somerset won toss and elected to bowl

Division Two:

Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 134 v Essex 92-2 - Glamorgan won toss and elected to bat

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire 232-5 - Gloucestershire won toss and elected to bowl

Division Three:

Leicester: Leicestershire 66-5 v Kent 232 - Kent won toss and elected to bat

Lord's: Middlesex 218-5 v Derbyshire - Middlesex won toss and elected to bat

Worcester: Worcestershire v Sussex 254-9 - Sussex won toss and elected to bat

And you can see more details on all those matches on this scorecards page.

And we're done for the day in the last match that survived the fading light.

Leicestershire reach 66-5 in reply to Kent's 232.

Plenty of work for them to do tomorrow when they resume 166 runs behind with only five wickets in hand.

Chris Benjamin is having some summer.

After his fairytale start to life in white-ball cricket for the Bears and the Birmingham Phoenix, he marked his Championship debut for the county with a maiden ton.

Read how he and Sam Hain made hay at Old Trafford.

If you've just joined us - play has already finished for the day in all three of the Division One matches due to bad light.

At the Ageas Bowl, Hampshire's bowlers made it tough going for Yorkshire under leaden skies.

Read how the day unfolded in our report below.

Five overs to bowl now at Grace Road where the sun has finally broken through the clouds which means they shoudl get them all in.

Slow left-armer James Logan has picked up a fifth wicket for Kent to put them well on top on this topsy-turvy first day.

There's still one more game ongoing despite all the others being brought to an early conclusion for bad light.

Eight overs remain (hopefully) at Grace Road with Leicestershire 47-4 in reply to Kent's 232.

You can hear BBC Radio Leicester's commentary with Richard Rae and Matt Cole at the top of this page.

Bad light also ends play early in Taunton, 7.2 overs short of the full 96 overs.

A seventh-wicket stand of 74 between Tom Moores and Liam Patterson-White has probably tilted the day in Nottinghamshire's favour especially after being asked to bat first.

Joe Clarke earlier top scored with 59, but Patterson-White's 46 off 38 balls has arguably been a more decisive contribution for the visitors.

Still some play going on in the other two divisions but bad light also interfering as well.

At Sofia Gardens, Nick Browne passed 50 to take Essex to 92-2 in reply to Glamorgan's 134 shortly before bad light stopped play there.

At Bristol, stumps were drawn a while ago where Northamptonshire closed on 232-5 against Gloucestershire. Adam Rossington is 66 not out.

In Division Three, they've been off for most of the evening session at Lord's with Middlesex still 218-5 v Derbyshire thanks to Robbie White's 101 not out.

At Grace Road, Leicestershire are struggling at 33-4 in reply to Kent's earlier 232. Grant Stewart has a couple of wickets for the visitors.

And at New Road, they've called time with Sussex 254-9 against Worcestershire. Jack Carson will resume on 81 not out in the morning.

And it is indeed an early finish at the Ageas Bowl, 10 overs shy of the scheduled close.

Yorkshire's tough day at the crease has seen them battle to 197-6 with Dom Bess (45 not out) and Jordan Thompson (15 not out) adding 48 so far for the seventh wicket.

They will resume three runs shy of a first batting point.

I mentioned the light was getting darker in Manchester and with Saqib Mahmood about to take his mark for a new over, umpires Ian Blackwell and Russell Warren come together.

Lancs want to continue with Mahmood rather than switch to spin, so the choice is taken to bring the players off, and that is the end of the day's play.

This partnership is more than dangerous from a Somerset point of view as Liam Patterson-White and Tom Moores have now put on 69 - the best of the innings - and Nottinghamshire may even start to eye a score of 350 if these two stick together.

The lights are really starting to take effect just down the road from me at Old Trafford.

Warwickshire have picked up a second batting point, while Lancashire have one bowling point. Captain Will Rhodes has just hit his first boundary as he grafts for five off 18 balls.

Dom Bess picks up another boundary off Kyle Abbott.

But at the end of that over, umpires Nigel Llong and James Middlebrook come together and decide the light has faded too much for them to continue for now.

That may well be stumps too with only 10 overs left to bowl in the day but we'll wait and see.

The new ball yet to give Hampshire a breakthrough but Yorkshire are starting to see their run-rate creep up.

Handsome drives for four down the ground by both Dom Bess (41 not out) and Jordan Thompson (15 not out) start to push the White Rose towards 200 and a first batting point.

They've added 34 so far for this seventh wicket.

Liam Patterson-White has obviously been stung by his knock on the head. He has hit five fours and reached 26 off 23 balls as Nottinghamshire refuse to roll over.

This is county cricket at its best with the balance of power threatening to tilt back towards the visitors and it's now two bonus points apiece.

We've also got the lights on at the Ageas Bowl but Kyle Abbott is on for another spell for Hampshire.

Dom Bess (33 not out) and Jordan Thompson (10 not out) have managed to add 20 runs since Harry Duke departed.

14 overs to bowl if the light holds out before stumps.

New ballpublished at 17:20 British Summer Time 30 August 2021

17:20 BST 30 August 2021

Lancashire v Warwickshire 240-2

Tom Bailey has a new red cherry in his hand, looking to repeat the two wickets he got with the new first thing this morning.

That feels like a long time ago with Chris Benjamin and Sam Hain both on unbeaten hundreds. The fact that Lancashire have used eight bowlers shows how they are toiling desperately for a breakthrough.

The lights are on now at both Old Trafford and Taunton on grey afternoons.

With the new ball due in both games, will we manage to complete a full day of cricket or will bad light intervene?