Hick and Smith punish Gloucestershire

Worcestershire 396 for 2 (Hick 183*, Smith 166*) v Gloucestershire at Worcester
Scorecard
Day 1 Report - Wilting county watch the Hick master-class Gloucestershire Echo

Surrey v Middlesex at The Oval
More bad news for Surrey, who are yet to win this season, is that Saqlain Mushtaq, the Pakistani legspinner, will be out of action for at least a month with a knee injury. They face local rivals Middlesex, who beat them by six wickets at Lord's earlier in the season. Middlesex, currently in second place, are likely to be without their captain Andrew Strauss, who was a late call up to the England squad in place of the injured Michael Vaughan.

Northamptonshire v Kent at Northampton
Northants, who are yet to win this season, have brought in Carl Greenidge, the seam biwler, to replace Steffan Jones, who has a hamstring injury. Kent, in third place, are boosted by the return of the international trio of Mohammad Sami, Andrew Symonds and Martin Saggers. Niall O'Brien, the young Irish wicketkeeper, comes in for Geraint Jones, who is away with England.

Sussex v Warwickshire at Horsham
Ashley Giles is likely to play for Warwickshire if he is left out of England's starting XI at Lord's against New Zealand. He won't start the game, but regulations allow him to replace a player before close of play on Thursday. Alan Richardson, the fast bowler, replaces Giles in the only change to the starting XI. Sussex, meanwhile, have a full compliment of players to choose from. And that's just as well, as they still look for their first win of the campaign as defending champions.

Derbyshire v Somerset at Derby
Derbyshire's injury worries continue to grow as Kevin Dean struggles with tendinitis in the knee, and Mohammad Ali has a side strain. Both have been named in the squad, but neither are expected to play. However, Mo Sheikh could return after recovering from a knee injury. For Somerset, Michael Burns and Ian Blackwell are expected to return, while Peter Bowler, Matthew Wood and Keith Parsons have been dropped after the devastating defeat to Durham.

Durham v Glamorgan at Chester-le-Street
Jon Lewis, the captain, has recovered from illness to lead an injury-ravaged Durham side. They will be without Paul Collingwood and Stephen Harmison, both in the England squad. With as many as six bowlers in the treatment room, including Shoaib Akhtar, Durham have called up Pallav Kumar, a seam bowler, and he is set to make his debut after encouraging performances for Durham A. For Glamorgan, Andrew Davies or Dean Cosker will take Simon Jones's place.

Essex v Leicestershire at Chelmsford
Mark Cleary, the Australian fast bowler, returns to Leicestershire's ranks having recovered from a back injury. Cleary, who has replaced Garnett Kruger as the club's second overseas player for the season, missed the much-needed win against Nottinghamshire last week. He is likely to replace the unwell Jon Dakin, who misses out on the chance to play against his old club. Essex, yet to win this season, have rested allrounder Graham Napier, and have recalled the young batsman Ravi Bopara. Scott Brant and Paul Grayson also return to the squad.

Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire at Headingley
Yorkshire, tipped as potential table-toppers at the start of the season, but with only one win in the bag, are without international players Matthew Hoggard and Darren Lehmann. They have been replaced with Tim Bresnan and Nick Thornicroft in the squad. Notts, despite losing to Leicestershire in the last round of games, have named an unchanged side, and with Hampshire not playing a Championship fixture, they have a chance to close the gap at the top.

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