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5.16pm: Ryan Sidebottom's dad Arnie was in the crowd as Ryan walked out to bat as Yorkshire's last man at the start of his century stand with Ajmal Shahzad, writes David Hopps . But Arnie did not hang around to watch him pull off a notable family double. He is always a little unsettled watching Ryan bat. "He'll get out against the new ball," he confided and decided to take his grandchildren to the rail station. By the time he got back, the stand was over. Ryan's little slice of history was therefore missed by two generations. The kids will have to be told: "You'll always remember the day when you and your Grandad never saw me get that hundred stand at Scarborough." Arnie also has a century stand for the last wicket to his name, one shared with Arthur "Rocker" Robinson against Glamorgan in Cardiff in 1977. That Yorkshire side did not go in much for history. "I got the 100 stand by nicking one from Tom Cartwright, the famous Tom Cartwright, but I didn't know he was," Arnie laughed. Cartwright was in his final season in a career that brought him 1,536 first-class wickets at 19.11 runs. 4.31pm: Honours just about even after a fascinating afternoon session at Trent Bridge, writes Andy Wilson. Nottinghamshire have recovered from 36 for two to reach 163 for four, with Alex Hales batting throughout the session to reach an unbeaten 63, and sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 101 with Adam Voges. But Somerset have taken two key wickets, with Peter Trego having Samit Patel caught behind, and Adam Dibble then claiming Voges as a notable first Championship victim, the Australian losing his off stump to a ball that nipped back considerably. Hales has played some handsome strokes, notably an effortless straight six off Murali Kartik immediately after reaching an 87-ball half century, but there has also been the odd lapse in concentration which remains the main weakness in his game. He could have run out both Riki Wessels and Patel with crazy calls, and offered a difficult chance to mid-off during another good spell by Steve Kirby. But Notts need him to go on to a century and plenty more if they are to challenge Somerset's total of 386. 4.20pm: No Shahzad-like shenanigans at Grace Road, where Essex have adopted the take-it-slow-and-steady approach to building towards a declaration, writes Richard Rae . Surprisingly, given this is a match they must surely win if they want to challenge for promotion, they scored just 99 runs off 34 overs in the second session. This means they lead by 202 for the loss of only Tom Westley to Harry Gurney for 67 - bowled by a pitched-up delivery that Westley attempted and failed to play off the back foot. Having thought Essex might score quickly enough to be thinking in terms of having a few overs at Leicestershire tonight, it seems more likely they'll go into tomorrow morning. Whether they will then have enough time to bowl their opponents out ... 4.16pm: Ajmal Shahzad and Ryan Sidebottom have combined in one of the finest last-wicket stands in Yorkshire's history to bring a celebratory air to the start of the Scarborough Festival, writes David Hopps . They joined forces at 258 for nine, with Yorkshire's lead 90, before carrying the game away from Worcestershire with a partnership of 109 in 24 overs, the eighth highest in Yorkshire's all-time list. It all ended when Shahzad holed out for 70, with Alan Richardson holding a catch at long-on off the Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. Sidebottom was left 28 not out. Yorkshire's lead is 199, leaving them in prime position to force a victory that will take them above Worcestershire and out of the bottom two. This was the 13th century stand by Yorkshire for the last wicket, the 11th in the championship, a list famously led by the 149 put on by Geoffrey Boycott and Graham Stevenson against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1982. Stevenson's 115 was a world-record for an unbeaten No11 batsman; Boycott was last out for 79. "His brawn and my brains," said Boycott. Stevenson, not much given to long speeches, probably wandered off for a few pints and a game of pool. Sidebottom's dad, Arnie, was in the crowd to watch Ryan pull off a notable family double. Arnie also has a century stand for the last wicket to his name, one shared with Arthur "Rocker" Robinson against Glamorgan in Cardiff in 1977 Shahzad and Sidebottom joined their number by tucking a comfortable single through square leg off Ajmal. It was Shahzad's innings that knocked most of the cobwebs from the day. There is an ebullience about Shahzad that makes him compulsive viewing with both bat and ball. He interchanged vigorous drives with clever darts square on the offside and, as his appetite grew, added three straight sixes for good measure. The first six came against the left-armer Jack Shantry, who until then had kept Yorkshire in check. Two more followed against the off-spin of Ajmal, the second lodging in the gutter of the tea-room stand. He also charged the indefatigable Richardson to crash him through mid-on for four in a manner that said: "I'm on top here fella, you've bowled nearly 30 overs and at your age it's time for a rest." Shahzad shapes up for every ball as if he cares, as if whatever he does he is about to do it with gusto, and that communicates itself to the Yorkshire crowd. They have taken him to their hearts and shout "C'mon Shahzad" with a recognition that here is someone who plays with unadorned pride. It was Shahzad's first championship half-century for two years, and only his third ever. He is better than that and perhaps this will help him to recognize it. Graham Roope, who coached him as a teenager at Woodhouse Grove School believed that he was as good a batsman and a bowler. Now that he has cut out his exaggerated walk across his stumps as the bowler delivers, long enough for him to have caught a bus along the way, he has a better chance to prove it. 2pm: A surprising report from the BBC that Derbyshire are making a serious effort to sign Paul Collingwood for next season, writes Andy Wilson . Durham have apparently allowed him to speak to the Peakites, even though he still has another year to run on his contract, but it would still be a major surprise if he chose to move. He certainly looked happy enough the other week at Aigburth. 1.50pm: Interesting to read this morning's Somerset press release, writes Andy Wilson , which appears elsewhere on the site , stating that Marcus Trescothick has been "rested" from the tour game against India. Strangely, there is no mention that he will be appearing on the first afternoon of the match at an ECB disciplinary hearing, to answer for the poor record of his county team. The county's director of cricket Brian Rose still promises a strong and exciting team for the three-day game at Taunton. It will be equally interesting to see how many of the 11 involved here at Trent Bridge are required to play again. 1.44pm: A post on Facebook has been brought to my attention today which shows a toilet named in my honour, rather tongue in cheek, at North Marine Road, writes David Hopps . This is very touching, as I may have observed before, but I think the photographer – an award-winning photographer no less – could have thought to put the toilet seat down. As has long been observed, you just can't trust most blokes to do this properly, and I am now presumed to be one of their number. This is the sort of journalistic malpractice that The Guardian is campaigning against. Still, the Hopps Inn is a nice touch. I am planning to charge 50p a go and get flush on the proceeds. Nobody would have wanted the first hour at Scarborough named after them. Andrew Gale had ended the first day on 68 not out, with Yorkshire, on 135-5, still 33 runs of Worcestershire's first-innings. But Gale, dropped fifth ball of the morning at slip off Richardson, fell early when Richardson won an lbw shout and prospects of some bristling Yorkshire batting immediately gave way to a determination to get through the first hour. This was achieved as Gary Ballance and Tim Bresnan got down to the task with sobriety. There were 10 runs in the first 12 overs; the first boundary took 45 minutes, but Yorkshire's lead is heading towards 50 and they will already be developing ambitions that they can bat for most of the day. We have quietly switched from cussed defence to pleasing drives. The crowd is beginning to cast off its serious intent and enjoy itself. 1.24pm: While Yorkshire have been quietly building a position of authority, without much of note occurring, we have been reminiscing about great Yorkshire characters of the dim and distant, writes David Hopps . One of my favourites was Tom Naylor, a retired railway worker from Mixenden near Halifax, and obsessive follower of Yorkshire home and away. He even wrote his own Yorkshire history, thanks to a friend in publishing in Keighley, in which lay one of the most eccentric cricket sentences ever written. His target was Joe Lister, Yorkshire's old-school secretary, a man not always loved by the rank and file. Of Joe Lister, Tom wrote (from memory): "Joe Lister can be somewhat brusque but I don't in any way blame him for the late arrival of the 1985 Yearbook." I am never met anybody else who finds this as hilarious as I do, which probably makes this an entirely pointless blog entry, but it encapsulates how county cricket followers can become obsessed with matters to which nobody else would give the slightest thought. Tom Naylor got free rail travel on account of his career on the railways, so he would often commute long distances every day to watch his beloved Yorkshire. One year, Yorkshire were about seven down overnight at The Oval and heading for certain defeat early on the final morning. We caught sight of Tom shortly after start of play. "I've caught the 6.43am from Mixenden to Halifax, which is fortunate because it only runs on Fridays," revealed Tom, "thereby enabling me to connect to the 7.50am from Leeds, a somewhat longer wait than I would prefer on platform one but one which allows me to reach Kings Cross at 10.10am, a quicker connection linked to the later 7.05am from Mixenden regretfully not getting me to The Oval until after the start of play. Even after awakening so early, due to the vagaries of the tube at Baker Street I have missed the first 10 minutes." At that point there was a large appeal. "What's that?" asked Tom. "That's Yorkshire, all out, game over," one of us replied. Tom was entirely unperplexed. Pulling out his grand pocket watch, he calculated: "Given a fair wind, I may be able to catch the 12.30pm from Kings Cross, one of the quicker services, whereupon I can alight in Leeds at 2.45pm and with luck get the 3.10pm to Mixenden." And with that he went cheerily on his way, duty fulfilled. 1.10pm: Lunch at Grace Road, and it's very much been Essex's morning, writes Richard Rae . David Masters having taken the three wickets they needed to finish off Leicestershire's first innings in reasonably short order, Essex openers Tom Westley and Billy Godleman have put together an as yet unbroken partnership of 55, which means the visitors already lead by over 100. While the pitch is looking pretty flat, after seeing them struggle to play Tom Craddock on day two, you fear for Leicestershire against his accurate leg-spin on day four. With not much happening out in the middle, the talk here has turned to money, and the generation thereof. Leicestershire, while rubbing their hands at the prospect of a home T20 quarter-final, are twitchy at the though it may be scheduled on the same day as Leicester City play their opening football fixture up the road at East Midlands rivals Coventry City. Fewer concerns surround the t20 match gainst India on August 29th, and for which most tickets have already been sold. That is the day after the T20 finals weekend, in which Leicestershire hope to participate, but the revenue will go a long way towards making up for the three wash-outs in the t20 group stages. 12.55pm: Steve Kirby has just made the first breakthrough for Somerset, writes Andy Wilson , yorking Neil Edwards to leave the Notts reply on 34 for one. 12.05pm: Stuart Broad will enjoy his lunch, writes Andy Wilson . After his Notts team-mate Luke Fletcher helpfully tweeted a picture of his bandaged feet , the England seamer took three of the last five Somerset wickets to complete his first five-wicket haul in almost a year, although he wouldn't pretend this was a vintage performance. Three of his victims were Steve Kirby, Adam Dibble and Murali Kartik - not exactly Tendulkar, Dravid and Dhoni, who will form slightly more testing opposition at Lord's next week, if Broad is selected. Andre Adams claimed the "better" wickets of Craig Kieswetter and Peter Trego as Somerset lost their last five for 28 in 10 overs, exposing again the lack of the depth in their batting once again. However the record-breaking fifth wicket partnership of 290 between Kieswetter and James Hildreth, which contributed almost exactly 75% of a total of 386, would seem to have put them in a strong position. Kieswetter's 164 was a new career best. 11.12am: A young Yorkshireman was the central figure at Leicester yesterday, writes Richard Rae at Grace Road . Tom Craddock, a 21-year-old leg-spinner who has spent most of the past three years playing university cricket but is on a two-month trial at Essex, spun the visitors into a strong position - they lead on first innings lead by 77, with three Leicestershire wickets still to take. As I mentioned in last night's report , he doesn't turn the ball square, but he has extraordinary control for one so inexperienced. Having seen him bowl 40-odd overs against Northamptonshire on his championship debut two weeks ago, and 24 here, I think the number of rank bad balls is still in single figures. Anyway, his accuracy on a pitch of variable bounce has seen him pick up four wickets already, and I'd be very surprised if he doesn't go on to take his first five-for this morning. The other key man for Essex was James Foster, who - as against Northamptonshire last time out - played quite splendidly to convert his overnight half century into an unbeaten ton. Foster, and Essex, have of course been on their very best behaviour. 11.09am: It's another big day for Stuart Broad, writes Andy Wilson at Trent Bridge . No matter how he does with the ball when Somerset resume their first innings on 341 for five, the family have a big interest in the 6.10 at Southwell this evening. It's the Broad Appeal Maiden, one of the fund-raising events that have been organised in memory of Broad's stepmother Miche following her death from Motor Neurone Disease last July . Broad has been in the nets this morning with the rest of the Notts seamers, who will be anxious to polish off the five remaining Somerset wickets after their impressive recovery from 48 for four yesterday. Craig Kieswetter is on the verge of beating his career best 153, and the England national selector Geoff Miller is here again - he had a long chat with Marcus Trescothick out in the middle before the start of play. Preamble Morning all. Sorry this is a bit late. Your top team today: Andy Wilson is at Nottinghamshire v Somerset, David Hopps will be watching Yorkshire v Worcestershire and Richard Rae is keeping an eye on Leicestershire v Essex. Your essential guide to the season You can find full fixture lists for the season here . You can follow the action throughout the season here . Video highlights are here . There's also county cricket commentaries on BBC local radio here . County tables can be found here: Division One and Division Two . Why not stick all these in your toolbar favourites? You can follow our cricket team here and on Twitter: David Hopps , Andy Wilson , Andy Bull , Barney Ronay and Steve Busfield .