Bright start from the hosts at Southampton.

Jack White's opening over is a little short and Joe Weatherley punishes him with two drives to the boundary. In-form Fletcha Middleton helps himself to a three and White slinks off having conceded a dozen off the opening six balls.

Jordan Buckingham's first delivery from the other end is a no-ball, the second and fourth go for four. Not the start Northants needed. 22 off two.

Durham have made a positive start at Bristol after winning the toss and choosing to bat. They are 14-0 after two overs and Michael Jones has already found the boundary twice in his 13 not out.

Worcestershire are keeping loan signing Jack Brooks in reserve at New Road, with Joe Leach and Ben Gibbon sharing the new ball. Sol Budinger has square cut the latter for four and Leicestershire are 7-0 after two.

An immediate test for new Glamorgan batter Zain ul-Hassan as he takes the strike against Ollie Robinson.

The England man opens with a maiden. It includes an LBW shout, but it was probably pitching outside leg at the left-hander.

Dan Worrall takes the opening over for Surrey after his spectacular 5-7 from his final six overs against Middlesex last weekend.

Plenty of eyes on Zak Crawley (when are there not?) who opens up with Ben Compton. Compton works one off his legs to get Kent off the mark and Crawley does likewise to end the over.

Image source, Rex Features

Having put Essex in, Notts are looking for early wickets at Trent Bridge.

Stuart Broad has the new ball, but Nick Browne finds the square leg boundary from his second delivery.

It was on his pads and easy pickings.

No game for Derbyshire this week - but there is a news of a loan signing by Mickey Arthur's side.

Seven games for you in round seven of the County Championship and our BBC local radio teams will be providing ball-by-ball coverage for you as usual.

Choose a game to listen to from the audio links at the top of the page and we'll provide regular text updates to keep you apprised of events elsewhere.

Image source, Getty Images

The highlight of this week's Division Two action is at Hove where Steve Smith, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ollie Robinson line up for Sussex against a Glamorgan side containing Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser.

So many internationals on show, you could be forgiven for thinking you had stepped into an IPL match, rather than a county game at Hove!

Australia batters Labuschagne and Smith will hope for one last big innings before they meet up for international duty.

Robinson would love to claim the wicket of Glamorgan and Australia number three Labuschagne in his last match before joining up with the England squad, while Neser is expected to be brought into Australia's squad after strong early season form.

As for India star Pujara, expect him to do what he always does - score runs. Nobody in county cricket has more than his 545 runs at 77.86.

For Glamorgan, there is also a first-class debut this week for 22-year-old opening batter Zain ul-Hassan.

These two neighbours have been going at it for 314 years, making this the oldest fixture in the county game.

Unbeaten Surrey are setting the pace at the top of Division One while second-bottom Kent already look destined for a battle for top-flight survival.

Dan Worrall claimed 5-7 in his final six overs to polish off the Middlesex first innings and Jordan Clark claimed 4-25 in the second as the Brown Caps beat their London rivals by nine wickets at Lord’s last weekend.

Jamie Smith’s 95 and 88 from skipper Rory Burns were the foundations for their first-innings total of 380 which paved the way for a quickfire chase of 70 to win on the final day.

Kent’s much-maligned batters did show some grit to secure a draw against Hampshire last Sunday, reaching 259-4 on the final afternoon having been skittled for 95 and conceding a first-innings deficit of 278 in the first innings of a match which lost more than a day to the weather.

England's new vice-captain Ollie Pope and Tom Lawes return for the hosts, while fast bowler Arafat Bhuiyan is handed a Kent debut.

Image source, Kyle Andrews Photography

With Warwickshire out of action this weekend, Hampshire will look to at the very least reduce the 22-point gap to the top-two against basement-boys Northants.

Hampshire were thwarted by the weather and Kent’s last-day resistance at Canterbury last Sunday and had to settle for their first draw of the campaign.

James Fuller claimed 5-21 as the hosts were whipped out for 95 and Liam Dawson rattled 84 to give his side a first-innings lead of 278. Kent needed to bat through the final four sessions of rain-hit match to salvage a share of the spoils.

Northants slipped to the foot of the table as they were humbled at home to Notts in a match which only lasted 170 overs.

Ricardo Vasconcelos’ 62 made up the lion’s share of their first innings total of 158 and despite bowling the visitors out for 255 with four wickets apiece for James Sales and Tom Taylor, the hosts were ousted for just 72 to lose by an innings and 25 runs.

The omens don’t look great for an injury-hit Northants side which lost by an innings and 270 runs against Hampshire at Wantage Road last month, though the hosts are without the injured Kyle Abbott and Fuller, who is ill.

Image source, Rex Features

The cricketing week has been dominated by news that Jonny Bairstow has been given the gloves for England's Test with Ireland, starting on 1 June, and therefore most likely, the Ashes, getting the nod over Ben Foakes.

But another wicketkeeper-batter has been offering a tantalising glimpse into the future in the opening weeks of the county season.

Somerset's James Rew, still only 19, is the leading run scorer in Division One after six rounds of fixtures, with 539 runs at an average of 67.37 with three centuries.

All of the hundreds have come against Lancashire, but coming in at number six, he has offered some welcome depth to the Somerset batting.

Today he gets the chance to play at Lord's against wily old-hands like Toby Roland-Jones and Tim Murtagh.

Although beaten by Surrey on Sunday, victories over Nottinghamshire and Kent previously, both at home, have got Middlesex's season up and running.

However for this game, they will have to do without South Africa batter Pieter Malan, who has injured his knee.

Image source, Rex Features

He was given a breather last week, but Stuart Broad is back to fine tune his bowling for England duty to come as Notts take on Essex at Trent Bridge.

Broad has contributed 11 wickets in three appearances so far this season, while Brett Hutton (25) and Dane Paterson (20) have been the main spearheads of their attack.

Dan Lawrence will be in the Essex side before he and Broad report for duty against Ireland at Lord's and will be looking for a big score after failing to reach 40 in any innings since his 105 against Middlesex in their season opener.

His form, though, is less of a concern than that of Sir Alastair Cook, who is averaging a very un-Cook like 21.66.

Division One

Ageas Bowl: Hampshire v Northamptonshire

Hampshire won the toss and will bat

Lord's: Middlesex v Somerset

Middlesex won the toss and will bowl

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Essex

Notts won the toss and will bowl

Oval: Surrey v Kent

Surrey won toss and will bowl

Division Two

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham

Durham won the toss and will bat

Hove: Sussex v Glamorgan

Sussex won the toss and will bowl

Worcester: Worcestershire v Leicestershire

Worcestershire won the toss and will bowl

Image source, Rex Features

He is in the England 15 for the one-off Test against Ireland but you can bet that Matthew Potts has no intention of settling for being a squad player this summer - whatever Anderson, Broad, Robinson etc might say about it.

Potts is looking to further press his claims in Bristol, having already taken 24 Championship wickets in four games this season.

His form - and that of Ben Raine, who has 23 victims - has played a big part in helping Durham race to the top of Division Two.

And he will be looking to add to his tally against a Gloucestershire side including Australian opener Marcus Harris for the final time before international duty, but one whose three batting points earned is the lowest total in the division.

We're only five matches into the 2023 County Championship campaign and already clear water has been established at the top of both divisions - and we're not talking about rain.

Surrey and Warwickshire are well ahead in Division One following last week's wins - the leaders by nine wickets against Middlesex and the Bears by four wickets against Essex.

Nottinghamshire enjoyed a convincing innings victory over Northants but they have a 25-point gap to close on Surrey at the top.

Image source, BBC Sport

In Division Two, Durham held their nerve to beat Yorkshire by one wicket and go into a new round of games with an 18-point advantage as the only side to have registered more than one win so far.

Glamorgan were the only other winners in round six, ending a run of four draws with a three-day, 10-wicket victory over Worcestershire.

Image source, BBC Sport

*includes one no-result

Image source, Getty Images

Such is the depth of their pace bowling options that only Kemar Roach and Jordan Clark have played every game so far for defending champions Surrey.

An enforced change will be necessary against Kent, however, with Roach returning to the Caribbean for family reasons, having taken 18 wickets at an average of 26.94.

Will that blunt Surrey's attack? Kent must hope so because they have only managed two batting points from their five matches so far.

With second-placed Warwickshire not playing this week, Surrey have a chance to stretch their lead before the Championship goes into hiatus until mid-June.

Today's forecast summary from BBC Weather:, external

• Quite cloudy but still some brightness
• Sunny spells in far SE & SW Eng
• Few showers
• Rain across W Scot and NI at times

Let's hope the showers stay away from the seven grounds.

"It must be an attractive sport in some way, but you need to understand it" - those are words attributed to Pep Guardiola when asked about cricket a couple of years ago.

The sporting plaudits have been flying in this morning for Manchester City, so allow us to offer a modest 'Well done, chaps'.

It's time now to park the football bus, just for a few hours, while the summer game takes centre stage at the start of another round of the County Championship.

We have seven matches for you including top v next-to-bottom in Division One as Surrey take on Kent at The Oval.

Welcome to our coverage. Play starts at 11:00.

Image source, Rex Features