County cricket finale: Lancashire v Hampshire and four-way title fight – live! | Sport

Hampshire 1-1. Ian Holland caught off Tom Bailey at bat-pad for one.And a ripple of a roar skims across Aigburth.

The green benches are filling up and there’s a queue for the coffee van . Lancashire won the toss and will bowl. Parky is playing and Luke Wood has come in for Rob Jones. There was a moment on the public address when Kyle Abbot was announced in the Hampshire team, only to be amended 30 seconds later for Mason Crane.

Division One

Aigburth: Lancashire v Hampshire

Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Somerset

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire

Division Two

Chelmsford: Essex v Northants

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham

The Oval: Surrey v Glamorgan

Division Three

Canterbury: Kent v Middlesex

Hove: Sussex v Derbyshire

New Road: Worcestershire v Leicestershire

Hampshire are in front of our noses doing various stretching exercises with rubber bands as music blasts out from a speaker. We think it is UK garage…

So, here we are. The last round of Championship matches of the year and as my train zips towards Aigburth, autumn chases. The sky is scribble grey and the leaves on the silver birch trees growing up the embankment are starting to rust. We’ll start at 10.30am round the country, the sun sets at 7.13 this evening in Liverpool.

There are four horses in this Championship race: Hampshire, Warwickshire, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire – in that order. Your money?