Worse news from Manchester.

No play before lunch.

Memories of past encounters as former England captain Sir Alastair Cook faces up to fellow 37-year-old Peter Siddle.

Sharing the new-ball duties for Somerset is Craig Overton, while Cook's opening parnter is Nick Browne, who has registered the day's first boundary.

Slight strange scenario at the Oval, where Dom Sibley opens the batting for Warwickshire against his former - er, future - team.

Sibley, who rejoins Surrey at the end of this season, is out in the middle alongside Alex Davies as Warwickshire try to negotiate this opening salvo by the Surrey seamers, with plenty of swing on offer in overcast conditions.

Just a single to Davies from the first couple of overs.

We're off and underway in six of our seven games - and already there has been a wicket.

For Worcestershire's Joe Leach, against Derbyshire at New Road.

Meanwhile, it's swinging in Scarborough.

And the only place they're not playing is in Manchester, where it's raining.

Radio Five's Kevin Howells is based this week at Scarborough, to co-ordinate our accompanying BBC radio coverage.

You can tune into live ball-by-ball BBC local radio commentary from all seven matches.

Just click on the audio links at the top of this page.

Sam Northeast’s record-breaking run bonanza lifted Glamorgan into second place at the weekend but, with the Welshmen putting their feet up in this round of matches, it’s a chance for three of their rivals to make up ground.

Third-placed Middlesex, who haven’t tasted victory in their last four games, urgently need to rectify that at Chester-le-Street, where they take on a Durham side boosted by the return of England seamer Matthew Potts.

Along with Durham, Derbyshire are becoming the division’s draw specialists – with six out of 10 so far – and they face a tricky assignment against Worcestershire at New Road.

Image source, Rex Features

The Pears will be nursing thoughts of a top-two push themselves after triumphing against Middlesex last time out thanks to a career-best hundred from opener Ed Pollock.

Division leaders Nottinghamshire have an extra day off before their match against Sussex at Trent Bridge gets under way tomorrow.

All 10 top flight sides are in action - and the most intriguing of all five fixtures must surely be at The Oval, where leaders Surrey host reigning champions Warwickshire.

The injury-hit Bears' form has nosedived of late - and, with only three games to come after this, they now find themselves in serious danger of becoming the fifth side to be relegated just a year after winning the title - Middlesex, in 2017, being the most recent.

The Bears have made a loan signing to supplement their weakened pace department, Hampshire's Brad Wheal. But Gareth Batty's Surrey start strong favourites to close out a seventh win in 11 games.

Image source, Rex Features

Second-placed Hampshire go to face fourth-placed Yorkshire at Scarborough where, looking at last night's BBC forecast, today's weather on the North Riding coast looked like being more Scafell Pike than Scarbados.

But the word for now this morning is that the sun's out and they're due to start bang on time.

Same story in Manchester, where rain was forecast to interrupt third-placed Lancashire's meeting with sixth-placed Kent.

But there are better prospects at Chelmsford, where Simon Harmer plays his last Essex gameahead of the forthcoming England-South Africa Test series, and at Cheltenham College, where apparently doomed bottom club Gloucestershire entertain Northants.

DIVISION ONE

The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford: Essex v Somerset

Cheltenham College: Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire

Emirates Old Trafford: Lancashire v Kent

The Kia Oval: Surrey v Warwickshire

North Marine Road, Scarborough: Yorkshire v Hampshire

DIVISION TWO

Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street: Durham v Middlesex

New Road: Worcestershire v Derbyshire

Thanks for joining us again for the final round of County Championship fixtures before the 'school summer holidays' break.

This is the last round of games before the red-ball season goes into cold storage for five weeks until returning triumphantly for its four-week-long denouement on the 5th of September.

Two generations ago - even just a generation ago - there would have been manic laughter at the very idea that there would be no Championship cricket staged in the month of August.

Image source, Rex Features

But the world has moved on, as much in cricket as anywhere else, and everything now stops for The Hundred (for the new generation), the One-Day Cup (for the more traditional minded followers of the county teams) - and the three-match Test series with South Africa, starting on 17 August.

The first two Tests in that series are the only red-ball cricket to be played in England in August - but we still have five days' worth of county cricket to enjoy this week.

Five Division One games starting today - at Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Old Trafford, The Oval and Scarborough - and two in Division Two, at Chester-le-Street and Worcester. And then Notts v Sussex tomorrow.

Hope you can stay with us.