Facing Mohammad Abbas in seamer-friendly conditions is a big challenge for any opener - no matter how experienced.

Durham skipper Alex Lees is under way with a single - over to you, Ben McKinney.

Tom Haines is captaining Sussex in the absence of Ollie Robinson and has put his faith in his bowlers after winning the toss.

Indian Jaydev Unadkat will bowl the opening over - Zain ul Hassan is on strike, with Asa Tribe adjusting his gloves at the other end.

That's enough preamble. Time for some action.

A little bit of an update from Stanley Park in Blackpool where the start of Lancashire's clash with Kent has been delayed due to rain.

The covers are coming off and the umpires will inspect the pitch at 11:30 BST.

Fingers crossed the elements stay away and the surface is fit for action sooner rather than later.

BBC Sounds

Image source, BBC Radio Nottingham

As usual, there is live ball-by-ball BBC radio commentary on all of today's matches.

To tune in click on the 'watch and listen' tab at the top of this page.

Or ask your smart speaker to play 'Yorkshire v Warwickshire' or whichever game you prefer, on BBC Sounds.

Don't forget, though to say 'day one' as well!

Martin Emmerson
BBC Radio Newcastle

Derbyshire have won the toss and asked Durham to bat in Chester-le-Street.

Former Derbyshire bowler Duanne Olivier makes his debut for Durham. There were two spots in the side because of international call-ups for Emilio Gay and Ben Stokes.

Will Rhodes has been given the nod at number three.

Durham lead Division Two by 20 points and are unbeaten, while after a poor start, things have seen an upturn for the visitors. They drew their first game, then lost their next three. But since then they have had back to back victories against Northants and Middlesex.

Image source, Shutterstock

So far, so good for Nottinghamshire in the defence of their Division One title. Unbeaten in their first six games - the only team yet to lose - and top of the table.

But with the chasing pack hot on their heels, Notts cannot afford any slip ups if they want to remain at the summit by the end of this round of fixtures.

It already seems like a lifetime ago that the reigning champions were held by Hampshire in a match severely impacted by weather almost four weeks ago.

They welcome a Somerset side who came out the blocks early doors, winning two of their opening three after a draw in the curtain-raiser against today's opponents but have tailed off a little since with two losses and a draw.

Somerset posted 347 in the reverse fixture, with Notts replying with 338. Somerset then set a mammoth target of 417 as Notts batted out for the draw to finish 140-3.

There is the chance of some showers around Trent Bridge today, but fingers crossed we don't have too much disruption.

Yorkshire return to Scarborough, the venue where they clinched the Championship title 25 years ago. They'll hope to continue where they left off before the Blast having beaten Surrey last time out but they'll be without Test players Joe Root and Harry Brook.

Warwickshire were at North Marine Road last year in the One Day cup but this is their first red ball game at the venue for 17 years.

The match in 2009 was drawn but Bears fans will have unhappy memories of their 2007 trip when they suffered a humiliating innings defeat on their way to relegation.

Two overseas bowlers are set for county debuts. Pakistan international Hasan Ali lines up for Yorkshire against his former team where he was hugely popular for the last two seasons, Indian spinner Manav Suthar has joined Warwickshire for two Championship games.

Image source, Shutterstock

And then there was one…

So far, 17 of the 18 first-class sides have savoured the sweet taste of County Championship victory this season. The exception is Leicestershire, who now find themselves at the foot of Division One following Hampshire’s draw at Surrey earlier this week.

It’s a stark contrast to this time last year, when the Foxes were running free at the summit of the second tier – but they’ll need to rediscover the winning habit soon if that hard-won top-level status is to be preserved.

A good way to start would be reversing the outcome of their most recent four-day outing – a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Essex last month.

With Ian Holland now away playing Major League Cricket, Ben Green captains the Foxes in their rematch with Essex, while fellow all-rounder Joey Evison is set for a debut after joining on a short-term loan deal from Kent.

Essex, meanwhile, climbed into the top half of the table after completing that win against Leicestershire and are now eyeing a third straight success to make up further ground on front-runners Nottinghamshire.

Image source, Getty Images

Big news coming out of both camps before this Division Two encounter at Stanley Park in Blackpool as fourth welcomes third.

Lancashire's Liam Livingstone is set to play his first County Championship game for five years.

The 32-year-old has been a white-ball-only player in recent years, but is helping his county through an injury crisis after being asked by captain Sir James Anderson to play.

As for Kent, who are enjoying a considerably better season than last year so far with as many wins (two) as 2025 already, they will be without Zak Crawley.

The England opening bat, who recently lost his place in the national side to Durham's Emilio Gay, is taking time out to recharge, according to the ECB.

However, we may have to wait a while to see how Livingstone gets on and how Kent fare without Crawley as the weather is looking, well... pretty grim right now.

Division One

Leicester: Leicestershire v Essex

Start delayed

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Somerset

Nottinghamshire won toss and put Somerset in

Hove: Sussex v Glamorgan

Sussex won toss and put Glamorgan in

Scarborough: Yorkshire v Warwickshire

Warwickshire won toss and put Yorkshire in

Division Two

Riverside: Durham v Derbyshire

Derbyshire won toss and put Durham in

Blackpool: Lancashire v Kent

Start delayed

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire won toss and put Northants in

Worcester: Worcestershire v Middlesex

Worcestershire won toss and put Middlesex in

Image source, Shutterstock

Sussex have to manage without red-ball captain Ollie Robinson for the first time this season following his successful Test comeback in England's win over New Zealand at Lord's.

His absence is mitigated by the return of Indian left-armer Jaydev Unadkat for a fourth spell at Hove, having contributed 49 Championship wickets in the past three seasons - and batter Tom Alsop is also in the team.

Glamorgan have made a decent start to life back in Division One and will again look to seamers Timm van der Gugten and Ryan Hadley to continue their fine form at Hove.

The pair have taken a combined total of 43 wickets between them and Glamorgan may need a healthy contribution from them again if they are to achieve a first Championship win at Hove since 1975.

Image source, Getty Images

There will be no Emilio Gay in the Durham batting line-up following his Test debut half-century for England as the only unbeaten team in Division Two look to stretch their 20-point lead at the top of the table.

They are, though, able to include South African paceman Duanne Olivier in their squad for the first time after a T20 run-out for the second XI in a rain-affected game at Hartlepool 10 days ago.

Derbyshire won their last two Championship games - beating Northants by an innings and 113 runs and Middlesex by seven wickets and head of cricket Mickey Arthur will be hoping they can slip straight back into that level of performance.

Mohammad Abbas is back after playing for Pakistan against Bangladesh last month, while England have allowed Shoaib Bashir to be part of the squad after he was not needed to bowl a single delivery in the Test win over New Zealand at Lord's.

Mixed bag, according to the BBC Weather summary.

"This morning will be mostly cloudy, with patchy rain in the south and showers in the north-west, but brighter in the east. Central and southern areas turning dry with sunny spells later on. Breezy."

LEADING RUN SCORERS

Division One

Dan Lawrence (Surrey) 780

Joe Clarke (Nottinghamshire) 748

Tom Abell (Somerset) 696

Dom Sibley (Surrey) 660

Jake Lehmann (Hampshire) 654

Division Two

David Bedingham (Durham) 628

Emilio Gay (Durham) 552

Leus du Plooy (Middlesex) 515

Martin Andersson (Derbyshire) 472

LEADING WICKET TAKERS

Division One

Kyle Abbott (Hampshire) 30

Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire) 29

Sam Cook (Essex) 27

Craig Overton (Somerset) 24

Division Two

Ben Sanderson (Northamptonshire 34

Ben Raine (Durham) 33

James Anderson (Lancashire) 31

Ryan Higgins (Middlesex) & Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire) 28

Division One

Division Two

Image source, Shutterstock

As preparations are completed for the start of the Women's T20 World Cup at Edgbaston this evening, the focus for the men's game is the start of a new round of matches in the County Championship.

Surrey cut Nottinghamshire's lead at the top of Division One to just two points on Wednesday despite having to settle for a draw against Hampshire - leaving us with eight games over the next four days.

We have now reached the stage of the summer when Kookaburra balls were used in the last three seasons, but that experiment was scrapped in November so it will be Dukes balls as usual today.

Welcome to our coverage. Play starts at 11:00 BST.