Find out what happened on day two of the latest round of matches in the LV= Insurance County Championship
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford (second day of four): Essex 403 v Yorkshire 81-3 - Yorkshire trail by 322 runs with seven first-innings wickets remaining
Paul Walter’' maiden first-class century was the main talking point of a largely attritional day at Chelmsford.
The 27-year-old left-hander, who'd narrowly missed the landmark when out for 93 in the previous round's draw with Northamptonshire, can finally tick the accolade of his bucket list after reaching 141. With Simon Harmer belatedly raising the tempo with some belligerent blows in his half-century, the hosts eventually posted 403, Dominic Bess the pick of the White Rose attack with 3 for 82.
Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth early in reply, while Shane Snater produced the ball of the day to end George Hill's stylish cameo, and Dimuth Karunaratne fell to the last ball of the day from Sam Cook to leave the visitors 81 for 3 at the close.
Those who came hoping to see Joe Root's first knock since resigning the England captaincy will have to wait until Saturday after the visitors opted to send in nightwatchman Matthew Revis at the fall of Hill's wicket.
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Old Trafford (second day of four): Warwickshire 315 v Lancashire 127-0 - Lancashire trail by 188 runs with 10 first-innings wickets remaining
Lancashire openers Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings shared an unbroken century partnership as the home side dominated the rain-curtailed second day at Emirates Old Trafford.
Replying to the visitors' 315, in which Dom Sibley carried his bat for 142, Lancashire were 127 without loss after 42 overs of their first innings when umpires Nigel Llong and Graham Lloyd took the players off three overs before tea.
Ironically, that decision followed a delivery from Rob Yates that Wells had smashed over mid-on for four but the rain arrived soon after. However, play was not abandoned until 5.20pm with Wells unbeaten on 70 and Jennings, who is making his first appearance of the season, on 44 not out. In all 35 overs were lost from the day's minimum allocation of 96, although eight of those can be recovered on the third day.
Surrey took charge against Northamptonshire on day two [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
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Southampton (second day of four): Hampshire 342 & 28-4, Gloucestershire 179 - Hampshire lead by 191 runs with six second-innings wickets remaining
Mohammad Abbas celebrated his first County Championship five-wicket haul of the season but Gloucestershire's ripsnorting evening session snatched the momentum from Hampshire.
Hampshire looked set for a first-innings lead in excess of 200 after Abbas ripped through the visitors with a textbook showcase of line and length bowling with 6 for 45. But Ajeet Singh Dale and Jared Warner added 55 for the last wicket to reduce the deficit to 163.
And then Mohammad Amir continued the Pakistani bowling dominance with 3 for 11, with Ryan Higgins also pilfering a scalp, to leave Hampshire 28 for 4, with their lead 191.
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The Oval (second day of four): Surrey 401, Northamptonshire 154-8 - Northamptonshire trail by 247 runs with two first-innings wickets remaining
Jordan Clark took his season's wicket tally to 19 as Surrey took total control at the Kia Oval.
Clark's 3 for 45 spearheaded an impressive collective display by Surrey's five-pronged seam attack, as Northants slid to 154 for 8, and the prospect of following on, after Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton's 124-run ninth wicket stand had boosted the home team's first innings total to 401.
Atkinson's career-best 66 not out and Overton's equally robust 59, with both knocks full of quality strokes, rapidly took the game away from Northants after they had begun the second day promisingly with two quick wickets when Surrey resumed on 261 for 6.
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Matthew Potts was in good form with the ball for Durham [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]
DIVISION TWO
Cardiff (second day of four): Leicestershire 320 v Glamorgan 305-5 - Glamorgan trail by 15 runs with five first-innings wickets remaining
Glamorgan reached 305 for 5 at the end of the second day against Leicestershire, still 15 runs behind on first innings.
The day started with Leicestershire still batting with two wickets in hand. A useful stand between Callum Parkinson and Chris Wright took them to 320 all out.
The Glamorgan innings started with three early wickets but a fantastic partnership between Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast took them to the tea break in control of this match.
Carlson made 91 and Northeast 84 but both were dismissed in the last session with this game very much in the balance as it heads into the third day.
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Worcester (second day of four): Durham 580-6d, Worcestershire 169-6 - Worcestershire trail by 411 runs with four first-innings wickets remaining
Ben Stokes returned to action in astonishing fashion for the first time since being named England's new captain with a record-breaking century at New Road.
The all-rounder struck 17 sixes, a century before lunch, and 34 off an over from Josh Baker on his way to 161 from just 88 deliveries.
Stokes cleared the ropes a record number of times in a Championship innings, beating the 16 achieved by Andrew Symonds (1995) and Graham Napier (2011) for Gloucestershire and Essex respectively.
His efforts enabled Durham to declare on 580 for 6 shortly after lunch, and then a five-wicket haul from Matthew Potts reduced Worcestershire to 169 for 6 by the close despite a century stand between Brett D'Oliveira and Ed Barnard.
Fittingly, Stokes' exploits were witnessed by Durham chair Sir Ian Botham, whose own career was legendary for such performances.
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Hove (second day of four): Sussex 392, Middlesex 284-6 - Middlesex trail by 108 runs with four first-innings wickets remaining
Ollie Robinson made an impressive return to action after four months out with three wickets on the second day at Hove.
The 28-year-old hasn't played since January, when he suffered back spasms during the Ashes series. An infection delayed his return to domestic action, but he wasted little time in making his presence felt by bowling Sam Robson with his fifth ball before striking again in the first over of both his second and third spells.
Robinson sent down two five-over spells and had another three-over burst after tea to finish with 3 for 37 as Middlesex replied to Sussex's 392 with 284 for 6 before bad light ended play seven overs early.
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