County Championship review: Reports & scores

Division One

Essex v Middlesex
Hampshire v Somerset
Warwickshire v Lancashire
Yorkshire v Surrey

Division Two

Durham v Worcestershire
Glamorgan v Derbyshire
Northamptonshire v Leicestershire
Nottinghamshire v Kent
Sussex v Gloucestershire

Click here for full season's fixtures & results

Thursday review

Simon Harmer took nine for 95 as Essex dramatically beat Middlesex by an innings and 34 runs to extend their lead at the top of Specsavers County Championship Division One to 29 points on the final day of the inaugural round of day-night fixtures.

Resuming 269 runs behind on 27 without loss, the visitors to Chelmsford appeared to be comfortably batting out for a draw, with former England batsman Nick Compton hitting 120, sharing a 153-run stand with half-centurion Paul Stirling.

But South African spinner Harmer had other ideas, removing Stirling to trigger a collapse that saw Middlesex lose their last seven wickets for just 58 runs to be dismissed for 262 under the lights.

In-form Harmer removed Steven Finn in the penultimate over to complete Essex's victory and take his wicket tally to 28 for 300 runs in the last two matches.

Somerset held on for a draw after losing early wickets in their pursuit of 161 to beat Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.

Hampshire dismissed Somerset for a first-innings 147 and then declared on 96 for five to set the visitors a generous-looking victory target in a minimum of 31 overs.

But Somerset slipping to 79 for six prompted them to shut up shop and they eventually finished on 88 for eight.

There was no play at Headingley for the second consecutive day, meaning Yorkshire and Surrey's clash ended in a draw, while Warwickshire's game with Lancashire went the same way after play was washed out at Edgbaston.

Teenage spinner Hamidullah Qadri had a debut to remember as his second-innings five-wicket haul inspired Derbyshire to their first Championship victory for two years.

The 16-year-old, who is the youngest player to feature for Derbyshire in the Championship, took five for 60 from 26.3 overs to skittle Glamorgan for 172 and secure Derby a 39-run win in Cardiff.

Leicestershire fell agonisingly short of chasing 394 as Northamptonshire secured a dramatic two-run victory at Wantage Road.

The Foxes were edging towards their target thanks to 105 from Colin Ackermann and 56 from Mathew Pillans, until the latter fell to Rory Kleinveldt as Leicestershire were dismissed for 391.

Gloucestershire and Sussex had to settle for a draw despite setting up a match at Hove.

After Gloucestershire declared on 150 for one, Sussex took advantage of some buffet bowling from the visitors to call time on their second innings at 142 for one in 18.1 overs and leave a victory target of 351.

Half-centuries from George Hankins and Jack Taylor kept Sussex at bay to steer Gloucestershire to 212 for six at the close.

Nottinghamshire required just 75 to beat Kent, who they dismissed for a second-innings 265, at Trent Bridge before the rain prevented them from extending their lead at the top of Division Two.

Durham and Worcestershire were forced to settle for a stalemate at Chester-le-Street as the wet weather prevented play for the second day in a row. 

Wednesday review

Former England captain Alastair Cook led Essex to a commanding lead over Middlesex on day three of the day-night Specsavers County Championship Division One match at Chelmsford.

Cook scored 193 - his sixth ton of the county season - and Nick Browne 221 in an opening partnership of 373, surpassing the county's previous best from 1994 set by Graham Gooch and Paul Prichard.

Essex declared on 542 for three, but there was no breakthrough in the final 13 overs of the day as Middlesex reached the close on 27 without loss.

Middlesex trail by 269 runs and need to bat through the final day - or hope for the weather to intervene - to avoid a second defeat in three games.

Warwickshire's Andy Umeed broke the record for the slowest century in County Championship history on the penultimate day of the game with Lancashire.

The 21-year-old took 429 minutes to reach his hundred which was nine longer than it took Northamptonshire's Billy Denton against Derbyshire in 1914.

Umeed was eventually out for 113 out of a Warwickshire total of 321 which earned the home side a lead of 48.

But when Lancashire reached the close on 178 for four - a lead of 130 - it appeared the hosts may have a challenging run chase on the final day at Edgbaston.

Hampshire took the upper hand in their contest with Somerset at the Ageas Bowl.

Ian Holland took four wickets for eight runs in four overs as the visitors slipped to 135 for eight at the close, 76 runs adrift of Hampshire's first-innings 211 for nine declared.

There was no play in the fourth Division One game at Headingley, where Yorkshire trail Surrey by 489 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining.

There was another washout at the Riverside, where Worcestershire lead Durham by 170 runs after the first innings in their Division Two contest.

Leaders Nottinghamshire are closing in on a sixth victory of the season after reducing Kent to 214 for seven at Trent Bridge.

Kent lead by only 23 runs and Darren Stevens may not bat again after he retired hurt shortly after ducking into a short ball from Harry Gurney, who finished the day with three for 61.

Derbyshire retained hope of a first County Championship win since July 2015 as Glamorgan faced a final day run chase in Cardiff.

The visitors were all out for 160, setting Glamorgan 212 to win. The hosts lost Jacques Rudolph and failed to score in the six overs before stumps.

Northamptonshire set Leicestershire 394 to win after centuries from Alex Wakely (112) and Rob Keogh (105 not out).

Leicestershire made a solid start, reaching 44 without loss at the close.

Sussex and Gloucestershire appear destined to share the spoils after a wet day at Hove.

Gloucestershire reached 150 for one in reply to Sussex's first-innings 358 for nine declared, with Cameron Bancroft 69 not out. 

Tuesday review

Kumar Sangakkara's unbeaten 180 put Surrey in charge against Yorkshire in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship at Headingley.

The former Sri Lanka Test batsman hit 21 fours and four sixes in a four-hour stay at the crease as he became the first batsman to pass 1,000 championship runs this season to help Surrey declare on 516 for seven.In a rain-hit match Yorkshire were 21 for one in reply at the close, having lost opener Adam Lyth to trail by 489 runs.

There was a second wicket of the match for England seamer James Anderson in Lancashire's finely-balanced game with Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Anderson caught and bowled Sam Hain as Warwickshire finished the day on 259 for seven in reply to the visitors' 273.

There were contrasting fortunes for former England team-mates Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell who scored 56 and nought respectively for Warwickshire.

Somerset lost former England opener Marcus Trescothickfor just 13 as rain meant only a handful of overs were possible against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.

The visitors were 43 for one at the early close in reply to the home side's 211 for nine delcared having added 25 runs to their overnight score.

A second century of the summer from Worcestershire opener Brett D'Oliveira left the visitors on top against Durham at Chester-le-Street in Division Two.

D'Oliveira scored 122 as Worcestershire finished the day on 367 in reply to the home side's 197 for a lead of 170 runs when rain forced a premature end.

England team-mates Mark Wood and Ben Stokes had differing days, with the former finishing with five for 54 and the latter wicketless.

England one-day batsman Alex Hales continued his fine summer with a half-century for leaders Nottinghamshire against promotion rivals Kent at Trent Bridge.

Hales scored 85 out of Nottinghamshire's first-innings 371. By the close Kent were 105 for four in their second innings to trail by 86 runs and facing a difficult task to save the match.

Leicestershire's batsmen struggled against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road as only five made it into double figures, Lewis Hill the top scorer with an unbeaten 38 out of a first-innings total of 157.

Richard Gleeson, Azharullah and Ben Sanderson took three wickets each for Northamptonshire who ended the day on 60 for three in their second innings to lead by 164 runs.

Tony Palladino's four wickets for 36 gave Derbyshire the edge against Glamorgan at SSE Swalec as the visitors led by 53 runs.

Derbyshire were two without loss at the close having bowled the home side out for 237.

There was no play due to rain in the Division One clash between Essex and Middlesex and the Second Division encounter between Sussex and Gloucestershire. 

Monday review

England's batsmen struggled to adapt to the pink ball as 96 wickets tumbled during the first round of day-night cricket in the County Championship.

Ben Stokes, Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings, all of whom will be hoping to be named in England's Test squad, were dismissed cheaply on the opening day as bowlers prospered.

England are set to play in their first day-night Test later this summer against West Indies, prompting a round of championship fixtures to be organised to give players the opportunity to experience the pink ball.

However Stokes, Hameed and Jennings all failed with the bat, while Jos Buttler and Mark Stoneman also failed to push their names forward for selection.

Stokes did not score on his return for Durham, nicking behind without scoring, and team-mate Jennings managed just six before he was bowled as the north-east county were bowled out for 197 despite having been reduced to 18 for five early on against the new ball.

Mark Wood hit back, taking three wickets as Worcestershire finished on 213 for four, with Moeen Ali unbeaten on 36 and Brett D'Oliveira on 91 as the visitors claimed a first-day lead of 16.

Lancashire were struggling on 55 for four after Hameed and Buttler failed with the bat, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul showed his class and experience to hit a 76th first-class century and drag the score up to 273 before he ran out of partners on 117.

Hameed's desperate run of form continued after he edged to slip for a battling 17, but his England colleague James Anderson struck before stumps to leave Warwickshire 23 for one.

Stoneman will be looking to displace Hameed at the top of the order against South Africa, and he made a positive start against Yorkshire at Headingley before Ben Coad had him caught behind for 30.

Fresh from a Twenty20 win against South Africa, Jason Roy looked in fine form as he gave Yorkshire the runaround with a 91-ball 87 before being adjudged lbw, while Rory Burns (90) and Kumar Sangakkara (82 not out) saw Surrey through to an imposing 374 for six at the close.

Adil Rashid proved expensive as he was targeted by Roy and Sangakkara, while Test captain Joe Root also turned his arm over for the hosts.

Elsewhere in Division One, Alastair Cook proved to have no problems with the pink ball as he coasted to an unbeaten 64 on the first day against champions Middlesex.

Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir, making his debut for league leaders Essex, made an instant impact in dismissing Nick Gubbins and finished with two for 53 but it was Simon Harmer who starred with five wickets as Middlesex were dismissed for 246.

Dawid Malan impressed with 60 while Stevie Eskinazi (66) and Paul Stirling (77) were also in good form before Essex reached 106 without loss in reply.

Hampshire declared on 211 for nine in an attempt to give the Somerset openers a challenge under lights at the Ageas Bowl, but Marcus Trescothick and Edward Byrom came through unscathed.

In Division Two Ben Duckett came back into form with his first century of the summer before a late collapse saw Northamptonshire bowled out for 261 by Leicestershire.

Duckett hit a sparkling 102-ball 112, while Max Holden added 92 before four wickets fell for one run as the innings subsided, with Dieter Klein claiming six for 80.

The Northants bowlers enjoyed the late evening conditions however, leaving the Foxes 65 for four at the close.

Derbyshire handed a debut to 16-year-old Hamidullah Qadri - born in the year 2000 - but were bowled out for 288 by Glamorgan following useful lower-order contributions from Tom Milnes (53) and 70 from Wayne Madsen.

Leaders Nottinghamshire took full advantage of the new ball by reducing Kent to six for three early on at Trent Bridge.

Australia international James Pattinson was the chief destroyer with three for 30, but Daniel Bell-Drummond showed his burgeoning talents by carrying his bat for 84 not out as the visitors were skittled for 180.

Steven Mullaney, who also claimed three wickets, was unbeaten on 63 at the close as he and Alex Hales cemented Nottinghamshire's strong start to the match, finishing 45 runs behind on 135 for three.

Sussex were another side who decided to declare early in order to take advantage of conditions after making 358 for nine at Hove.

Luke Wright made a quickfire 118 and was well supported by new captain Ben Brown (52) and Chris Jordan (50), but Gloucestershire's openers were untroubled on 31 without loss at stumps.