Dane Paterson is into the attack now in place of Hutton.

Kent have a platform here - and an excellent chance to build up some batting bonus points to move further ahead of Middlesex and Northants, both of whom have lost early wickets this morning.

Two from the over.

The Sri Lanka paceman is bowling round the wicket now as Compton plays defensively into the on side.

Compton shoulders arms as Fernando's fifth ball jags back sharply and misses the stumps by a coat of varnish. Maiden over.

Brett Hutton is pushing the ball out wide of off stump and Compton is leaving it alone.

A straight ball is driven down the ground and picked up just inside the ropes. Three runs.

Crawley gets a single off the last ball to keep the strike.

Crawley is keen to get on with it and tries to fetch Fernando to leg from outside off.

Fernando beats Crawley outside off and the ball is deflected past third slip.

Kent currently becalmed after a very bright start.

Not a bad crowd here for a September Sunday morning. Maybe a few more folk will come to the ground via the cathedral later?

Notts had the better of Kent earlier in the summer at Trent Bridge but this is a much-changed Kent XI, with no less than seven changes.

Just one from Hutton's third over.

Compton is not matching Crawley for fluency just yet as he plays and misses Fernando outside off.

Extra bounce from Fernando and Compton resists the pull shot.

That's more like it! Width outside off and Compton cuts for four.

The sun is beating down on an already brown strip - and this could be a very good day for batting.

Crawley nudges a Brett Hutton ball through third man for four.

Four more clipped with immaculate timing through leg.

Four more driven in front of square on the off side.

In the blink of an eye, Crawley has raced to 20. Off 10 balls.

They have now tossed up in Birmingham. Warwickshire won it and have put Northants in.

No surprise really, given the way they've been batting!

All done in such haste that even the scoreboard hasn't switched on yet.

But they're definitely out there. Oliver Hannon-Dalby gallops in from the City End to bowl the first ball to left-hander Hasan Azad - with a ludicrously short legside boundary in front of the Eric Hollies Stand to protect.

The Bears have Rob Yates back to open the batting, while fit-again paceman Craig Miles comes in.

Bottom club Northants have made two changes. Simon Kerrigan comes in for Justin Broad, while Karun Nair replaces Sam Whiteman, following his return to Australia.

Warwickshire: Rhodes (capt), Brathwaite, Yates, Mousley, Hain, Barnard, Burgess (wk), Briggs, Miles, Rushworth, Hannon-Dalby.

Northamptonshire: Procter(capt), Gay, Azad, Nair, Keogh, Zaib, McManus (wk), Taylor, Kerrigan, White, Sanderson.

Compton is off the mark with a single first ball and Crawley ends the over with a single flashed through point.

Unlike the north-west of the country, it's an absolute scorcher down here in the south-east.

A reminder that Sam Billings was in the Kent squad but not the XI.

Asitha Fernando is bowling with some good pace at the other end.

An appeal as Compton is beaten just outside off but it's not out.

Too high. A full length ball is driven down the ground by Compton for four.

Leicestershire have won the toss at Hove and decided to bowl.

No Ollie Robinson in the Sussex line-up, as had been mooted.

Rain in South Walespublished at 10:34 British Summer Time 10 September 2023

10:34 BST 10 September 2023

As well as the two Division One games, the start is also delayed at Sophia Gardens, where Glamorgan play Yorkshire.

Kent are ninth in the table, six points behind Middlesex, in relegation danger - but they do have a weather advantage!

Middlesex will have to wait for the rain to clear at Old Trafford.

Ben Compton takes first strike and opens with Zak Crawley.

Wonder if Zak will get off the mark with glorious cover drive first ball? Isn't that what he does these days?

Brett Hutton will bowl.

Lancashire begin this round with a game in hand over third-placed Hampshire, who received a points deduction for a "below average" pitch at home against Essex in July.

The gap has narrowed to 19 points - with Lancashire, chasing a second successive top-three finsh. on 134 and Hampshire on 153.

The Red Rose are at home to Middlesex, currently eighth in the table with only two batting bonus points to date. They may look to strengthen the batting today by adding Stephen Eskinazi to the XI.

Lancashire loan players Rob Jones (Worcestershire) and Danny Lamb (Somerset) are in the squad for the hosts.

A bit cloudy at Bristol - but this game should start on time.

Gloucestershire have had a somewhat injury-ravaged season and currently sit one point behind today's opposition Derbyshire on 84 points.

But Graeme Van Buuren is back as skipper, with Bracey returning to the ranks as keeper.

Ed Middleton is in the XI for his first ever Championship match.

Three changes for the visitors since the last round - with Luis Reece, Mark Watt and Worcestershire loan player Pat Brown coming in for Mitch Wagstaff, Zak Chappell and George Scrimshaw.

Alex Hoad
BBC Sport at Canterbury

Plenty of interest in the Kent team news for this match.

Spinner Aron Nijjar comes in for his debut following his last-ditch loan signing from Essex, external.

One player who won't be making his debut after all is New Zealand all-rounder Ben Lister, who has been called up by his country as a replacement for the injured Adam Milne, himself once of Kent.

Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is however set to feature, making him the sixth overseas player to represent the club this summer in all formats

So far this season Kent have also fielded George Linde, Kane Richardson, Wes Agar, Arshdeep Singh and James Bazley.

Kent: Leaning (capt), Crawley, Compton, Bell-Drummond, Muyeye, Finch (wk), Evison, Nijjar, Chahal, Gilchrist, Hogan

Notts: Mullaney (capt), )Slater, Hameed, Montgomery, Clarke, Moores (wk), James, Harrison, Hutton, Fernando, Paterson

We might be waiting a while for two of the top flight games to get started.

At both Edgbaston and Old Trafford.

Light rain for the moment - with maybe worse to come.

Sigh.

Image source, Alex Hoad - BBC Sport

The BBC UK weather forecast says "Cloudy and wet in north-west Scotland today. Brighter with showers and thunderstorms elsewhere."

Don't think worrying about the Scottish weather need detain us too much, other than sympathising with them of course - but the "showers and thunderstorms elsewhere" bit of it just might concern us.

There was rain in the way on the way into Birmingham. And the sky over Edgbaston, whichever way you look, does appear threatening.

But it's already apparently cracking the flags in Canterbury.