Smith saves Durham as wickets tumble

Will Smith scored arguably the finest half-century of his career to keep Durham firmly in the reckoning for their maiden County Championship title, on a frenetic first day against Hampshire at Basingstoke. In total 16 wickets fell on a pitch that is sure to raise a few eyebrows, but Smith's coolly compiled 70 from 150 balls was the difference between the sides at the close - the next highest individual score was Callum Thorp's 28. Dimitri Mascarenhas was the first bowler to make his mark on the match with 5 for 46 in 23 overs, as Durham were skittled for 156 inside two sessions, but Smith - who came to the crease in the first over and was the last man out 56 overs later - stood firm amid the carnage. By the close, his efforts had been amply rewarded. From an even keel of 48 for 0, Hampshire tumbled to 65 for 6 - with the last four wickets falling for no runs. Mark Davies had claimed 5 for 24 in 10.3 overs at the close, with Paul Wiseman making up the numbers.

On the day that Mushtaq Ahmed announced his retirement from county cricket, Sussex produced a disciplined batting performance against second-placed Nottinghamshire at Hove, to keep alive their hopes of a fourth county crown in six seasons. By the close they had ground along to 292 for 5, thanks to a diligent 79 from Murray Goodwin (who passed 1000 runs for the season), and further half-centuries from Michael Yardy and Carl Hopkinson, who remained unbeaten on 53. Yardy's 64 was a typically obdurate performance, which benefited from a suspected dropped catch by Chris Read on 16 (although Read redeemed himself with a spectacular leg-side take to remove Andrew Hodd), and while Goodwin's was the most fluent effort of the day, he was nonetheless guilty of running out his captain, Chris Adams, after Darren Pattinson fielded well from mid-on. That aberration was soon forgotten though, as Sussex made sure they would not be surrendering their title without a fight.

There was no play on the first day of Lancashire's clash with Surrey at Blackpool

Click here for John Ward's first-day report from Scarborough, where Yorkshire are taking on Kent.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Somerset	12	3	1	0	8	0	146
Nottinghamshire	12	4	2	0	5	1	137
Durham	12*	5	2	0	3	1	136
Kent	13*	4	4	0	4	0	134
Lancashire	12	3	2	0	7	0	126
Sussex	12	2	2	0	8	0	125
Hampshire	14*	2	4	0	7	0	124
Yorkshire	13*	2	5	0	5	0	119
Surrey	12	0	3	0	9	0	106

David Masters and Ryan ten Doeschate claimed nine wickets between them as Leicestershire's batting was routed on the first day at at Grace Road. Leicestershire were bundled out for 107 in 47.1 overs, and only HD Ackerman stood firm as wickets tumbled all around him - his unbeaten 55 came from 125 balls with seven fours, and was the only score (apart from extras) to reach double-figures. It was Graham Napier who claimed the first wicket, as Greg Smith edged to the keeper for 1, but thereafter it was Masters and ten Doeschate who took over, returning figures of 5 for 35 and 4 for 16 respectively. Leicestershire did redeem themselves fractionally before the close, as Nadeem Malik and Sam Cliff struck three early blows to reduce Essex to 34 for 3, but Mark Pettini's half-century ensured that his side will be securing a handy first-innings lead.

Darren Maddy and Jonathan Trott scored a pair of half-centuries to give Warwickshire the upper hand on a low-key first day against Derbyshire at Edgbaston. Bad light limited play to just 9.3 overs in the final session of the day, in which time Trott moved along to 62 not out in a total of 209 for 3. Maddy made 73, and passed 12,000 career runs in the course of his innings, but was denied a century when he lost concentration and cut Jonathan Clare to Graham Wagg at point. Wagg had earlier removed Ian Westwood for 5, and Wavell Hinds took the only other wicket to fall, that of Tony Frost for 25.

Glamorgan's wicketkeeper, Mark Wallace, produced a battling knock of 72 to rescue his side from a precarious 126 for 5 against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. By the close Glamorgan had recovered to a much healthier 286 for 9, to revive their prospects of escaping the foot of the County Championship table. Wallace reached his fifty with three consecutive boundaries off David Lucas, but eventually became one of Monty Panesar's two victims in a tidy 21-over spell - he was brilliantly caught one-handed at slip by Andrew Hall. Johan van der Wath, with 4 for 55, was the pick of the Northants attack, and van der Wath also claimed the most spectacular wicket of the day when Gareth Rees lost all three stumps to bring an end to his important innings of 53.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Worcestershire	13	6	1	0	6	0	179
Warwickshire	12	3	0	0	9	0	150
Northamptonshire	13	3	2	0	8	0	146
Derbyshire	12	3	2	0	7	0	128
Essex	13*	4	5	0	3	0	128
Middlesex	13	2	5	0	6	0	123
Leicestershire	13*	2	2	0	8	0	119
Gloucestershire	12	0	4	0	8	0	97
Glamorgan	11	2	4	0	5	0	91