Nine off Jamie Porter's first over - then Tom Lammonby cover drives Sam Cook's first ball for a lovely boundary.

Adam Whitty
BBC Radio Leicester commentator

Image source, Shutterstock

As you can see from my profile picture, hair is not exactly a specialism of mine.

However, I know a mullet when I see one. Short at the ends, long on top. Leicestershire have gone for it again with their pitch, mowing the creases much more finely, and leaving the middle positively green.

It helped them beat Yorkshire heavily last time out, their first win in Division One for 23 years. They must beat fellow promoted side Glamorgan, you'd think, to have any hope of staying in the top flight.

They will be buoyed by their run to the One-Day Cup final - and the form of new signing Hamza Shaikh, who makes his first-class debut for the Foxes today.

Glamorgan, however, have been one of the top-performing sides of the division, but are now without two of their best bowlers, Ryan Hadley and Tom Norton. They had a miserable One Day Cup.

So where is the momentum and form, I wonder?

Rishi Patel makes a positive start at Leicester scoring seven runs off the first over bowled by Timm van Gugten.

Only a slow outfield prevents him from reaching the boundary.

The pitch has been described as a "mullet" with shaved ends but a very green middle.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth has survived a massive lbw shout from Kyle Abbott's first ball of the match at Utilita Bowl.

Abbott took 10 wickets in the match in the reverse fixture at Headingley and almost struck an early blow here.

He starts with a maiden.

The first ball of the game at Merchant Taylor's School is struck for four by Ben Compton off Toby Roland-Jones.

What is most striking is just how yellow and parched the outfield is. Any decent contact off the bat and it will be hard for any fielder to stop the ball heading to the ropes.

First ball a No Ball at Tauntonpublished at 11:01 BST 20 August

11:01 BST 20 August

Somerset 2-0 v Essex (0.0)

Two runs on the board already at Taunton - and not a legal ball bowled yet!

Jamie Porter is the offender.

Like in the Test at Headingley, rain has struck in the north of England and the northern half of the Midlands and we are going to have delayed starts at the following games.

Division One:

Warwickshire v Sussex

Division Two:

Derbyshire v Durham

Lancashire v Northamptonshire

Image source, Getty Images

Kent's fine run of four wins and a draw has turned their season from one of potential doom-and-gloom to a possible promotion charge.

But can they pick up where they left off in June as they face Middlesex at Merchant Taylor's in Northwood, with Lord's being readied for the Pakistan Test next week?

Northants are two points behind Kent but the T20 Blast winners will believe this could be a special season at Wantage Road if they back that up with promotion.

They are at Emirates Old Trafford to face Lancashire, who probably need at least four wins from their last six to have any hope of a top-two finish.

The Red Rose have added Pakistan spinner Noman Ali for the run-in, as they try to take advantage of the dry conditions that have baked grounds for the past three months.

And last but not least, the glorious surrounds of Cheltenham College welcome Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. A massive 43 points adrift in last place, can the home side be inspired by their surroundings to spark an improvement in their red-ball season?

A few months ago, we'd have been expecting Ben Stokes to have been captaining England against Pakistan at Headingley this week.

Having announced his retirement from the international game at the end of June, all-rounder Stokes has been part of the Durham side that got to the last four of the One-Day Cup and is now part of the squad hoping to help his county secure promotion from Division Two of the County Championship.

We're expecting Stokes to be named in the Division Two leaders' XI, although the start of that match is going to be delayed because of rain.

Last season's top two from Division Two meet in Division One in Leicester. Glamorgan have won the toss and put Leicestershire in.

A famous victory over Surrey in June lifted the Welsh county to fourth and put them on course for their highest finish since they won the title in 1997. They are without Tom Norton, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a back injury. Billy Root is also out. Zain-ul-Hassan plays.

Leicestershire also won last time out and that, along with reaching the final of the One-Day Cup, has raised hopes of survival even though they remain bottom of the table. They give a county first-class debut to mid-season signing from Warwickshire, Hamza Shaikh. Jonny Tattersall keeps wicket in the absence of Ben Cox.

Image source, PA Media

The other team to sit just five points off top spot going into this round of fixtures are Warwickshire, who meet Sussex in a meeting of third against fifth in Birmingham.

It's the first of successive home games for Ed Barnard's Bears as they also host champions Nottinghamshire next week. A doubly big chance for Barney's men to really get involved in an already congested title race.

And with another home game to come against Leicestershire on 24 September and the third Test against Pakistan in between, it means potentially a busy 17 days of red-ball cricket (although England Test matches rarely last five days any more...) in the space of little over a month for Edgbaston groundsman Gary Barwell.

Warwickshire won the toss and will bowl first, although some rain has arrived just before the scheduled start of play.

Image source, Getty Images

At Taunton, second-placed Somerset welcome New Zealand international Henry Nicholls as they face Essex to launch their six-game run-in.

They start this round of games just five points off top spot - but only six points better off than sixth-placed Essex, who have won the toss and put Somerset into bat.

Yorkshire may be directly above the relegation positions as the County Championship resumes but a congested table means head coach Anthony McGrath retains big ambitions.

"I believe we can still win the Championship if we win five of the last six," said McGrath,, external whose side are eighth in Division One but only 27 points behind leaders Nottinghamshire.

Yorkshire face Hampshire and Leicestershire, the current bottom two, in their next two matches.

Hampshire start today's game at Utilita Bowl 17 points adrift of Yorkshire. They won the reverse fixture at Headingley in April, with seamer Kyle Abbott returning match figures of 10-70 in a 214-run victory.

Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow has won the toss and his side will bat first.

It's a glorious sunny day in south London for the meeting of last summer's top two. Surrey, hoping to add to their solitary win of the campaign so far, have won the toss and put Notts in.

Surrey's team shows five changes from their most recent Championship match in June, which was a defeat by Glamorgan.

Dan Lawrence was a late call-up to join Gus Atkinson in the England Test team but Matthew Fisher and Ollie Pope have been released from international duty and play.

Ben Foakes and Tom Lawes return from injury but Will Jacks is ruled out so Surrey have recruited Indian batter and occasional spinner Mahipal Lomror for the remainder of the Championship campaign.

The defending champions and table-toppers Notts have lost Australian all-rounder Fergus O'Neill, who signed off his second spell at the county with a five-for and half-century at Chelmsford. After featuring heavily in the One-Day Cup, Nottingham-born Ben Martindale makes his first class debut while Dillon Pennington returns.

This game feels like a big one. Anything less than a victory for Surrey surely rules them out of the title race and has them looking nervously over their shoulders, while Notts need the victory to stay ahead of the field.

There are six matches left and potentially eight teams still in with a shout of winning the title - which county do you think will emerge as champions?

Have your say on the return of the County Championship and any of today's action using the yellow button on this page.

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There's plenty of rain in the forecast for today, moving southwards as the day progresses.

We'll bring you up to date with any delayed starts shortly and hopefully play won't be disrupted at too many grounds over the next few hours.

While the Division One title seems up for grabs for plenty of teams, Division Two feels like Durham plus one for the two promotion spots.

A strong team, a 32-point lead and the addition of an all-rounder called Ben Stokes means the north east county will be very tough to catch.

Kent were flying when play stopped in June, helped by a dramatic win over Middlesex in their most recent match.

That allowed them to leapfrog Northants by just two points - nothing really in Championship terms - while Middlesex, Derbyshire and Worcestershire will all wonder about the possibilities of a winning run between now and the end of next month.

Lancashire's run of four bad losses in five games has surely ended their chances of a Division One return and as for Gloucestershire, not finishing bottom would be quite an achievement after seven losses in eight games before the break.

The summer heatwaves may finally have passed, but the battle for the County Championship is about to hot up.

The top eight are separated by only 27 points, meaning all of them could carry varying degrees of hope of being champions on 27 September.

Nottinghamshire lead the way as they try to secure back-to-back titles, but a five-point margin could be lost in one bad innings.

Somerset sit second as their eternal quest for a yearned-for County Championship resumes, level on points with the under-the-radar Warwickshire.

Below them, Glamorgan and Sussex vie for the title of story of the season as the Welsh county have belied predictions after promotion to be pushing near the top of the table, while Sussex have shrugged off starting on -12pts to have recorded the equal-most wins (four) in the division.

Essex have feasted on the bottom two with four wins against the pair, so they must show they have what it takes against the better sides to be genuine title contenders.

They have an 11-point cushion over Surrey, who start today in seventh, but given the resources at their disposal, write off the Brown Caps at your peril.

Yorkshire begin the week one place above the bottom two, but 17 points clear of the relegation places and 27 shy of top spot, so is your glass half full or half empty with half a dozen games to play? We'll let you decide!

For Hampshire and Leicestershire, there is lots of work to be done to avoid Division Two cricket in 2027, but fine victories in their most recent games in June have showed a blueprint of what they can do at this level.

Division One

• Utilita Bowl: Hampshire v Yorkshire
• Leicester: Leicestershire v Glamorgan
• Taunton: Somerset v Essex
• The Oval: Surrey v Nottinghamshire
• Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Sussex

Division Two

• Derby: Derbyshire v Durham
• Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Worcestershire
• Old Trafford: Lancashire v Northamptonshire
• Northwood: Middlesex v Kent

Image source, Shutterstock

Good morning and welcome back to all you cricket-deprived County Championship fans.

For one of our writing team today, it's a keenly-awaited return to action after a 16-month absence as a result of personal tragedy.

For the rest of you, it's only been 59 days, but just as welcome and comforting a return.

Covid and the two world wars apart, 59 days adds up to easily the longest mid-season break there has ever been. Not that mid-season breaks like the ones we have now in the current cricketing climate have been around for very long, it has to be said!

In further homage to the past, it seems only right and proper that two of the grounds in use today - both in Division Two - are school grounds and very much part of cricket history.

Cheltenham College has been used by Gloucestershire since the inaugural season of the Championship when WG Grace first took guard in 1890 and, although Middlesex only added Merchant Taylor's School at Northwood to their list of outgrounds in 2014, they have been playing cricket there for more than 100 years.

In Division One, where there are only 25 points separating first-placed Nottinghamshire and Surrey in seventh, it looks like a tense end to the campaign over the final six games.

And we have five matches starting today at The Oval, Taunton, Birmingham, Leicester and Southampton, where the only binoculars in use will be firmly trained on the cricket.

Stand by your beds, everybody. County Championship cricket is back.