Warwickshire tributes for MJK Smith, Yorkshire beat Surrey: county cricket day four – live

Updates from around the grounds on day four
MJK Smith obituary: a beloved former England captain
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​Good morning from Edgbaston, where the players and match officials lined up before play to pay their respects to Warwickshire great MJK Smith, who sadly passed away yesterday at the age of 92. Smith captained England in 25 of his 50 Tests between 1958 and 1972, and scored just shy of 40,000 first-class runs.

A promising start, cricketers marching out everywhere except Bristol and Southport.

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England head to training camp with fresh faces but post-Ashes identity still a mystery | Ali Martin

Brendon McCullum will have to adapt to a new environment as Test setup looks to move on from thrashing

In selecting Emilio Gay and James Rew for their Test squad to face New Zealand, England have in one sense been true to their word. The Ashes mea culpa included a promise to give more weight to domestic performances. Both men tick that box.

Yet as the team picks up the pieces after the 4-1 defeat in Australia, wounds licked and lessons learned, perhaps the question is whether they are staying true to themselves more broadly – or even, who actually are they these days?

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Glamorgan’s Norton claims hat-trick on debut, Sibley on song for Surrey: county cricket – as it happened

Glamorgan teenager Tom Norton pegged back Somerset while Warwickshire skittled Yorkshire to take control of their match at Edgbaston

No hundred for Falconer on Championship debut, a chorus of bouncing slips and an imploring Tom Bailey enough for the umpire to raise an off-you-go finger to an lbw shout.

Poor Zak Crawley out again cheaply, chopping on . I really hope this doesn’t disintegrate into a Haseeb Hameed 2019 summer and that someone has an arm round his shoulder. Kent 13-1.

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England poised to pick Marcus North as men’s selector over Steven Finn and Darren Gough

  • Former Australia batter has worked at Durham since 2018

  • New selector expected to have final say on squads

Marcus North, the former Australia middle order batter, has emerged as the leading candidate to become the new England men’s selector, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.

The 46-year-old has worked as director of cricket at Durham since 2018 and was among those interviewed for the equivalent role with England four years ago – only to miss out to Rob Key in the final stages of the process.

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Ollie Robinson is English cricket’s biggest enigma who could make an unlikely Test comeback | Ali Martin

Seamer has been given the cold shoulder since February 2024 but is back in the conversation this summer

Pop quiz: in the last five years, who is the only England seamer to have sent down 50 overs in a Test match more than once?

The answer, if the headline and picture haven’t given the game away, is a certain Ollie Robinson. Yep, the same seamer who has been overlooked by England since February 2024 on account of not being fit enough for the demands of the job.

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Kent v Derbyshire, Somerset v Yorkshire, and more: county cricket, day four – live

Updates from the final day of the latest matches
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Derbyshire’s unlikely run-chase against Kent is already in tatters at 34 for four. Three wickets for Matt Milnes: Came, Jewell, Montgomery and Madsen all done and dusted.

Kevin Hand says that Glamorgan are on track for their biggest ever thrashing of Hampshire. And just to hurry things along, Felix Organ is obligingly lbw to Jamie McIlroy. Hampshire are six down, and still trail by 190.

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Emilio Gay shines for Durham, Northants grab first win: county cricket, day three – as it happened

Emilio Gay scored his third century of the season while Northamptonshire’s Ben Sanderson rampaged through Worcestershire

A fifth wicket at Canterbury, where events are hurtling towards a conclusion. Shoaib Bashir, whose throw ran out Northeast, now catches Ekansh Singh off Rory Haydon, who is having quite a game – eight wickets and counting. Kent 65-5.

Mike Daniels has an eye on events from the Grace Road scorebox: “You feel, with conditions as they are and a new ball in 10 overs, that Leics won’t be long in being asked to follow on, short of a miracle.” Eskinazi and Ajaz Patel have just picked up a batting bonus point, though Eskinazi doesn’t want to be wafting like that too often.

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Olly Stone shines for Notts, Surrey’s Sibley hits century: county cricket, day two – as it happened

The Nottinghamshire bowler took five Leicestershire wickets at Grace Road while Dom Sibley dug in against Sussex

A wicket at Grace Road, where Notts are pounding Leicestershire round the ground. Jack Haynes a fourth wicket for Ben Green. Joe Clarke is approaching his hundred. Notts 426-5.

A pretty good looking crowd at Taunton, some huddling against a brick wall for warmth. Joe Root at first slip polishes the ball, Will Smeed, slow starting again, still on nought. Jack White on the money.

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Cricket’s George Costanza: McCullum makes himself look vital by not turning up | Barney Ronay

England head coach survived Ashes review but going missing for 43% of the county season is straight out of Seinfeld

George: Right now I just sit around pretending I’m busy.
Jerry: How do you do that?
George: I look annoyed. Think about it. When you look annoyed all the time, people think you’re busy. [Rolls his eyes, slaps his forehead, does look busy.]

Does anyone remember Brendon McCullum? You know. Baz. It was a thing. People said “Bazball” in parliament. It was probably in the dictionary, one of those new zeitgeisty words, like rofl. Distinguishing marks? Hat. Jawline. A way of standing. Sports socks provocatively splayed on an ornate balcony. Look, it doesn’t really matter. But has anyone actually … seen him?

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Surrey step up security for visit of Sussex: county cricket, day one – as it happened

Day one of the latest round of County Championship matches saw Surrey host Sussex amid beefed-up security at the Oval

Thomas Rew is making his Championship debut, alongside brother James, at Taunton. Yorkshire have lost Adam Lyth, lbw Ogborne, for 8. Yorks 26-1.

And an early wicket in glorious Canterbury sunshine, Dawkins dollies a catch back to Haydon. Kent 21-1.

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