Rain produces draws across England

Ian Bell, the batsman most likely to replace Kevin Pietersen in the Ashes squad, failed for the second time at the Rose Bowl as the match between Hampshire and Warwickshire ended in a draw. Bell's dismissal - bowled by Imran Tahir for a duck - came shortly before the game ended with Warwickshire 23 for 2 in the second innings. Earlier Hampshire had amassed a formidable 505 all out in their first innings after Michael Carberry scored a career-best of 204. Sean Ervine cracked a quick 82 as well but Hampshire were given a scare when captain Dimitri Mascarenhas retired hurt after being struck on the helmet by Boyd Rankin. Hampshire insisted, though, that Mascarenhas would be fit for Saturday's Friends Provident final against Sussex.

Worcestershire were asked to follow on at New Road but the pair of Vikram Solanki and Ben Smith added 136 runs for the third wicket, a partnership that denied Somerset a victory that would have taken them closer to division leaders Durham. Andrew Caddick picked up the last two wickets in Worcestershire's first innings, securing Somerset a lead of 203. The hosts were in trouble during the follow on as well, being reduced to 40 for 2, before Solanki and Smith got together. Solanki scored 93 off 89 balls, including four boundaries in a Peter Trego over, before he was bowled by Zander de Bruyn, while Smith made a more composed 80 off 145 deliveries. Worcestershire wiped out the deficit and had reached 225 for 5 when the match ended.

Click here for John Ward's report of the fourth day's play between Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire at Scarborough.

Rain ruined Middlesex's hopes for a maiden victory this season after they were set a challenging target of 280 in a minimum of 68 overs by Derbyshire at Derby. A shower after lunch reduced the number of overs to 50 but Middlesex covered good ground, reaching 121 for 1 off 24 overs, with Owais Shah and Nick Compton playing aggressively, when another rain interruption brought the day's play to an end. Earlier in the day, Derbyshire had declared their second innings on 258 for 7, after resuming on their overnight score of 138 for 2. Steven Finn and Shaun Udal took three wickets apiece for Middlesex.

Weather denied Essex the time to push for 20 wickets after Leicestershire were forced to follow on at Grace Road. Resuming on the final morning at 61 for 3, Leicestershire were dismissed for 238 in the first innings, conceding a lead of 189. No one apart from Jim Allenby, who made 71, and James Taylor (88) made more than 20. Tom New and George Walker fell off successive deliveries and there was some controversy over Iain O'Brien's dismissal shortly after. O'Brien appeared to have nicked the ball to the wicketkeeper but he felt the ball had clipped off stump instead. Leicestershire, however, had only 42 overs to negotiate in the follow-on and finished the day on 123 for 3.