James Anderson failed to appear for Lancashire as they rued poor catching in their LV= Insurance County Championship Division One clash with Somerset at Emirates Old Trafford.
The record-breaking England seamer left the field just before Thursday’s close of play with what was described as a “minor issue”.
The remaining Red Rose players combined to drop seven catches as teenager James Rew took centre stage, hitting 105 in Somerset’s total of 361 all out. Lancashire were 72 for two in reply at the close.
Tom Alsop’s unbeaten century helped Sussex into a strong position against Leicestershire despite Steve Smith falling cheaply.
Australia star Smith, who made a low-key 30 on his Sussex debut at Worcester last week, was back in the pavilion having scored just three off 14 balls as the match finally got under way.
However, despite his failure, Sussex still enjoyed a good second day as they made 319 for four after being sent into bat, with Alsop (118 not out), Cheteshwar Pujara (77) and James Coles (59no) leading the way.
Yorkshire edged their way into a controlling position against Durham, leading the hosts by 118 heading into day three.
George Hill claimed four wickets to help bowl Durham out for 227, with Yorkshire reaching 91 for three in their second innings and England pair Dawid Malan (33 not out) and Jonny Bairstow (16no) at the crease.
Rory Burns led from the front with a fluent and aggressive 88 as Surrey chased a significant first-innings lead against Middlesex, trailing by only 19 runs on 190 for three at stumps.
But the most eye-catching innings of a second day cut short by bad weather was Jamie Smith’s 55 not out, with the 22-year old showing off some memorable and high-class strokes.
Nottinghamshire seamer Brett Hutton took his third five-wicket haul of the season to compound former county Northamptonshire’s ongoing batting woes.
Hutton found plenty of movement under floodlights, cloudy skies and light rain and precipitated a Northamptonshire collapse from 113 for two to 158 all out.
A fluent fourth-wicket stand of 68 between Joe Clarke (41 not out) and Matthew Montgomery (34) helped Nottinghamshire close one run behind on 157 for four.
A buccaneering 10th-wicket stand of 70 restored Warwickshire’s control after Essex fought back hard at Edgbaston.
Essex closed day two on 86 for four, still trailing by 30, after Warwickshire’s last pair Hassan Ali (53 not out) and Olly Hannon-Dalby (18) clouted 70 from 69 balls to lift their side to 242.
A well-made 86 from Michael Neser and four wickets from Timm van der Gugten put Glamorgan within touching distance of their first win of the season against Worcestershire in Cardiff.
With Worcestershire ending the day on 195 for seven, 46 runs in front with just three wickets left, Glamorgan will be hoping to wrap up victory on Saturday.
Gloucestershire seamer Matt Taylor impressed on his first appearance of the season against Derbyshire, taking two for 18 from 10 overs as the hosts struggled on another day badly hit by the weather.
No play was possible until 2pm because of a wet outfield and – after Gloucestershire won the toss – Derbyshire reached 130 for five before bad light ended play early.
There was frustration for fans and players alike at Canterbury as a mere 6.1 overs were possible between Kent and Hampshire, with the visitors moving to 103 without loss, a lead of eight.
