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Nottinghamshire v Somerset, Yorkshire v Warwickshire, and more: county cricket, day two – live | County Championship
Key events
Liam Livingstone is in the middle, fresh from his five wickets yesterday, and it looks like he means business, with two fours already in his eight not out.
New Zealand call up Will Young to replace Kane Williamson
New Zealand batter Will Young has been drafted into the New Zealand Test squad to replace Kane Williamson, who surprised everyone with his retirement yesterday. Young will arrive in London on Sunday and join the squad ahead of the Oval Test.
And a first wicket in the CC for Hasan Mahmud – and it is the big one – Marcus Harris, snaffled by Sam North East at slip for three. Lancashire 44-5
Emilio Gay has also arrived at CLS to join Stokes in the nets. Hove and CLS the places to gather this round for resting England players.
Just seen the replay of the Bohannon dismissal, a hell of a ball seaming all over. The cricket here at Stanley Park is being accompanied by the whirr of the generator and the dancing tarpaulin and creaking poles of the blown about press tent. Sad food news for us greedy press, the tasty but wholly unnecessary picnic usually given alongside lunch has justly disappeared in budget cuts. Farewell double decker.
Hasan is now running in from the north end, a long and rhythmic run up.
Ooops and another, Bailey, skuppered between bat and pad by Matt Milnes, Lancs 24-4.
Look up to see some spraying bails, Bohanon bowled by Keith Dudgeon for eight, he’s having a bit of a rotten season, poor thing. Lancs 24-3.
IF anyone didn’t know, Ajit Singh Dale and Luke Wells are out for the season.
Good morning Mike Daniels, in the Grace Road scorebox. “Allison toe-ends a long-hop to Kelly at mid-wicket to give Leicestershire a good start to the day. They desperately need Cox out but the new ball is available soon. Missed Cox’s innings yesterday, must have been some knock, but looking to seeing if he can build on it.” Cox is currently 194 not out, Essex 355-7.
Have arrived at Blackpool where there is quite some wind and slightly wonky Wifi. A couple of hearty appeals but no wickets yet. This morning Paul Edwards and the photographers were called into cover service for a early morning squall.
Stokes spotted at Chester le Street
My spy tells me that Ben Stokes was standing in the middle at CLS, wearing his pads, and is now wandering over to the nets with the Durham batting coach, ex Lancs supremo, Dale Benkenstein.
Tim Maitland has been scanning the skies. “The Met Office radar suggests you might be alright all morning in Blackpool, but Scarborough could be a bit dodgy.
”According to the predictive bit, Nottingham could get a little bit around 2 p.m.”
After England’s stonking victory last night in the tournament opener, there are four more World Cup games today. West Indies v New Zealand, Australia v South Africa, India v Afghanistan and Scotland v Ireland. Tim de Lisle is watching things unfurl at Old Trafford.
I was too hasty. It has stopped raining and I’ve just glimpsed the sun as the train approaches Kirkham and Wesham. Like any self-respecting child, the little boy opposite has already eaten the barbecued beef hoola hoops and one finger twirl from his lunchtime picnic.
Scores on the doors
Division One
Grace Road: Leicestershire v Essex 342-5
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Somerset 295-7
Hove: Sussex 136-2 v Glamorgan 155
Scarborough: Yorkshire 386-6 v Warwickshire
Division Two
Chester-le-Street: Durham 302-7 v Derbyshire
Blackpool: Lancashire 17-2 v Kent 178
Northampton: Northamptonshire 380-7 v Gloucestershire
New Road: Worcestershire v Middlesex 291-8
Friday’s round up
Jordan Cox, fresh from warming the bench for six weeks in the IPL, and buoyed by an England call-up, clunked, thumped and chunked an unbeaten 184 against Leicestershire at Grace Road. Essex’s Cox, who reached his century off just 73 balls, got there with a monstrous six right out of the ground. Matt Critchley was bowled just before stumps for 97, nightwatch Jamie Porter following soon afterwards.
Meanwhile Liam Livingstone, playing in his first Championship game for Lancashire since 2021, collected five wickets for 20 runs in 46 balls at Blackpool with a heady mix of leg and off-spin as Kent slipped down the stairs and landed with a thump. They collapsed from 111 for two to 178 all out after being asked to bat on a damp pitch. Lancashire’s Joe Moores, just 17, took a catch and a neat stumping on his first-class debut.
Glamorgan had an unhappy first day at Hove, whistled out for 155, with four wickets for Sussex’s Indian left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat under heavy skies – all 10 batters out caught. Ollie Robinson, Gus Atkinson and a rapid Jofra Archer were all spotted bowling in the nets under the close eye of England fast-bowling supremo Troy Cooley.
Jordan Hermann, in good touch after a century against the Lions for South Africa A, was the linchpin of Somerset’s innings with 106 at Trent Bridge. But he was the unwitting cause of James Rew’s dismissal, a stinging straight drive deflected by Dillon Pennington’s fingertip into the stumps when Rew was backing up. But it was a good day for one member of the Rew family, younger brother Thomas, 18, who cantered to 68 in just his second Championship appearance. Notts fought back with the new ball.
Derbyshire’s man of the moment Ben Aitchison grabbed four wickets against Durham at Chester-le-Street, where England selector Marcus North was also spotted. Shoaib Bashir, released by England, bowled 11 overs.
Will Luxton galloped to a maiden Championship century for Yorkshire against Warwickshire at Scarborough; Northamptonshire’s Saif Zaib refound his touch with a lovely 142 against Gloucestershire, helped by Nathan McSweeney (117), and Worcestershire restricted Middlesex to 291 for eight at New Road.
Preamble
Good morning from a Northern train heading to Blackpool north. The further west I go, the wetter it gets, soggy elderflower and scowling pylons staring through the train window. Still, hope springs eternal. Play might start at 11am at Stanley Park and around the country, do join us.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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