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Ben Stokes makes rapid 50 for Durham, Essex v Notts, and more: county cricket – live | Sport
Key events
Tea-time scores
Chelmsford: Essex 184 v Nottinghamshire 358-6
Sophia Garden: Glamorgan 358 v Surrey 74-6
Grace Road: Leicestershire 377-5 v Yorkshire 185
Taunton: Somerset 208 v Warwickshire 241-5
Hove: Sussex 159 v Hampshire 191 and 126-6
DIVISION TWO
Chesterfield: Derbyshire 364 v Lancashire 161 and 56-3
Chester-le-Street: Durham 183-3 v Northants 450
Canterbury: Kent 416 v Middlesex 180-6
New Road: Worcestershire 126-3 v Gloucestershire 289
Tea at Durham – Stokes 95 not out in the session!
Pulls off his helmet and leads the players off to biscuits-just out-of-the-oven warm applause from the crowd and the balcony. Durham 183-3.
Scores round the grounds to follow.
McSweeney has the honour. Five dots.Six.
One over till tea.
Double reverse sweep – one hurrahs for four and Stokes reaches 94 and will face the next over. 150 u for Durham.
A slog sweep off Calvin Harrison takes Stokes up to 86. Four overs till tea – can he get to three figures first?
Surrey have recovered – slightly – and van der Gugten has spoilt Norten’s chances of a nine-fer, catching Patel off his own bowling for 24. Surrey 70-6, trail Glamorgan by 288.
Spin at The Riverside, brings up the first fifty of the season for Will Rhodes. Nathan McSweeney must now bowl at Stokes, who has itchy feet and dances down the wicket, but only to midwicket.
100 for Jack Haynes!
At Chelmsford, three for Harmer, three for Slater but Notts have a lead of 160 over Essex, thanks largely to a second century of the season from Jack Haynes. Notts 344-6.
And four more for Stokes, with wristy fury, through the slips. 73 not out.
This is Stokes. Bang through extra cover for four, then next ball leans into a splayed back foot and with a wristy cut-flick picks up four more off Sales. Stokes 69 not out.
Sales trucks in and sends down something wide and Stokes twists and nudges four more, bringing up the 100 partnership with Rhodes off 131 balls of which Stokes has made 60. Rhodes a not too shabby 44 not out at the other end. Durham 130-3 on a perfect summer day, trees in dark green jackets , cornflower sky, candy floss clouds.
Stokes comes down the pitch …. and dabs Sales into the offside for a dot. Silk and steel. Durham 126-3.
And the big news is Andrew Radd got a new rosebush for his birthday in traditional Northamptonshire colours: Abracadabra floribunda.
Four wickets for Tom Norton
SCurran, Lawrence, Pope and Sibley: Surrey 42 for five. Young Tom has the power with him today.
As Stokes slams a Guthrie full toss through the covers for four more…
Fifty for Ben Stokes!
A short ball flat batted for four through deep midwicket to bring up a fifty off 51 balls, with ten full-power fours.
Hampshire’s innings continues to implode – Ali Orr shimmying Goodman behind. Hampshire 66-6, lead by 98. Which might be nearly enough in this game.
Stokes dropped
Harry Conway won’t want to replay that moment. Stokes, on 43, gets a thick top edges and Conway shifts left, shifts right and lets the ball through his fingers. Drops his head and wishes for a cold dark room. Durham 96-3.
Oooof, Stokes smokes Procter down the ground via Procter’s left hand. Ooooh, that feels like it could be a mess, the physio does something that probably hurt.
Surrey are 16 for three. Dom Sibley calls his captain for a single but hadn’t counted on Ben Kellaway’s quick arm. A not happy Rory Burns trudges back. Then Tom Norton with two more – through Sam Curran’s gate, and persuadeing run machine Dan Lawrence to nick behind to Cooke.
Lancs, batting second, have safely put six on the board without losing a wicket.
Vasconcelos comes up to the stumps to whisper sweet nothings in that pesky No. 38’s ear.
Sanderson the frugal is being bashed about here – as Stokes swivels and pulls in one move a short ball to the rope. A couple of balls later another disappears, another quickstep down the wicket, another boundary, backhand through midwicket.
England’s national selector Marcus North has been spotted here at CLS, just in time to see Stokes bash a 60-ball century.
Stokes has decided to deal in boundaries – gently onto the back foot, viciously square cut Sanderson to the rope. Tries to go for broke on the offside but Zaib saves the ball. Durham 56-3, Stokes 20 not out from 18.
Five wickets for Stanley, four for Atkinson
Four cheap wickets for best of the bowlers Gus Atkinson in Glamorgan’s 358 – centuries for Cooke and Crane and a 80 in two parts for Colin Ingram – last man out.
And a first-innings lead of 203 for Derbyshire at Chesterfield – 75 for Ben Aitchison adding to Lancashire’s frustration. Two wickets at the last for Anderson.
Hampshire and Middlesex are batting in banana shoes today. Hampshire 19-4 in their second innings lead by just 55. Three wickets for Tom Price.
Middlesex have lost a third, but Holden and Falkner are doing their best to stop the rot: 47-3.
Stokes is prowling. After inside edging, he attacks Sanderson. Down the track, straight drive, four. The next screams between Sanderson’s legs for four more – 12 not out.
Wooosh! Stokes off the mark, hotstepping down to Conway and driving him through mid-off for four.
Stokes in!
Two quick Durham wickets after lunch – McKinney and Bedingham both caught behind. The cherry capped Northants fielders bounce along at the change of ends – a bowling point already in their pocket. Durham 30-3.
A hundred for Mason Crane! And Rehan Ahmed!
In Division One:
Mason Crane has joined Cooke in the hundred club, frustrating Surrey at Sophia Gardens. 103 not out – his maiden century after he got close earlier this season. Glamorgan 332-7.
And after a prolific 2025, a first century of the season for Rehan Ahmed, showing England just what they are missing. Leicestershire 236-3 a lead of 51 over Yorks.
Notts have drawn level with Essex, but with only four wickets down.
Mousley (54) and Hain (55) are making Somerset toil at Taunton – Warwicks 129-2.
Six wickets for Kyle Abbot as Sussex are all out for 159. But Hampshire are 9-2 in their second innings.
(and an early wicket at CLS – Lees lbw to Sanderson – but McKinney has woofed two gorgeous fours – Durham 14-1)
This last wicket stand is really starting to be an annoyance to Durham now – 32 and counting – and counting no more – as Guthrie clips Parkinson to Lees at midwicket. Northants all out for a nice round 450.
Round the grounds and round the grounds we go. In Division Two:
Four wickets for Mitchell Stanley – tipped for England glory by Ali – in Derbyshire’s 265-7. Dal and Aitchison currently frustrating Lancs. A Derby lead of 106.
Kent, on a roll after the three-day defeat of Lancs in the last round, have just been out for a satisfying 416 against Middlesex. Chris Benjamin the highest scorer with 70 – and a maiden five-wicket haul for Seb Morgan. Four for Tom Helm.
And Gloucestershire lost their last three wickets for 32 this morning, Miles Hammond not out for an innings-propping up 139. Worcs 24-0 in reply.
“Vasconinconsolable?” ask Tim Maitland.”You’d think that Ricardo Vasconsalos had just made a king pair judging from the utterly defeated funeral march that took him off the pitch after losing his wicket for a career best 187.
”Despite making two centuries in April, it’s not as if he’d been in sparkling form since. A T20 knock of 34 was his best effort since the start of May. I hope he cheers up eventually.”
Ben Raine replaces Stokes after a good hour of charging in.
Free tickets for Father’s Day at Hove
A super idea from Hove – there’s free entry for all tomorrow to see team of the season Sussex and celebrate Father’s Day.
If you fancy celebrating with cricket on Sunday, you need to get the tickets in advance online – book here
Sunday lunch at the carvery can be booked here.
Stokes thinks he’s had Guthrie caught behind. He really thinks it’s out. A nasty ball, lifting off a length. Guthrie whips off his helmet – hit me on the head mate. The physio comes out for a concussion check and Stoke chunters and stares.
I’m not sure quite what he muttered to Potts but it works as Potts yorks the giant Conway next ball. Conway stays in place for a good minute replaying the shot if only he could go back in time. But he can’t and walks off for five.
A beauty from Potts! Broad leaves with a fancy twirl and the ball bruises off the earth into middle stump. Northants 406-8 and some hard work rewarded by Durham this morning.
There’s so much cricket to follow. Obviously you’ll be glued to CCLive! but you can spare a glance for England’s travails at The Oval
and Ash Gardener and Beth Mooney in the mood against Netherlands in the WWCup.
Catching up from my emails, yesterday. Romeo is doing a pet’s corner at his website, matching pets to CCLive readers. If you are interested in playing, send a photo of your pet to romeoromeotangocclive@gmail.com.
And a breakthrough for Durham as Potts fires one in, Vasconcelos swipes and is caught behind for a wonderful 187 -23 fours, two sixes, a highest career score. That, however, is little solace as he walks off with his head bowed and his shoulders slumped in devastation.
An early wicket for Gus Atkinson this morning at Sophia Gardens. Chris Cooke without adding to his overnight 101. That happens so often – it would be good to see some stats although that would be cheeky as I’m not going to do it myself. Stokes fires in, Conway leaves one that thinks about knocking out his stumps. Stokes puffs out his cheeks in frustration.
A change of ends for Ben Stokes this morning. With Potts at the other end, this is quite a test first thing for Vasconcelos and Conway. And I can recommend the cheese scones from the health club here at CLS – absolutely delicious.
Scores on the doors
Division One
Chelmsford: Essex 184 v Nottinghamshire 111-2
Sophia Garden: Glamorgan 244-6 v Surrey
Grace Road: Leicestershire 177-3 v Yorkshire 185
Taunton: Somerset 208 v Warwickshire 92-2
Hove: Sussex 121-3 v Hampshire 191
DIVISION TWO
Chesterfield: Derbyshire 197-5 v Lancashire 161
Chester-le-Street: Durham v Northants 388-6
Canterbury: Kent 356-7 v Middlesex
New Road: Worcestershire v Gloucestershire 258-7
Preamble
Good morning from Chester le Street, where summer is wearing her most perfect summer’s blouse. The Durham players are having a gentle game of keepy-uppy – though Stokes is stretching from the sidelines. Play starts here and around the grounds at 11am.
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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