Alex Lees and Emilio Gay are rebuilding after the early loss off Ben McKinney.

The left-handers have both carved Glenton Stuurman away through the covers to find the rope and are keeping the scoreboard ticking over, with Lees on 17 from 29 and Gay on 11 from 22 deliveries after flashing Stuurman past backward point for his second boundary to end the 10th over.

Shot of the Championship season so far in the westcountry, it is hauled in by Haseeb Hameed, but what a sumptuous drive from Tom Lammonby.

Not quick from Olly Stone, eased gently off the front foot past mid off.

Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope are in full dig-in mode just over half-an-hour into the new season.

Sibley just about manages to get his bat out of the way of a low wobbler from Chris Woakes, who is moving the ball all over the place in a probing opening spell, which glides an inch or two past his off-stump.

Pope has one from 10 balls with Sibley on six from 20 at the other end.

Image source, PA Media

Nice way to get your innings started, Tom Clark leans on an overpitched ball from Ian Holland and eases it through the covers for four. Just eight overs gone at Grace Road and despite the loss of Daniel Hughes, Sussex are motoring.

There are at least 40 people dotted around the field at Southampton as the groundstaff make final interventions and Hampshire and Essex players go through their pre-match drills.

A delayed start is set for 11.45am and Hampshire have called correctly at the coin toss and elected to bowl. Looks a sensible decision with clouds overhead.

Image source, Getty Images

England captain Ben Stokes was hoping for some early-season action for Durham but injury put paid to those plans and it's likely to be May before we see him in whites.

He is at the Riverside today, though, and unlike CBeebies singer Nick Cope, he has not lost his bobble hat.

Jamie Smith gets off the mark with a nicely-timed clip through mid-wicket as Chris Woakes strays onto his leg stump and the ball runs all the way to the rope.

Four boundaries in the opening four overs but the first single of the day comes at the end of the fifth, Smith picking it up off Woakes.

Nick Webb
BBC Radio Wales

Glamorgan’s much-awaited return to Division One must wait a little longer after morning rain in Cardiff delayed their game against Yorkshire with an early lunch at 12:30 BST.

The groundstaff are working away to minimise the impact and the forecast is slightly better but it’s a forlorn scene at the moment.

Glamorgan are set to give debuts to ex Somerset batter Sean Dickson and New South Wales paceman Ryan Hadley, while Yorkshire have batter Sam Whiteman and Dutch all-rounder Logan van Beek making their first appearances.

Tributes will be paid before the start of play to the late chief executive Hugh Morris and former board member John Williams.

Josh Thomas picks up two through the cover gap off the front foot off Dillon Pennington.

Great comebacks from Pennington who squares him up, then Stone follows suit, but the opening pair are still there despite a TKC edge just short of South African test keeper Kyle Verreyne.

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Slow going so far by Middlesex at Lord's after being put in by Gloucestershire. The home side are 7-0 in the fourth over with Sam Robson and Josh de Caires opening the batting.

England spinner Shoaib Bashir is in the Derbyshire side for their home game against Worcestershire, but will have to wait for his chance as they are batting first. Loan signing Oliver Hannon-Dalby is sharing the new ball for the Pears and the home side are 20-0.

Tough start for Leicestershire so far.

Tom Haines and Daniel Hughes are seizing on anything loose - and there's been quite a bit of that so far.

Hughes hits the first two balls of Yadvinder Singh's second over for four and moves to 15 not out.

Lancashire are among the favourites to win the Division Two title and with Sir James Anderson to lead a decent looking line-up hopes remain high that they can justify their position near the top of the market.

After relegation in 2024 and a difficult 2025 season head coach Steven Croft has a clear run at changing fortunes and improvement on last season's fifth looks a given..

The return of Marcus Harris should hopefully provide some backbone to the middle order, both Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings will be hoping for another season which they break the 1,000-run barrier.

The addition of bowler Ajeet Singh Dale looks a very smart move, he was the club's number one recruitment target.

Darren Lehmann's Northants finished an underwhelming seventh last season but should build on that this season with him similarly getting a clear run at a second campaign

Australian batter Nathan McSweeney – already elevated to the red-ball vice-captaincy under Luke Procter – should strengthen the top-order this year, while the signing of leg-spinning all-rounder Calvin Harrison (an England Lions choice during the winter) from Nottinghamshire following a lengthy loan spell at Northampton in 2025 represented a notable coup.

Like Harrison, another newcomer, Louis Kimber from Leicestershire, is keen to play a significant role in all formats.

The same is true of both Saif Zaib, inexplicably ignored by the pre-Ashes-review England set-up despite enjoying the season of his life with the bat last year, and Justin Broad, appointed David Willey's deputy in the Blast.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore gets off the mark first ball with a two, very nearly four, through square leg towards the retirement flats.

The squares at this time of year are not as hard and dry, that stopping the ball skipping past fine leg to the boundary.

Next ball TKC shows one of his T10 shots, throwing the kitchen sink at Olly Stone outside off.

Ben Sanderson pitches his second ball a little short and Luke Wells pounces on an early gift to get Lancashire up and running with a boundary punched off the back foot through the off side.

It is overcast and heavy at Wantage Road and it looks ideal conditions to bowl so Sir James Anderson's decision to bat is maybe a puzzling one on the face of it.

Yet it is almost certainly on taken with the wicket and a four-day match rather than the immediate overheads in mind. And almost certainly too early in the campaign to start questioning decisions at the toss.