Final round of the 2021 County Championship season
Hampshire, Lancashire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire all in with a chance of winning title
Third-placed Lancs close on 25-3 in reply to leaders Hampshire's 143 at Aigburth
Warwickshire in second make 283-4 against Somerset at Edgbaston
Fourth-placed Notts score 292-9 against Yorkshire
Lancashire v Hampshire 57-4
As so often it feels like captain James Vince holds the key to Hampshire's batting.
If the visitors' skipper can make a big contribution, Hants will feel they can reach a competitive total. If Lancs get him early, they will think they could make big inroads into the lower order and the tail.
Warwickshire 80-1 v Somerset
Will Rhodes (42 not out) and Dom Sibley (30 not out) really beginning to profit now after taking the shine off the new ball in the first hour or so.
Rhodes moves into the 40s with a lovely on-drive for four off Tom Abell. Sibley also gets four more with a neat straight drive off Jack Leach.
Image source, Rex FeaturesIn Division Two...
Essex's bid to win that section has edged closer with a fourth Northamptonshire wicket.
Northants 58-4 after choosing to bat first.
At The Oval, Glamorgan are 107-1 against Surrey thanks to an unbeaten half-century from David Lloyd.
Two wickets in two balls earlier from David Payne did reduce Durham to 25-2 against Gloucestershire but the visitors have recovered to 68-2.
In Division Three....
Second-placed Kent have kept leaders Middlesex in check at 67-2. A wicket for Nathan Gilchrist and the evergreen Darren Stevens so far.
At Hove, Derbyshire are 109-2 against Sussex and at Worcester, Leicestershire are 82-2 against Worcestershire.
Nottinghamshire 70-3 v Yorkshire
One ball after Ben Duckett cracks a lovely four through the onside and he's gone.
He tries to crash one through the offside, but it flies to Dom Bess at backward point who takes a good catch.
A second wicket for George Hill and a first bowling point for Yorkshire.
Lancashire v Hampshire 48-4
What a spell of bowling this is from George Balderson! The all-rounder now has 3-8 as he rips through Hampshire's top order.
He ends Joe Weatherley's resistance as he gets one to lift a little bit more and the opener gets a nick and Alex Davies does the rest.
Weatherley lasted 61 balls this morning. He only faced 50 for his 71 in the T20 Blast on Saturday.
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Nottinghamshire 64-2 v Yorkshire
Middle-order man Joe Clarke has raced to 17 with four quick fours. Although he's certainly been helped by the short boundary.
Reminds me of an innings I had once at Prestwich CC where I'm sure one of the boundaries was no more than about 30 yards away!
Warwickshire 54-1 v Somerset
Spin for the first time today at Edgbaston.
Jack Leach comes on to bowl for Somerset, but his first ball to Dom Sibley is short and wide outside off and Sibley (22 not out) cuts it away for four.
Brings up a 50 partnership between him and skipper Will Rhodes (24 not out) for the second wicket.
So that's the first point picked up by any of the four title contenders.
That for now, nudges Lancashire into second place above Warwickshire but stand by for many more "as it stands" updates over the next few days...
Lancashire v Hampshire 43-3
It's two wickets in an over for Balderson!
Nick Gubbins lasts just three balls before he is tempted into one outside off stump, but he can only edge it to wicketkeeper Alex Davies.
Suddenly the game has a different feel to it after Hampshire had batted for over an hour without losing a wicket.
Lancashire v Hampshire 43-2
All-rounder George Balderson strikes for Lancashire.
After a dogged second wicket partnership of 42, Tom Alsop is gone as he edges to second slip where Danny Lamb takes a smart catch.
Warwickshire 43-1 v Somerset
Seventeen overs bowled now at Edgbaston.
Will Rhodes (24 not out) and Dom Sibley (15 not out) beginning to pick up the pace a touch with a couple of boundaries each either side of the wicket.
Craig Overton has a big leg before shout against Rhodes but too high is the verdict of umpire Russell Warren.
Nottinghamshire 47-2 v Yorkshire
One follows two for the home side with both openers now gone.
George Hill has a wicket in his first over as Ben Slater gets a nick on one to Duke behind the stumps and that hard work of the first hour is undone.
Two new batsmen at the crease and now Notts have to rebuild.
Warwickshire 30-1 v Somerset
Clive Eakin
BBC CWR Sport at Edgbaston
The knowledge that Warwickshire will probably need some batting bonus points to have a chance of taking the title, but can't be sure how many, is a quandary for them.
Batting points haven't been easy to come by at Edgbaston this season and Warwickshire have also struggled to pick them up at away grounds.
The ground staff have tried to help by pulling the boundary rope well in from the Eric Hollies Stand and that's already led to the bonus of four overthrows for Will Rhodes.
But it's been a testing start for the Bears' batters having been put in on an overcast morning with Josh Davey and Craig Overton producing good opening spells for Somerset.
Nottinghamshire 45-1 v Yorkshire
The first wicket goes at Trent Bridge.
Haseeb Hameed will be disappointed with this one. After coming through the first hour, he is tempted by a ball a bit short and wide of off-stump from Matthew Fisher, but he plays a rather lazy attempted cut shot which is feathered through to Harry Duke.
That is now scores of 2, 8 and 23 since he came back to the ranks from England duty.
Lancashire v Hampshire 30-1
The deckchairs and fold-up seats are out in force at Aigburth, which is making for a good atmosphere.
But Hampshire pair Joe Weatherley and Tom Alsop are digging in well after the early loss of Ian Holland.
D3: Worcestershire v Leicestershire 43-1
Ged Scott
BBC Sport at New Road
Image source, BBC SportBit early in the day for cake I know, but Worcestershire have converted one of their old bars at New Road into a site for their splendid new cafe and shop.
It only opened today, so it would have felt rude not to "road test" it.
Surely now for any cricket fan, the finest view in the country, whether or not there is a cricket match going on or not!
Which is handy as, although this is the last game of the season, it will remain open throughout the winter months!
And one of the great traditions of New Road is that they have a breed of enthusiastic supporters who really do roll up on winter days when the sun’s out just to, quite literally, sit and watch the grass grow!
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Francis Laud: Three divisions of 6, played 3 times in the year.
Three up, 3 down. Every team can win the title, even starting from bottom tier.
Every match matters. 15 matches per year per team. Div 1 winners hold Bob Willis trophy - 3 winners a season! Final round win = County Champs.
Got that everyone? Keep your format suggestions coming...
Nottinghamshire 37-0 v Yorkshire
Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel, not playing red-ball cricket this summer, has said on radio that this pitch was used in April when Warwickshire chased 333 in the fourth innings to win by three wickets.
Perhaps the pitch doesn't carry as many devils as on first sight? Although it would be a different proposition if the clouds were hovering over Trent Bridge.
A minor stoppage here where what looks like a tractor has had to be covered up because the sun was reflecting off its windows!
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Warwickshire 20-1 v Somerset
Dom Sibley (7 not out) gets his first four of the day as he back-foot drives Josh Davey through the covers.
Dismissive stuff.
Tries to repeat the same shot with less success though later in the over with a very uncharacteristic swipe at a ball, including backing away to the legside.
Image source, Rex FeaturesTime for our first look at what's happening in the other two divisions....
Division Two leaders Essex, who need four points to win that particular title, have made a decent start with the ball against Northamptonshire at Chelmsford. Two early wickets for Jamie Porter and one for Sam Cook have pinned the visitors back at 25-3 and claimed one of those points.
Play has resumed at Bristol after that earlier nearby medical incident with the air ambulance, Durham 15-0 against Gloucestershire.
Finally, Glamorgan have raced to 55-0 against Surrey at The Oval.
In Division Three - leaders Kent put second-placed Middlesex into bat where Sam Robson is the only wicket to fall so far at 34-1.
At Hove, Derbyshire have also made a fast start with the bat against Sussex on 68-0.
And at New Road, Leicestershire are 31-1 after choosing to bat first against Worcestershire.