Low and thick set cloud over the ground and all the covers are on.

It appears the rain has subsided but it's very gloomy and wet out there.

Lancashire debutant Matthew Hurst is growing in confidence, having been given that life when Haseeb Hameed dropped him earlier.

The 19-year-old has looked strong off his pads, clipping Calvin Harrison through midwicket for four and repeating the stroke just now against Steven Mullaney to steer the Lancashire total beyond 200.

Hurst is 25 not out, while Tom Bailey has eight.

Image source, Rex Features

That is the 57th time Simon Harmer has taken five or more wickets in a first-class innings as Felix Organ holes out to Matt Critchley.

Shot selection poor there - just like Liam Dawson this morning, that delivery was well outside off stump, but he tried to hit it to mid-wicket.

Hampshire need another 13 to avoid the follow-on - Essex need one more wicket for their third bowling point.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Radio Newcastle

The players left the field in brilliant sunshine around midday today and haven't been back on since. As they walked off we had what looked like a sun shower, but then it lashed it down.

With yesterday totally washed out and most of day one, we have now lost 196 overs in this match - with 44 scheduled to be bowled from 3.30pm today.

For no other reason than the sheer disappointment of it all, I keep a tally each season of how many overs Durham have lost in all formats. This year it now stands at 1,024. Yet I would wager Chester-le-Street will have been one of the driest venues this season.

The majority of lost overs have come here, Cardiff, Derby and Scarborough.

The worst year for the side, since I have covered them, was 2012, the wettest summer on record, when Durham lost around 1,200 overs, but weren't the worst affected team that year either.

A 3.00 tea interval was also taken here at the Oval.

But don't expect a 3.20 resumption. It's still raining.

Only 34 games have been bowled in this game following washouts on the first two days. The umpires will inspect at 4pm.

Fynn Hudson-Prentice is 13 not out for Sussex, with Jaydev Unadkat on four.

Hampshire are closing in on the 298 target they need to reach to avert any possibility of following on as Keith Barker dabs Sam Cook past second slip for four runs.

If they get there, how are Essex going to conjure the win they so badly need from this game?

The conditions have improved at Lord's, with dark cloud and rain giving way to brighter skies.

Tea will be taken now, with the umpires due to inspect the pitch around 3.25pm.

We should mark that Harry Swindells and Will Davis have set a new Leicestershire record for the highest 10th wicket partnership against Yorkshire.

Theirs is now worth 84 - beating the 70 by George Geary and Alex Skelding at the Aylestone Road ground back in the 1920s.

It wasn't much of a rest for Simon Harmer.

Here he is again and Tom Prest hammers his fifth delivery over mid-wicket for four.

Not a surprise.

The weather has been horrid here since lunchtime.

The rain is light now but it's very overcast.

A 3.20 resumption has been suggested but there are no guarentees.

Conditions have improved at Worcester and tea will be taken at 3.10pm, with the final session to begin at 3.30. There are 44.2 overs to be bowled after the dismissal of Azhar Ali from the final delivery before rain arrived.

It's all about bonus points now for promotion-chasing Worcestershire - while Durham need four more to be certain of the Division Two title.

Hurst dropped by Hameedpublished at 14:59 British Summer Time 21 September 2023

14:59 BST 21 September 2023

Lancs 177-5 v Notts

One thing you don't want to do when returning to your former team is shell a catch, but Nottinghamshire's Haseeb Hameed has done just that at Old Trafford.

Calvin Harrison is bowling at the moment - the first over of spin in this game - and Matthew Hurst gives him the charge, but doesn't get hold of it properly and the ball whizzes to Hameed, who puts the chance down.

A let-off for the youngster, while Steven Croft is playing very nicely at the other end and is now 41 not out after successive boundaries off Lyndon James.

Ged Scott
BBC Sport at New Road

Image source, Ged Scott - BBC Sport

Worcestershire have just made an announcement that, based on the fact that the Ladies Pavilion do not serve their famous tea and cakes on the final day of four-day Championship games, this is the last time they will be served this season.

The queue began forming rapidly.

It is not yet officially the tea interval in the game itself, in which the players have been off because of rain since 12:15. But it soon will be.

As for the next time tea wil be served at New Road, that will be in 212 days' time, according to local cricket mathematician Dave Bradley, who has done his sums, based on the Pears playing their first home game next season on 20 April, as they did in 2023.

Keith Barker slogs Matt Critchley over mid-wicket for four as Hampshire pass 250 and earn a batting point.

A reverse sweep follows and it runs away fine for another boundary.

Where is the next wicket coming from for Essex?

Will Davis jams the bat down on an attempted yorker by Matthew Revis and it runs away fine for four as the Leicestershire total passes 200 at Grace Road.

They are 203-9, a lead of 48 over Yorkshire, and Davis - who is 30 not out - and Will Swindells have so far added 63 for the 10th wicket.

Dan Lawrence really does have an extraordinary action.

The first ball of his second over is a full toss and Keith Barker hits it over mid-on for four.

Barker ends the over with a single and that is a 50 partnership with Tom Prest.