Hooper holds up Surrey as Hodge hammers 200

Carl Hooper held up Surrey's quest to go back on top of the Championship with a majestic hundred, as Lancashire sneaked into a four-run first innings lead. Any sort of score remotely close to Surrey's looked unlikely once Lancashire had faltered to 183 for 6 after a solid start. Mark Currie (56) and Stuart Law (67) put on 109 to steady their reply, but Law's dismissal triggered a collapse of four wickets for 14 runs. However, Hooper restored order with a cool 114, stroking 11 fours and smashing five sixes. He eventually began to run out of partners as Azhar Mahmood (4-76) and Ian Salisbury (3-70) polished off the tail, but last man Gary Keedy played out 36 balls for a solitary run as Hooper had some fun at the other end until he was out at the close to Azhar. Earlier in the day Jonathan Batty was left stranded on 154 not out as Surrey added seven more runs to their overnight total.

Warwickshire 290 and 113 for 6 v Middlesex 286 at Edgbaston
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A century from Ed Joyce and another disciplined bowling display gave Middlesex the edge in their game against Warwickshire. Joyce scored his ninth first-class hundred, of which few will have been as valuable, as he helped Middlesex to within four runs of Warwickshire's 290. Corey Collymore (3 for 42) earlier removed both overnight batsmen, Owais Shah, who smashed 54 from 58 balls, and Robin Weston (31) in quick succession to get Warwickshire back in to gear. Middlesex lost wickets at regular intervals as Dougie Brown (1 for 18), Ashley Giles (1 for 69) and Waqar Younis (4 for 69) were in the wickets. But the scalp of Joyce proved to be more difficult. He gusted it out for a hard-fought 107, including 16 fours, and was last man out. If Warwickshire had a slender advantage then they immediately handed it back to Middlesex as Chad Keegan and Simon Cook struck early on to dismiss Mike Powell, Nick Knight and Ian Bell with only 20 on the board. Mark Wagh (46) then hit back, but after he perished on 46 to Timothy Bloomfield, Brown and Giles also fell late in the day to leave Warwickshire struggling on 113 for 6, and only 117 ahead.

Nottinghamshire 290 v Leicestershire 376 for 4 at Trent Bridge
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Brad Hodge hammered 220 not out from 208 balls - already a career-best - as Leicestershire took charge against a shell-shocked Nottinghamshire, who had another day to forget. Notts resumed on 257 for 6, but their innings came to a sudden and sticky end at the experienced hands of Philip DeFreitas, who took all four of the remaining wickets for 33 runs. DeFreitas rolled back the years - and the Notts lower order - to finish the innings with 7 for 51, including the big wicket of Bilal Shafayat for 68, but then it was Hodge who hogged the limelight. He launched a dazzling assault on a beleaguered Notts attack, crashing the second double-hundred of his career, which featured 38 fours and three sixes. He put on 278 with Paul Nixon, who scored only 65 of the runs, which tells its own story of Hodge's hard hitting. Charles Shreck actually got Notts off to a promising start with three wickets to leave the game in the balance with the score on 60 for 3. But Hodge well and truly tipped the scales Leicestershire's way.

Glamorgan 466 and 270 for 4 v Yorkshire 422 at Colwyn Bay
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Mike Powell helped Glamorgan to a dominating position from which to hunt a win against Yorkshire. Richard Blakey (36) and Andy Gray (48) earlier added 73 and guided Yorkshire to within 44 of Glamorgan, which originally looked unlikely after Matthew Wood was out early in the day for 126, just two more than his overnight score. Mike Kasprowicz, Dean Cosker and Robert Croft took three wickets apiece and then Powell put Glamorgan ahead of the game with an unbeaten 81. Mark Wallace (61) and Adrian Dale (47) also weighed in with a stand of 116 and David Hemp kept the runs flowing with 54 not out as Glamorgan led by 314 with six wickets left.

Somerset 338 for 4 v Hampshire 395 v at Taunton
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Neil Edwards, 19, in only his third match for Somerset, scored his maiden first-class century to put Somerset in a strong position against Hampshire. Early in the day, Hampshire added 95 for the last three wickets as the two old boys Robin Smith (56) and Shaun Udal (30) bumped Hampshire up to 395, Stefan Jones (4 for 102) taking all three wickets. In their reply, Somerset made quick progress as Edwards showed the big boys how it was done. He smacked 160 from 184 balls, including 27 fours, and added 147 with James Bryant, who didn't hang around either, walloping 73 from 74 balls. Thomas Webley (30*) and Ian Blackwell (27*) were well set on the close as Somerset ended 57 behind and with six wickets in hand.