Somerset resume title tilt at home

SOMERSET’S pursuit of a first County Championship title will resume with a home fixture against Nottinghamshire when the second phase of the revamped competition gets under way.

Six teams will be in contention for the trophy from August 30 in Division One.

Counties will play a another four matches against teams they did not meet in the group phase, with the top side winning the Championship.

Top-tier leaders Warwickshire face Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford. Hampshire will play host to Yorkshire in the other fixture, and the top two teams in Division One will then also contest the five-day Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s, starting on September 27.

The remaining 12 teams that do not go into Division One move into Divisions Two and Three, in which teams will play another four matches.

Opening Division One fixtures Monday, 30 August: Hampshire v Yorkshire (Ageas Bowl); Lancashire v Warwickshire (Old Trafford); Somerset v Nottinghamshire (The Cooper Associates County Ground).

Each county played 10 four-day games in the first group stage five home and five away - with the final round in mid-July.

The competition took a scheduled break for The Hundred and One-Day Cup with the top two teams in each group progressing to Division One and carrying over the points from the matches played against each other.

As it stands: Division One 1. Warwickshire (21 points)

2. Somerset (18.5) 3. Lancashire (16.5) 4. Hampshire (8.5) 5. Nottinghamshire (5) 6. Yorkshire (4.5) Division Two: 1. Essex (19 points) 2. Northamptonshire (16) 3. Surrey (13) 4. Gloucestershire (12) 5. Glamorgan (11.5) 6. Durham (4)

Division Three: 1. Worcestershire (18.5 points) 2. Middlesex (13) 3. Sussex (12) 4. Leicestershire (11.5)

5. Kent (11) 6. Derbyshire (9.5)

A peak audience of close to 2.5 million watched the first men’s match of The Hundred on Thursday, building on record figures for the previous night’s women’s launch.

Figures from the ECB suggest the match reached a total of 4.675m for a minimum period of three minutes, including a 37 per cent share of female viewers.

A peak audience of 1.95m watched the opening m atch of the women’s tournament.