A bit of width outside off stump to start with and Will Smale leaves the ball alone.

Smale gets off the mark with an inside edge to fine leg for his first runs in Championship cricket.

Asa Tribe sees out the over leaving the ball outside off.

That ball nipped back a bit.

We have some cricket! Play has broken out in Cardiff!

Will Smale is on strike first to face Matthew Taylor.

He's opening the innings with Asa Tribe.

One hour of play before lunch.

Image source, BBC Sport

The wait for some cricket on the south coast will rumble into Saturday after day two was abandoned at Hove.

Sussex need five points to clinch the Division Two title, while Middlesex's hopes of leapfrogging Yorkshire into the second promotion spot are receding.

We have a new look bowling attack for the visitors, who make three changes since the penultimate round.

Seamers Matthew Taylor, Ajeet Singh-Dale and Archie Bailey come in for Zaman Akhter, Ed Middleton and Dom Goodman.

Glamorgan have strengthened their batting with loan g all rounder Ned Leonard (Somerset) coming in for right arm seamer Ben Morris.

Batter Will Smale has a first team Championship debut for Glamorgan, in for spinner Mason Crane.

Image source, Getty Images

And on at first change we have a bowler leading Yorkshire's tilt at a Division One return.

BEN COAD (YORKSHIRE) - 44%

52 wickets, average 16.03, three five-wicket hauls

Nobody picked up more wickets in Division Two than Ben Coad, while his stingy average and economy rate of 2.64 were by far the best of anyone to bowl at least 150 overs this season.

The 30-year-old right-armer finished the campaign strongly with 24 scalps in his last seven innings.

But it was a fierce 15-over spell at Chesterfield in June which was undoubtedly the highlight as he picked up 6-30 - the second-best figures of his career - to help Yorkshire claim a thumping win over Derbyshire.

Coad’s selection leaves Essex’s Sam Cook on the outside looking in.

Image source, Rex Features

Sharing the new ball we have....

JAMIE PORTER (ESSEX) - 46%

55 wickets, average 19.29, four five-wicket hauls

Division One’s leading-wicket taker makes the team of the year for the second successive season.

Jamie Porter once again put on a display of fantastic seam bowling in 2024, taking 55 wickets at an average of just 19.29.

The 31-year-old showcased his phenomenal consistency, recording four five-wicket hauls in his tenth year at the club.

Essex's decision to extend Porter's deal until 2027 before the start of the season certainly looks like a wise one now.

Image source, Getty Images

So now we're into the engine room of our team. And let's face it you need a big engine to get through the work that our seam bowlers put in.

There's some stellar county names here - good picks one and all.

No doubt who leads the attack.

DAN WORRALL (SURREY) – 59%

52 wickets, average 16.15, two five-wicket hauls

One of just two of Surrey’s title-winning sides to make the cut, but Dan Worrall was one of the first names on most of your teamsheets.

The 33-year-old Australian picked up 12 wickets in his past two matches to help his side seal their third consecutive Division One crown – it is surely no coincidence those titles have all come since he ed the club in 2022.

His frightening average was boosted by a stellar showing at home to Worcestershire in May when he took 6-22 in the first innings and followed with 4-35 for outrageous match figures of 10-57.

Sadly for the chasing pack, he has extended his stay at The Oval with a new multi-year deal this summer.

So, 15 minutes before we finally get some cricket!

Enough time to squeeze in the three pacemen you've chosen in your County Championship team of the season...

Finally we can bring you some positive news - apologies for the wait.

The umpires have given the thumbs up for a noon start at Sophia Gardens. Eighty overs have been scheduled for the day with lunch at 13:00.

Both of these Division Two sides will be eager to make up for lost time after losing all of day one to the rain.

Gloucestershire captain Graeme van Buuren has won the toss and has decided to bowl first.

We're going to have some play at midday folks...

Image source, Getty Images

JACK CARSON (SUSSEX) - 47%

47 wickets, average 22.91, three five-wicket hauls

Sussex off-spinner Jack Carson helped his side win promotion from Division Two, and with the title likely to follow - the biggest reward possible for his excellent bowling this season.

The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland was the third-highest wicket-taker in the division with 47 wickets.

He claimed a career-best both with the bat and ball against Derbyshire in August, scoring 97 runs and taking 6-67 on the way to victory.

If Carson carries this form into the top flight next season, he might soon be knocking on some international dressing-room doors.

Image source, Getty Images

The prize for the best contributor with bat and ball goes to another seasoned pro in their 30s.

LIAM DAWSON (HAMPSHIRE) - 57%

907 runs, average 60.46, three centuries, 54 wickets, average 24.55

We are now eight years removed from Liam Dawson's three-match Test career, a fact which still leaves many scratching their heads.

Now 34, Dawson is ageing like a fine wine. He has scored two centuries in his past three matches and taken three five-wicket hauls – two of those coming in either innings at Old Trafford a month ago as he posted match figures of 10-99. He made an unbeaten century to boot.

Only Jamie Porter took more wickets across both divisions than the left-arm spinner’s 54 (at the close of play on 26 September) and it is no surprise he received more votes than all the other all-rounder candidates combined.

Image source, Getty Images

A very competitive field with only one winner - and we go into the second tier to find him.

JAMES BRACEY (GLOUCESTERSHIRE) - 34%

1,040 runs, average 61.17, four centuries, 58 dismissals

Perhaps appropriately for a wicketkeeper, James Bracey edged out Sussex rival John Simpson for the lone spot behind the timbers in the tightest battle of all, winning the vote by just 2%.

The 27-year-old, another lefty in our line-up who won two Test caps in 2021, emulated Ingram by posting a career-best score against Leicestershire last month, making an unbeaten 207, his fourth century of the summer.

He also posted an unbeaten double-ton at Glamorgan in July, a match possibly best ed for Bracey’s stunning one-handed, gloveless catch, off the final ball of the final day, which secured an unlikely tie.

While we await further news from any of our seven grounds where play is still possible, let's get back to the team of the season you've chosen.

Next up, the keeper...

Harry Everett
BBC Sport from Taunton

Umpires James Middlebrook and Peter Hartley have wandered around a while, with covers not fully removed, but no more rain in the air.

Their decision from Taunton is a further pitch inspection at 12:00, lunch at 12:15, so hopefully play will commence at 12.55.

Be prepared for two very long sessions this afternoon!

A bit of news from Taunton...

Image source, Getty Images

Another popular pick completes our middle order.

COLIN INGRAM (GLAMORGAN) - 61%

1,267 runs, average 90.5, five centuries

The man they call the King at Sophia Gardens.

While Sam Northeast may have stole the limelight early in the season, not least with his record-breaking 335* at Lord’s in April, veteran South African Colin Ingram eclipsed his skipper, and everyone else in Division Two, with a stellar season.

At the age of 39 his career-best unbeaten 257 against Leicestershire last month was his fifth century of the campaign. He also ed 50 in four of Glamorgan’s past five matches, too, to become the leading run-scorer across both divisions.

Image source, Rex Features

Bolstering our middle order we have a young batter who could be making the list for years to come.

JORDAN COX (ESSEX) - 52%

918 runs, average 65.57, four centuries, two half-centuries

It has been quite the year for Jordan Cox, who earned his first England international Test squad call-up for the series against Sri Lanka in August thanks to his excellent domestic form.

The 23-year-old racked up more than 900 runs at an average of 65.57 - the second highest of any player in Division One, behind only leading run-scorer Bedingham.

Cox has enjoyed an impressive first season with Essex after ing from Kent, scoring four hundreds, including a double-century on his return to the St Lawrence Ground in a comprehensive victory in May.

Image source, Getty Images

So who's beefing up our middle order, piling on the agony for an attack already worn down by the obduracy of Rory Burns and Alex Davies?

DAVID BEDINGHAM (DURHAM) - 75%

1,265 runs, average 79.06, six centuries

Division One’s leading run-scorer was comfortably the most popular pick this year, fresh off the back of a huge career-best knock of 279 - and the highest score in Durham’s first-class history - against Lancashire earlier this month.

The 30-year-old South Africa international consistently produced every time he came to the crease, including a remarkable run of four consecutive centuries in May.

David Bedingham topped the batting charts by more than 150 runs despite playing at least three fewer matches than every other player who made the top 10, as well as hitting the highest number of boundaries and making the most centuries - six.