The Cricketer rounds up the action from day one of the final round of LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures
Canterbury: Somerset 195-9 v Kent
Somerset were 195 for 9 at stumps on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship with Kent at Canterbury, after Nathan Gilchrist boosted Kent’s survival hopes with 5 for 55.
Lewis Goldsworthy is unbeaten on 93, after almost single-handedly helping the visitors recover from nine for three.
Craig Overton was the next highest scorer with 30 and his stand of 65 with Goldsworthy for the sixth wicket looked to have steered the visitors out of danger until Gilchrist produced a spell of three for nought in nine balls.
Gilchrist was on a hat-trick when bad light and rain stopped play at 5.07pm, while Matt Quinn has 3 for 32.
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Headingley: Gloucestershire 190, Yorkshire 80-3 - Yorkshire are 110 runs behind with seven first-innings wickets remaining
England Test quick Matthew Fisher took a brilliant first-morning four-for during an intriguing opening day against Gloucestershire at Headingley as Yorkshire bid for County Championship safety.
Fisher, 24, has missed the majority of the 2022 season with a stress fracture of his back, suffered during his county’s opening game at Bristol in mid-April.
But the fast bowler has battled back to fitness in time to help his side bowl already relegated Gloucester out for 190 shortly before tea, taking four for 45 from 12 overs.
Yorkshire's reply then closed on 80 for three in the 27th over, bad light ending the day almost 12 overs early.
Lewis Goldsworthy gave Somerset something to shout about (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 138-2 v Hampshire
Warwickshire retained their sliver of hope of avoiding relegation from County Championship Division One with a solid start with the bat on the opening day against Hampshire at Edgbaston.
First team coach Mark Robinson admitted before the match that Warwickshire need "a lot to go our way" for them to stay up. First and foremost they have to win with plentiful batting points and they laid a decent platform by reaching 138 for 2 on a day stripped of 55 overs by rain and bad light.
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Old Trafford: Lancashire 414-5 v Surrey
An unbeaten 190 from Keaton Jennings and half centuries by Steven Croft and George Balderson put Lancashire firmly in control of this final County Championship of the season against champions Surrey after they compiled a mammoth opening day total of 414 for 5.
Jennings' superlative knock was a timely reminder to a wider audience of his skills in front of the Sky cameras and had many speculating about an England recall for a player who is having a season to remember more than three years since he last played Test cricket.
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Northampton: Essex 220-8 v Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire's seamers shared the spoils as they helped rout Essex's batting line-up and hold the visitors to 204 for 8 on a rain-affected opening day of this County Championship clash at Wantage Road.
But despite wickets falling in clumps, a captain’s knock of 55 from Tom Westley helped keep Essex in the contest in a ninth-wicket stand of 68 in 20 overs with Ben Allison (37).
Keaton Jennings celebrates another century (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Worcester: Worcestershire 167-8 v Middlesex
Toby Roland-Jones picked up three wickets to take his first-class tally to a personal best of 66 in a season as promotion-chasing Middlesex established control on day one of the County Championship match with Worcestershire at New Road.
The former England pace bowler exploited ideal conditions for seam bowling as he moved past his previous most productive haul of 64 victims in 2012.
He received excellent support from Middlesex captain, Tim Murtagh, and Ryan Higgins as Worcestershire were reduced to 167 for 8 on a day shortened to 68.5 overs by rain and bad light.
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Hove: Glamorgan 221-3 v Sussex
Glamorgan made good progress on a rain-ruined first day against Sussex in their push for promotion from Division Two of the County Championship.
Eight points behind second-placed Middlesex at start of play and needing a win to give them a chance of finishing in the top two, they progressed at more than five runs an over in the 41.2 overs possible at the 1st Central County Ground, reaching 221 for 3.
Indian batter Shubman Gill led the way with an unbeaten 91 off just 102 balls while skipper David Lloyd, fresh from his triple hundred against Derbyshire last week, scored 56 against an anodyne Sussex attack.
Matthew Montgomery went to his maiden first-class century (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire 276-2 v Durham
Hundreds for Haseeb Hameed and Matthew Montgomery helped Nottinghamshire put together exactly the opening day they had hoped for as they seek to clinch promotion to Division One in their final County Championship match of the season.
Hameed's 115 and Montgomery's 101 not out - his maiden first-class century – helped Nottinghamshire close on 276 for 2 against Durham, knowing that a draw will guarantee they go up and that a victory wins the Division Two title.
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Derby: Leicestershire 249, Derbyshire 57-0 - Derbyshire are 192 behind with 10 first-innings wickets remaining
England Lions fast bowler Sam Conners returned his best county championship figures of the season as Derbyshire made the early running on the opening day of the match against Leicestershire at Derby.
Conners took 5 for 51 and pace partner Ben Aitchison 3 for 46 to bowl Leicestershire out for 249 with all-rounder Tom Scriven scoring 53, his third first-class half-century.
When bad light ended play three overs early, Derbyshire openers Billy Godleman and Luis Reece had moved to 57 without loss, 192 behind.
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