County Cricket

Leicestershire batsman Will Jefferson has sadly been forced to retire from county cricket on medical advice. Jefferson, a tall and elegant top-order batsman, has struggled with injury since May and has been diagnosed with a rare hip condition.

A healthy dose of rain at both Edgbaston and Taunton means that Warwickshire continue to lead the way in the LV= County Championship after 17 rounds of matches. They now have a nine-point lead over Sussex with a game in hand and a 24-point lead over third-placed Nottinghamshire. Elsewhere, Tom Poynton and Wayne Madsen fell agonisingly short of making history at Wantage Road, while David Balcombe and Chris Wood did likewise at Grace Road.

The semi-finals and final of the tenth edition of the world's original domestic Twenty20 tournament will take place tomorrow in Cardiff. The Friends Life t20 may not have the big money of the its Indian cousin or the iconic names of its Australian counterpart, but the matches will be played in front of a sell-out crowd at the SWALEC stadium, and the day will, for some of the players on show, be the biggest of their careers to date.

All eyes will be turned towards Wantage Road tomorrow morning to see if Tom Poynton and Wayne Madsen can break the 102-year-old world record ninth-wicket partnership. They both have career-best scores to their names and added 259 together on day three.

There were plenty of batting collapses today as Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Somerset all squandered promising positions to let their opponents back into the match on day two of fixtures in round 17 of the LV= County Championship.

The relegation tussle between Durham and Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street yielded 19 wickets on the first day. Elsewhere, as the 17th round of the LV= County Championship began, Somerset did enough to keep their faint hopes of a maiden title alive at Taunton, while favourites Warwickshire had the better of the opening day against Middlesex.

We preview tomorrow's county fixtures and round-up the latest news from the county circuit.

Lancashire became the first side to confirm their place in the semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a hard-fought win over Gloucestershire at Bristol. Elsewhere, Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Warwickshire and Somerset all recorded wins.

There were some thrilling finishes on the final day of matches in round 16 of the LV= County Championship. Jimmy Adams was the hero for Hampshire, while, elsewhere, Mark Wood and Gareth Batty starred for Durham and Surrey.

A round-up of the latest news and action from the count circuit.

A round-up of all the day's county action, including news of a remarkable day for Graham Onions at Trent Bridge.

All seven of today's Championship matches were affected to some degree by the band of heavy showers sweeping across the country, with the opening day of Worcestershire’s relegation match against Lancashire at New Road, and day one at Bristol, where Gloucestershire were supposed to be entertaining Kent, completely abandoned. The second day of the England Lions' match against Australia A was also abandoned without a ball bowled.

A look ahead to tomorrow's round of LV= County Championship matches.

A round-up of all of today's county news and action.

Sussex moved themselves into title contention with a three-day win over Middlesex at Hove, while in the Clydesdale Bank 40, the Netherlands' encouraging campaign ended with a whimper at Old Trafford.

Surrey completed their trip to Durham with a crushing defeat in the Clydesdale Bank 40 to follow on from their humiliating one earlier in the week in the LV= County Championship. Elsewhere, Northamptonshire took control over Leicestershire at Wantage Road and Sussex kept the upper hand over Middlesex at Hove.

It was a good day for Warwickshire as they wrapped up a seven-wicket victory over Worcestershire to open up a handsome advantage over Nottinghamshire the top of the LV= County Championship's first division. Elsewhere, Kent suffered a setback in their hopes of promotion by being bowled out for 101 against Essex. We round-up those matches plus the rest of the day's action as well as the latest news from the county circuit.

Whether in the unofficial Test match at Old Trafford or in any of today's LV= County Championship Division One fixtures, it was a day to be a bowler, in spite of the sunshine that bathed much of the country in a warm glow.

Any of the three County Championship contenders will do well to emerge with a win from the current crop of matches, as Somerset and Nottinghamshire's encounter at Taunton continued to be plagued by wet weather and Warwickshire suffered at the hands of Phil Hughes on the opening day at Edgbaston.

Warwickshire Fast Bowler Boyd Rankin has signed a new three year contract extension to remain at Edgbaston until at least the end of the 2015 cricket season.