County Championship 2018 Round 1 Day 1

Day 1

Division One

Hampshire 290 v Worcestershire 40-2

Worcestershire's bowlers fought back well against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl, before Gareth Berg's half-century ensured a relatively even first day of the 2018 County Championship season.

The hosts raced to 122-2, led by James Vince's 75 off 74 balls.

But once the England batsman was bowled by Steve Magoffin, it started a collapse of seven wickets for 120 runs.

Berg hit 75 not out batting at number eight, to help the hosts make 290, before Worcestershire closed on 40-2.

It was a crucial innings by all-rounder Berg, who received excellent support from last man Fidel Edwards in a 10th-wicket stand of 48.

The former West Indies paceman batted for 44 minutes in gloomy conditions and had scored just a solitary run when he edged Worcestershire skipper Joe Leach behind.

Leach, who led his side to the Division Two title last season, was the visitors' standout bowler with 4-42 including the dismissal of debutant Sam Northeast for 17.

Earlier, Vince had looked in fine touch, striking 14 boundaries, but was out to a ball that nipped back from Australian seamer Magoffin just before lunch.

In the midst of their afternoon collapse, South Africa batsman Hashim Amla grinded his way to 36 on debut before he was pinned lbw by fast bowler Josh Tongue.

Berg's 101-ball innings took Hampshire from 242-9 to a more competitive first-innings score, and Worcestershire lost Brett D'Oliveira and Tom Fell before stumps.

Lancashire v Nottinghamshire - no play on Friday

The opening day of Lancashire's Division One County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford was called off without a ball being bowled, because of a wet outfield.

An early lunch was taken at 12:00 BST and the umpires inspected again at 14:30 but conditions had not improved.

Play is due to start at 11:00 on Saturday, with a dry day forecast.

Yorkshire v Essex - no play on Friday

A wet outfield meant no play was possible on day one of the Championship match between Yorkshire and last season's champions Essex.

The whole morning session was wiped out and umpires Ian Gould and Richard Illingworth agreed to inspect in the afternoon at 13:40 BST.

Heavy rain at Headingley had left the outfield saturated and the decision was taken to call play off for the day.

Play is set to resume at 11:00 BST on Saturday.

Division Two

Middlesex 136-4 v Northamptonshire

Paul Stirling and John Simpson led the Middlesex fightback as bad light cut short the first day of their Division Two game with Northamptonshire.

After the visitors elected to bowl, Middlesex slipped to 63-4 under the floodlights at a murky Lord's.

But Ireland batsman Stirling and wicketkeeper Simpson rebuilt by sharing an unbroken 73 for the fifth wicket.

Middlesex, relegated from Division One last season, were 136-4 when bad light forced the teams off for a second time.

Only 48.5 overs were possible during the day, with the bad light forcing an early tea with the home side on 132-4 during a near three-hour stoppage.

But when the game finally resumed only a further 3.5 overs were possible before play was abandoned for the day.

Kent v Gloucestershire - no play on Friday

No play was possible on day one of the Championship match between Kent and Gloucestershire because of rain.

Heavy rain fell throughout the night and umpires Neil Bainton and Michael Burns made the decision to abandon the day's play early on Friday morning.

Kent said on Twitter: "Unfortunately there will be no play today after heavy overnight rain.

"The umpires have inspected the outfield and said there is no prospect of play today."

Warwickshire v Sussex - no play on Friday

Warwickshire against Sussex became the fourth County Championship match on Friday to fall victim to wet conditions, as day one at Edgbaston was called off without any play.

Heavy rain in Birmingham over the past week has left the outfield saturated.

After the morning session was washed out, the umpires inspected again at 15:00 BST but it was still too wet.

Play is due to resume at 11:00 BST on Saturday with a much warmer and drier day forecast.

Matches between Yorkshire and champions Essex, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire and Kent against Gloucestershire were also abandoned without a ball bowled on the first day of the 2018 season.