Frizzell County Championship Division Two 
                          P   W  L  D  Bat Bowl Deduct Points
Middlesex                 3   3  0  0 13   9    0.00   58.00
Derbyshire                3   3  0  0  8   9    0.25   52.75
Worcestershire            4   1  2  1 14   9    0.00   39.00
Glamorgan                 3   2  1  0  3   9    0.00   36.00
Gloucestershire           3   1  1  1  9   9    0.00   34.00
Essex                     3   1  1  1  8   9    0.50   32.50
Nottinghamshire           3   1  2  0  1   9    0.50   21.50
Northamptonshire          3   0  2  1  7   7    0.00   18.00
Durham                    3   0  3  0  2   9    0.00   11.00

Durham v Gloucestershire, Chester-le-Street (24th – 27th May)

If Durham are to get their season going they must start soon. Although they were only denied a win in their game against Derbyshire by the loss of three wickets for one run when in sight of victory, they have been well beaten in their other two games. Their failure so far has been based on an inability to score runs. Only Nicky Peng, Martin Love and Paul Collingwood average over 30 in the championship. It is the length of the tail that is their greatest difficulty - seven out of 13 players have county averages in single figures.

Collingwood has also led with the ball, along with debutant and leading wicket-taker, local 21-year-old Anthony Davies. Erratic speed merchant Steve Harmison has found his wickets expensive at 40 apiece so far. The youngest county have also been unfortunate with injuries, losing both opening bowler Brown and opening batsman Daley in the course of games.

Gloucestershire's batting has been on a far firmer footing, New Zealand based dual national Craig Spearman has weighed in with two centuries and captain Mark Alleyne and Kim Barnett (41) have reached three figureTheir lower order sticks around longer and contributes more.

Gloucestershire also have the advantage of a more settled bowling line-up, with Jon Lewis, who took 12 wickets in their start-of-season defeat by Worcestershire, Official overseas player Ian Harvey and James Averis are both among the wickets already.

Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire, Nottingham (24th – 27th May)

These two Midlands counties have both gone under the wheels of a rampant Middlesex side in the early weeks of the season, and both look, on early evidence, hard-pressed to push for promotion.

Notts have had great difficulty scoring runs this season, achieving just a single batting point from three games, raising just four fifties between them. Only Darren Bicknell has so far passed two hundred runs. They did, though, score their batting point in their only previous home match, a seven-wicket defeat of Essex in which South African dual national Greg Smith posted a career best eight for 53.

Northants on the other hand have conceded totals of 524, 538 and 541 in three games, although two of these were on the placid surface at Northampton. This is despite recruiting Ricky Anderson and Carl Greenidge, from Essex and Surrey respectively, to bolster their attack. Both youngsters have a turn of pace and have produced impressive bowling at times. They are also the kind of athletic deep fielders who will be needed if Northants are to continue buying their wickets at over fifty runs apiece. The pair top Northants' bowling averages.

Aussie run machine Mike Hussey and Mal Loye, as usual, top the batting with four centuries between them. But a couple of huge totals mask a batting fragility that has seen them skittled out for under 131 against Middlesex and lose flurries of wickets in both innings in their defeat at Derby.

Essex v Derbyshire, Chelmsford (26th – 29th May)

Essex host second-placed Derbyshire after recording their first win of the season against Worcestershire, thanks to an amazing performance by 37-year-old John Stephenson, who recorded the best innings and match figures of his 18-year first-class career (three for 60 and seven for 44, giving ten for 104 in the match), taking more wickets in his first game of the summer than in either of the two preceding seasons. A reliance on wickets from bowlers who are no more than military medium may be perceived as a weakness, but the attack has achieved an impressive strike rate so far.

The loss of long-standing overseas player Stuart Law to the county of his birth means another Lancastrian, captain Ronnie Irani, has the chance to top the batting averages, closely followed by Andy Flower and local Darren Robinson who is in his tenth summer and performing as well as he has in years.

The home side welcome back England captain Nasser Hussain for a rare appearance, and will be hoping he brings some of the form he showed in the recent Test match and Benson & Hedges clash. Derbyshire come into the game on a high, with the services of their captain

Dominic Cork available on the back of three successive wins, as many as in 2000 and 2001 combined. While their batting, in view of their record in preceding seasons, must remain open to question, the side's progress has been remarkable. Their inevitable Aussie Michael Di Venuto, left-hander Stephen Stubbings and EC passport holding Chris Bassano are aided by team mates who have mostly scored fifties, and all of whom have contributed when called upon.

The visitors' bowling probably remains their key weapon in a match against probably the strongest opposition they have faced all season, a varied attack that is well capable of taking 20 wickets a match. Both sides are hoping for a return to first division cricket.

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