County cricket - as it happened!

Preamble Our writers will be along shortly, but if you're looking for something to keep you occupied in the meantime, why not enter our competition to win tickets to the Friend's Provident t20 final ? 11.33am: Sorry for the slight delay this morning, writes Andy Wilson from somewhere near Old Trafford. We are still working on the squad rotation system referred to yesterday, and all politely left it to each other to kick things off. Further distractions at this end from the romantic possibility of Andrew Flintoff launching his latest comeback with St Annes , and the last game of the State of Origin series. It's raining at Headingley, but they're up and running in the other three games that are going into their third day (Essex v Notts, Hants v Kent and Northants v Glamorgan), and another Second Division fixture is getting under way at Arundel, where Sussex face Gloucestershire. Might that be top of today's "I wish I was in..." list? 12.17pm: "How much is enough?" That's the question everyone is asking at Chelmsford today, writes Andy Bull . Well, that and "what's for lunch?" And "anyone want a cup of tea?" The game is drifting onwards. Essex are 299-7, and as I typed that a round of applause rang around the ground to acknowledge the 300. That gives them a lead of 274. None of the sages in the press box think that Notts will get close. There are a few heavy clouds looming though, and we had a sprinkling of rain this morning. So the result may not be as inevitable as all that. Chambers was the first to fall this morning, clean bowled moments after he had thumped a sweet straight drive back over Charlie Shreck's head. Tom Westley was caught behind moments later and James Foster was caught and bowled without making much of an impression. Still, Pettini is in at No8, and his partner Tim Phillips top-scored in the first innings, so Essex have a bit of batting yet. 12.50pm: The showers have relented at Headingley and the more critical Warwickshire supporters on this blog will doubtless be carping that another shower is about to follow on, writes David Hopps . Warwickshire have been dismissed for 253 at Headingley – it has taken nearly an hour and a half in between the rain for them to progress from their overnight 221-7 so it has not been the most thrilling third morning in championship history. Thrilling or not, it offers the chance for Yorkshire to advance their championship challenge. There are showers about in the next two days, but nothing substantial enough to disturb their attempts to bowl out Warwickshire again for too long. Everyone was looking for Adil Rashid to add to his four wickets overnight, but it was the pace of Steve Patterson that claimed all three Warwickshire wickets to fall, leaving him with four for 57. It's a sullen day at Headingley and I have rather been hoping for orders to plan for a trip to Galle with all speed at my disposal for Murali's farewell Test. The odds, though, are against it. I am firmly on the side of the Murali admirers and whilst i can respect ex-pros who have doubts about his action , the cheap Murali jokes forever irritate me. They are right down there with the sort of jokes that some people send round mobile phones whenever a serial killer is on the loose. The latest gossip, incidentally, about Headingley's £21m new pavilion is that there are only nine viewing places for each team. Some bright spark at Leeds Met Uni allegedly calculated that they only needed nine seats as two batsmen would be batting at anytime. I must check whether this is true, so you can have this as unverified information in the meantime. It should be fun when England arrive with a support staff of thousands, all hoping to touch up their suntan. Warwickshire, while I have been writing this have moved to 7-0, and Ian Westwood has just been dropped at second slip by Adil Rashid off Oliver Hannon-Dalby. With Essex threatening to beat Notts at Chelmsford perhaps the title race is about to become more open than many of us have suspected? 1.27pm: I think, following the example of Mr Marks (Oxford University 1975-78) we must do the done thing and bring further updates on the Varsity match, writes David Hopps , who spent most of his student days trying to spot Philip Larkin on his pushbike. It is somehow soothing (or maybe not) to see a match that seems wholly immune to current trends as Twenty20 cricket influences coaches and players alike to strive for a more attacking approach. Oxford have declared before lunch on the second day at 611-5, Avinash Sharma, a 28-year-old born in New Zealand, finishing unbeaten on 185. There were also hundreds for Daniel King, a 27-year-old from Canberra, and Sam Agarwal, an Indian who at least has the decency to be 19, a normal student age. Policemen might be looking younger but when it comes to the Varsity match, students certainly seem to be looking older. Mature students used to be the ones who led the occupation of the admin block in protest at cutbacks. Now it seems their prime purpose is to turn the Varsity match into a mismatch. We can barely contain ourselves as we await news of Cambridge's reply. Back at Headingley Carnegie, Adil Rashid, who is still of typical student age, has just bowled Darren Maddy. Warwickshire are 28-1 at lunch and there is a possibility that they could lose today unless they bat above themselves. Yorkshire are giving a cricketing education to a host of student cricketers: Adam Lyth, Jonathan Bairstow, Richard Pyrah, Azeem Rafiq, Steve Patterson, Oliver Hannon Dalby. Quite what Oxford and Cambridge are trying to do is anybody's guess. 1.56pm: It's getting sweaty here in the press box at Chelmsford, writes Andy Bull , where some thick grey clouds are closing in overhead. A single decrepit desk fan is all we have by way of climate control. There was a little rain forecast for around about this time of day. It will be a sweet relief if it comes. I've a copy of Kevin Telfer's Peter Pan's First XI in my bag , and would happily wile away the afternoon reading that. Fat chance I suppose. Here come the Notts players onto the field now. Essex are nine down and 293 ahead. Charlie Shreck is going to open the attack, and with Danish on strike the fag end of this innings surely shouldn't last long. That said, Danish has just driven him neatly for four through long-off. A lot of the talk at Essex is about who they will sign to replace him as an overseas pro. There was talk of Mohammad Sami coming, and then, in a tone of increasing desperation, the Aussie googly bowler Bryce McGain. You may remember McGain as the former IT worker who became a professional cricketer at the age of 35, got called up by Australia inside his first year and then played a solitary Test in Cape Town. He made 2 and 0, and then bowled 18 overs taking 0-149. He never played again. The sages in the Essex press box are not impressed. There goes Kaneria. Essex are 328 all out. Notts need 303 to win. 3.06pm: County cricket – live! brings you hot news from the Barmy Army, the cleverly-positioned company [shouldn't that be England's best-known supporters group? - Ed]. They have announced that they have banned their members and those going on tour with them from blowing vuvuzuelas at the Ashes Tests this winter in Australia, writes David Hopps at Headingley, where Yorkshire are pressing for a three-day win against Warwickshire. "We encourage all our members and other cricket supporters to sing and enjoy themselves at matches", said Paul Burnham the co-founder of The Barmy Army. "However, we don't want to upset any of the other fans or annoy the authorities at any of the grounds with the constant drowning noise of the vuvuzuelas, as it has done at the World Cup. "We also have our very own talented trumpeter who we hope will lead our leads our troops in song, who is applying through Cricket Australia to attend and play at all five tests." The trumpeting of Billy Cooper, indeed, is a positive part of a Test match day. He was banned from Headingley during last summer's Ashes series in the belief that he would incite, or at least disturb, the crowd. He actually enhances the mood, which is more than can be said for the vuvuzuela. The Barmy Army have got this right. At Headingley, after an hour of enterprising resistance after lunch, Warwickshire have just lost their second wicket at 82, that of Ant Botha, caught at the wicket off Adil Rashid. Ignore the live scoreboards at the moment – the scorers seem to be a little confused and have given a couple of wickets to Tino Best. And while I am typing this, Geoffrey Dean from the Times has just bellowed "Not out, going down" in a very authoritative way. Sadly, Jeremy Lloyds, the umpire, did not agree and has given Ian Westwood out lbw – a third wicket to Rashid. Down below us, Westwood seemed to agree with Dean. 3.50pm: Notts are just settling down as tea comes around, writes Andy Bull at Chelmsford . Ali Brown and Mark Wagh have put on 28 together, taking the total up to 75-4. They need another 227 runs. Even as I've typed that though, James Foster has brought Maurice Chambers back into the attack for an over before the break. His first spell was utterly ferocious, his seven overs bringing him three wickets for 21 runs. Notts' top order just couldn't play him. And there goes Brown, fencing the ball towards slip. It landed just short. And the next is even better, fizzing past the outside edge. Chambers has found the right stuff in this match and no mistake. But at the other end Danish Kaneria has been impotent. A quick word from Jon Surtees, the communications man at Surrey. He would like to invite you all to the Oval on Friday to watch Essex's next match, against Kent at the Oval on Friday. Kent have hired the Oval to try to exploit their London market. All you need to do is cough up some money. Tickets are available from britoval.com/tickets and by calling 0207 8205700. 4.27pm: Tea at Headingley Poly sees Warwickshire 142-3, still 30 behind Yorkshire with enough overs left in the day to guarantee a finish long beyond 6pm, writes David Hopps , who was hoping for a net tonight so is not best pleased at the thought of overtime. And that position is worse than it sounds for Warwickshire as Jim Troughton has retired hurt after being struck by a bouncer from Tino Best. Troughton got in a tangle as he tried to pull out of a hook shot and was struck on the visor, leaving a swelling on his forehead. He walked off unaided after a lengthy stoppage for treatment and seemed as well as could be expected. No news yet on whether he has gone for a check-up. Rikki Clarke has played with fluency and power for his unbeaten 30 and if he takes command after tea this game might yet shift, I suppose, especially with Yorkshire a batsman light, but Yorkshire will be beyond frustrated if they don't strengthen their position at the top of the table with victory. Two other games could conceivably finish today. Glamorgan are seven down following on against Northants, and only a few runs ahead, and Kent trail by 230 against Hampshire with seven second-innings wickets remaining. 5.06pm: Well if there is any play here on the fourth day, it surely won't be much, writes Andy Bull at Chelmsford . Notts are 138-7 now, their run at the title has come derailed down here, and few would have predicted that when the match started on Monday. Ali Brown is still there, but he's not got much by way of company. Danish has taken the last two wickets to fall, Chris Read for a spiky 20 and Paul Franks for a limp duck. Make that the last three wickets to fall, Andre Adams has just gone for a duck too. 142-8. This could be all over by 6pm.