Key events<\/p>\n
At Southampton, Kyle Abbot, who was off with an injured finger on Wednesday and who Russell Domingo said, \u201cbowled fantastically well again and beat the bat on numerous occasions\u201d gets a wicket at last: Dan Mousley for 77 .Warwicks 167-2.<\/p>\n
While at Taunton, Josh Thomas will regret that\u2013 a lean-out of-the-window-to-shake-the-duster stretch to a ridiculously wide ball from Hamza and edges to slip. Somerset<\/a> 114-1<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Looks lovely at Taunton, a shirt-sleeved crowd, a bit of sun, and 106-0 on the board. Fifty for Josh Thomas, Tom Lammonby not far behind. Oooh and that\u2019s a sweet late cut by Thomas off Hamza.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ah shame, no fifty for HH, who has had a bit of a trudge of a year \u2013 he\u2019s only got one hundred and one fifty under his belt this season. Notts 62-2.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Leicestershire take their first Notts wicket, Ben Slater (15) tinkering behind at Ian Holland. Notts 54-1.<\/p>\n High-fives for Ian Holland. Updated at\u00a006.23 EDT<\/p>\n Luke Hollman bends his knees deeply in anticipation of Jimmy Anderson, but he\u2019d struggle to get them deep enough to deal with the ball that drops, rolls, and picks out off stump. Gone for 54. Ben Geddes follows three overs later, to Balderson. Middx 151-5 and need a apartnership.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Gloucestershire are rescued by the Bristol rain. This was the stoical James Bracey last night:<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided to bat first because we think the pitch is going to turn more as the game progresses. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to need a few partnerships if we\u2019re going to get up to 200 and it\u2019s going to need a lot of hard work. It won\u2019t be pretty, but we know what we have to do in the morning. It\u2019s difficult when you\u2019re on a bad run and confidence is not at it\u2019s highest. That\u2019s one of the biggest challenges of playing county cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rain<\/p>\n and delayed starts at Southampton and Taunton, but we\u2019re off elsewhere and Sam Cook knocks the coconut off its perch first ball, Goodman lbw 22, Sussex<\/a> 213-8.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Weather watch<\/p>\n The Met Office sages say: southern England starts the day cloudy with patchy drizzle. Elsewhere, largely dry with sunny spells. Later, rain spreads into Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England, with blustery showers and possible thunderstorms in northwest Scotland. Very warm southeast, average elsewhere.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Warwickshire\u2019s captain Ed Barnard on Yates and Mousley\u2019s unbroken second wicket stand of 127 against Hampshire:<\/p>\n \u201cTo be put in on what could have been a difficult wicket, I thought Yates and Mousley were excellent. I thought the first hour was exceptional. It was perfect bowling conditions with the overheads, the lights on and Kyle Abbott. They dealt with that and then started to show their confidence after lunch.<\/p>\n \u201cThey won\u2019t be looking too far ahead as they\u2019ll have a big job to start again in the morning. They have both batted beautifully all year and they\u2019ll be hoping to kick on and get a big score.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Brydon Carse may get a chance to take out his frustrations on Northants later today, if David Bedingham ever gets out \u2013 unbeaten on 57, 1000 runs in the bag, in his last match of the season.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.22 EDT<\/p>\n Yesterday’s roundup: Somerset steal a march on rivals<\/p>\n It was slip-catching heaven at Taunton, with Somerset\u2019s fielders gobbling seven in Glamorgan\u2019s first innings, and James Rew scooping up the rest. Ben Kellaway was the only man to pass 50. Somerset\u2019s innings started under lights, but a milky sun eventually emerged to light the way and allow Somerset to steal a march on their Championship rivals, whose matches were curtailed by rain.<\/p>\n Charlie Bennett\u2019s pain was Jamie Porter\u2019s gain at Chelmsford after the young seamer limped off after three overs. To a background of autumnal slate, Porter then grabbed three for 32 for Essex against Sussex, who chose to bat and progressed in fits and starts. Sam Cook pocketed the 500th dismissal of his professional career.<\/p>\n At the Oval, Yorkshire limped along from the ignominy of one for three, which included an elegant flying catch by Ben Foakes to dismiss Will Luxton for a duck. James Wharton and Matthew Revis added 89, but Yorkshire<\/a> then lost four for 21, including Jonny Bairstow, who stamped and delivered a pitch-perfect slip catch to Ollie Pope. Dan Worrall bowled beautifully for three for 24.<\/p>\n After making a sudden U-turn on the selection of Scott Kuggeleijn, relegation-threatened Hampshire were in trouble on the field as well. Rob Yates and Dan Mousley both embroidered half-centuries as Warwickshire<\/a> piled on 141 for one between the showers.<\/p>\n David Bedingham passed 1,000 runs for the season in the process of an elegant fifty against Northants. There had been rebuilding to do after Durham slumped to 16 for two, a wonder ball by Luke Procter plucking out Ben McKinney\u2019s middle and off stumps and pinging them in different directions, while Will Rhodes was brilliantly run out by James Sales. Meanwhile, Division Two promotion rivals Kent had a so-so day against Worcestershire, losing five for 25 in the evening session. Daniel Bell-Drummond pinged 52.<\/p>\n After two months on the sidelines with a dodgy calf, Jimmy Anderson showed Lancashire what they\u2019d been missing by reducing Middlesex to 20 for two. But Luke Hollman and Leus du Plooy steadied the ship on a damp, dark day at Merchant Taylors\u2019 School.<\/p>\n Gloucestershire\u2019s dismal season continued, after choosing to bat and being reduced to 62 for five against Derbyshire. Only James Bracey, flameproof boots on the burning deck, made more than 10. There were two wickets for Shoaib Bashir. Only 10.3 overs were possible at Trent Bridge, but Notts captain Haseeb Hameed, who has struggled for form this season, stroked six morale-boosting fours.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.11 EDT<\/p>\n Scores on the doors<\/p>\n Division One<\/p>\n Chelmsford: Essex v Sussex<\/a> 213-7<\/p>\n Southampton: Hampshire v Warwickshire<\/a> 141-1<\/p>\n Trent Bridge: Notts 42-0 v Leicestershire<\/p>\n Taunton: Somerset 92-0 v Glamorgan<\/a> 194<\/p>\n The Oval: Surrey v Yorkshire<\/a> 133-7<\/p>\n Division Two<\/p>\n Bristol: Gloucestershire<\/a> 62-5 v Derbyshire<\/p>\n Canterbury: Kent 238 v Worcestershire<\/a> 80-2<\/p>\n Merchant Taylors School: Middlesex 139-3 v Lancashire<\/p>\n Wantage Road: Northamptonshire<\/a> v Durham 129-3<\/p>\n Craig Overton and some windows at Taunton, where day two of Somerset v Glamorgan resumes. Photograph: Harry Trump\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.49 EDT<\/p>\n Preamble<\/p>\n Good morning! Welcome to day two of this first autumnal Championship round. The weather looks more perky, the storylines are intriguing, so grab a coffee and join us.<\/p>\n
Photograph: Steve Poole\/ProSports\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n