Ed Green

Division two seems, at this early stage to be splitting into two mini-divisions of its own, with Essex, Middlesex, Derbyshire and Worcestershire in pursuit of promotion while the rest struggle to contend with apparently limited playing resources

Hampshire v Sussex - Southampton The two highest-placed promoted sides meet in a confrontation that could prove key to their end-of-season placings, in particular for Sussex, whose points average rather than points total puts them in seventh, not

Both of these sides have had mixed seasons so far, each registering two wins from five outings, and both would almost certainly have gone down to defeat had Surrey enforced the follow-on at Old Trafford in round six

With Glamorgan improving after a poor start to the season, and Middlesex anxious to take full advantage of their game in hand during Derbyshire's week off, this promises to be an interesting contest

With thin sunlight struggling to break through the London cloud the weather forecasters were proven correct, although unhelpful, as the pitch remained sufficiently wet from overnight rain to prevent play before lunch

Somerset v Hampshire (Bath) Somerset, without Test players Andrew Caddick and Marcus Trescothick, welcome back Richard Johnson from injury and will hope he forms a potent opening pair with Matt Bulbeck who impressed as Caddick's partner at the Oval

Durham v Worcestershire (Chester-le-Street) In Sheriyar and Harmison, these counties both possess bowlers of extreme pace but limited accuracy

Hampshire v Warwickshire at Southampton Hampshire will continue their attempt to continue their good start to the season as they welcome what looks to be the division's weakest team to their impressive new Southampton ground

Derbyshire v Glamorgan at Derby Derbyshire retained their second place despite having lost their first game of the season Derbyshire will be delighted if they are able to field their captain and leading wicket taker Dominic Cork for this game, his

The day began with Surrey pressing on, losing nightwatchman Ian Salisbury almost immediately for four and Ward, Brown, Stewart and Tudor then each lost his wicket assaulting the Somerset attack, who, Bulbeck aside, were less threatening than in the

The second delivery of the day saw Mark Butcher stroke test colleague Andrew Caddick effortlessly to the boundary, the third, a fast accurate in-swinger brought Caddick his wicket

In an ironic twist, the next round of championship games, following on from the first Test, have prompted the England team management to show great kindness to the counties which have contracted England players

If Durham are to get their season going they must start soon

Lancashire tried as best as they could, this was a situation in which they would have given anything to have Murali available, but Lancs simple do not have a bowler who can be relied on to break apart a pair of stalwarts like Ramps and the Gaffer

At the start of day 3 Lancashire were reasonably placed but had no room for relaxation, with their last two recognised batsmen at the crease and a lead of 228 and game was nicely poised

Derbyshire have a chance to extend their winning run and go top against the men from Northampton

No two counties will be looking forward to the return of the four-day game more than these

The final 50 over B&H competition (for now at least) starts today with some interesting confrontations

The contests between these two sides have for the last several season's been billed as potential championship deciders, historically Surrey and Yorkshire have been the country's two strongest counties and it is reputed that when they are strong then

That this was Yorkshire's best session of the match does not mean that the champions had the better of it, there continued to be too many deliveries that were more hard to reach than they were hard to play - a fact hard to pardon at the pace Hamilton