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Sussex opener Dan Hughes insisted his side had showed “fight” to avoid being bowled out for 150 in conditions that made batting incredibly hard at Chelmsford on day one.

Tricky overcast conditions with the floodlights on all day probably made Sussex’s 213-7 one of the batting efforts of the day against an always potent Essex line-up.

“It looked like we were only going to get 150, but the guys showed some fight. It wasn’t easy to score out there It was a bit of a slow wicket. It was just a bit of a grind.

“Hopefully we can get a batting bonus point in the morning and then get as many runs as possible from there.

“It was a grind but it’s good that we showed a bit of fight.”

Essex bowling coach Doug Hondo praised Jamie Porter who took 3-32. "It’s been a quick turnover, we last played two days ago, so Jamie was ready," he said.

"It was just a matter of switching on the mental side and you see what can be done with short preparation.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Radio Newcastle

Following yesterday's rain - and the loss of 49 overs - we have an extended day today with 104 overs on the schedule.

The forecast is good, so as long as the light holds, we should get them in. It's warm too and I imagine we will see a lot of spin bowling today.

In the 30 overs possible yesterday, the spinners were brought into action very early in the proceedings and the ball was going around corners. There's plenty of low bounce too.

Despite that David Bedingham resumes on 57 runs and now has 1,000 runs in a championship season for the fourth time.

James Bracey calls for hard work and partnerships on the second day in Bristol.

Gloucestershire, who are bottom of the second division by a staggering 50 points, struggled after electing to bat first and slumping to 62-5 in a rain affected first day against Derbyshire.

Wickets were shared between frontline seamers Brett Randell (2-11) and Ben Aitchison (1-23), while Shoaib Bashir also finished with 2-14.

Despite the difficult start, Gloucestershire's Bracey, currently 25 not out, still believes batting first was the correct way to go.

'We decided to bat first because we think the pitch is going to turn more as the game progresses. It's been tricky with the weather around for the last few days and the pitch under the covers, and it did help the seamers to begin with.

But we have a world-class spinner in Kai Kishore in our ranks and we want to try and get the best out of him. Given the balance of our side, we're hopeful that this is still the right way to go.

We now need to post something that means we can use the conditions to our advantage in the fourth innings."

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Lancashire bowling coach Kabir Ali described Jimmy Anderson was “an absolute genius” after the celebrated veteran returned to the fold with two wickets at Northwood.

But he added that they were in need of more magic this morning if the visitors are to get a grip of the game against Middlesex.

Anderson struck with two beauties to dismiss Sam Robson and Max Holden with George Balderson getting a third to leave Middx 139-3 at the close of a rain interrupted day.

"It's always a pleasure to have Jimmy. He is an absolute genius with the ball and the first two wickets were very good balls,” said Ali.

“Hopefully we get them out tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon and then put a decent total up.

“The wicket has got a little bit in it, so as long as you get your areas right there is always a bit of action. Hopefully tomorrow morning some early wickets will set us up nicely.”

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With the top four in action against each other yesterday, it was a chance to seize some early initiative.

After winning the toss and batting despite the conditions, leaders Durham got to 128-3 in between the showers at third-placed Northamptonshire.

With David Bedingham still in and going well, they will hope conditions will be better today, flatten the pitch out and justifying their decision to have first use of it.

At Canterbury, the weather was pretty good with delays for rain at a minumum and both sides did their best to make the most of it.

Kent, big rivals to Northants for the runners-up spot, recovered from a shaky start to post a reasonable total - although had they not lost 5-25 at the end, it might have been much more troublesome for Worcestershire.

The Pears are the outsiders for second spot and have to win this match you feel. They know a good morning with the bat can put them right in the box seat.

It's overcast in Southampton and the covers have been on this morning. The players were warming up ahead of the scheduled start but there's been a delay due to a wet outfield. They're hoping to get underway at 10.45.

Bottom of the table Hampshire need a much better day if they're to have a chance of securing one of the two or three wins they probably need in the final four rounds to avoid relegation.

Warwickshire, chasing the title, are hoping to make further progress as Rob Yates and Dan Mousley resume their century stand. Both will be keen to convert their half centuries into a hundred, something Yates hasn't managed this season and Mousley has done just once.

Surrey have a chance to take a big step towards securing their first division status after dominating the first day at The Oval.

Despite being held up by a fourth wicket stand of 92 they are in a position to bowl Yorkshire out cheaply.

The wicket takers Dan Worrall, Matt Fisher and Tom Lawes all bowled well and Fisher has hailed it as one of the highlights of a difficult season so far: "I think that may be the best day we've put together as a group," he declared.

"We know we've not been at our best this year but we're always chatting, communicating and I think that showed that we've come back to conditions that we know and we've tried to put it right."

It's cloudy but dry in South London so hopefully we're set for play.

A mere 10 overs was all that could be managed in Day one of the East Midlands clash between table-toppers Nottinghamshire and relegation-threatened Leicestershire.

The Notts opening pair made the most of the limited play at Trent Bridge, posting a fruitful 42 runs off 10.3 overs after being put into bat by Foxes skipper Ian Holland on a gloomy day.

Rain and bad light plagued the entirety of the day's play, with only one over - which conceded nine - played before 14:00 BST.

Play resumed for another 9.3 overs before bad light prevented further action.

A frustrating day for the defending champions Notts, who are currently top of the table but just four points ahead of Somerset, who had an excellent opening day against Glamorgan yesterday.

Leicestershire, meanwhile, are in ninth place, but two wins in their past three fixtures have put them 16 points ahead of Hampshire.

Fortunately, the forcast looks better in Nottingham for today.

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Glamorgan skipper Kiran Carlson paid grudging tribute to the accuracy of Somerset’s bowling attack after all 10 wickets fell to catches behind the stumps.

The visitors were skittled for 194 which Somerset felt was at least 100 short of par on the Taunton wicket before they put on 92-0 without loss by the close.

But it was the fact that all 10 of the Glamorgan wickets were caught by wicketkeeper or slip which told the story of the day according to Carlson.

“It was extraordinary that all our wickets fell to catches behind the stumps. I think that was testimony to how accurate the Somerset bowlers were,” he said.

“It’s a pretty good pitch, but they kept us under pressure and we were not able to handle it. Then when they batted, we were unable to make early inroads.

“We are five bowlers down and have Connor O’Riordan making his debut, so it is a big ask to control the scoreboard and apply pressure that way.

“But that’s what we have to try and do on day two. It’s a new day and we have bounced back from difficult situations before.”

BBC Local Radio

We'll bring you regular text updates across all four days of this round of the County Championship, but you can tune in to BBC Local Radio, flitting between the games that interest you, as you wish.

Just click the 'Watch & Listen' tab at the top of the page for coverage from all nine matches - when weather permits - or if you prefer you can listen to BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra who are jumping from ground to ground to keep you across all the action as the day goes on.

If you missed any of the (rain-affected) action from day one you can catch up with all the details in the games of your choice.

Just click the report link below.

Division One

Essex v Sussex 213-7, report here.

Surrey v Yorkshire 133-7, report here.

Nottinghamshire 42-0 v Leicestershire, report here.

Somerset 92-0 v Glamorgan 194, report here.

Hampshire v Warwickshire 141-1, report here.

Division Two

Gloucestershire 62-5 v Derbyshire, report here.

Kent 238 v Worcestershire 80-2 - report here.

Northants v Durham 128-3, report here.

Middlesex 139-3 v Lancashire, report here.

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Hello everyone and thanks for joing us for the second day's play in round 11 of this year's increasingly fascinating County Championship season.

With only three matches to go after this weekend, the destiny of the title, who goes down and who goes up (almost certainly with Durham) should become a little clearer over the next three days.

Although rain had a big say yesterday, there was enough play for some of the main contenders to make early moves.

Hopefully the weather stays a lot better today and those battles can fully play out.

To add to the good news, there's no 43% ticket rise here, so let's get the pads on.