County cricket – live! | Vic Marks, Andy Wilson and Richard Gibson - The Guardian (blog)

Graham Onions in action for Durham against Warwickshire on day one at Edgbaston. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images12.04pm: An early lunch has been taken and play is scheduled to begin at 1.10pm at Edgbaston, with the second day's over-allotment reduced by 16 to 80, writes Richard Gibson.

11.31am: Greetings from a dank Lord's where there was talk of a 11.45 start but don't bank on it, writes Vic Marks.

Just been catching up on the fact that Chris Gayle will not be joining Somerset for the Twenty20. This will be a disappointment to many down in Taunton relishing the idea of a Trescothick and Gayle opening partnership (not much running necessary). In fact there is no guarantee that Trescothick will play all the Twenty20 either as he recuperates from his ankle op.

We assume that we will see Gayle instead in the ODIs, so some consolation for the non-parochials. But it is galling that Somerset have their No Objection certificate from the West Indies; they have their contract with Gayle and have been left in the lurch – except that they are making an announcement this afternoon about a Gayle replacement. Lips sealed until then but I imagine he may be a bit cheaper. Still no toss here.

11.30am: The scoreboard at Edgbaston has displayed a rather hopeful message for the past hour, writes Richard Gibson. It simply reads: "There will be an inspection at 11.15am - Provided no further rain."

It remained up while messrs Bainton and Kettleborough waded past one of two super-soppers to get within 20 yards of the square. However, while groundstaff have begun the process of uncovering it, it appears unlikely that we will have any play before 12.30pm.

But I can tell you about a potential return for Warwickshire's England cap Chris Woakes. Ashley Giles, the county's director of cricket, has ruled out a second-team outing against Middlesex next week but he could get a run out in the 40-over game at Edgbaston, against Derbyshire in 10 days' time. Warwickshire's first one-day game of the season is at home to Northamptonshire on Sunday but that appears to be over-optimistic.

"He's making great strides and he will come back in next week and bowl some more. We have a couple of one-day games next week which he could
play in, although one-day cricket is a slight risk because of how busy it is," said Giles.

11.01am: After the false alarm caused by James Anderson's thumb injury yesterday, discipline is the main theme this morning, writes Andy Wilson. The first day of the Championship match between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire saw three of the England players involved in this fixture – Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann – expressing visible displeasure about umpiring decisions. All three would seem to have escaped any further action. But Swann continued his chuntering into the night, tweeting as he cheered Newcastle's victory over Chelsea: "I would happily be given out bat before wicket every day if it meant Cissé scored two goals like that."

Is that acceptable? It seems a bit churlish and heavyhanded even mentioning it, but had it happened in football, it would be a much bigger deal. The whole issue over player behaviour, and specifically in this case of the conduct of England players when they return to county cricket, has provoked much discussion.

Anyway it's another pleasant sunny morning, if a little fresh, and Lancashire will resume on 48 for one in reply to Nottinghamshire's 169, having lost Paul Horton in the last over of the first day. That means Broad will be bowling again, having shown no reaction to his recent calf problems in a few overs with the new ball last night. But there must be a doubt over whether Anderson will bat for Lancashire to avoid any further blows to his thumb – he was conspicuous by his absence during their fielding practice this morning – and Tom Smith will probably need a runner after pulling up with a hamstring problem when bowling yesterday.

10.10am: Welcome to the county cricket live blog for the latest round of Championship action. Our writers will be here with all the day's play shortly. Andy Wilson is back for day two at Old Trafford for Lancashire v Nottinghamshire, Richard Gibson is in Birmingham for the second day of Warwickshire v Durham, and Vic Marks will be at Lord's for the opening day of Middlesex v Worcestershire.

You can find full fixture lists for the season here and county-by-county previews here. You can follow the action throughout the season here. Watch video highlights here.

There's also county cricket commentaries on BBC local radio here.

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