Yardy holds Sussex together

Michael Yardy held the Sussex batting together against Kent on the opening day at Hove. He struck his second century of the season and formed the major stand of the day with Murray Goodwin as the pair put on 141 for the third wicket. However, when Goodwin was stumped off Min Patel the innings went into decline as Sussex lost 4 for 44. Yasir Arafat provided valuable support while Ollie Rayner and James Kirtley offered similar solid support. Patel was the pick of the Kent attack with three wickets.

Gloucestershire relied on a team effort rather than individual brilliance on a solid first day against Essex at Bristol. Craig Spearman and Kadeer Ali laid the foundations with a solid fifty opening stand before Ali was trapped in front by Alex Tudor, who showed pleasing form with three wickets. Spearman progress to 70 and further substance came from Alex Gidman's 87 and Steven Adshead's 68 - the pair adding 129 to turn the innings around from 139 for 5 - but there was a sense of a Twenty20 hangover in the way batsmen didn't covert into larger scores. Darren Gough chipped in with three wickets but the Gloucestershire lower-order proved hard to shift.