Notts poised to cement top spot

Nottinghamshire are on the brink of a three-day victory over Lancashire at Trent Bridge after Charlie Shreck helped put the LV County Championship leaders into a formidable position.

Shreck’s varied attack saw him finish with 5-40 from 26.3 overs and while eight of the Lancashire line-up reached double figures, no-one got beyond opener Paul Horton’s 37 as they were bowled out in their second innings for 233, just 144 ahead.

Notts lost Will Jefferson in the final nine overs of play to close on 33 for one, but require only a further 112 to take victory, with Matthew Wood 28 not out.

County champions Sussex were still 538 runs in arrears as the weather played havoc with the second day’s play in their match against Somerset at Taunton.

After three inspections, play eventually got under way at 2.30pm with the loss of 37 overs as Somerset resumed on 399 for three.

The home side progressed on to 557 for eight before Justin Langer declared.

The Sussex response was off to a bad start when Chris Nash edged the fourth ball of the innings to Langer at first slip before a run was on the board.

New batsman Yardy and Carl Hopkinson took the score on to 19 off four overs when the players left the field for bad light at 5.35pm, after which play was abandoned for the day.

Elsewhere in Division One Hampshire failed to build on half-centuries from Michael Brown (66) and Michael Lumb (60) as the hosts replied to Surrey’s 278 with 204 for seven.

Graham Onions’ first five-wicket haul for a year put Durham in command against Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street.

The visitors were dismissed for 194, 210 behind, and in four overs’ batting Durham reached 16 without loss in their second innings after opting not to enforce the follow-on.

Yorkshire would have been in much deeper trouble but for a plucky innings of 70 by Adil Rashid, who rescued them from 50 for six in a stand of 85 with Tim Bresnan.

In Division Two Gareth Rees and David Hemp both clubbed centuries as Glamorgan manoeuvred themselves into a healthy position at the end of the second day against Derbyshire at Cardiff.

It was Rees’ second consecutive century against Derbyshire, following up his 104 in a losing cause at the same ground last year, while Hemp’s hundred was his first in the championship for two years.

By the close Glamorgan had reached 301 for three, a first-innings lead of 12, with Hemp (103 not out) and Jamie Dalrymple (six not out) set to resume in the morning.

Worcestershire seamer Simon Jones continued his impressive form at New Road as the former England man mopped up Gloucestershire’s lower order on a rain-shortened day.

He picked up five wickets in a championship innings for the first time since ankle and knee injuries put his Test career on hold during the Ashes series in 2005.

Gloucestershire’s decision to bat on from the overnight 411 for six was open to question when Jones secured an additional bonus point for Worcestershire with three wickets in 29 balls for a return of 5-92.

The visitors added only 33 in 11.2 overs before Jones and Steve Magoffin (3-116) dismissed them for 444, but bad light and more rain prevented a reply by Worcestershire.

David Sales (50no) and Rob White (56no) hit unbeaten half-centuries for Northamptonshire on a rain-affected third day at Grace Road which left their clash with Leicestershire likely to end in a draw.

Only 37.4 overs were possible before the rain set in half an hour after lunch with Northants on 276 for three, still 251 runs behind Leicestershire's first-innings total of 527.