Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

It was a day for the counter-attacking lower-order partnership in the LV= County Championship with Somerset, Kent and Derbyshire all putting in late fightbacks in their respective matches...

There were wins for Warwickshire, in the LV= County Championship, and Essex, in the Friends Life t20, in today's county action.

In tonight's Friends Life twenty 20 there were wins for Surrey, Essex and Glamorgan in the South Group.

In the day's LV= County Championship matches, Somerset ended day three on the brink of defeat to Warwickshire, while a close final day looks in prospect at Trent Bridge, with Lancashire chasing 237 to beat Nottinghamshire.

We are now nearly a third of the way through the Friends Life Twenty20 group stage, and here's a look at the top performers so far with the aid of the Cricket World County Most Valuable Player (MVP) cricket ratings. Roelof van der Merwe leads the way in the batting ratings, almost 20 points clear of his nearest rival, with a rating of 169.8.

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has penalised eight players for various breaches of the ECB Discipline Code since the start of the season. Jimmy Adams, Varun Chopra, Rikki Clarke, Ryan ten Doeschate, Murray Goodwin, Rob Key, Simon Jones and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were the players who were penalised.

There were wins for Durham, Yorkshire and Essex in tonight's Friends Life t20 action as Owais Shah showed his old club, and England for that matter, what they are missing with ten boundaries during his unbeaten 78.

There were four matches in the Friends Life t20 competition tonight. Daniel Grummitt reports wins for Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Hampshire and Sussex.

The Friends Life twenty 20 kicked off in earnest today with four group games; featuring wins for Warwickshire, Sussex and Surrey and a high-scoring tie between Derbyshire and Lancashire.

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has announced he has retired from international cricket following a dispute with coach Waqar Younis. It is the latest in a long list of crises to have hit the Pakistan team, from Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif being handed lengthy bans for spot fixing to Afridi being admonished for speaking out against Younis during the recent tour of the West Indies.

Sussex batsman Chris Nash has been named as the Cricket World County Player Of The Week after two centuries helped his side take two victories in both County Championship and 40-over competitions. Sussex moved to fifth place in the County Championship after they defeated Somerset by eight wickets at Hove, which saw Nash atone for a first-innings duck by scoring 120 in 175 in the second innings as they closed on 275 for two to make light of what had appeared a testing target.

Today's LV=County Championship action saw Warwickshire go top of Divsion One with a comfortable win over Nottinghamshire, and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan put Sussex on the brink of victory over Somerset while there was a win in the CB40 for Northamptonshire at The Rose Bowl.

Today marked a return to LV=County Championship action after the weekend's Clydesdale Bank 40 fixtures. Most of the matches suffered from some degree to the early-season showers, with a full days play possible in only two out of the seven games.

Today's CB40 action saw wins for Sussex, Northamptonshire and Glamorgan and the emergence of a highly impressive all-rounder from Plymouth by the name of Lewis Gregory.

Today's outstanding performer in the LV=County Championship was Yorkshire's Jonathan Bairstow as he put his name forward for England's new ODI side with a maiden century against Nottinghamshire. He had passed 50 on 17 previous occasions without making a century but ensured that when he did he made it count, as he ended with 205.

The stars of Sussex County Cricket Club have made a declaration - that they very much like the new green way they have of getting to the green, green grass of Hove and it’s all thanks to Ford and to Apex Car Rental. Apex, Sussex CCC's new official vehicle partner, has provided the newly promoted LV= County Championship Division One side with a fleet of new Ford models for use by the players - including England star Monty Panesar, vice-captain Murray Goodwin and overseas star Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, as well as the County's backroom staff.

Sussex have signed Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul to boost their Twenty20 campaign, where he will join forces with compatriot Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. Gul, 27, has played 34 Tests, 88 One-Day Internationals and 34 Twenty20 Internationals, playing a leading role in Pakistan's success in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.

Sussex have included leg-spinner Will Beer in their 14-man squad to take on Hampshire in their LV= County Championship clash that gets underway at The Rose Bowl from 4th May. Luke Wright, who missed the CB40 win over the Netherlands, is included as the newly-promoted side aim to build on a start to the season that has seen them take a win, a draw and a loss from their opening fixtures.

In the Bank Holiday Clydesdale Bank 40 action Michael Yardy returned from his depression-induced lay-off to skipper Sussex to victory over the Netherlands and Peter Trego and Ian Blackwell played starring roles in wins for Somerset and Durham.

A round-up from the final day of the latest round of LV= County Championship matches and Sussex taking their first win of the season despite being pushed hard by fellow former champions Durham.