Sixth round of 2023 County Championship season
All 18 counties play
D1: Kent v Hants, Lancs v Somerset, Northants v Notts, Surrey v Middlesex, Warwickshire v Essex
D2: Derbys v Gloucs, Durham v Yorks, Glamorgan v Worcs, Leics v Sussex
No play at Derbyshire & Leicestershire because of rain
Abell lbw b Anderson 1 (Lancs v Somerset 11-2)
Image source, Rex FeaturesIt's been really tough going for Somerset this morning, and their captain falls for just one.
Tom Abell misses a nip-backer from James Anderson, and that's is the definition of plumb.
Surrey v Middlesex 43-1
10 overs gone at The Oval and it's been action-packed.
Pieter Malan has joined Sam Robson and whipped Dan Worrall through midwicket.
Robson himself has punched Kemar Roach down the ground for four.
Decent crowd in and sunny spells.
Image source, Rex FeaturesIt's tough going for the batters in the couple of games that are going on in Division Two.
Yorkshire have lost Adam Lyth at Chester-le-Street and are now 19-1 against Durham. New captain Shan Masood has 12.
Worcestershire have lost three quick wickets at Glamorgan. They're 22-3 with Ed Pollock, Taylor Cornall and Jack Haynes all gone. In-form seamer Michael Neser has another couple of wickets.
Gay c Clarke b Fletcher 15 (Northants 21-1 v Notts)
Having driven Luke Fletcher twice down the ground for four, Emilio Gay has a dip at a much wider ball and nicks off.
Wasn't quite full enough for the stroke and a fraction of away movement finds the edge.
Lancs v Somerset 10-1
Another dropped catch off James Anderson's bowling, but this time there's a wry smile on his face, because it's a caught-and-bowled chance.
It's punched back to Anderson's left hand by Tom Lammonby, and England's greatest ever seamer can't cling on.
Stoneman b Roach 8 (Surrey v Middlesex 14-1)
Kemar Roach strikes at The Oval.
He takes out Mark Stoneman’s off stump and Surrey have an early one.
Simply straight through him. Stoneman very slow with his footwork.
Northants 17-0 v Notts
Bright opening 20 mins for the hosts having been sent in.
Three boundaries to the attractive left hander Emilio Gay.
Bowling first can often prove a big advantage at Wantage Road, can Notts make the most of winning the toss?
Crawley lbw b Barker 7 (Kent 12-2 v Hants)
Zak Crawley goes, pinned lbw by Keith Barker for 7.
Barker is bowling around the wicket, Crawley shuffles across his stumps and plays round a straight one.
No hesitation from the umpire, and Kent are in a spot of bother at Canterbury.
Davies c Hartley b Anderson 4 (Lancs v Somerset 5-1)
It's classic James Anderson!
Late swing, angled across Steven Davies, and Lancashire finally cling onto a slip catch, having put two down prior to this.
Anderson still has a look of mild disgust on his face.
Image source, Rex FeaturesSurrey v Middlesex 10-0
Always a grand occasion a London derby.
This is one of those fixtures to prove to the naysayers that the County Championship is still significant.
Mark Stoneman has taken a couple of early boundaries off Kemar Roach after Surrey chose to field.
Compton c Weatherley b Abbas 0 (Kent 2-1 v Hants)
A big wicket early on for Hampshire!
It's a great length from Mohammad Abbas, drawing Ben Compton forward, and he nicks off to Joe Weatherley at third slip.
Tawanda Muyeye joins Zak Crawley in the middle - he's been in prolific form for the Kent second XI, and he gets off the mark with a delightful push through cover for three.
Lancs v Somerset 0-0
James Anderson, he of 1,097 first-class wickets, finds the outside edge of Tom Lammonby's bat with the sixth ball of the day.
It goes low to Luke Wells' left at first slip, and he can't hang on to a tough chance.
Kent 0-0 v Hants
Mohammad Abbas has the new ball for Hampshire, and as ever, he's straight on the money.
Ben Compton plays out a maiden, which includes a big lbw shout - James Vince in the slips was convinced that was out.
I'm not so sure.
Durham v Yorkshire 0-0
New Yorkshire captain Shan Masood is making his debut today after returning from international duty with Pakistan.
He's in the middle in testing conditions at Chester-le-Street.
Jonny Bairstow is also in the Yorkshire XI and keeping wicket.
Every ball covered
As ever there will be live ball-by-ball commentary from all nine matches provided by BBC local radio.
To tune in click on the audio links at the top of this page.
The players are out in the middle at six of our grounds. Let's go...
So, most teams deciding to bowl first. Hardly surprising in quite damp, cool conditions.
We might have to wait for a while to see Australia batter Steve Smith in action.
Sussex's game at Leicestershire is delayed.
Image source, Rex Features11:00 BST starts
Div One:
Div Two:
There will be a couple of delays this morning, but with all 18 counties in action this week there are still several games to get stuck into.
Let's have a look at the fixtures and toss news...
Image source, Rex FeaturesMorning!
After a soggy few days/weeks it's a little brighter out there so fingers crossed we'll get plenty of county cricket in.
Round six of this fast-moving 2023 campaign is coming up shortly...