The chaps will be here shortly. In the meantime, here's David Hopps's preview of the England Lions v New Zealand game...
This is the world according to Matthew Hoggard: England batsmen receive forgiveness for failure; England bowlers get dropped. Hoggard has not disguised his resentment since he was omitted for England's final two Tests in New Zealand, convinced that batsmen get it easy.
The fact that his England and Yorkshire colleague Michael Vaughan was left to explain the logic of his dropping did not make it any easier. Vaughan is just one example of the perceived double thinking that irritates Hoggard so much. England's captain needs runs to secure his reputation, like most of England's top six, but clearly not as badly as Hoggard needs wickets.
"One bad match, one bad match," Hoggard has muttered throughout the early weeks of the season, with Vaughan leaving him to come to terms with the disappointment. Few confidently expect him to return for next week's first Test at Lord's, especially as all indications are that Andrew Flintoff will return to fill one of the three fast-bowler slots.
Hoggard will be desperate to make a statement for England Lions against the New Zealanders at the Rose Bowl in the four-day match starting today. It is a match that could define his summer, if not the rest of his England career.
He promised that he would try to take "a bucketful of wickets" for Yorkshire, and although he has not been consistently outstanding, only a pessimist would argue that the bucket has been half empty rather than half full. He has removed 10 Championship batsmen in two matches at an average of 18.9 - better either than the fast bowler who was dropped with him, Steve Harmison, or any of those who bowled while he sat out the series: Ryan Sidebottom, Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad.
Martyn Moxon, the Yorkshire coach, offered a balanced judgment. "He has had some very impressive spells. Hopefully he is working his way back to his best. He is in good condition and running in strongly."
Harmison's dropping after England's defeat in Hamilton was expected, because he has been out of sorts for a prolonged period, but few imagined that Hoggard, 31, would go, too. The selectors had felt the need to make a decisive break.
Duncan Fletcher, England's former coach, had hardly helped his case. Asked about Hoggard's omission in New Zealand, he said: "I was not surprised. He always struggled when he was the main strike bowler. His speed has been dropping for a while. I heard someone saying he'd lost his nip, but I thought it had gone a while ago."
Hoggard must have winced at Fletcher's criticism because it is the lack of mph that is beginning to count against him and suggests that when the ball does not swing, he is vulnerable. Flintoff, the bowler expected to return at Lord's after another ankle operation, was clocked for speeding in his car at 87mph last year, only to get off on a technicality this week. It remains roughly his average bowling speed on a good day. The feeling is gathering ground, unfairly, that a Hoggard spell would barely trouble a speed gun in a built-up area.
He has looked fit and focused for Yorkshire, although after eight cheap wickets in the opening game against Hampshire at Headingley, he had less success against Nottinghamshire as Yorkshire just held out for a draw on the final day.
It is an intriguing England Lions side, not short of potentially disaffected players and a test perhaps for the convivial captaincy of Kent's Rob Key. Among the batsmen, Owais Shah has called upon the selectors to give him a "fair crack" and Ravi Bopara has responded to his winter travails with the sort of form for Essex that encourages his belief that he is worth a place in the squad. Matt Prior, too, has points to prove. Key, who has renewed England ambitions of his own, is the sort of independently minded captain who will take it all in his stride.
But selectorial eyes will rarely stray from Hoggard. This is his benefit season at Yorkshire and on July 8 he will attend a special fund-raising edition of They Think It's All Over at a London hotel. He is in no mood to exclaim: "It is now."
England Lions: Key (Kent, capt), Carberry (Hampshire), Bopara (Essex), Shah (Middlesex), Prior (Sussex, wkt), Rashid (Yorkshire), Wright (Sussex), Swann (Nottinghamshire), Tremlett (Hampshire), Hoggard (Yorkshire), Kirby (Gloucestershire), Onions (Durham).
New Zealanders: McCullum (capt, wkt), How, Redmond, Marshall, Taylor, Flynn, Oram, Southee, Patel, O'Brien, Martin.
11.25am Kent, resuming at 33-4 in response to Nottinghamshire's 202, need to emerge unscathed from the first hour at Trent Bridge to get back into this match, writes David Hopps. There is still swing for Ryan Sidebottom and Justin Kemp should have been run out from Sidebottom's first ball of the day, risking a suicidal run to mid-on from where Stuart Broad's shy was off target.
Over at Yorkshire, there are dismal faces over the return of Morne Morkel to South Arrica. Morkel pulled up on debut with what was assumed to be cramp during Yorkshire's championship match against Notts at Headingley last week. It has turned out to be a hamstring tear (grade two, for those of you who like your hamstrings graded) and as that will take at least a month to heal he is returning to South Africa. Yorkshire have provided some anodyne PR quotes for your delectation during which Morkel naturally expresses his deep sadness and says: "Hopefully my chance of playing county cricket for Yorkshire has not gone forever."
Rana Naved, the Pakistan fast bowler, arrives in early June but there are still doubts about his shoulder injury. It is all becoming a grade-one nightmare.
12.30pm Sanity has broken out, with a peaceful 90 minutes' batting so far by the Lancashire openers Mark Chilton and Paul Horton as they build on the unlikely 29-run first innings lead earned by messrs Anderson and Flintoff, writes Andy Wilson at Old Trafford.
Slight delay to this opening blog as been interviewing Sajid Mahmood in the pavilion for the match programme for the Old Trafford Test. He shared the views expressed by Anderson and Durham's Mark Davies last night that this is not the sort of pitch on which you'd expect 20 wickets to fall in a day. Yes it's pretty quick, and very bouncy, and the odd ball from the Stretford End has lifted a little extra - notably the one from Davies that got Mohammad Yousuf, and a couple from Anderson later on the first day. But Chilton and Horton are now putting it in perspective.
A few other random points of interest from yesterday. Davies admitted that there were occasions when he was batting when he wondered about the wisdom of dismissing Andrew Flintoff for another golden duck. "I think he was a bit annoyed with me," joked the Teessider, who had a sore toe after being pinned by a rapid yorker - although he's suffered far worse at Old Trafford before. "My lung collapsed here for the fourth time a few years ago," he confirmed matter-of-factly. Just another of the unlikely stories in which county cricket specialises.
Meanwhile James Anderson had an accidentally profound take on Freddie's batting problems. "He knows he's in good nick - he just needs to get past his first ball and face a few more." Can't argue with that.
1.10pm It's not exactly Twenty20 cricket at the Rose Bowl, writes Paul Weaver. At lunch the England Lions are 48 without loss after 29 overs, with Robert Key on 23 and Michael Carberry unbeaten on 24.
I blame the national selector, Geoff Miller, who is prowling the ground. Both openers are obviously desperately keen to impress. It will be just Owais Shah's luck if he doesn't get a bat.
The Lions didn't score a boundary until the eighth over when Key tucked Tim Southee off his legs. Carberry is normally a bit of a dasher but it took him 100 minutes to score his first four from his 65th delivery, an extra-cover drive off Jeetan Patel. He enjoyed it so much that he repeated the stroke off the next delivery.
When Jacob Oram entered the attack his first five overs were maidens. The Lions are a bit light when it comes to specialist batsmen so Key and Carberry also have a responsibility to the team.
From this showing there is not much too much to worry Engand's batsmen with the first Test at Lord's just a week away. Much is expected of Southee, who is just 19. But he doesn't look fully fit to me and is bowling at medium pace.
2.30pm and the only two wickets to fall today have been taken by Durham's innocuous off-spinner Paul Wiseman, reports Andy Wilson. Steve Harmison bowled the odd beauty but too much loose stuff, and suffered the indignity of being cut for six by Paul Horton - who is now unbeaten on 71 out of 140 for two.
3.50pm The Lions, packed with all-rounders at the expense of specialist batsmen, looked a bit ropy after lunch when they lost five wickets for 40 runs, writes Paul Weaver at the Rose Bowl.
The opening pair had added just one run when Key was the first to go. He fell over slightly as he attempted to work a full-length delivery from Chris Martin to leg and was adjudged lbw. Key has always been a strong on-side player but sometimes he looks to play in that area too much.
Shah lasted just eight balls. He pushed forward to one from Martin and was caught behind; 53 for two. Ravi Bopara wasn't there much longer, just 13 deliveries, before he attempted to leave one from Southee and got an inside edge on to his stumps; 68 for 3.
Matt Prior has been in great form for Sussex this season having got a taste of the big time and is determined to get back there. But he had made only 10 when he drove without getting to the pitch of the ball and edged it to the finer of the two gullies; 89 for four. And without addition the patient Carberry, who was batting as if in disguise, was out for 41. He may have got a leading edge for he appeared to be playing to square-leg when the ball looped up to mid-on; 89 for five. At tea the Lions are 126 for five with Luke Wright, who has played some strokes, 20 not out.
4pm big news from Old Trafford: Andrew Flintoff has survived his first ball, writes Andy Wilson. The achievement was marked by ironic applause from a decent crowd, which Fred acknowledged with a good-humoured wave of his bat. As the bowler was Garry Park, who joined Durham as a wicket-keeper, it's just as well that Flintoff avoided his third consecutive golden duck.
His lack of batting confidence was still unmistakable as after plunging down the pitch to defend that first delivery, he was surprised by the next one, a half-volley around leg stump, and could easily have chipped a catch to mid-wicket.
That was the end of Flintoff's contribution to the afternoon session, as Paul Horton played out the next over from Paul Wiseman to leave Lancashire 224 for four at tea. Flintoff therefore enjoyed the rare sensation of having tea with his pads on. He returned to the pavilion to generous and unironic applause, but that was for Horton, who has picked up where he left off in his breakthrough 2007 season, reaching an unbeaten 107.
Wiseman's combination with Phil Mustard accounted for the first three Lancashire wickets - Mark Chilton caught behind off bat and pad, Mal Loye stumped in most ungainly fashion, and Mohammad Yousuf caught behind down the leg-side for 40.
4.20pm This is getting beyond a joke, writes Andy Wilson, stifling a chuckle. Flintoff may have avoided a golden duck but he's just registered a pair, losing his off stump to a wicket-keeper who bowls occasional medium pace. Can England pick him now? So far today Mike Atherton in the Times and Ian Botham to the BBC have said they shouldn't.
4.30pm Stuart Broad is a highly-promising all-round cricketer and has every chance of a successful England career, writes David Hopps. But he is not an England third seamer and he is not a better bowler than Matthew Hoggard, as his afternoon spell at Trent Bridge has testified.
Kent have somehow wangled a first-innings lead of 36 against Nottinghamshire. The fall of Geraint Jones to what became the last ball before lunch left them perilously placed at 109-7, still 93 short of 202, but spirited half-centuries by Ryan McLaren and Yasir Arafat saw them dominate the afternoon session.
The England selectors were at Trent Bridge yesterday, and it is regrettable that they did not extend their stay. Broad's spell of 7-1-46-0 was precisely the moment when Kent got back into the match.
5.30pm Flintoff's dismissal was far from the end of Lancashire's problems, writes Andy Wilson. Horton was run out by Luke Sutton, and after a spirited 33 from Kyle Hogg, Davies returned to mop up the last two left-handers. Lancs all out 293, leaving Durham 323 to win, and 12 overs to go on the second day. Game on.
8pm: The last session here really belonged to the Lions' Luke Wright, writes Paul Weaver. He reached his century with a savage slog-sweep against Tim Southee. He had already hit Chris Martin for another straight six. Wright scored 120 out of the Lions' 280 and was last out when he hammered the ball to cover. It's been a fine display of clean hitting but the Kiwis still won the day.
