Find out what happened across the LV= Insurance County Championship on day one of round two
Division One
Canterbury (first day of four): Lancashire 344-4, Kent
Centuries from Dane Vilas and Steven Croft took Lancashire to 344 for 4 on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Kent at Canterbury.
Vilas hit a buccaneering 124 from 158 balls and made a stand of 215 with Steven Croft, who himself produced a more measured 113 not out from 270 deliveries, leaving the visitors in a commanding position at stumps.
Nathan Gilchrist took 2 for 66 and Matt Milnes 2 for 68, but after a promising start the hosts struggled throughout the final two sessions, frustrating the majority of a crowd of 1,003 at the St. Lawrence.
Taunton (first day of four): Somerset 109, Essex 109-2 - Scores are level
Alastair Cook reached another milestone in his illustrious career as Essex dominated the opening day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.
The former England captain passed 25,000 first class runs in contributing 59 not out to a first innings total of 109 for two after the hosts' fragile batting line-up had folded to 109 all out.
Cook's tally includes 70 centuries and 118 fifties. He looked typically unflappable in cementing the strong position built earlier by the Essex bowlers.
Sam Cook, Mark Steketee and Simon Harmer claimed three wickets each as Somerset produced the latest in a series of lamentable batting efforts in red-ball cricket.
Only opener Tom Lammonby, who was dropped twice, offered any resistance with a patient 48.
Stephen Croft was in the runs for Lancashire (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Bristol (first day of four): Gloucestershire 227, Yorkshire 37-0 - Yorkshire trail by 190 runs
No doubt intent upon making a good first impression, Marcus Harris announced himself in fine style as Gloucestershire flattered to deceive on the opening day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match against Yorkshire at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.
Arriving just too late to feature in last week's curtain-raiser against Northamptonshire, the 29-year-old Australia Test batsman made up for lost time, raising an enormously impressive hundred on debut after Gloucestershire were inserted on a seaming green-top.
But Yorkshire, relieved to be playing cricket again following a winter of off-field discontent and no little disruption in the wake of the damaging Azeem Rafiq revelations, enjoyed the upper hand, dismissing their hosts for 227 in 78.1 overs.
England paceman Matty Fisher played a starring role, claiming 4 for 19 from 14.1 overs, while Pakistani allrounder Haris Rauf, although wayward at times, weighed in with 3 for 81.
Required to face 15 overs in the early-evening gloom, Yorkshire reached the close on 37 without loss, Adam Lyth (24 not out) and George Hill (3 not out) joining forces to reduce the arrears to 190.
The Oval (first day of four): Surrey 312-3, Hampshire
Ollie Pope continued his eye-catching early-season form by hitting a superb 113 not out against Hampshire's highly-rated pace attack as he and Hashim Amla, who made 73, earned Surrey opening day honours at the Kia Oval.
Hampshire were the only side in the LV= Insurance County Championship first division to record a win in last week's first round of games, but Surrey certainly burst their balloon by reaching a dominant 312 for 3 by stumps.
Ryan Patel, who scored a fine 58, also played his part as Surrey made light of being asked to bat first on a green-hued pitch. The surface, actually, proved easy-paced but Patel and Rory Burns, who battled hard for 21, still did much to blunt the new-ball threat of Mohammad Abbas, Keith Barker and Kyle Abbott.
David Bedingham racked up yet another hundred for Durham (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Division Two
Nottingham (first day of four): Nottinghamshire 302, Glamorgan 33-0 - Glamorgan trail by 269 runs
Ben Duckett, a potential candidate for an England recall this summer, posted his first century since May last year as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 302 on the opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Glamorgan at Trent Bridge.
Duckett was dropped on 29, needed treatment after being struck on the hand and took a blow on the helmet batting on what proved at times to be a testing pitch.
He made Glamorgan pay heavily for giving him a life, hitting 12 boundaries before he was out for 122, his wicket falling to Australia's world No.1 Test batsman, Marnus Labuschagne, making his first appearance of the season for the Welsh county and taking 2 for 11 bowling seam rather than his more usual leg-breaks.
Skipper Steven Mullaney provided the most significant support for Duckett, scoring 44 as the pair added 116 for the fifth wicket, but Glamorgan fought back against the Division Two favourites to claim the last six Nottinghamshire wickets for 44 runs in the final session, Michael Neser taking three for 56.
Chester-le-Street (first day of four): Durham 356-6, Leicestershire
Centuries from David Bedingham and Sean Dickson provided Durham with a great start to their LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two home opener against Leicestershire at the Riverside.
Scott Borthwick's men were reduced to 34 for 3 after an accurate start from the visitors, but Bedingham and Dickson stabilised the innings with a brilliant partnership worth 231 for the fourth wicket.
Bedingham continued his imperious form from the 2021 campaign with a flawless hundred displaying incredible array of strokes. He was supported by the determined Dickson, who replaced the injured Alex Lees at the top of the order and scored his first Durham century in red-ball cricket. Bedingham remained unbeaten at the close on 181 not out, with the hosts well poised to secure maximum batting points.
Essex dominated on the opening day at Taunton (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Derby (first day of four): Derbyshire 327-2, Sussex
A superb career-best unbeaten double century from Derbyshire's Shan Masood dominated the opening day of the LV=Insurance County Championship Division Two match against Sussex at Derby.
The Pakistani opener scored a brilliant 201 from 271 balls and shared a county third-wicket stand against Sussex of 236 with Wayne Madsen who was 88 not out at the close.
An injury-weakened Sussex attack failed to take a wicket after lunch as Derbyshire closed on an imposing 327 for 2.
Masood had already impressed with two half centuries in the opening match at Lord's last week when he narrowly missed out on a hundred in the first innings.
He made no mistake this time against a largely inexperienced attack after Derbyshire won the toss and batted first on what looks to be a benign pitch.
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