Essex made a strong start to their LV= County Championship Division Two game against Gloucestershire but the visitors were frustrated as the match was interrupted by bad weather for the second day running.
David Masters led the Essex charge, taking 4 for 39 as Gloucestershire were reduced to 104 for 6 before play was prematurely stopped for bad light and rain after 31.1 overs.
Winning the toss and choosing to field, Essex looked to make up for lost time after the elements had ensured not a single ball had been bowled on the opening day.
Gloucestershire made a disastrous start as they fell to 0 for 2 after just three overs with both Michael Klinger and William Tavare removed for ducks by Masters.
Klinger, who has now scored just three runs in his last three innings, was the first to go as he was clean bowled and, three balls later, Tavare joined him when he played straight into the hands of Ben Foakes.
Opener Chris Dent dug in and together with Alex Gidman, Gloucestershire looked like they might begin to build a platform. In the seventh over, however, Gidman fell to the bowling of Graham Napier, nicking the ball behind, leaving the hosts in trouble at 23 for 3.
Gloucestershire's morning went from bad to worse soon after as Napier took his ninth wicket of the Championship season when he bowled Hamish Marshall for 4.
Will Gidman managed eight better than his brother but was unable to turn an encouraging start into a big score as Masters induced the edge and Alastair Cook held on at first slip. However, Dent, fresh from a half-century at Glamorgan, kept the Gloucestershire score respectable as he hit eight fours on his way to 47.
Just as the opener looked to reach his half-century, play was stopped for bad light before heavy rain extended the delay. The action temporarily resumed later and it took just eight balls for Essex to add another scalp to their tally as Cameron Herring edged Masters' delivery to Foster.
Ian Saxelby joined Dent at the crease but in the 32nd over the umpires again sent the players back into the pavilion for bad light before more rain saw the day's play brought to an early close.
Hampshire 289 for 3 (Vince 118*) v Surrey
There are any number of cabs on the rank, engines running. But a second high quality century of the season ought to have moved James Vince up the queue of traffic hoping to benefit from England's miserable winter.
The 23-year-old Vince took complete charge of another weather-hit day to strike an unbeaten 118, at virtually a run-a-ball, and put Division Two leaders Hampshire in a position that would be even stronger but for rain allowing just 31 overs.
Vince's innings, which followed a knock of 144 against Gloucestershire, and a couple of unbeaten half-centuries, means the stylish right-hander has now accumulated 400 Championship runs and currently lies a close second in the early season hit list to Ian Bell.
Being mentioned in the same paragraph as Bell is no bad thing - and, given the way Vince is playing (and played last season) he could soon be named in the same England squad as him, be that at limited-overs or even Test level.
"A year ago I would have said he was a better one-day player but I feel he has found a method in this form of the game that holds him in good stead in first-class cricket as well," said Giles White, Hampshire's director of cricket.
Last summer was Vince's breakthrough campaign as a Championship player. He topped 1000 runs (1101 at 61.16 to be precise) for the first time after some hard work with the county's batting coach, Tony Middleton.
"He changed his technique two years ago, altering his set up and the way he lines up the ball," explained White. "He has reaped the rewards from that, has a very straightforward method and executes his game plan very well.
"The way he strikes the ball, his range of stroke - he looks at a different level to other players. That's a credit to the hard work he has put in and to what a talent he is."
County coaches quite understandably push their own players, and White accepts that Vince is far from alone in the race for England recognition.
But he says: "We see him every day and he looks every bit a potential England player, and has done for a season and a bit now. If he keeps on putting in these performances he will be knocking pretty loudly on that door. I'm sure he is one of those players the selectors area aware of.
"I wouldn't be surprised [if he stepped up this season]. He seems to learn very quickly and is maturing as an individual. He has to continue to do it and churn out runs, day in and day out, but he has shown over the last year he is very capable of doing that."
Well though Vince batted, Surrey made life easier for him than they should have done on a pitch still offering enough assistance when the ball was put in the right place.
But it went in the wrong place far too often from the visitors point of view, as 136 runs in 31 overs during the morning session might suggest.
And when Surrey did create a chance, they missed it. Having been reprieved behind the stumps on the opening day, Vince was given a second life - on 44 - when edging Stuart Meaker through Jason Roy's hands at third slip.
Those blemishes apart, though, Vince was a joy to watch, missing few opportunities to drive and cut an attack featuring Jade Dernbach, Meaker and Matt Dunn.
England, it would appear, have not washed their hands of Michael Carberry just yet - or, at least, their current batting coach, Graham Gooch, is still working with the opener. Gooch, or whoever has that job through this summer, may soon be working every bit as closely with Vince before too long.
Glamorgan openers Gareth Rees and Jacques Rudolph made good progress with a half-century each as they looked to reel in a large Leicestershire total at Grace Road.
After a Niall O'Brien century, his 13th in first-class cricket, helped steer the hosts to 500 all out, Glamorgan responded in solid fashion with Rees and Rudolph unbeaten on 53 and 63 respectively as they reached 126 without loss at close of play.
Leicestershire had resumed on Monday at 221 for 4 with Josh Cobb on 49 and O'Brien on 46. Cobb reached 63 before he was caught and bowled by Dean Cosker as the hosts fell to 257 for 5, but O'Brien reached his ton in 117 balls and went on to make 133 where he was caught by Murray Goodwin off Graham Wagg.
Rob Taylor (63) and Jigar Naik (59no) also passed their half-centuries, adding 101 for the eighth wicket in 17 overs, and Leicestershire's strong batting performance continued right through their order with last man Charlie Shreck reaching a career-best 31 before his run-out brought an end to their resistance.
Wagg was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, taking 4 for 107 from his 27 overs.
Yorkshire 178 and 213 for 4 (Root 63, Lyth 54) lead Middlesex 123 (Sidebottom 4-34, Brooks 3-47) by 268 runs
Like perms, mullets and onesies, some fashions are best forgotten.
So it may well prove with the current fashion to play 'positive' cricket. Where once county batsmen were brought up to graft their way through tough sessions of play, many of the current generation react to tricky conditions by attempting to blast their way to success. Even at the end of the Ashes series, with England thrashed inside three days, the mantra from inside the camp was that they had to find a way to attack the Australian bowlers and play positive cricket.
The irony of England's approach was that it played into Australia's hands. While England's strength, with a couple of exceptions, was to play patient, attritional cricket, they were lured into altering their game-plan partially by the drip feeding of propaganda into the media by the likes of Shane Warne. Instead of trying to frustrate Australia by blocking for session upon session, they sought to counter-attack and tended to neither score quickly or survive for long. When you are beaten in two-and-a-half days, strike-rate is largely irrelevant.
In the longer forms of the game, defence can remain the best form of attack. A batsman who has the discipline and technique to leave, defend and wait can survive to damage their opposition not just in the next four overs, but the next four sessions. The old values of patience and denial may be unfashionable in the age of T20 and broadcasters demanding action, but they remain as valuable now as ever.
There was a fine example of the virtues of attritional cricket on the second day of this game. While Middlesex, unable to summon the patience to fight for their runs, lost their last eight wickets for 66 runs, Yorkshire were prepared to grind out their total and, by the close of play, had established what may well prove to be a match-defining advantage.
They had a little fortune. For a large part of their second innings, the clouds dispersed and the sun shone at Lord's. Local wisdom suggests, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, that the ball misbehaves far less often when the sun shines.
Generally, though, Yorkshire made their own fortune. By bowling tremendously well in the morning session - Ryan Sidebottom claimed 3 for 11 in nine overs of wonderfully skilful and accurate swing bowling and was well supported by the hostile Liam Plunkett and the nagging Jack Brooks - they gained a first innings lead of 55; a fine achievement from a position of 113 for 7 in their first innings.
They then capitalised on their advantage by seeing off the new ball and the Middlesex bowlers at their freshest and gradually began to carve out a match-defining advantage. Where Middlesex chased the ball, Yorkshire left it. Where Middlesex panicked, Yorkshire were patient. Where Middlesex sought the poor ball, Yorkshire waited for it. Where Middlesex played failed, Yorkshire succeeded.
The contrast in approaches was typified by the experiences of England rivals Joe Root and Eoin Morgan. While Morgan battled for a while, desperately trying to resist the urge to chase the ball, his patience was eroded after a spell where he scored just nine runs in 34 balls and he fell to an outrageous thrash - and an excellent catch - at a ball well wide of off stump.
Root, by contrast, denied himself such indiscretions. Early in his innings, he was admirably compact and refused to be drawn into deliveries outside his off stump. While there was one early hook for six, Root hit only one other boundary in the first 63 balls of his innings.
But, as Middlesex's three-man seam attack tired, the run began to flow with Root hitting four boundaries in seven balls at one stage - three of them off Steven Finn - and the support bowlers conceded almost four-an-over.
There was little wrong with the Middlesex bowling. Finn again generated sharp pace - though probably no sharper than Plunkett's - and maintained good consistency, while James Harris and Tim Murtagh hardly delivered a poor ball.
While Root's resistance will have done him no harm in the eyes of the England selectors, he was building on a platform established by his side's opening batsmen. Alex Lees and Adam Lyth, in particular, again impressed in a stand that drew the sting from the attack and set the tone for the rest of the day.
While none of the batsmen could go on to establish the dominant innings that would have put this game out of reach - Lees left a straight one, Lyth was drawn into a flirt outside off stump and Root was, as in the first innings, punished for being stuck in the crease - a lead of 268 might prove enough already against a Middlesex line-up that appears oddly brittle.
"We've bowled well as a quartet all season," Sidebottom said afterwards. "The way they batted is credit to the way we bowled. The way Plunkett is performing, England should take note. He is bowling fast; I wouldn't want to bat against him. He is bowling quick and fantastically well.
"They bowled well, too, so we had to battle really hard. They gave us nothing for a couple of hours.
There's a lot of cricket to play in this game, though. It could still go either way."
Lancashire 119 and 244 for 5 (Buttler 66*) lead Northamptonshire 164 (Spriegel 62, Anderson 5-48) by 199 runs
Jos Buttler is undoubtedly one of the most talented young players that England can currently call upon and it should therefore come as no surprise to hear he is capable of game-changing innings. That his first significant contribution in a Lancashire shirt came on a seaming track when his side were struggling is more worthy of note.
Buttler's unbeaten 66, replete with thumping drives down the ground and through the covers, would have been eye-catching even if it had come in more favourable circumstances for batting. Given the importance for his team, as well as the counterpunching nature of the innings, it tempted a comparison with Matt Prior, England's Test firefighter for so many years.
Buttler will need to increase the volume and frequency of his first-class run-scoring - converting this effort into a fourth hundred would be a good start - but, with Prior's Achilles still troubling him, this was a timely knock.
When Lancashire's fifth wicket fell, with the scoreboard reading 130 for 5, their lead was 85 and Northamptonshire would have been hopeful of starting off in pursuit of a small total before the close. Instead, Buttler and Tom Smith, a couple of vocational surnames if ever there were any, did a thorough job on them, adding 114 in less than 25 overs to carry Lancashire giddily into the ascendency. Northamptonshire would have been wary of chasing anything above 200 but the target is likely to be more daunting still.
The last time Buttler passed fifty in a first-class match was almost a year ago, when he made 85 against Middlesex at Taunton, although his involvement with England has limited his Championship appearances since then. Last season was his most successful in red-ball cricket and he began his Lancashire career by making a battling 42 last week in the drawn game against Warwickshire. On the evidence of the World T20, it is still his keeping that needs polish but Peter Moores, who first picked a rough-and-ready Prior for England and brought Buttler to Lancashire, may already be formulating his stratagems.
As Buttler and Smith became more comfortable, Northamptonshire's composure slipped. After Steven Crook conceded six no-balls and four byes from consecutive deliveries that gave David Murphy little chance behind the stumps, a trenchant call of "Rubbish!" rang out from the members' stand. Smith was later dropped on 31, though it would have been brilliant catch by Kyle Coetzer, and Murphy then missed a leg-side stumping with Buttler overbalancing a few yards out of his crease as the home side unravelled a little further.
Lancashire had been vocal in their complaints about the pitch after the first day, when they were shot out for 119, although it may have involved an element of kidology, after Northamptonshire's criticism of the surface for their game at Old Trafford last year. That fixture finished inside two days but the ECB pitch inspector saw nothing untoward; neither will there be any sanction for Northamptonshire here, after an official visit from Tony Pigott.
The pitch certainly had some moisture in it but conditions eased appreciably, even though the wind blowing in from the east at times felt as if it had come all the way from the Baltic. The partnership that began to warm Lancashire came between Paul Horton and Ashwell Prince and provided some much-needed fibre after they had lost their first two wickets shortly after lunch while still attempting to erase a 45-run first-innings deficit.
In terms of turning things around, it was more horse and carriage than Hackney carriage but they initiated the process of reeling in a game that was trundling steadily away from Lancashire. Azharullah succeeded in breaking Prince's bat handle but his defence was otherwise impenetrable. They were separated only by a piece of misfortune, as a delivery from Andrew Hall deflected on to the stumps off Murphy with Prince out of his crease. That went down as a stumping but there was a run-out to follow, as Horton left Luke Procter stranded in mid-pitch without having faced a ball.
Although the ground was swaddled with grey clouds when Northamptonshire resumed, it took Lancashire over an hour to separate the ninth-wicket stand between Matthew Spriegel and Olly Stone. Spriegel, whose flinty innings was perfectly suited to adversity, progressed to his second half-century in as many matches - and only his third for Northamptonshire since joining at the end of 2012 - before becoming the last man out, well taken by Buttler running back underneath a top edge. Lancashire fans may be beginning to think they have got themselves a keeper.
Nottinghamshire 116 (Patel 54, Woakes 3-13, Wright 3-34) and 126 for 3 (Jaques 64) need 174 more runs to beat Warwickshire 263 and 152 (Siddle 3-38, Gurney 3-42)
This match is in the balance, with Nottinghamshire needing 174 runs to win with seven wickets standing on a pitch that has been unpredictable, even in a generous assessment. Whatever the outcome, the home county will be face a nervous time at the close, when a pitch panel convened by the ECB will meet to determine whether action is taken after 33 wickets fell during the first two days.
Nottinghamshire, of course, are at risk of a points penalty if the surface is judged to be of less than a reasonable standard. That could range from eight points if the panel concludes that its position is poor, to 24 points if it is considered to be unfit. They may escape unscathed.
There will be a debate to follow, either way, over the alteration to the Laws that allows the home captain to decide if the heavy roller is available for use, by either side, during the course of the game. Nottinghamshire may not have helped themselves in this instance by deciding it is not available, the consequence of which is that dents to the surface caused by the ball can remain a factor for longer than previously, leading potentially to uneven bounce and unpredictable sideways movement.
Nonetheless, the state of the surface remains their responsibility and the panel may ask why Nottinghamshire, who tend to prepare 'result' wickets without apology, chose to use a pitch well towards the Bridgford Road side of the square so early in the season.
Whatever the panel decides, three innings completed by tea on the second day can be no one's idea of acceptable progress in a first-class match, not when there are eight Test players involved. Batting is no picnic at this time of year, with moisture still close to the surface, but the balance between bat and ball here has been too heavily tilted in the bowlers' favour.
Even Ian Bell, capable of mastering any conditions, as he did in the first innings with the outstanding century that may ultimately be Warwickshire's match-winning factor, found the going tough this time. He had made only 5, having already been beaten twice in the over, when he gave a catch to Chris Read off Harry Gurney as the left-armer slanted a ball across him.
That Nottinghamshire have a chance of winning is a turn-round, however, which may help their cause. Tony Pigott, the ECB pitch liaison officer, arrived at tea to see the target of 300 to win, one that had looked too much at first in view of what had gone before, reduced by 92 during a partnership between Phil Jaques and Michael Lumb for the second wicket, with the demons in the pitch seemingly gone to ground.
Yet there was another twist to come as Lumb was leg before, playing back to Jeetan Patel's offspin, and Jaques, whose 64 is his best score so far for Nottinghamshire, succumbed to an unplayable lifter from Chris Wright that took the edge and had him caught behind.
Warwickshire had been bowled out inside 40 overs, with three wickets each for Gurney and Peter Siddle, the Australia Test bowler, whose value to Nottinghamshire is becoming apparent now that he has some overs in his legs.
Earlier, Nottinghamshire, 43 for 6 overnight, had recovered a little when Samit Patel (54) and Chris Read put on 72 for the seventh wicket. But their last four wickets fell in the space of eight balls, three of them in one over to Chris Woakes.
Sussex 25 for 1 trail Somerset 372 (Trescothick 116, Petersen 76, Jordan 5-76) by 347 runs
County cricket has sustained Marcus Trescothick for nearly eight long years since his England career came to such a premature end. It has given him professional consolation and personal contentment and he has given a huge amount of entertainment in return. For those who care only for England, he has been a player lost from view before his time. On the county circuit, where the best players are often absent, his presence has been a blessing.
This is an age when so many England cricketers retire without a second thought of finishing their days traversing the county grounds of England, but Trescothick because of personal circumstance has been an exception. His commitment has been unconditional as he has galumphed around the circuit, despatching attacks in that amiable and big boned manner. He symbolises much that is good about Somerset but he has gained a popularity that goes beyond mere partisanship.
That bond between the player and those who watch has rarely been stronger than on the second day of this contest at Hove. This time the applause for his hundred was tinged with relief. It marked Trescothick's first Championship century since September 2012. Last season he went without one for the first time since 1998 and, at 38, unsuccessful runs so prolonged are not often reversed.
Trescothick's 116, an innings ended when he spectacularly lost his middle stump driving ambitiously at Steve Magoffin, armed with the second new ball, would not figure in the list of the most dominant of his 57 first-class centuries, but it would deserve a mention for difficulty.
He turned around his form in exacting circumstances, labouring for five hours in overcast conditions and on a surface where Chris Jordan, coming down the hill, finished with 5 for 76 in 27.3 overs and did much to advertise his claims for a Test debut against Sri Lanka at Lord's in June. Jordan earned the hill on the first day; he won it by right on the second. "I like coming down the hill," he said.
When Trescothick assesses a player he does so with a wealth of experience behind him, no more so than when considering the attributes of a new-ball bowler. He recognises in Jordan a player whose threat is developing, and views him of capable of making the grade in a Test debut against Sri Lanka at Lord's if he outdoes rivals for the place such as Tim Bresnan and Chris Woakes.
Quite how Chris Adams, who has been brought in by Sri Lanka as a consultant for their tour of England, will explain that he saw fit to release Jordan at Surrey is hard to imagine. He, too, thought Jordan was going downhill - though not in the way he did at Hove.
"He bowled a heavy ball: he is probably quicker than most," Trescothick said. "I didn't bat against him much last season because I got a pair. But from two seasons ago I would say he has come on a long, long way. He looks a good prospect.
"He has a big chance at the start of the summer. There is a very good chance he could make the starting line-up because his batting has also been good in the one-day games. He will be fresh on the lips of the selectors."
The groundwork for Trescothick's hundred was laid on the first evening when he negotiated a passage of 32 overs that could easily have seen Somerset lose half a dozen wickets; to lose three, one of them a nightwatchman, represented a job well done. Jordan continued to find alarming bounce at times with the slope in his favour on the second day, but Trescothick's peace of mind never wavered. He progressed in relaxed fashion, as contented as if he was tucked under a duvet watching a favourite DVD.
When he brought up his hundred half-an-hour after lunch, it banished more bad memories. Last year - now very much last year, a year put behind him - he made the first pair of his Championship career against Sussex, his fourth successive duck in all competitions. On both occasions, the bowler was James Anyon. It was Anyon again who this time was pulled through the legside to reach 99 and then pushed wide of mid on the next ball to rid himself of the leanest run of his career.
"It was tough at all times," he said. "The new ball in particular was pretty hard to face. I had to graft and dig in." The pair had not crossed his mind when he made his hundred, he said. But it had crossed his mind on nought. "I was pretty twitchy to begin with," he said.
Packing up the footballs on the dressing room balcony as he spoke was David Houghton, who was released by Derbyshire last October as part of a coaching reshuffle and who has been centrally involved in Trescothick's drive as Somerset's new batting coach.
"We were lucky to pick him up when left Derby and we have done massive amounts of work. John Pitt is also our mind coach - our sports performance coach - and these sorts of people are always vitally important, building individuals back up into the right frame of mind."
Somerset look a reliable fast bowler short of a good season, but they have played some solid cricket so far with draws against Yorkshire, seen as prospective champions by many, and the defending champions Durham. They are commandingly placed midway through this game and have already picked up the in-form Ed Joyce in the 11 overs faced by Sussex before the close.
Trescothick's accomplice in a fifth-wicket stand of 139 was Alviro Petersen, whose assertive 76 needed two let-offs - by Joyce at third slip off Jordan and by the wicketkeeper Ben Brown, who missed a low chance as Petersen sought to cut the slingy slow left-armer Ashar Zaidi.
England are taking a cagey approach with the management of Matt Prior's Achilles problems. He is expected to return as a batsman against Lancashire at Old Trafford, returning to wicketkeeping duties the following week against Durham.
Upon Trescothick's departure, the second new ball seemed likely to bring Somerset's innings to a quick conclusion - James Hildreth received a brute from Jordan to be caught at third slip - but the use of two nightwatchmen meant that Lewis Gregory walked out at No. 11.
He is a clean hitter and the knowledge that nine wickets were down did not constrain him. He added 75 in 15 overs with Johann Myburgh, playing with great gusto for 47 from 51 balls before he perished on the cover boundary, leaving Jordan with an eye-catching return.
Worcestershire 31 for 0 trail Derbyshire 219 (Madsen 111*, Ajmal 4-60) by 188 runs
Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen led the recovery as the visitors shrugged off their Sunday nightmare on the second day against Worcestershire at New Road.
Openers Billy Godleman and Stephen Moore were both dismissed despite only 3.5 overs being possible on the first day which Derbyshire ended on a distinctly unhealthy 3 for 2.
But Madsen compiled an unbeaten 111, bolstered by a third wicket stand of 75 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, as Derbyshire recovered to post a respectable total of 219 in difficult batting conditions.
Chanderpaul's departure lbw off Gareth Andrew for 32 threatened to bring an end to Derbyshire's encouraging comeback. But despite a middle-order collapse largely inspired by Saeed Ajmal who finished with figures of 4 for 60 off 26.3 overs, Tim Groenewald arrived at the crease to frustrate the hosts' quest for a quick finish.
Groenewald, whose impressive month has already seen him take a hat-trick against Essex alongside two half-centuries, formed a ninth wicket partnership worth 56 with Madsen before he was caught by Matthew Pardoe off Charlie Morris for 24.
And there were more difficulties for Worcestershire as last man Mark Footitt scored a gutsy 17 before Ajmal belatedly brought an end to his resistance.
Worcestershire avoided a repeat of their opponents' early problems as they reached 31 without loss at close, with Daryl Mitchell and Pardoe sitting on 13 and 10 not out respectively.
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