We've had just 17 overs possible due to the weather in the opening two days... a five-ball spell and then 16.1 overs before stumps last night.

We're scheduled for a pitch inspection at 11:30 BST at Cardiff after more sharp showers in South Wales this morning.

Sam Northeast and Zain ul-Hassan will resume their partnership for the hosts... eventually, we hope!

No prompt start in Blackpoolpublished at 10:57 British Summer Time 12 July 2023

10:57 BST 12 July 2023

Lancs 37-1 v Essex 282

There was very little play on day one at Stanley Park and the organisers will be hoping this hold-up is only a short one.

Lancashire are waiting to resume, 245 runs in arrears, with Josh Bohannon 20 not out and Keaton Jennings on 13.

I've never been a fan of the phrase "there's a lot of weather around" - as it seems to assume all weather is bad - but you get my drift.

Gloomy and damp conditions here after rain earlier this morning.

An 11:15 BST start is planned.

Image source, Rex Features

Will Young professed himself "stoked to get a hundred" in his first innings for Nottinghamshire since joining them on a three-match deal.

The New Zealander was especially severe on anything directed in towards his pads as he ended day two at The Oval on 106 not out.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for me to come over for a short stint with Notts. I knew, going into the game against Surrey first up, playing at the Oval would be pretty special," he said.

“It was an interesting phase of the game, when we’d lost a couple of wickets at the other end, so I was more focused on getting through to the end of the day as few wickets down as possible."

James Rew made headlines with his brilliant 221 for Somerset yesterday. Here's what head coach Jason Kerr had to say about it.

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Rushworth became the first Division One bowler to reach 40 wickets when he bowled Tawanda Muyeye as the shadows lengthened on day two. Not a bad 37th birthday present for the paceman.

He'll be back at Canterbury this morning looking to increase his tally against a Kent side who are fighting to avoid an innings defeat, having conceded 500+ runs for the second consecutive innings at home, thanks largely to Rob Yates' career-best 228*.

Joe Denly and Ben Compton will need to dig deep to help eat into the remaining 323-run deficit. Anything other than Kent batting through the day is likely to lead to a mammoth win for Warwickshire, you'd imagine.

Kent skipper Jack Leaning said: “We’ve got two big days coming ahead. We’ll try and bat for as long as we can, hopefully we’ll go past them and see where we end up.

“Credit to them, they’ve just showed us how to bat on a good wicket. Ultimately we’ve put ourselves behind in the game by how we’ve batted on day one, not necessarily because of how we’ve bowled.

“If we’re being totally honest with ourselves we should have been doing that to them on a good wicket, but look we’ve found ourselves where we’ve seen a lot of runs scored on this ground in the last few weeks so it’s our turn to stand up as a batting unit and be counted."

Image source, Getty Images

The weather has cost us 50 overs of this scintillating contest over the first couple of days, but even if there is only a draw at the end of it, it will live long in the memory.

James Rew's stellar career-best 221 helped Somerset recover from 80-5 to post 500, with able support from Kasey Aldridge (88), Dom Bess (54) and Shoaib Bashir (44*) in some record-breaking stands along the way.

James Vince dropped Aldridge and Rew in the slips, chances he'd usually take, and although he did dismiss Rew with the ball to close the innings, he'll be seeking to build on his overnight 11 to repair some of the damage he caused his side.

Somerset's plan is clear... take eight wickets, enforce the follow-on, take another 10 and hope the showers don't hold up their progress too much.

Image source, Rex Features

Lancashire paceman Tom Bailey is looking forward to the return of the Dukes ball in the County Championship despite taking 6-59 to help bowl out Essex on day two at Stanley Park.

Bailey now has 34 wickets for the season but is not enamoured of the Kookaburra cherries being used in the previous and current round of matches.

"After playing at the Oval last week we knew the Kookaburra balls get quite soft and it becomes quite tough to take wickets," he said.

“Will (Williams) keeps me going. It’s quite easy to get frustrated sometimes but he’s relentless.....all me and Will are talking about is getting that Dukes ball back in our hands."

Image source, Rex Features

Northamptonshire skipper Luke Procter believes anything over 200 will be a "tough chase" for Middlesex at Merchant Taylor's School.

They restricted the home side to a 58-run first-innings lead on day two, despite 64 by Ryan Higgins, who then took both Northants wickets in the final session as they reduced the deficit by 55.

"There wasn’t that much in scores between both sides even though we went about it different ways," said Procter.

"I think we are going to stick to our guns and do what we did best in the first innings and hopefully we can get a few more runs than we did [then]."

Image source, Rex Features

Yorkshire opener Finlay Bean admitted he had "left a few runs out there" despite his 135 on day two at New Road, his third Championship century of the season.

"There was a bit of frustration at getting out when I did, similar to last week. Giving it away slightly is always disappointing, especially when you are feeling that good," he said.

“I’ve been working on concentration and making it count once you are in. That’s what I pride myself on."

Adam Finch took 5-100 for Worcestershire and said: "I wouldn’t say the ball was doing anymore really. It was just a case of our execution was better, our disciplines were better, and just trying to stack an area more consistently than day one."

Image source, Getty Images

Thirteen batters scored more than 1,000 runs in the County Championship last summer - Derbyshire's Wayne Madsen leading the way with 1,273 at an average of 60.61.

Somerset teenager James Rew is in pole position to be the first to four figures this summer after becoming the county's youngest player to score a first-class double century on day two against Hampshire.

His innings of 221 took his tally to 953, 59 more than his closest rival, Durham's Alex Lees, who is on 894 following his 195 against Gloucestershire.

Essex's Tom Westley has 886 following his hundred against Lancashire, while Leus du Plooy resumes on 32 not out for Derbyshire against Sussex and looking to boost his total of 830.

From BBC Weather:, external "It's another day of sunshine and showers today - some will be heavy and thundery again, especially across the northern half of the UK. It'll be breezy today and temperatures will be on the cool side for the time of year, 16 to 22C."

Not brilliant, but could be a lot worse.

Division One

Kent 171 & 55-1 v Warwickshire 549-7 dec

Kent trail by 323 with nine wickets standing

Lancashire 37-1 v Essex 282

Lancashire trail by 245 with nine wickets standing

Middlesex 277 v Northamptonshire 219 & 55-2

Northants trail by 3 with eight wickets standing

Somerset 500 v Hampshire 58-2

Hampshire trail by 442 with eight wickets standing

Surrey 355 v Nottinghamshire 248-5

Notts trail by 107 with five wickets standing

Division Two

Durham 433-8 v Gloucestershire 316

Durham lead by 117 with two wickets standing

Glamorgan 54-1 v Leicestershire

Sussex 402 v Derbyshire 212-3

Derbyshire trail by 190 with seven wickets standing

Worcestershire 46-2 v Yorkshire 407

Worcestershire trail by 361 with eight wickets standing

County Championship day three.

Quite often, by this stage, we are looking at two or three games finishing early but with iffy weather about this week, it looks like the majority of the nine that began on Monday will go into the final day.

Welcome to our coverage. Play is due to start at 11:00.

Image source, Getty Images