Leicestershire facing relegation over pitch penalty, and more: County Championship cricket, day three – live

Time for me to write up as it gets dark here at Headingley, BTL remains open.

Now this I was not expecting –Durham have collapsed to 123-6 against Worcestershire, lead by 140.

Sam Robson just failed to reach three figures in Middlesex's second innings, where there have been a couple more wickets for JT Langridge. Middx 274 for six.

And Northants are 18-0 chasing 349.

A last wander round the grounds:

Fifty for Rehan Ahmed as Leicestershire, 146 for 2… actually he's gone. For 55. Bugger. Leics 146-3, need 188.

Patel (69) and Pope (46) are tucking in at The Oval Surrey 150-2.

Notts have lost three wickets, including Joe Clarke for 4, all to Karvelas. At 113-3, they still trail Sussex by five.

And, oh gnashing of teeth, Henry Nicholls has lost his off stump here at Headingley, driving at Revis for 24. Somerset 60-3 and it is dark and batting suddenly looks deeply uncomfortable. Plus Kuldeep Yadav has just come on at the Howard Stand end.

This is quietly hypnotic. The beanpole bowlers, the freezing fielders, the serjeant major keeper, the extremely careful batters. Time for some Matthew Revis from the Kirkstall Lane End. Somerset 56 for two, need 231. Fifteen overs left.

Randell (45) and Potts (57) dragged that out very well from 177 for 7. Three wickets for Guthrie and Harrison. Kent have points in the bag, Northants need this win. Next week, Kent entertain Gloucestershire, and Northants visit Lord's.

For tomorrow: “Mainly fine initially, with sunny spells and the odd shower. Showers fading but cloud thickening into the afternoon, culminating in a wetter and windier end to the day.â€

20.4 overs left today, 250 more to win.

Paul Edwards confirms that Stephen Fleming has been spotted at CLS, looking dreamy.*

*he didn't say the last bit

The tractor-with-rope is whizzing around Headingley, the sun is out and the umpires stick the stumps back in the earth. Something quietly moving about that. We go again.

Burns and Sibley have not filled their boots. Both out to the wonderfully name Ray Toole. Surrey 75 for 2.

And more rain at Headingley, but I don't think we'll be off for long. Somerset 31 for 2.

Archie Vaughan played a couple of pretty shots but opts to leave one from Coad that careers into his off stump like a toy car on a vinyl floor. Somerset 24 for two.

Went to watch a couple of overs outside. There's a bitter wind and the steward standing to the left of the East stand is wearing black gloves. The atmosphere is of total concentration, from fans and players. Warm applause for George Hill as he took over at the Howard Stand end, where he has a curious pied wagtail for company. Somerset 19 for one.

Division One

Chelmsford: Warwickshire 191 and 138-2 BEAT Essex 134 and 189 by eight wickets

Grace Road: Leicestershire 244 and 70-1 v Hampshire 214 and 363 Leics need 263 to win

The Oval: Surrey 115 and 23-0 v Glamorgan 132 and 594 Surrey need 589 to win

Hove: Sussex 358 v Nottinghamshire 240 and 52-1

Headingley: Yorkshire 212 and 275 v Somerset 201 and 8-1 Somerset need 279 to win rain stopped play

Division Two

Chester-le-Street: Durham 465 and 53-0 v Worcestershire 448

Bristol: Gloucestershire 296 v Middlesex 326 and 193-4

Canterbury: Kent 214 and 142-3 BEAT Lancashire 161 and 192 by seven wickets

Wantage Road: Northamptonshire 310 v Derbyshire 372 and 238-7

And here comes the rain. Somerset 8 for one.

The three Yorkshire slips are rubbing their hands. The clouds are gathering. Lammonby and Vaughan, watchful. Leave. Defend. Leave. Somerset 5 for one after 74 overs.

Rishi Patel says farewell to Grace Road, out for 27. He'll be playing fo Hampshire next year, so will be back soon. Leicestershire 50-1, need another 280.

Derbyshire are giving it a go at Wantage Road – 229 for seven, Potts. (41) and Randell (15) have added 53. The lead over Northants, 292.

Fill your boots, boys.

Eight-wicket Ben Cliff at the Howard Stand end.

Right, here we go. Yorkshire huddle, Ben Coad has the ball. And now Josh Thomas is walking back to the pavilion for 0. A nibble too many. Somerset 0 for one.

“ I'll dig it (HH's catch) out for tonight's East Midlands Today (The East is crucial!)“

You're a star East Midlands Today's Colin Hazelden!

The equation is written. After all that pounding and aching by the fast bowlers, Archie Vaughan picks up the last two wickets. Kuleep Yadav licks his fingers. Three for Overton, two each for Ball and Pretorius. That gold-dust partnership of 166 between Hill (89) and Bess (77) could be Somerset's undoing

“Crane gets to a hundred with a six off Lawrence,†says Moss. “Second hundred of his career, second against Surrey. Glamorgan still haven't declared. Fox has gone off for a snooze.†Just the 591-9 following a first innings of 132.

This is slow agony for Somerset, who are now struggling to get out Yadav and Coad. Archie Vaughan has just bowled his third over. The lead is 281.

Drama! Off the last ball over the last relevant over, a captain's catch by HH at mid off to get rid of Karvelas. Will it be played on Midlands Today like Archie Vaughan's catch on Look North last night?

So head to Chester le Street tomorrow if you want to see Alex Lees and co lift the cup. Worcestershire have just been bowled out for 448 by Ben Stokes, who bowled more overs than anyone else (31.3) for his six for 94.

Good on Leicestershire if they can steel themselves for this chase. Ajaz Patel finished with four wickets, Holland with three in Hampshire's 363.

Sussex are still frustrating Notts, though they have lost a couple of wickets, Carson for 53 and Tom Price for 72. Notts did another wicket sharpish if they want maximum bowling points.

Thinking of points deductions and how Essex were docked 12 a couple of years ago when Feroze Khushi used a big bat.

Dom Bess drags himself at snail pace off the ground after his off stump is flattened by Pretorius. Men in cable knit jumpers and cherry caps bounce for joy.

Yorkshire 239 for eight. But the lead is already 251.

My Guardian buddy Stephen Moss is back: “I'm not there sadly, but I'm watching the livestream and the fox has returned at The Oval. Started nibbling Nabi's cricket sweater on the boundary edge, where he'd left it.â€

I did ask that question this morning, but got nothing back. I guess the difficulty for us laypeople is that the devil is in the detail. If you read that Cricket Regulator report, it is the nitty-gritty – the shaving, the watering, the cracks, the grass length – that caused the problems and it is hard for non-experts to know how much of that should have been done differently. As Mike Daniels, who was in the Grace Road scorebox that day, writes BTL (about an hour ago), the pitch was dangerous. And the groundsman seemed unhappy with what he was asked to do

The penalty does seem harsh though, I agree. And there are eight more points suspended until the end of next year.

Headingley rises to George Hill after he gets a top edge to a pull and is caught behind for 89, his highest score of the season. Overton with the breakthrough and he chases Hill almost to the rope to say well done and give a little clap or appreciation. Yorkshire 220-7.

And Notts get on the pitch at last, aware of some Bears with their feet up in the garden.

Canterbury: Kent 214 and 142-3 BEAT Lancashire 161 and 192 by seven wickets

Sam Northeast and Daniel Bell-Drummond see them home. Kent sit on a 17 point lead over Northans, and wait. Lancashire's miserable run continues – still just 10 batting points for the season.

Kent 19 points, Lancashire 3 points

Kent are in touching distance, time for a quick stroll round Headingley, back shortly.

Division One

Chelmsford: Warwickshire 191 and 138-2 BEAT Essex 134 and 189 by eight wickets

Grace Road: Leicestershire 244 v Hampshire 214 and 322-7

The Oval: Surrey 115 v Glamorgan 132 and 416-7

Hove: Sussex 308-6 v Nottinghamshire 240 no play yet today

Headingley: Yorkshire 212 and 208-6 v Somerset 201

Division Two

Chester-le-Street: Durham 465 v Worcestershire 376-7

Bristol: Gloucestershire 296 v Middlesex 326 and 93-2

Canterbury: Kent 214 and 122-3 v Lancashire 161 and 192 Kent need 18 to win

Wantage Road: Northamptonshire 310 v Derbyshire 372 and 93-4

A hand on back pat between Hill and Bess, a partnership of 154, and a fruitful morning for Yorkshire. For Somerset, agony.

Yorkshire are marching on here, as the new ball proves no magic bullet.

Back to Grace Road for a moment, I just read the Regulator's last few paragraphs again. Leicestershire's points reduction was less harsh than it might have been because: they admitted that the pitch was substandard; this was their first rating of Below Average, Poor or Unfit in the last 24 months; the club cooperated fully with the investigation, there was no intention to deliberately create a pitch with uneven bounce, and the extreme weather conditions. “This was not a case of cheating.â€

Muyeye is already walking as the umpire raises his finger, after Bailey clonks him on the front bad. Kent, three down, need 41.

A cheer on the Somerset balcony, on the pitch, as Somerset think they have a run out at the non-striker's end, but no. Kuldeep Yadav might be noting the dust that is coming off the pitch. And now: the new ball.

Is the salt in the wound extra salty? Dom Bess reaches a fabulous, patient fifty off 130 balls, with four fours. Yorkshire's lead now 201.

“I mean, as a fan, as a player, and as somewhere that put so much time and investment into me as a player, of course when they're not playing me and this team I want them to do well,†Bess told the Yorkshire Post before this game.

“But when it comes to this game it's the complete opposite. I want them to get smacked, which is the way it is, I guess.â€

A fabulous no-risk strategy by Durham, who appear to have served up a batting paradise. Adam Hose reached the third hundred of his career, and bashed about a couple Test bowlers in the process, but has been one of two wickets picked up by Ben Stokes this morning, who now has four for 68. Worcs 336-7 trail by 129.

They will restart at midday at Canterbury, with Kent needing another 56.

Marcus Harris was in reflective mood last night , speaking about the young:

“I've spoken a lot to Rocky Flintoff out in the field. You know, young guys now, they want to get everywhere at a million miles an hour. They put themselves under a lot of pressure, but we definitely got the talent there, so that's not an issue. I thought Rock had a really good week last week, and then that's cricket for you.

and the old Jimmy Anderson “He's unbelievable. I just can't believe he keeps playing. The amount of tape that he's got on his legs, I'm not sure if you've seen it, but there's a lot of stuff holding him together. He's bowled unbelievably again this week, so it's been a privilege to play with him.â€

Tribe made his first century of the year a big one, seventh out at The Oval on a pitch that has calmed down dramatically since day one. It will be interesting to see what Surrey's rich roll call of batters make of it.

The Yorkshire lead is creeping towards 200 here. The new ball is due in seven overs but Somerset really don't want to wait until then to break through.

At Grace Road, where the teams might have been going through the motions even without last night's points bombshell, Leicestershire have manged to take a couple of Hampshire wickets – one of them Nick Gubbins for a season-topping 133.

Somerset try the Jake Ball card.

Huge applause for the 100 partnership between Hill and Bess. Pretorius has his hands on his hips. A 17 run over. Overton takes the ball and strides back to his mark on the edge of the shade from the Howard Stand.

Pretorius serves up a couple of pies and George Hill gobbles them up – successive bounding fours.

This match is drifting away from Somerset as Hill and Bess reprise the Overton and Pretorius partnership. Yorkshire's lead is 151 and Bess and Hill are having fun.

I have been corrected by the Yorkshire press box, the filming at Grace Road was not for a Virender Sehwag biopic but a Sourav Ganguly biopic. Apparently the team have already filmed for five days at Headingley, at Lord's, and at Scarborough.

They've started at Grace Road, are restarting at Headingley, but still delays at Hove, The Oval and Canterbury.

Derby, who ended up with a 62-run first-innings advantage over Northants, are 12-0 in their second dig.

Suddenly the spectators in the East Stand pick up their bags and scurry up the aisle. The rain has arrived. This was Craig Overton last night after yet another monster performance: “It's been a great season for me – and those personal milestones are nice. But it doesn't really mean much if we don't win the Championship.â€

Clouds are gathering over Headingley and there are delayed starts at Hove, at Canterbury and at Grace Road.

Additional detail from Grace Road – the Bollywood filming event was for a Virender Sehwag Sourav Ganguly biopic.

Digging in the full report from the cricket regulator, is a nugget that the groundsman's preparation was hampered not only by the 35 degree heat but also “an unscheduled Bollywood filming event four days before, and I wasn't allowed to work on the pitch. I wasn't allowed to cover it or anything.â€

Leicestershire pleaded guilty to a poor pitch but said they had prepared the best quality pitch that it could for the match.

The players are going through their warm-ups in the Headingley sunshine, and there is just one bobble hat to be seen. Quite a few coming through the gates on what might be the last day's cricket here this season.

It was advantage Warwickshire at the top but perhaps the most significant action of the day came off the pitch and at the bottom, with Leicestershire all but relegated after a points deduction.

The Cricket Regulator had charged Leicestershire after the Grace Road pitch was rated as poor for last month's win against Glamorgan. The cricket discipline panel has upheld the charge, leading to the deduction of the 19 points picked up for the victory plus eight more as a penalty. A Leicestershire statement said “the club is reviewing its position and considering all available optionsâ€, but the deduction left them bottom of the table, 38 points adrift of the last safe spot. With Hampshire 225 ahead with seven wickets standing, Leicestershire's hopes in what is now a must-win match are slim.

Warwickshire flourish a 19-point hand on the table and wait after a second two-day victory in succession. Essex, further weakened by overnight substitutions to Shane Snater and Tom Westley, gave them the upper hand by conceding another 40 runs for the last wicket, thanks largely to an unbeaten 88 from Sam Hain. The Indian spinner Manav Suthar, with five for 75, and Chris Woakes, with three for 33, were too hot for Essex and Warwickshire easily knocked off the 133 needed.

The morning bell at Chelmsford was rung by the BBC's Dick Davies, retiring after 31 years covering Essex cricket. Up at Headingley, Craig Overton continued his one-man attempt to haul Somerset over the line. His 64 not out, full of humpty and grace, rescued his team from the doldrums of 86 for eight, in companionship with Migael Pretorius, who found his long-lost batting form with a free-flowing 58.

Overton was last man out to Ben Cliff's, whose astonishing eight for 76 were the best bowling figures for a Yorkshireman at Headingley since Graham Stevenson's eight for 57 in 1980. He led Yorkshire off grinning, applauding teammates behind.

Overton soon spoiled their fun, nobbling Will Luxton's middle stump with his second ball, and removing Adam Lyth a couple of overs later. Jonny Bairstow came and went to a Nureyev catch at cover by Archie Vaughan but George Hill and Dom Bess stopped the rot with an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 74 as spectators in the East Stand enjoyed some afternoon sun to stretch Yorkshire's lead to 139.

At Hove, Nottinghamshire were held up by an obdurate Sussex, who picked up the only Division One batting point of the round thanks to half centuries for Tom Clark, Charlie Tear and Tom Price.

Kent need 56 to beat Lancashire and get their promotion points on the board. Zak Crawley (84) and Matt Milnes (40 not out) ushered Kent to a first-innings lead of 53, before Milnes had a go with the ball and helped chisel Lancashire out for 192. Sam Northeast and Tawanda Muyeye took Kent towards a good night's sleep.

Asa Tribe's first hundred of the season, on a wicket where 20 wickets had fallen the day before, eased Glamorgan's relegation nerves, even before the Leicestershire news.

Division One

Chelmsford: Warwickshire 191 and 138-2 BEAT Essex 134 and 189 by eight wickets

Grace Road: Leicestershire 244 v Hampshire 214 and 255-3

The Oval: Surrey 115 v Glamorgan 132 and 339-5

Hove: Sussex 308-6 v Nottinghamshire 240

Headingley: Yorkshire 212 and 128-6 v Somerset 201

Division Two

Chester-le-Street: Durham 465 v Worcestershire 270-5

Bristol: Gloucestershire 296 v Middlesex 326 and 17-0

Canterbury: Kent 214 and 84-2 v Lancashire 161 and 192 Kent need 56 to win

Wantage Road: Northamptonshire 310 v Derbyshire 372

Good morning! It's a beautiful one in Headingley, delicious autumn sun, but not in Leicester, where they are coming to terms with a brutal 27 point penalty from the Cricket Regulator last night that leaves them all but relegated. The club are “reviewing their position†and “considering all available options†but it looks pretty bleak for the Foxes. We'll chew this over as we follow Somerset's progress against Yorkshire and the other games round the grounds. Do join us.