We thought the weather put paid to any hopes of a result in this match after just 17 overs were possible in the opening two days.

Apparently though after batting fireworks from the Glamorgan tail hauled them to 403-9 dec there were negotiations between the two clubs after stumps last night and again this morning to potentially thrash out an agreed target for Leicestershire today, with Glamorgan especially keen to try to eke out a result to try and keep pace in the Division Two promotion race.

It would seem, sadly for neutrals, that no agreement could be reached and so Leicestershire will be solely focusing on the chase for batting bonus points when play resumes with a draw all but inevitable.

These teams are 9th and 10th in the table and this is surely viewed as a must-win game by both sides.

But how many runs will be enough and yet still tempt Middlesex to chase on a pitch that offered seam and bounce first up, but now appears to be flattening out?

Sam Robson will complete the over after Rob Keogh's run out just before stumps last night.

Three deliveries remaining.

The Northants batters (Emilio Gay and Lewis McManus) are wearing black armbands to mark the passing of Tony Kingston last night. He was the first team scorer for the club for 32 years and recently received his BME.

Just seven of the nine games that began on Monday remain, but our BBC local radio teams are in place to bring you ball by ball coverage from each of them.

Choose one from the audio links at the top of the page and we'll provide regular text updates to keep you in touch with the other six.

Image source, Rex Features

Surrey batter Tom Latham believes they must focus on not losing wickets in the early stages of the final day against Nottinghamshire at The Oval.

The Division One leaders - beaten by Essex in their previous game - are only 156 ahead with their top order already gone.

"It is in the balance a little bit for both sides. From our point of view it is about building partnerships throughout that first hour and then if we are in a position to put the foot down and give them a score to chase that will be the case," said Latham, who made 60.

"For us, when we get the ball, it is about understanding there may be partnerships but then we can get wickets in clumps."

Image source, Getty Images

If day four at Taunton is anything like the first three we are in for a treat.

Both teams recovered from 80-5 in their first innings thanks to superb tail-end stands... the difference maker is that James Rew inspired Somerset to a total of 500 with a maiden double-century while Felix Organ and Kyle Abbott fell narrowly short of three figures as Hampshire were eventually dismissed for 330.

Home skipper Tom Abell surprised many by enforcing the follow-on, his counterpart James Vince surprised even more by sending Abbott back out to open the batting just ten minutes after being stranded 11 runs shy of his maiden professional century.

Abbott and Joe Weatherley departed before stumps leaving the much-changed hosts needing eight wickets in 96 overs to secure a famous innings win over a strong Hampshire side who need 136 runs to avoid that fate.

Organ - who fell for 97 after adding 177 with Abbott for the ninth wicket - said: “It wasn’t the best of days for us. I owe the team some runs from the start of the season, so it would have been nice to really cash in and go onto a bigger score on such a flat wicket.

“Kyle Abbott batted incredibly well. While I was blocking every ball, he came out and kept pumping it through the off side. It was like batting with James Vince at times!"

Somerset off-spinner Shoaib Bashir said: "I reckon the pitch will break up more and we have Alfie Ogborne, a left-arm seamer, who will help create some rough patches (for Bashir and Dom Bess to utilise).

“We’ll see how things go, but we have given ourselves a good chance of winning.”

Could be 50-50 this morning. The forecast is much better in the afternoon.

Will Northants bat on or declare?

Image source, Getty

Sam Whiteman admitted his innings wasn't "pretty" after scoring 114 against Middlesex on day three at Merchant Taylors' School.

The Northants batter faced 248 balls as they built a lead of 314 in what is a must-win game for both sides.

"I never felt like things were flowing nicely, but I was happy to hang in there and put the team in a good position," he said.

"It’s amazing that this is our eighth Championship game and there’d only been one hundred-run partnership, so that probably explains where we’re sitting in the table."

As we suggested in our 10:38 entry, Essex have declared on their overnight score.

Lancashire's mission, should they choose to accept it, is to score 430 to win.

Where is Tom Cruise when you need him? Oh, there he is.....

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Rex Features

James Coles hopes Sussex can put themselves in a position to "dangle a carrot" to Derbyshire when he resumes on 101 not out.

The 19-year-old all-rounder hit 15 fours as the home side recovered from 1-2 and 34-3 to lead by 188 going into the final day.

"I aspire to be a top four batter permanently so when Cheteshwar Pujara went away to play for India I wanted the opportunity. We bat in different ways and his are big shoes to fill but I’m really enjoying it," he said.

“The first hour will be important. Hopefully we can get through that and then maybe dangle a carrot in terms of setting things up. The pitch is tearing up a bit so there is definitely enough in it for spinners. If we want to get promoted we need to win more games and that might mean risking losing, although that is not in our mindset.”

Image source, Getty Images

We wait for news of whether Essex will settle for the their overnight lead of 429 and declare at Stanley Park.

England's Dan Lawrence smashed 135 off 125 balls as the visitors recovered from 27-3 to leave Lancashire facing the most likely task of batting for a draw.

"Dan Lawrence was amazing - absolutely amazing. The way he played put the pressure back on Lancashire and he looked to score all the time," said head coach Anthony McGrath.

"We're in a good position but we still know it's a lot of hard work because it's still a good pitch - but to lose a day to rain and be 429 in front sets up a good (final) day and we hope the rain stays away."

Image source, Getty Images

Yorkshire will be looking for early wickets on the final morning at New Road after Worcestershire took the unusual decision of asking their numbers 10 and 11 to open the batting.

Adam Finch and Ben Gibbon were sent out after the visitors enforced the follow-on and managed to survive nine over to the close.

But the Pears still trail by 143 and Yorkshire's Ben Coad said: "All in all, we’ve bowled really well and are in a great position to try and win this game. To make them follow-on with these Kookaburra balls is a great effort.

“There’s a little there in the pitch. If you put it in the right areas for long enough, you’ll get the rewards.”

This is what BBC Weather, external had to say on social media a little bit earlier on: "Its another day of sunshine and showers, but there'll be fewer showers today with long sunny spells. Westerly winds will be lighter, so it'll feel a touch warmer with temperatures of 18 to 24C."

Not too bad then.

Division One

Lancashire 145 v Essex 282 & 292-8

Essex lead by 429 with two wickets standing

Middlesex 277 v Northamptonshire 219 & 372-7

Northants lead by 314 with three wickets standing

Somerset 500 v Hampshire 330 & 34-2 (f/o)

Hampshire trail by 136 with eight wickets standing

Surrey 355 & 200-5 v Nottinghamshire 399

Surrey lead by 156 with five wickets standing

Division Two

Glamorgan 403-9 dec v Leicestershire 28-0

Leicestershire trail by 375 with 10 wickets standing

Sussex 402 & 193-5 v Derbyshire 407

Sussex lead by 188 with five wickets standing

Worcestershire 242 & 22-0 (f/o) v Yorkshire 407

Worcestershire trail by 143 with 10 wickets standing

--Wednesday results--

Kent 171 & 332 v Warwickshire 549-7 dec

Warwickshire won by an innings and 46 runs

Durham 453 & 52-1 v Gloucestershire 316 & 188

Durham won by nine wickets

Image source, Rex Features

Like a seaside clairvoyant's crystal ball, things are slowly becoming clearer in the County Championship.

Durham have a big lead at the top of Division Two, while Warwickshire put themselves firmly into the Division One title picture with their three-day win over Kent at Canterbury.

Welcome to our final day coverage of current round of matches. Seven are ongoing. Play begins at 11:00.