ESSEX: Essex take part in the four- county, independently-organised Twenty20 competition tonight, when they entertain Derbyshire, and on Friday, when they play away against the same county. Their next big match is on Sunday when they can seal the NatWest Pro40 League title at the Riverside if they win. A point would also be enough.

WORCESTERSHIRE: After the failed proposal for a residential development on the Severn side of the ground, the club will give the council a new proposal by the end of the week, this time concentrating on the New Road side. The Pavilion is a listed building, but could be moved to the site of the Ladies Pavilion.

DERBYSHIRE: Michael Di Venuto is angry at the way his departure at the end of the season has been handled. The Australia batsman said that Derbyshire stalled in relaying the decision. David Houghton, the director of cricket, said that he had wanted to keep open his overseas options until he knew the players available to him for 2007.

LEICESTERSHIRE: Hylton Ackerman, the former captain, will miss the end of the season after flying home to South Africa for family reasons. His championship tally of 1,804 runs is the best by a Leicestershire batsman since Nigel Briers in 1990 and only Mark Ramprakash, of Surrey, has been more prolific this season.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE: David Sales, the captain, is in favour of appointing David Capel, the acting coach, in a permanent capacity. “David is Northamptonshire through and through, has done a very good job since Kepler Wessels left,” Sales said. The club’s cricket committee is expected to make a decision before the autumn.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE: Jon Lewis will be offered the captaincy for next season despite the problems caused this year by his regular England call-ups. He will also have a benefit season in 2007. Vikram Banerjee, 22, a slow left-arm bowler who has impressed in his trial, will be offered a contract, as will Martyn Ball, the veteran off spinner.

GLAMORGAN: David Hemp, the new captain, may have to do with no overseas players. Even Mike Fatkin, the chief executive, said he would be “surprised if we had more than one. The reason is principally financial. It’s nothing to do with the redevelopment and all about the £1 million we’ve paid in the last seven years”.

SOMERSET: Steffan Jones, the 32-year-old Derbyshire fast-medium bowler, is to rejoin Somerset, for whom he played from 1997 to 2003, on a three-year contract. Jones, who still lives in Taunton, will replace Simon Francis, the former Hampshire player, and Michael Parsons, both seam bowlers, who the county have decided to release.