County cricket: Nottinghamshire v Surrey, Somerset v Durham, and more – live | County Championship

A recent article on the Lancashire CCC website may provide some clarification. It reads: “Phil Salt is nursing a back injury, while Saqib Mahmood and Luke Wood split their workloads in preparation for next week’s Vitality Blast quarter-final in Sussex.”

We have a question from Gary:

“The following players are listed on the Lancashire County Cricket Club website but are not in the XI for a crucial match today: James Anderson; Jos Buttler; Saqib Mahmood; Liam Livingstone; Steven Croft; Luke Wood; Phil Salt; Will Williams. Can someone explain why? They’re not all at an Ariana Grande concert are they?”

I remember Saqib Mahmood saying he was ready to play for county again after his heroics in The Hundred. I don’t know why he and the rest of the players aren’t playing.

And off we go! Play anywhere on the course on the first day of this round.

One more! As if 16-year-old Rocky Flintoff wasn’t enough, today we have another son following in his father’s footsteps. Archie Vaughan makes his first division debut today against Durham.

Sri Lanka have won the toss to bowl first against England in the second Test of the series. England will be looking to build on their first Test victory, as Ali Martin writes below:

Preamble