Durham v Derbyshire - day four

1. Surrey v Middlesex abandoned after arrow fired into The Oval at 16:35 BST
2. Division One leaders Essex beat Somerset
3. Lancashire beat Warwickshire by eight wickets despite Tim Ambrose's 104
4. Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire beat Northants by 163 runs
5. Ravichandran Ashwin takes 5-68 as Worcestershire defeat Gloucestershire
6. Durham beat Derbyshire by nine wickets at the Riverside

Signing off

We're going to wrap up this text commentary now after a quite incredible end to the latest round of County Championship matches.

Play had to be abandoned at the Oval between Surrey and Middlesex after an arrow or crossbow bolt landed just a few metres from where the game was being played.

No-one was injured and police are investigating. Surrey's chief executive Richard Gould says it is not known at this stage whether it was fired into the ground deliberately or not.

You can keep up to date with the latest news on the incident by clicking here.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Essex, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire and Durham.

We will back with you on Saturday for full coverage of T20 Blast Final Day from about 10:40 BST.

Today's match results

Division One

Essex 159 & 293 v Somerset 164 & 109

Essex won by 179 runs

Warwickshire 200 & 344 v Lancashire 504-8 dec & 42-2

Lancashire won by eight wickets

Middlesex 247 & 214-7 v Surrey 280

Match drawn after play suspended by umpires

Division Two

Durham 480-9 dec & 39-1 v Derbyshire 164 & 354

Durham won by nine wickets

Leicestershire 350 & 135-6 v Kent 333

Match drawn

Nottinghamshire 213 & 344-9 dec v Northamptonshire 141 & 253-9

Nottinghamshire won by 163 runs

Worcestershire 363 & 295-8 dec v Gloucestershire 258 & 211

Worcestershire won by 189 runs

Surrey CEO on 'arrow' incident

Getty Images

Richard Gould, Surrey chief executive, on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra:

"The game was stopped at 4:20 after a projectile, possibly a crossbow bolt, landed within about 10 metres from where they were playing.

"The umpires took immediate action and took the players from the pitch. We then instructed the fans to move from the stands.

"People are now free to leave. In the first instance we brought everybody who was outside inside, but thereafter everyone is free to leave.

"We've dealt with it calmly. We thank the public and the players for how they reacted."

It's just a very sad incident, but it could have been far, far worse."

Mark ChurchBBC Radio London

'Game abandoned' at The Oval

We now understand there will be no more play in Surrey's Championship Division One game against Middlesex at the Oval. Play was suspended after what police describe as an "arrow or crossbow bolt" was fired into the ground. No-one was injured and there are now reports that spectators, who were ordered into the buildings, have been told they can now go home in a "controlled evacuation".

Understanding fully what has happened will probably take some time now. Police are conducting a search of the ground."

Kevin HandBBC Radio London

Richard Stiles

Scene outside the Oval

dcdulwich

BreakingMetropolitan Police statement

"Police were made aware at 16:35hrs on Thursday, 31 August of reports that an arrow or crossbow bolt had been loosed into the Oval Cricket ground.

"Officers are on scene. The ground is in the process of a controlled evacuation. There are no reported injuries.

"At this early stage it is believed that the object came from outside of the ground. There have been no arrests.

"We retain an open mind as to motive. Enquiries continue."

So, all the cricket is now over - although the abandonment of the Surrey v Middlesex game has not yet been officially confirmed. We will keep the text commentary going for the time being to keep you up to date with news from the Oval where a metal-tipped arrow has apparently been fired into the ground.

All the spectators have been taken inside the buildings and armed police are on the scene and investigating.

BreakingESSEX BEAT SOMERSET BY 179 RUNS

Simon Harmer bowls Craig Overton to clinch the final wicket for Essex at Chelmsford. Harmer finishes with figures of 3-29, while Jamie Porter claims 7-55 and 12 wickets in the match.

It's Essex's fifth-straight win and their seventh win of the season altogether and moves them onto 177 points - 36 points clear of Lancashire. After Lancashire's win over Warwickshire earlier this is a crucial one for the Division One leaders, who face the second-placed side next week.

Rex Features

BreakingArmed officers at the Oval

Reports now that armed police have arrived at the Oval. A crossbow arrow is believed to have been fired into the ground from outside and landed about two strips away from the wicket where Surrey and Middlesex were playing. All spectators have been ordered indoors.

I have never known anything like this at a cricket match. This is a major incident now. It's an extraordinary scene. All the seats are empty and everyone is indoors."

Mark ChurchBBC Radio London commentator

Oval on lockdown after 'arrow' incident

No official comment from The Oval yet, but surely this match will now be abandoned as a draw.

You can stay up to date with the latest developments from the Oval using the Surrey v Middlesex link at the top of this page.

Until they find out where that's come from, no-one is leaving the ground."

Mark ChurchBBC Radio London commentator

WICKET Groenewald (b Porter) 1

Essex are one wicket away from victory over Somerset. Jamie Porter is unstoppable. He takes his seventh wicket of the innings and 12th of the match by bowling Tim Groenewald. Wonderful effort from the Essex seamer, who is stepping up to the plate for his side.

Crowd told to take cover at The Oval

Spectators at the Oval have now been told to go inside the stands following the incident which has forced play to be suspended between Surrey and Middlesex.

"What we are hearing now is that a crossbow bolt has been fired from outside the ground and we are locked in," says BBC Radio London's Mark Church.

Latest from the Oval

WICKET Leach (b Porter) 8

Jamie Porter is irrepressible. It was Simon Harmer who took nine wickets to bowl Essex to a win against Middlesex earlier this season and now it's Porter's turn.

He takes his sixth with a delivery that is way to good for Jack Leach. Porter now has figures of 6-48 from his 10.3 overs. Can he bag eight? I wouldn't put it past him.

Rex Features

BreakingPlay halted at the Oval

Scott Borthwick bowls his first delivery of the Middlesex second innings, John Simpson hits it for four. But what's happening now? The umpires halt play after the batsmen point out something untoward on a nearby strip, which has been handed over to the stewards. More details when we have them.

Seemingly an object has landed on the outfield and now security have been pointed towards the OCS Stand. I've never seen this before."

Mark ChurchBBC Radio London

Match drawn at Canterbury

Unfortunately for Kent the weather has got the better of them at Canterbury, forcing an abandonment.

Leicstershire take 12 points, while Kent claim 11. The hosts were desperate for a win to keep in the Division Two promotion mix, and with Notts, Sussex and Worcestershire winning it is not good news.

Oooohhs and ahhhhs at Chelmsford

Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter - Essex's two best bowlers - are plugging away and they're certainly causing problems for Craig Overton and Jack Leach. So far it's only generating "oooohhhs" and "ahhhhsss" from the Chelmsford crowd though, not the wickets they so desire.

Time running out for Warwickshire

Warwickshire will go into T20 Blast Finals Day on Saturday - in their guise of Birmingham Bears - with a major Championship headache following defeat by Lancashire at Old Trafford.

Rooted to the foot of the table, with only one win from 10 games, coach Jim Troughton is keeping an anxious eye on the end to proceedings at Chelmsford and The Oval.

"What we've got to hope for now is for Essex to beat Somerset and Middlesex lose to Surrey. It's then a huge game next week against Somerset. We have to drag the likes of Yorkshire into it and put people under pressure," he told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.

"The win against Middlesex showed what we're capable of. It's just that we've got to show that over four days of cricket and not have these shocking hours where we're losing clusters of wickets."

WICKET Bess (lbw b Harmer) 0

Why do they keep on playing no shot to the spinner? Dom Bess, an off-spinner himself, should surely know better. But clearly he doesn't as Simon Harmer claims his second wicket of the innings.

Rain may kill off faint hope of Kent victory

Adam Whitty

BBC Radio Kent commentator

Kent seemed to have released the unlikely smell of victory into the air.

Imran Qayyum may have been the man to have dealt it, his 2-25 changing the course of that shortened session, dismissing Colin Ackermann and then Lewis Hill to leave Leicestershire 135-6, 152 runs ahead of the hosts.

BBC

Every time you think this game is leading to a mundane conclusion, it jumps back into life.

But then the rain comes again and spoils everyone's fun. It's raining heavily once again now, and you fear that may indeed be the end of proceedings for this match.