Ballance makes statement with consecutive hundreds

Division One
Hampshire v Yorkshire 310/3
Notts 263 v Somerset 74/3
Surrey 342/7 v Essex
Warwickshire v Kent 367/5

Division Two
Durham 210/8 v Sussex
Glamorgan 433/4 v Northants
Gloucestershire v Derbyshire 256/7
Leicestershire v Worcestershire 348/4
Middlesex 236/9 v Lancashire

BALLANCE OF POWER
It's not been an easy few years for Gary Ballance. An England reprieve came and went in the space of two Tests against South Africa in 2017, before a stint running drinks during the 2017/18 Ashes Down Under. He then stepped away from the game for a short while last summer, space needed from its claustrophobic confinements. Yet a fine finish to the season, returning to hit 194 and 60 in the final match of the season, demonstrated his talent once more. And the no.3 has started 2019 in similar style, scoring back-to-back hundreds. Against Hampshire he stepped in early on, a scratchy beginning giving way to free-flowing drives and powerful shots to the leg side, as Ballance and Adam Lyth, followed by Joe Root, took the White Rose into the ascendancy.

WHAT'S THE STORY, MORNING GREGORY!
One place wickets did fall was at Trent Bridge, where in-form Lewis Gregory added a further six wickets to his early season haul. No-one has taken more so far

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
And that would be for birthday boy Ian Bell. Many happy returns!