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Sam Cook proved surplus to requirements with England but showed just how important he is to Essex on day one as Surrey were shelled out for 183.

The Essex seamer hot-footed it from Lord’s to parachute in to the XI replacing Charlie Bennett and promptly took 3-41 as Surrey were put under the pump.

And while the commute from St John's Wood to Chelmsford was shorter than last week when Cook was faced with Leeds to Somerset to join up he said the upheaval was worth it.

“Training with those guys [with England], some of the best players in the world, you are obviously going to raise your game. Bowling to those guys you have to be at your best," he said

“Luckily coming back here today was a shorter journey than last week so it didn’t feel it had taken it out of the legs too much.

“You can definitely take confidence from bowling at people in that set-up and you try and use that when you come back and play here. It probably helped contribute to the success I had with the ball today.”

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Yorkshire have plenty of work to do with the bat on day two after three wickets in the final 12 overs of the day put them back in bother against Leicestershire.

The Foxes had begun to look a little ragged as Sam Whiteman and James Wharton put on 115 for the third wicket.

But once Whiteman was out for 49, the hosts lost Matthew Revis and then Jonny Bairstow to the penultimate ball of a rain-truncated day as the visitors roared back.

“I think the game's pretty evenly balanced at the moment," said Whiteman.

“It was nice to put on a 100-run partnership with James Wharton, which put us in good stead. But the game turns pretty quickly, doesn't it?

“A couple of wickets late on hurt us, particularly knowing that the weather was coming and how we could have set the game up. I still think we’ve had a pretty good day there."

Heavy overnight rain means we won't get under way on time, but the umpires will inspect at midday, so fingers crossed for action this afternoon.

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Well yesterday was a bit messy if we're honest.

No play was possible at Edgbaston, Worcester or Derby and the other six matches were all curtailed by rain or bad light at one stage or another.

We're hopeful today will allow us plenty more cricket, though our colleagues at BBC Weather predict there will still be variable cloud and scattered showers, heavy and thundery in places.

Good old August,

You can check the latest forecast here.

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After rain washed out the first two sessions, Kent openers Zak Crawley and Ben Compton made light of losing the toss with an unbroken 154-run stand in 36-overs before stumps.

Crawley played with patience and punished the bad ball against an errant attack to close on a season-high 82*, while Compton will resume on 51.

Other than a Nathan McSweeney drop in the slips and the odd moment from Ben Sanderson, Northamptonshire struggled to create many problems.

Kent had a four-point lead over their hosts in the promotion race going into this game and will surely have their sights on multiple batting points on the second afternoon.

David Bedingham (59*) and Ben Stokes will resume this morning aiming to build a big lead for the title-chasers after Kasey Aldridge's 5-16 helped skittle basement boys Gloucestershire on day one.

Durham head coach Ryan Campbell said: "With the conditions, we're always going to push to bowl first and take as many wickets as possible. I thought our patience and constant pressure was really important."

Matty Potts passed 50 wickets for the season and Campbell added: "He's been put under the pump, I think we all saw the last Test in Sydney. I've got no doubt that some people have made their final decision on Matthew and that's probably the wrong decision."

Campbell also spoke to BBC Sport about the inclusion of Brydon Carse, who claimed two early wickets.

Glos bowler JT Langridge took two wickets on FC debut after joining on loan from Somerset and said: "I've looked forward to this moment for a long time, so to go out there and put up a performance that reflects well on me as a cricketer, I feel really happy."

Division One

Warwickshire v Notts - No play possible on day one

Sussex 77-2 v Somerset 202 - Henry Crocombe 5-56

Yorkshire 144-5 v Leicestershire

Essex 10-1 v Surrey 183

Glamorgan 111-7 v Hampshire 162

Division Two

Durham 100-3 v Glos 137 - Kasey Aldridge 5-16

Northants v Kent 154-0 - Zak Crawley 82*

Worcs v Lancs - No play possible on day one

Derbyshire v Middlesex - No play possible on day one

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Welcome to Friday.

The end of the working week for many, but for our county cricketers the work is only just beginning.

It's day two of the 10th match in the County Championship, a season which looks like it might throw-up one of the most dramatic finishes in years.

Mother Nature robbed us of hundreds of overs across our nine matches on day one, but fingers crossed her impact will be more limited on day two.

Plenty to get through, so let's crack on...