Somerset v Hampshire (Bath)
Somerset, without Test players Andrew Caddick and Marcus Trescothick, welcome back Richard Johnson from injury and will hope he forms a potent opening pair with Matt Bulbeck who impressed as Caddick's partner at the Oval.

Cox and Bowler continue to dominate the batting averages, but the middle order is a vital source of runs too. The experienced Turner and powerful Blackwell and Johnson can rescue the side in the event of the upper order being blown away.

For Hampshire, Alan Mullally seems to have once again be heading for the form that propelled him into the international arena, providing Dimitri Mascarenhas who carried their bowling earlier in the season with much-needed support. Their batting is heavily dependent on the newly-signed John Crawley, and they will be hoping that Mark Butcher will be able fit for Test duty.

Somerset have had little luck with the weather this season, with three rain-affected games so far – and they were on top in two. Some rain is forecast for Saturday, but both teams should have adequate time to continue their positive starts to the season.

Surrey v Kent (Kennington Oval)
Surrey inexplicably failed to enforce the follow-on at 11:45 in the morning on day three of their road trip to Old Trafford, and so threw away the chance to remain top. They now return to the Oval, where hopefully sanity will return to their thinking. If the loss of those eight points doesn't, perhaps the portrait of Stuart Surridge staring sternly from the long room will. Surridge was the championship's most successful captain of all time, and his positive cricket drew throngs to the Oval. Surrey are once again without their four Test players, and will miss Tudor more than their centurions. His ability to shake batsmen up and produce wicket-taking balls is a key weapon. But with Bicknell, Ormond, Giddins, Salisbury and Saqlain available, Surrey can still field a formidable attack.

Youngster Ricky Clarke, who batted well pre-season and in the University match, continued his form on his championship debut against Lancs and retains his place in the squad. He will be hoping not to have to affect a rescue act as he did with keeper Jon Batty who became the fifth Surrey player to score a ton in the championship in that game. The vital confrontations in this game will be between Surrey's weakened batting and Martin Saggers, and between Kent opener Robert Key and Surrey's seamers. If Bicknell and Co can hand the spinners a decent first innings position, Kent will be hard pressed to resist.

Kent's greatest strength is in their batting, with gritty fighters such as Nixon and Ealham to back up their productive upper order. But if the home side's batting can overcome its recent frailty there could be problems for Kent. The forecast is good, but Surrey should take note of the showers forecast for Saturday.

Warwickshire v Leicestershire (Birmingham)
Leaders Leicestershire have one of their shortest road trips of the year, visiting Birmingham for this Midlands derby. With Warwickshire promoted this season, it's the first meeting between the sides since 1999. For me the loss of some of these local contests is the one sadness, if not actual drawback, of the two division system.

Local pride may be what Warwicks need to kick start their season. They face an uphill struggle against a Leicestershire side that, despite changes in personnel, is showing the form that has led them to high positions in recent years. Leicestershire captain Vince Wells is an injury concern, but his side, spearheaded by Phil Defreitas and Devon Malcolm will be confident of repeating their round three victory at Grace Road against the same opposition.

Cloud is expected to cover the southern half of the country on Thursday, but that aside the weather is predicted to be clear for this game.

Yorkshire v Sussex (Leeds)
The champions, seemingly already in a desperate fight to avoid relegation, welcome promoted Sussex to the home, and the scene of their most brutal defeat of the season. Both sides are looking for their first win of the season.

Yorkshire's batting has lately shown some signs of improvement, with Craig White performing well in the opener's role, and Darren Lehmann putting his awful start to the season behind him. Blakey behind the stumps has also performed well. There are still too few runs from elsewhere. Lehmann's international duty will make the home team enormously vulnerable in this contest.

The Tykes' bowlers, all-conquering in early season in recent years, have not yet found fluency. Only Kirby and Silverwood have passed ten wickets to date, and the mercurial Kirby has had difficulty keeping the scoring rate down.

The visitors are without the unlucky Chris Adams, who has had knee surgery, and that leaves their batting looking a little short. Like their hosts they will depend on their seam attack for wickets. Martin-Jenkins turned in a fine performance in their recent game at Horsham and provides good support for openers Kirtley and Lewry.

Four days without rain due ought to give these sides adequate opportunity to seek a result.

                          P   W  L  D  Bat Bowl  Deduct Points
Leicestershire            6   3  1  2  20  17    1.00   80.00
Surrey                    5   3  0  2  15  15    0.25   73.75
Hampshire                 6   1  1  4  19  17    0.00   64.00
Lancashire                5   2  1  2  11  14    0.00   57.00
Kent                      4   2  1  1  13  10    0.00   51.00
Somerset                  4   1  0  3  13  11    0.00   48.00
Sussex                    5   0  2  3  12  14    0.00   38.00
Yorkshire                 5   0  4  1  10  15    0.50   28.50
Warwickshire              4   0  2  2   7  10    0.00   25.00