Wisden Cricket - August-2018-Monthly PDF

T H E I NDE P E N D E NT VOICE OF CRICKET
CRICKET
MONTHLY
ISSUE 10 AUGUST 2018 www.wisden.com
THE
50 BEST
VIRAT KOHLI
MY FAVOURITE INNINGS
JONATHAN LIEW
WHAT IF ENGLAND WON
YOUNG
THE REAL WORLD CUP
SIMON WILDE
ON ENGLAND’S 1,000
PLAYERS
TESTS - AND THE
PEOPLE WHO MADE
THEM HAPPEN
IN THE
WORLD
https://t.me/njmpdfall
REVEALED: Wisden’s
Golden Boy of 2018
MARKRAM PANT SHADAB
POPE NGIDI RENSHAW
RASHID CLARKE
AND MORE...
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EDITOR’S LETTER
CRICKET
MONTHLY
MASTERS AND COMMANDERS
“
E
ngland and India. World cricket’s glamour tie. In its way a convivial and
well-mannered kind of rivalry, yet sharpened by recent power shifts.
Economically, of course, there’s now only one eminence; the rest are
THIS SUMMER’S subservient, to a greater and lesser extent, to India’s fancies. But in the
SCHEDULE IS sporting psyche of a people and its representatives, the old orders die
BEAUTIFULLY hard. India may be the epicentre of the here and now, but England – the
‘games master’ of the world – is where it all began.
CONCEIVED. A FIVE-
It’s there, this subtext, in every meeting, every summit, and every ball
TEST RUBBER AT THE
bowled. It’s there in the technicolour stands, heaving to the rhythms of
BACK-END OF THE second- and third-generation battle-cries. It’s there in the quintessential
SEASON PLAYED OUT bearings of its respective captains. It’s there in these two innately conservative cricketing cultures
ON DRY, CRACKLING ardently scrapping in the new world.
PITCHES BETWEEN
THE BEST TEAM IN
THE WORLD AND A
SIDE THAT’S LOST
JUST TWO SERIES AT
HOME THIS DECADE,
WITH A DELICIOUS
SUBPLOT BETWEEN
ROOT AND KOHLI TO
LAY CLAIM TO BEING
THE BEST TEST PLAYER
There is deep respect there, a familial connection borne of shared history. But in recent times
ON THE PLANET India has pulled away, gone it alone, and gone stratospheric. They dared, they spent, and they got
very rich indeed. Some 70 per cent of the game’s income now comes from this single, billion-strong
superstate. As Ramachandra Guha writes in A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a
British Sport, “As a national sport Indian cricket has no parallel”.
And with such devotion comes a certain logic, held in some Indian circles, that if the country
generates 70 per cent of the game’s income, why shouldn’t it claim 70 per cent of its revenue? Such
attitudes have been exacerbated by the creation, and imaginative genius, of the IPL. Ushering the
cricket world towards its unshakeable future while giving its sexiest stars a more gilded pitch upon
which to play has cemented India’s claims to global supremacy.
English cricket – which, lest we forget, accidently invented T20 cricket as well – once looked
down its nose at such vulgar carry-on over there. Not anymore. Not when its prized assets would
drop everything, if they could, for a piece of the pie. Not when Indian money makes English talent
rich. And so as politeness and goodwill pervades in the boardrooms and on the outfields, behind the
rictus smiles, handshakes tighten around the bones.
There are on the face of it two more established adversaries for each country. But realpolitik
precludes any bilateral interplay between the Asian superpowers, while there exists in Ashes
contests an uncomfortable sense of patterns having set, of deeds done, of drama displaced by a
kind of weary irritation from all that over-familiarity. 
www.wisden.com 5
EDITOR’S LETTER
CRICKET
MONTHLY
EDITOR’S LIST
FOUR
And so India and England has become world cricket’s most MILLION
T H E IND E P E N D E N T VO I C E OF C R I C K E T
CRICKET gripping match-up. This summer’s schedule is beautifully KIDS

MONTHLY
conceived. Three T20s and three ODIs to get us going – and REACHED
ISSUE 10 AUGUST 2018 www.wisden.com
THE
three-all at the last count, with a trophy for each. No other VIA CHANCE
50 BEST
VIRAT KOHLI
MY FAVOURITE INNINGS
JONATHAN LIEW
teams in the world can compare to the limited-overs cricket TO SHINE

WHAT IF ENGLAND WON
YOUNG
THE REAL WORLD CUP
SIMON WILDE
ON ENGLAND’S 1,000
PLAYERS
TESTS - AND THE
being played by these two. Individually, Kohli keeps pushing the To the House of Commons and a reception
PEOPLE WHO MADE
THEM HAPPEN
IN THE boundaries. Collectively, England do the same. to celebrate the story of Chance to Shine.
WORLD In the Test game, the story is less clear-cut. India are far and Running since 2005, initially on a shoestring
REVEALED: Wisden’s
Golden Boy of 2018 away the highest-ranked team in the world. While their recent and now with significant central support,
series defeat against South Africa was their first in three years, their Schools and Street programmes have
MARKRAM PANT SHADAB
POPE NGIDI RENSHAW
RASHID CLARKE
AND MORE...
their win at Johannesburg in the third Test, toughed out on a now engaged four million young people.
nasty green one against South Africa’s quicks, was rated by Kohli The vast majority of these kids would have
ISSUE 10 AUGUST 2018 | £4.95
WIN!
as his most pleasing win as captain so far. had no other introduction to cricket, and
A VIP
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B E L L *
It seems unlikely that such conditions will greet them here
G U B B I N S * R A M P R A K A S H * B U M B L E
while it’s an ongoing challenge to get the
in this unusually dry summer. And conditions merely add extra most receptive of them into local clubs,
layers of intrigue to a contest draped in them. A five-Test rubber at the back-end of the season the charity – which claimed its first county
played out on dry, crackling pitches between the best team in the world and a side that’s lost just cricketer last summer in Warwickshire’s
two series at home this decade, with a delicious subplot between Root and Kohli to lay claim to Sunny Singh – can be immensely proud of
being the best Test player on the planet. what it’s achieved so far.
Kohli is the gift that keeps on giving. The last time these two met, in India, he was simultaneously
impenetrable with the bat and ebullient in the field, doing more to reinvigorate the Test game after INNER-CITY PRESSURE
the sleepy Dhoni years than any other individual player this century. And of course, stirringly, he And how
was desperate to come over to England before the series to play for Surrey, before injury got in the necessary is their
way. His average of 13 from the last series in England haunts him; as much as he speaks only of the work. Vithushan
team, he will be mad with hunger to improve upon it. The Lord’s Test, and that old wooden board, Ehantharajah, host
looms large. of the Wisden
As indeed does the next edition of Wisden Cricket Monthly. Just before the series began,
Jo Harman sat down with Kohli in a London hotel for an hour. I’ve read the transcripts. Prepare
yourselves for something very special.
podcast and a
regular contributor to these pages, has
produced a series of excellent videos for
the Guardian about the deep challenges
facing inner-city cricket. My hometown
I
borough of Tower Hamlets, for instance –
n the meantime… welcome to issue 10 of WCM, in which we reveal the best young cricketers where cricket could and would be huge –
in the world. We enlisted the opinions of dozens of good judges within the game, including all has no dedicated cricket pitch anywhere.
our national correspondents, to settle on a list that, for my money, surprises as much as informs. Recommended viewing.
Elsewhere Simon Wilde of the Sunday Times compiles his list of the most influential figures in
English cricket history, David Lloyd recounts a life spent inside the game, Lawrence Booth recalls WINDIES SEE
the year he fell for cricket, and Virat Kohli, that man again, selects the innings that changed his life. SENSE
Thanks to all of you for your continued loyalty. If you haven’t yet subscribed, please turn to page 10. Good news
You’ll find the good stuff there. coming out the
Caribbean. After
Enjoy the magazine. bringing forward
their domestic 50-over competition from
February to October, it now means that
PHIL WALKER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF their much in-demand T20 stars – the
@Phil_Wisden Bravo boys, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard et
al – can play in the tournament because
it doesn’t clash with other T20 leagues
around the world, thus making them
available for national selection. It gives
the Windies the chance, in theory at least,
to select from a full pool of players for
next year’s World Cup, and represents
another diplomatic coup for Windies chief
executive Jonny Grave, who’s doing good
work in a notoriously fractured field.
6 WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY | AUGUST 2018

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CRICKET
“
JOFRA AMBLED IN FOR HIS FIRST BALL AND GAVE ME A
QUICK BOUNCER, AND HAD IT BEEN ON TARGET I’D HAVE
MONTHLY BEEN EASILY CLEANED UP. SHAI HOPE CAME UP TO ME,
HAD A LITTLE GIGGLE AND SAID, ‘I TOLD YOU SO’
CHRIS JORDAN ON HIS FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH HIS NOW-TEAMMATE JOFRA
ARCHER, PAGE 48
AUGUST 2018
THE
EDITORIAL
T: 0203 696 5737 E: [email protected] Top Six
The month in cricket
Editor-In-Chief: Phil Walker No.1

Magazine Editor: Jo Harman
Editor-At-Large: John Stern
Digital Editors: Rich Evans, Ed Kemp After a run of nine innings without passing 35,
Staff Writer: Ben Gardner

during which he was dropped from England’s
T20 side, Joe Root returned to form with back-
to-back unbeaten centuries at Headingley
Reviews Editor: Jon Hotten

and Lord’s in a 2-1 ODI series win over India.
The second of those knocks took him to 13
hundreds – surpassing Marcus Trescothick’s
England ODI record – and was celebrated with
a ‘mic drop’. “It was the most embarrassing
thing I’ve done on a cricket field,” said Root
afterwards. “I’ve not heard the end of it.”
EDITORIAL BOARD
Paul Allott, Elizabeth Ammon, Lawrence Booth, Mark Butcher,
Isa Guha, David Lloyd, Suresh Menon, Alison Mitchell,
1st ODI
Trent Bridge, July 12
India 269-2 (Sharma 137*) beat England 268
Daniel Norcross, Christian Ryan

(Buttler 53; Kuldeep 6-25) by 8 wickets (with
59 balls remaining)
2nd ODI
Lord’s, July 14
England 322-7 (Root 113*) beat India 236
(Plunkett 4-46) by 86 runs
Contributors: Luke Alfred, Elizabeth Ammon, Benedict 3rd ODI

Headingley, July 17
Bermange, Lawrence Booth, Adam Collins, Shamya Dasgupta,

England 260-2 (Root 100*) beat India 256-
8 (Kohli 71; Willey 3-40, Rashid 3-49) by 8
wickets (with 33 balls remaining)
Allan Donald, Daniel Gallan, Tristan Holme, Chris Jordan,

Jonathan Liew, Owen McCausland, Patrick Noone, Scott Oliver, 12 WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY www.wisden.com 13
Kumar Sangakkara, Matt Thacker, Sonia Twigg, Telford Vice,

Felix White, Simon Wilde, Joe Wilson
Feature Title
HEAD TO HEAD
DESIGN
T: 0203 696 5737 E: [email protected]
Chief Designer: Joe Provis
Ian
The serial Ashes-
winner on learning
BELL
to live without
England, smoking
PHOTOGRAPHY cigars in the SCG

dressing room and
JOHN why all that beauty
All photography by Getty Images (unless stated) STERN
Editor-at-large of
Wisden Cricket
can also be a curse
Monthly
I
@JStern_Cricket an Bell is 36. A player who seems to have spent
an entire career as a youthful bright prospect is
now firmly in veteran territory. He has flirted
COMMERCIAL seriously with retirement over the past couple

of years since being dropped by England in late
2015. Only now has he come to terms with life
T: 0203 696 5732 E: [email protected] back in the shires and is starting to contemplate
a post-international lease of life, eating county
attacks for breakfast in the manner of Marcus
Marketing & Commercial Director: Sam Stow

Trescothick or Mark Ramprakash.
The mention of Trescothick’s name prompts Bell to explain how he sought
out his old England teammate at the end of last season when Somerset
visited Edgbaston “to discuss how he dealt with it”. The ‘it’ Bell refers to is
the transition from England fixture to reject, which can be sudden and –
let’s keep this in perspective – slightly traumatic. “In a way you mourn that
you’re not that player anymore,” he says.
MANAGEMENT
There’s status, money, the buzz of the crowd, the unique bonds within a
team, the acclaim, the sheer thrill of playing in a Test match. As Bell puts
it, some “massive highs” and lows too but the best bits of being an England
T: 0203 696 5743 E: [email protected]

player can never be replicated, regardless of how much Edgbaston might
rock on a T20 night. “You can never recreate that nervous energy on the first
morning of a Test match. I look back on that stuff – wow, I enjoyed every
single minute of that. The lows are well worth the highs.”
Managing Director: Matt Cook The end came in the form of a call from Andrew Strauss, the director of
England cricket, who asked to meet Bell following the three-Test series
in UAE in late 2015. He knew what was coming. Bell had averaged 31, not
Management Board: Graham Benson, Aidan Cooney,

awful but moderate for a player of his abilities and record. The decline was
unavoidable – he averaged a fraction under 26 in the whole of 2015.
He had already had discussions after the 2015 Ashes with Alastair
Cook, Strauss and assistant coach Paul Farbrace about retiring from
Paul Curran, Patrick Fuller, Matt Thacker international cricket. There was even a discussion about having a winter off
but that, he felt, would have been an easy option.
“Straussy was fantastic as was Trevor Bayliss who also came to see me,”
says Bell. “Straussy gave me a lot of good advice and told me that I would
Bell has made know how much I wanted it [to be back in the team] when the guys were in
five centuries South Africa [for the 2015/16 series which England won 2-1]. I had a lot of
this season for mixed feelings and it was a tricky place to be mentally.”
GENERAL ENQUIRIES AND COMMENTS Warwickshire

and 35 across
his career
No one likes to be dropped, whatever level of sport you’re playing. And Bell
clearly did miss playing for England but it was also pretty clear that he was
burned out.
E: [email protected]
24 WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY | AUGUST 2018 www.wisden.com 25
SUBSCRIPTIONS
You can subscribe to the print version of Wisden Cricket Monthly at
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Unit 6 The Enterprise Centre, Kelvin Lane, Manor Royal, Crawley, West
THE
50 BEST
50 KEEMO PAUL
Sussex, RH10 9PE. Price and offer details are available by calling the number AGE: 20
COUNTRY: West Indies
THE NEXT: Kenny Benjamin
above, and on wisdensubs.com and wisden.com. You can subscribe to the The burly Guyanese seamer is probably still
YOUNG
best known for the Mankad dismissal he effected against
What are your views? Zimbabwe in the 2016 Under 19 World Cup but Paul has shown
digital version – compatible with all major devices – at wcmdigi.com

Let us know on Twitter enough promise since to suggest that episode won’t be the
@wisdencricket or email
[email protected] lasting memory of him. A genuine swing bowler of the type the
West Indies have struggled to produce in recent years, he took
a wicket with his first legal delivery in international cricket after
PLAYERS
receiving a late call-up to the World Cup Qualifier in March and
averages 17 at first-class level. Paul took three wickets on Test
debut against Bangladesh last month.
Published by Cricket Properties Ltd 49 HASEEB HAMEED
IN THE
Printed by Jellyfish Print Solutions
AGE: 21
COUNTRY: England
THE NEXT: Michael Atherton
Anyone who witnessed Hameed’s Test debut at
ISSN 2515-2815 (Print) ISSN 2515-2823 (Online) Rajkot in November 2016, when he batted for almost four hours
WORLD
for his 82, and then hit an unbeaten 59 with a broken finger two
matches later in Chandigarh, will be scratching their heads at his
slump since. A player who looked so at ease as an international
cricketer while still in his teens has somehow found himself
languishing in Lancashire’s seconds. Incredibly, he averages ABOVE: Anshy 47 ANSHY RATH
6.83 from 12 first-class innings this season, with a high score of Rath has passed AGE: 20
20 – hardly numbers to justify a place in this list. But the natural 50 seven times in COUNTRY: Hong Kong
ability he showed while making his first steps as a Test opener 16 ODI knocks THE NEXT: Moeen Ali
doesn’t just desert a player. “He’s definitely going to be a future Hong Kong-born and educated at Harrow, the
star,” said Virat Kohli on that 2016 tour. We’re sticking with that. left-handed strokemaker is the leading light in a fast-improving
W
national team who defeated Afghanistan at the World Cup
ith fresh young talent We have prioritised players who
Twitter
Qualifier in March. Rath struck a classy 65 in that victory, skilfully
surfacing seemingly by have already broken through on the 48 TASKIN AHMED negotiating the spin of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman,
the day in a plethora of international stage, but also tried to make AGE: 23 and followed up with 85 in his next knock against Zimbabwe.
competitions across the room for those who we believe have COUNTRY: Bangladesh An ODI batting average of 53 is a marker of Rath’s talent and
Facebook world, and emerging nations producing

more exciting cricketers than ever
exceptional raw talent but don’t yet have
the numbers to prove it. And we tended
THE NEXT: Mashrafe Mortaza
The right-arm quick’s star has fallen somewhat
since bursting onto the scene in 2014, a serious knee injury
Middlesex have expressed a strong interest in signing him after
he impressed in their second XI last season.
before, putting a list like this together to give more weight to performances in 46 GLENN PHILLIPS
Instagram
and then a ban from bowling due to a suspect action halting his
has never been more challenging. To Test cricket because, in our view, that progress, but he remains one of the most exciting fast bowlers AGE: 21
ensure no one slipped through the remains the premier format. Bangladesh have produced. He’s struggled so far in Test cricket COUNTRY: New Zealand
net, we asked our stable of overseas but Taskin’s ODI strike-rate is an impressive 31.4, superior to that THE NEXT: Brendon McCullum
YouTube correspondents to nominate the best

they have seen in their respective
The only stipulation was the players
had to be aged 23 or under on August
of Allan Donald, Shoaib Akhtar and Kagiso Rabada. A hard-hitting keeper-batsman capable of
providing McCullum-style pyrotechnics at the top of the order.
Born in South Africa before moving to New Zealand at the age
countries, then condensed that long 1, 2018, and they had to be male. of five, Phillips was the leading scorer in the domestic T20
list into this final 50 – which includes We’ll be counting down the best competition in 2016/17, hitting 116* from 57 balls for Auckland
cricketers from 13 different nations – young female cricketers in the world against Central Districts in just his eighth appearance. A handful
Wisden Cricket Monthly, Fourth Floor, Bedser Stand, The Kia Oval, which we reveal over the next 19 pages. in our following issue. of international T20 caps have yielded just one half-century
but he remains firmly on the Kiwi selectors’ radar ahead of next
summer’s World Cup.
Kennington, London, SE11 5SS

| AUGUST 2018 www.wisden.com 39
wisden.com

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Contents
IN THIS ISSUE
SIMON
WILDE
Sunday Times cricket
correspondent
@swildecricket
On the eve of England’s 1,000th Test, Simon Wilde, the
author of England: T he Biography,, a new release giving a
THE TOP SIX
comprehensive account of the 141 years since their first
Test match, picks out the most influential figures in our
national team’s history
12 Joe Root drops the mic
England’s 14 Jonathan Liew imagines what would happen if England
won the World Cup that really matters
GREATEST INFLUENCERS 16 Elizabeth Ammon argues for an overhaul of the county

transfer system
18 County Championship progress report
T
he England team 16. RE FOSTER
20 England v India: CricViz analyse the key match-ups
has been exposed as more self-serving future generations of players and laid the his generation and his self-discipline was best, while England regularly entrusted
today is well run, Roles: Captain, batsman than principled; as chairman of selectors ground for the entry into the rights market of perfectly suited to the Sisyphean task of him with the captaincy. Grace did it on his
well managed and A gilded amateur of the Edwardian era, from 1955-61, pitch-doctoring at home was cash-rich satellite broadcasters. keeping at bay the mighty West Indies own terms: he was handsomely rewarded
well resourced, Reginald ‘Tip’ Foster captained England in rife; and while he worked at ICC, South pace attacks. Handed the captaincy after for his one Test tour of Australia and play
but if the story of
the last 141 years,
1907 when it was decided to design a cap
for those chosen to play home Tests. The
emblem of three lions under a crown was
Africa had no greater friend.
England players crossed Allen at their peril,
his vetoing of John Snow for the 1974/75
13. JACK HOBBS
Roles: Batsman, selector
a chaotic period, Gooch joined forces with
manager Micky Stewart to turn perspiration
into a team ethic.
in England was only extended to six hours
once he retired, but it was a fair price for
his popularising influence.
22 The World According To… Zimbabwe’s outspoken all-
spanning 1,000 Tests and more than
rounder Sikandar Raza

derived from the England football team, Ashes tour being just the most egregious Hobbs was a master of all types of bowling By publicly excommunicating David
800 limited-overs matches, tells which Foster had also represented (he is example. Allen, who himself liked to drive on all types of surfaces during the era of Gower, his most gifted player, Gooch lost
us anything, it is that this has only still the only person to captain both sides). Bentleys, saw nothing wrong in England uncovered pitches and remains England’s the PR war but on the broader point that 10. ROLAND BUTCHER
recently been the case. The team has The three lions remains an intrinsic part players being paid a pittance. Unsurprisingly, most prolific batsman in Ashes Tests. He a semi-professional approach was no Role: Batsman
evolved as much by chance as design, of team regalia, though under a coronet he never saw Kerry Packer coming. could be a hard-nosed competitor but his longer good enough he was proved right. Butcher was the first black player to
rather than crown. Foster’s legacy was decency and integrity greatly advanced the As batting coach to Andrew Strauss’ team, represent England and his selection proved
and the longest-serving captains,
mixed: capable of achieving top form cause of the professional, and when Arthur Gooch mentored one of England’s most a watershed moment in the evolution of
highest run-scorers and greatest 14. IAN BOTHAM
FEATURES
without practice, his example encouraged Carr was indisposed at Old Trafford in 1926 productive run-scoring units. a team that today is as multi-cultural
wicket-takers are not necessarily the very bad idea that it was possible to go Roles: Captain, all-rounder Hobbs – the son of a college servant from as any in the world. A cousin of Basil
those who have had the most into Tests with little preparation. Botham was as fine an all-round cricketer Cambridge – led England in his absence, the Butcher, the West Indies Test batsman
profound effect – whether for good or as England have produced and won many first professional to do so since the 1880s. 11. WG GRACE of the 1960s, the Barbados-born
ill – on its culture and fortunes. Of matches for his country, but his contribution Along with Wilfred Rhodes, he became Role: Batsman Roland moved to England in 1967
the 16 names listed here, half were 15. GUBBY ALLEN went further. the first professional co-opted onto an Grace confirmed his long-held status as the where he learnt his cricket on the MCC
Roles: Captain, fast bowler, chairman of Displaying a zest for life that put him on England selection committee. He was a world’s best cricketer with a hundred in the groundstaff alongside Ian Botham,
24 Head to Head: John Stern meets Ian Bell

not even born in England. selectors, MCC president, MCC chairman, front pages as well as back, and saving reluctant pioneer but by example did much first Test match played in England in 1880. under whose captaincy he would later
MCC treasurer many of his best performances for home to democratise the England team. Over the next 19 years his involvement in every play his three Tests and three ODIs.
Allen’s career as fast bowling all-rounder Tests against Australia which were accorded home Test match bar one (which he missed A few non-white players had represented
28 Best and Worst: sporting all-rounders

was intermittent but as a committeeman healthy exposure on terrestrial TV, he through injury) gave Test cricket its imprimatur. England before but they were exceptional
his influence over England affairs lasted became the most recognisable sportsman 12. GRAHAM GOOCH Australia knew that if they wanted to be cases; since Butcher, one in six of
decades. The years have not been kind to in the country and a godsend to the game’s Roles: Captain, batsman, batting coach taken seriously they needed him in the England’s Test cricketers have been of
31 Kumar Sangakkara on facing Shoaib Akhtar

his reputation. His opposition to Bodyline accountants. He put bums on seats, inspired Gooch was the best England batsman of opposition to show they were beating the Afro-Caribbean or Asian extraction.
34 Mailbox
36 Re:view – the ICC get tough on ball-tampering

New
Feature
Frequency
Title
38 The 50 best young cricketers in the world
58 Simon Wilde selects English cricket’s all-time most
influential figures
THE
NEW WAVE
DANIEL
GALLAN
South African
sports writer
62 Daniel Gallan on Test Match Special v TalkSPORT
66 My Favourite Innings: Virat Kohli on the knock that
@danielgallan
Daniel Gallan looks at the shifting landscape of radio commentary in this country and
argues the reaction to TalkSport outbidding the BBC for England’s overseas tours this
changed his life
68 A Cricket Life: David Lloyd
winter revealed deep-rooted divisions
I
n light of TalkSport, who are financially commentators, has always been able to reach across
supported by Rupert Murdoch’s Wireless the airwaves and transport listeners to the game’s
Group, outbidding the BBC for the free- inner sanctums. Losing this is devastating for many.
to-air radio broadcast rights for England’s Losing this to TalkSport, with its unapologetic
YOUR GAME
forthcoming tours of Sri Lanka and the West commercial strength and intrusive adverts, will
Indies, it is a shame we can’t dip back in time have struck a further blow to devotees of TMS. But
and share a pint with the late American Marxist and perspective is needed.
cricket tragic Mike Marqusee. The decision to award TalkSport the rights was
In his seminal book Anyone But England, Marqusee made by the Sri Lankan and West Indian boards who,
73 The Club Debate: The dearth of friendly cricket

takes aim at the myriad hypocrisies ingrained in given their financial concerns, understandably opted
the sport and pokes at ancient scabs left by the for the most lucrative deal. This was not, as some
ideological battle between ‘professionals’ and the have incorrectly claimed, the result of greed on the
gentlemanly ‘amateurs’. Superficially, the struggle part of the ECB.
between TalkSport and the BBC is nothing more than
straightforward business. But scratch beneath the
surface and some of the same old power relations that so
Furthermore, this is not the first time that TalkSport
have secured the rights for an overseas tour. TalkSport
brought England’s tours of Pakistan in 2000, Sri Lanka
76 Secret Diary of a Village Skipper
77 Club News
fascinated Marqusee are revealed. in 2001, West Indies in 2003/04 and South Africa in
In response to TalkSport’s coup, the BBC’s media 2004/05 to listeners in the UK. So why the commotion
editor Amol Rajan wrote: “For devotees of Test this time around? 
79 The Wisden Club Cricket Hall of Fame

Match Special the sound of Jonathan Agnew and his “There was no Twitter back then,” is the simple
colleagues isn’t just part of summer. It is the summer.”
Hyperbolic hubris perhaps but judging by the
outpouring of grief on social media, echoed by Agnew
himself, one might have assumed that a beloved figure
had suddenly passed away.
TMS, with its 60-year heritage and array of erudite
80 Learn From The Pros: Nick Gubbins on facing the new ball
BOOKS ETC
82 Book reviews
84 Win a VIP experience at Lord’s
| AUGUST 2018 85 Crossword
GOLDEN SUMMERS
eeeee 87 My Golden Summer: Lawrence Booth’s summer of love

My
Favourite 90 Day of Days: Ramprakash’s hundredth hundred
Innings
92 Joe Wilson meets the irrepressible Enid Bakewell
BY
96 Benedict Bermange picks out the key events of the 1900s
VIRAT
KOHLI
India’s captain and World Cup winner
on the moment he woke up to the
CRICKET & I
thrill of the chase
A
s a kid the innings that really pushed me
to work towards my dream of playing for
India were Sachin’s back-to-back hundreds
against Australia in Sharjah – the ‘Desert
98 Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien invites Felix White to New York to
talk cricket
Storm’ knocks.
He made one to qualify for the final and then another
in the final, single-handedly winning both games, and
that’s where my excitement of wanting to chase totals
came from. It was such a thrill to see one man working
143 & 134

relentlessly towards a target and being able to achieve
it wearing your national team’s jersey. I couldn’t see
anything apart from cricket after those innings.
I was a massive fan of Sachin’s and when India were
playing I would go to the shops and get my pack of chips
and chocolate to prepare myself to watch him bat. I did
exactly the same with both those games, and he batted
SACHIN
for so long that I had to refill my snacks! It was worth
it, watching him play in a manner that at that stage no
one else was doing. It was literally a change happening
in front of my eyes. I was like, ‘Wow, this sport can be
played in this manner’. It was just so exciting. I asked my
father to get me enrolled in a cricket academy and two
or three months later I joined. And from there the whole
TENDULKAR
journey started.
When India couldn’t get across the line after that I used
to literally see myself in those moments. I used to be
like, ‘Give me a jersey, I can do it, I can get us across
the line’. I used to have those dreams.
Now when I’m in the middle of chasing a big total and
I’m able to finish the game off for my team I get those
memories back, of sitting in front of the TV watching
Sachin. The conviction was so strong that I always
believed I could do it and when that happens you feel
so grateful someone up there is watching you and that it
India v Australia,
Coca-Cola Cup, Sharjah, 1998
was meant to be for you.
NEXT ISSUE
AUGUST 30
Look out for an exclusive interview with Virat Kohli in the
September issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly

VIRAT KOHLI
EXCLUSIVE
INTERVIEW
www.wisden.com 9
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THE
Top Six
No.1
After a run of nine innings without passing 35,

during which he was dropped from England’s
T20 side, Joe Root returned to form with back-
to-back unbeaten centuries at Headingley
and Lord’s in a 2-1 ODI series win over India.
The second of those knocks took him to 13
hundreds – surpassing Marcus Trescothick’s
England ODI record – and was celebrated with
a ‘mic drop’. “It was the most embarrassing
thing I’ve done on a cricket field,” said Root
afterwards. “I’ve not heard the end of it.”
1st ODI
Trent Bridge, July 12
India 269-2 (Sharma 137*) beat England 268
(Buttler 53; Kuldeep 6-25) by 8 wickets (with
59 balls remaining)
2nd ODI
Lord’s, July 14
England 322-7 (Root 113*) beat India 236
(Plunkett 4-46) by 86 runs
3rd ODI
Headingley, July 17
England 260-2 (Root 100*) beat India 256-
8 (Kohli 71; Willey 3-40, Rashid 3-49) by 8
wickets (with 33 balls remaining)
12 WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY

www.wisden.com 13
THE
Top Six
No.2
England’s World
Cup dream
JONATHAN s the u around the ngland oot all tea s run to the se i-finals in
LIEW Russia subsides, Jonathan Liew imagines the impact Eoin Morgan lifting
Wisden Cricket Monthly the World Cup on home soil might have on the nation
columnist and chief sports
writer for The Independent
@jonathanliew
T A
hey had to delay the start offered a three-book deal to write a nd we’re back in the room.
of the bus parade. It wasn’t series of children’s stories featuring It probably won’t happen
safe. Thousands of people his imaginary horse, and David Willey exactly that way, of course,
had turned up at the start, had his own emoji. but as the wave of England
bringing St John’s Wood Road to a It wasn’t all fun and games, of mania that seemed to infect the country
standstill, lining the streets all the way course. Hand-wringing broadsheet during last month’s football World Cup
to Trafalgar Square six or seven deep.
They waited patiently in their replica
ODI jerseys and Moeen beards,
making beer snakes and singing ‘It’s
Staying Home’ to pass the time. A
columnists wondered aloud whether
the Barmy Army was really just
a harmless bit of fun, or in fact a
glorification of militarism. England’s
semi-final victory over South
finally subsided, it was tempting to
wonder whether there might be any
appetite for a repeat performance in 12
months’ time. Put simply: if this is the
sort of feverish excitement generated
popular reworking of an old football Africa was followed by sporadic by England reaching a World Cup
classic, the song had become the outbursts of violence and looting, semi-final in Russia,
soundtrack of a whirlwind summer, as hordes of jubilant fans raided imagine what the
culminating in England’s first ever Nando’s restaurants all over the reaction would be
men’s Cricket World Cup triumph at a country, upending furniture and to actually winning
parched and delirious Lord’s. demanding free peri-peri chicken. one. At home.
Over the previous few weeks, And occasionally, the swell of patriotic
cricket had enraptured a nation pride that greeted England’s victory
previously in total thrall to football. spilled over into something more
Pubs and parks filled to bursting sinister. There were concerns that
for public screenings of England’s the World Cup win was being
games. Dave Stewart’s ill-fated 1999 exploited for political ends:
World Cup single All Over The World new prime minister Jacob
was re-released by popular demand, Rees-Mogg was criticised
surging to No.1 with the help of a for declaring it “the ultimate
guest appearance from Stormzy. M&S vindication of empire”, and
reported an unprecedented run on came under considerable
Trevor Bayliss sunhats, which had pressure to dismantle
become the unlikely fashion trend of the giant border wall
the summer. Meanwhile Jos Buttler’s along the Irish Sea that
face beamed from the cover of had prevented Eoin
Time Magazine, Joe Root’s Carpool Morgan’s family from
Karaoke segment with James Corden coming over to witness
had just broken 100 million views the greatest day of his
on YouTube, Mark Wood had been career.

Feature Title
“
CRICKET IS NOT FOOTBALL. AND YET IF THE 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS TAUGHT US ANYTHING,
IT IS THAT THE MAGNETISM OF HOME SUCCESS CAN ATTACH ITSELF TO SOME EXCEPTIONALLY
NICHE PURSUITS. IF THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN CAN MASS BEHIND SAILORS, DRESSAGE RIDERS
AND TAEKWONDO FIGHTERS, THEN PERHAPS THE IDOLISATION OF CHRIS WOAKES AND JONNY
BAIRSTOW IS NOT SUCH A FAR-FETCHED IDEA
ABOVE: Captain Cricket, it scarcely needs to be said, television coverage, making sure and sending him into the Love Island
Morgan and his is not football. And yet if the 2012 people can congregate to watch house for a few weeks, then so be it.
band of merry London Olympics taught us anything, it the games outdoors with a glass of After that, pray for good weather
men is that the magnetism of home success something cold is of even greater and – most importantly of the lot – a
can attach itself to some exceptionally importance. Big screens – and not winning England side. The style and
LEFT: Could niche pursuits. If the people of Britain just in the host cities – are a must. the flair is in place; Morgan’s men
Bayliss’ sunhat can mass behind sailors, dressage Encouraging pubs to show the already play the most entertaining
trend like riders and taekwondo fighters, then cricket, perhaps with subsidised or cricket of any England team in history.
Southgate’s perhaps the idolisation of Chris temporarily discounted subscriptions, They’re a nice bunch, too: generous
waistcoat? Woakes and Jonny Bairstow is not such will get the tournament in front of the with their time; articulate, but in an
a far-fetched idea after all. Arise, Sir maximum number of eyes. unrehearsed sort of way.
Adil. Arise, Sir Liam. It’s got a ring to it. The stars must be made as All that really remains is the biggest
In order to capture the hearts and accessible as possible over the prize of the lot. Because there’s only
livers of an apathetic public, however, next year. Gogglebox, Celebrity one thing the public like better than
the groundwork needs to start now. Masterchef, Strictly, the lot. If it means a plucky loser. And that’s a plucky
In the absence of live free-to-air separating Jason Roy from his family winner.
www.wisden.com 15
THE
Top Six
No.3
News from “
THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY
the shires
HERE FOR THE ECB TO
SHOW STRONG LEADERSHIP
AND COMMITMENT TO
THE SMALLER, LESS WELL-
RESOURCED COUNTIES BY
INTRODUCING A TRANSFER
ELIZABETH As the smaller counties brace themselves SYSTEM THAT WILL HELP
GIVE THEM A FIGHTING
once again to try and keep hold of their
AMMON brightest homegrown talent, Elizabeth
CHANCE
Wisden Cricket Monthly editorial
board member and cricket news
Ammon calls for a complete overhaul of
reporter for The Times the transfer system
@legsidelizzy
I
t’s that time of the season when the under the age of 24. They put forward an
announcements about cricketers moving idea for compensation based on a formula that
counties for next year begin – players in any home-developed player below the age of 24
the last year of their contract, particularly who chooses to move to a new county, despite
the young, exciting ones, moving on to bigger being offered a new and improved contract by his
clubs, for more money. existing club, should attract a compensation fee
This year we are likely to see, among others, payable by the new county of twice the rejected
approaches for Leicestershire fast bowler Zak final salary offer.
Chappell and Worcestershire’s England-batsman-
in-waiting Joe Clarke, two players who have
come through the age group and academy ranks
of their respective counties. They are both in the
last year of their contracts and, understandably,
This hasn’t yet been progressed but the time
has come to do something. Counties are in
the middle of negotiations with the ECB on the
future partnership agreements and Wasim Khan,
Leicestershire’s chief executive, is chairing a
are in demand from other counties. working party to look at all things county cricket
There’s nothing wrong with players moving from 2020 onwards. A transfer system should
counties. More money, more opportunity and be included in those discussions.
more visibility to the England selectors can Players and agents will probably hate the idea
amount to an offer that’s too good to refuse. of transfer fees as it could mean less movement
And very few of us stay with one employer in the market and will make deals harder to
throughout our career. negotiate, but it can’t be right that clubs who
A county that wants to discuss terms with invest heavily in their age group and academy
a player in the final year of their contract has set-ups, in part to produce cricketers who they
to issue that player’s employers with a 28-day hope will go on to represent England, don’t
notice and a number of chief executives have receive recognition for that.
told me they are receiving an increasing number. I spoke to Worcestershire’s academy director
While they are pragmatic about it, understanding Elliott Wilson recently and he said that while it is
you can’t keep hold of a player who wants to affirming to hear the praise that is heaped on his
move on, it doesn’t seem right that you can find, county for their continual production of talented players that goes on throughout the year). And in
develop and invest in a young cricketer right youngsters, what they really need is additional addition to that introduce a transfer fee based on
through from under 13s and then receive no resources so that when they inevitably lose the Surrey model. In some cases the fee won’t be
compensation when they leave in their early 20s. players they can then invest in discovering the very much (maybe around £50k), but in others it
Last year, Sir Ian Botham, Durham’s chairman, next crop. It sounds fair enough really, doesn’t it? will be significant given that a number of players
called for a transfer system to ensure that The current 28-day notice system feels move on despite being offered six-figure salaries.
counties losing their young players receive antiquated. My preference would be to have a There is an opportunity here for the ECB to
adequate compensation. He received backing transfer window where everything is out in the show strong leadership and commitment to
from a number of counties, including Surrey, open and counties and players can freely have the smaller, less well-resourced counties by
who said they believe a rival county should discussions about potential moves (it should introducing a transfer system that will help give
pay compensation for a player who moves also help cut out the clandestine tapping up of them a fighting chance.

PLAYERS SEND STRONG
MESSAGE ON THE
CHAMPIONSHIP
A recent survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers’
Association revealed that 89 per cent of players believe Test cricket
is the most important form of the game and, with that in mind, the
County Championship must be protected and given more priority.
The survey showed that most players were against the idea of
moving from two divisions to three conferences and felt the integrity
of the Championship should not be compromised by playing it
during the window in July and August set aside for the new 100-
ball tournament when 96 of the best players will be missing from
county duty. Seventy-nine per cent of players said they wanted to
keep promotion and relegation in the Championship, believing it
maintains an intense standard of competition.
The players are pragmatic enough to realise that if the
Championship is to be played in the height of summer then it
will have to run simultaneously with the T20 Blast throughout
May, June and the first half of July. Although 93 per cent
of players said they would prefer each of the domestic
tournaments to be played in windows, they recognise that can’t
happen after The Hundred is introduced without pushing the
Championship to the very extremes of the season.
The findings of the survey will be fed into the ECB’s working
group discussions on the domestic schedule and it can only
be hoped that the opinions of the players carry some weight.
Of course theirs isn’t the only view that needs to be taken into PERFORMANCE OF THE MONTH
S
account, but they understand the implications on the quality
of cricket better than anyone else. Having a window for The ix days after taking a four-wicket haul in the One-Day Cup final
Hundred in peak summer will inevitably have a knock-on effect defeat to Hampshire at Lord’s, Joe Denly (above) made history
which impacts all other competitions. by becoming the first player to score a century and take a
hat-trick in a T20 match. The Kent opener smashed 102 from
63 balls against Surrey at The Oval before taking the wickets of Rikki
Clarke, Jamie Smith and Matt Pillans in consecutive balls with his part-
ABOVE: Runs in the Championship still mean the most to time leg-spin to give his side a smash-and-grab six-run victory.
the majority of county cricketers
LEFT: Worcestershire’s Joe Clarke is out of contract at the
end of the season and is in high demand
www.wisden.com 17
THE
Top Six
No.4
The Championship
BEN
run-in
GARDNER The County Championship season is over halfway done, and the table
Wisden Cricket Monthly is starting to take shape. Ben Gardner examines each county’s chances
staff writer heading to the business end of the campaign
@Ben_wisden
SURREY Verdict: Don’t write them off. Notts were

Current position: 1st brilliant last season after being awful the
Results: 6 wins, 2 draws season before, and they’ve somehow
Standouts: Rory Burns, 875 runs at 72.91; combined both into this campaign, winning
Rikki Clarke, 288 runs at 36.00, 30 wickets four, losing four, and drawing just once. The
at 19.26 swings have been extreme, with two innings
Breakthrough player: Ollie Pope, 684 runs defeats, an innings victory, and two more by
at 85.50
Verdict: Seemingly running away with it. Who
would have guessed that Kumar Sangakkara
was actually holding them back all these
years? Some feared Sanga’s retirement
over 200 runs among their results. It’s been
fun to follow, and also suggests that if they
can play to their potential over a few games,
they could put together the sort of run which
could see them breathing down upturned
would prove hard to recover from. In reality, Surrey collars.
it’s spurred the rest on, and they’ve now WCM prediction: 3rd
won five on the bounce, four by an innings. they’ve lost just once and would be strong
With the ball, they have the fast-bowling contenders in any other year, a rampaging
stocks to rotate. With the bat, Ollie Pope, Surrey look likely to march away with the ESSEX
20 years young and averaging 86 for the title. Azhar Ali looks a capable replacement Current position: 4th
season, looks a superstar in the making, for injured overseas Matt Renshaw who did Results: 3 wins, 2 defeats, 2 draws
while Rory Burns [right] is in the process of much of their early-season donkey work, Standouts: Simon Harmer, 32 wickets at
putting together the most prolific campaign and Somerset have even gone some way 23.34; Jamie Porter, 28 wickets at 26.82
of his illustrious Surrey career. His captaincy to shaking the ‘Ciderabad’ tag – none of Breakthrough player: Sam Cook, 13 wickets
has been astute as well, and a long-awaited their top six wicket-takers this campaign are at 30.84
England call up for the opener could be spinners. The groundsman’s resolve will be Verdict: This hasn’t quite been a title-winning
the one thing which might upset the Three tested when Surrey visit in late September for hangover to rank with Middlesex’s season-
Feathers. what could be a pivotal clash. If they’re in with long slump last year, but there has been
WCM prediction: 1st a shout, expect the rakes to come out. some of that Chelmsford magic missing. At
WCM prediction: 2nd least the fans haven’t been disappointed,
with Essex having developed a penchant
SOMERSET for a thriller – victories over Lancashire
Current position: 2nd NOTTINGHAMSHIRE and Worcestershire by 31 and 32 runs
Results: 4 wins, 1 defeat, 3 draws Current position: 3rd sandwiched a remarkable game in which
Standouts: James Hildreth, 656 runs at Results: 4 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw they contrived to lose to Yorkshire after
50.46; Matt Renshaw, 513 runs at 51.30 Standouts: Luke Fletcher, 31 wickets at 19.32; bowling them out for 50. It’s the batting that
Breakthrough player: George Bartlett, 206 Harry Gurney, 32 wickets at 25.50 has let them down. Dan Lawrence has been
runs at 27.81 Breakthrough player: Tom Moores, 516 runs particularly disappointing, averaging just 21
Verdict: Just falling short again. Though at 36.85, 30 catches after having the world at his feet a year ago,

LEFT: Essex’s Dan Lawrence has
endured a torrid campaign
this season. Instead, they have won just WORCESTERSHIRE

once, all the way back in May. Much rests Current position: 8th
on the shoulders of Durham recruits Graham Results: 1 win, 5 defeats, 2 draws
Onions and Keaton Jennings. The former is Standouts: Joe Clarke, 616 runs at 47.38;
the leading wicket-taker in the division, while Ed Barnard, 30 wickets at 22.40. 303 runs
the latter, their leading run-scorer, might be at 27.54
available for just the last two games of the Breakthrough player: Josh Tongue, 21
season if he plays all five Tests against India. wickets at 24.04
He may well return with a job to do. Verdict: Signs of life. The Pears have made
and the two hundreds Essex have managed WCM prediction: 7th a habit of pogoing between divisions, and
between them is the lowest in the division. considering they are rooted to the bottom
WCM prediction: 5th of the table with just one win from eight, you
HAMPSHIRE might expect the pattern to continue. But
Current position: 7th after a huge morale-boosting victory over
YORKSHIRE Results: 1 win, 3 defeats, 4 draws Lancashire, and with Daryl Mitchell again in
Current position: 5th Standouts: James Vince, 626 runs at 48.15; the runs and Clarke seemingly unlikely to
Results: 3 wins, 3 defeats, 1 draw, 1 Hashim Amla, 492 runs at 54.66 feature for England in the immediate future,
abandoned game Breakthrough player: Joe Weatherley, 328 their fate may not be sealed. The loss of Joe
Standouts: Ben Coad, 33 wickets at 16.93; runs at 36.44 Leach to a stress fracture is a huge blow but
Jack Brooks, 25 wickets at 29.64 Verdict: In trouble. Hampshire haven’t won – Ravi Ashwin’s signing looks a shrewd one.
Breakthrough player: Harry Brook, 468 runs or even taken 20 wickets in a match – since WCM prediction: 6th
at 33.42 the opening game against bottom-placed
Verdict: Should be fine but work to do. Worcestershire, this despite Amla and Vince
Yorkshire fans might think they should be each averaging around 50. Their reliance on
much higher up the table, but with off-field
rumblings in the boardroom, numerous
players tied up with England and overseas
star Che Pujara struggling, survival will have
to suffice. Former England under 19 captain
ageing Kolpaks in the bowling department
has been laid bare this season – ex-Proteas
quick Kyle Abbott has taken just 17 wickets
at an average of over 40, and is still their
second-leading wicket taker.
TEAM
Surrey
Somerset
Notts
M
8
8
9
W
6
4
4
L
0
1
4
D
2
3
1
PT
153
119
110
Harry Brook – only 19 yet their leading WCM prediction: 8th
Essex 8 3 2 2 92
Championship run-scorer – and Yorkshire 8 3 3 1 87
wiry seamer Ben Coad, who’s Lancashire 9 1 5 3 73
proved he’s no one-season Hants 8 1 3 4 72
wonder, suggest that Worcs 8 1 5 2 59
brighter times could be on
the horizon. Their run-
(Table correct as of July 25, 2018)
in, which sees them
play Worcestershire
twice as well as
Lancashire and AND IN
Hampshire, looks kind. DIVISION TWO…
WCM prediction: 4th It’s a four-horse race at the top, featuring
Warwickshire, Sussex and Kent as you’d
expect, and perennial wooden spoon-holders
LANCASHIRE Leicestershire, riding the Paul Nixon wave
Current position: 6th with gusto, a two-day 10-wicket victory over
Results: 1 win, 5 defeats, 3 draws Kent underlining their status as genuine
Standouts: Keaton Jennings, 621 runs at contenders. Middlesex were expected to be
46.72; Graham Onions, 37 wickets at 20.16 far too good for the division and yet remain
Breakthrough player: Tom Bailey, 34 LEFT: The stuck in mid-table, unable to put a run of
wickets at 23.67 evergreen Graham form together, while Northamptonshire, who
Verdict: Looking over their shoulders. After a Onions has taken almost stole promotion and spoiled Notts’
second-place finish in 2017, Lancashire were to Lancashire life party last year, have won just twice thus far
tipped by some to go one better with aplomb this season.
www.wisden.com 19
THE
Top Six
No.5
England v India
IN FOCUS
The key battles
Patrick Noone of CricViz, the world’s leading cricket analytics company, picks out four head-to-heads
which could well determine the outcome of England’s Test series against India
COOK V VIJAY
I
n Alastair Cook and Murali Vijay, each side will field a traditional
opening batsman, known more for their obduracy than their attacking
game. Those qualities were on show during Vijay’s last tour to England
in 2014 when he faced more balls (1,054) than any other batsman in the
series. He and Cook enjoyed similar series in terms of their dismissal rate,
with each averaging more than 100 balls per dismissal.
ROOT V KOHLI BALLS FACED PER DISMISSAL
S
INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND 2014
ince the start of 2016, the opposing captains have
gone about their batting in remarkably similar ways.
Against seam, Joe Root and Virat Kohli have attacked
an almost identical amount, while the England skipper
is only a fraction more aggressive against the spinners.
However, while Root’s numbers remain impressive, Kohli’s
batting has reached another level in the last two years and his
vastly superior average against both seam and spin reflects
that. Kohli also out-performs his counterpart in the percentage
of false shots played, having only edged or missed an
astonishingly low 4.3 per cent of deliveries bowled by spinners.
Kohli has unfinished business in England after his
disappointing tour in 2014 where he averaged just 13.40.
Much was made about his inability to play the seaming,
swinging ball in English conditions, but his performance Alastair Cook Vijay showed himself to be adept at playing
against spin was also surprisingly poor. Though he was only – False-shot the swinging ball, averaging 46 against
dismissed once by a spinner in the 10 innings he batted, Kohli percentage in balls swinging more than 2.25°, and that
failed to score a single boundary from the 45 balls he faced home Tests experience will stand him in good stead in
from Moeen Ali and Root and his false-shot percentage was English conditions.
18 per cent. 2010 15.6%
2011 9.8% Cook has been England’s rock at the top of the
ROOT KOHLI 2012 10.6% order for more than a decade, but there are
2013 11.0% signs the 33-year-old could be on the decline.
v Seam v Spin v Seam v Spin 2014 9.9% His false-shot percentage during the last home
47.54 54.05 Average 61.95 83.93 2015 10.8% summer was 12.5 per cent, the highest he has
23.9% 27.9% Attacking shot % 23.8% 26.8% 2016 10.0% recorded since 2010. From two home Tests this
11.2% 8.2% False shot % 9.6% 4.3% 2017 12.5% year Cook has missed or edged 12.4 per cent
81.8 90.9 Balls per dismissal 92.2 129.0 2018 12.4% of the deliveries he has faced.

CricViz
STOKES V PANDYA ANDERSON V

BHUVNESHWAR
H E
ardik Pandya, India’s 24-year old
all-rounder, is one of the game’s ngland’s king of swing will meet his match in
rising stars and he has already terms of moving the ball through the air. On
caught the eye in his seven Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s previous tour to England
Tests to date, particularly with the bat. Only his in 2014 he found more swing than any other
teammate Shikhar Dhawan has scored at a quicker seamer, including James Anderson.
rate since Pandya came into the side last July.
AVERAGE SWING FOUND IN ENGLAND V INDIA 2014 SERIES
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1.75°

RUN RATES IN TESTS SINCE James Anderson 1.58°
PANDYA’S DEBUT (26.07.17)
Chris Woakes 1.39°
Pankaj Singh 1.28°
Stuart Broad 1.20°
Bhuvneshwar picked up 19 wickets on that tour, joint-

second behind Anderson’s 25, and his skills are
tailor-made for English conditions. Both bowlers have
been particularly threatening with the new ball in the
last couple of years, with the pair drawing a similar
percentage of false shots in the first 30 overs, putting
each of them in the top five among seamers at that stage
of the innings.
NEW BALL FALSE SHOT %
FROM SEAMERS SINCE 2016
Pandya has hit more sixes (11) than any other
player since making his Test debut; his ability
to take the innings away from bowling attacks
making him a dangerous player down the
order. If India can lay a platform that allows
him to unleash, England’s fielders could have
plenty of leather to chase during this series.
Ben Stokes enjoyed his best

home summer yet with the
bat in 2017, scoring two However, in recent summers, the average amount of
hundreds and four fifties swing in England has decreased, with 1.06° in 2016
and recording an average and 0.92° in 2017. The two Tests against Pakistan this
of 43.91. Only Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella summer saw 0.92° of average swing, despite the series
scored more runs from No.6 than Stokes in taking place early in the season and both sides featuring
the last calendar year and, though he is yet bowlers who specialise in the art.
to fully recapture that form since his return to
the side in New Zealand, he will be a pivotal If that trend continues, one might think that
cog and potential match-winner in England’s Bhuvneshwar’s primary threat would be somewhat
batting line-up. nullified, but the 28-year-old has shown in his career
that he is able to pick up wickets even when there is
less swing on offer. He averages 25.15 with the ball
TEST RUNS AT NO.6 IN 2017
when it swings and 26.34 when it does not, highlighting
Niroshan Dickwella 557 the fact that England will be facing a highly skilled
Ben Stokes 527 opponent, whatever the conditions.
Mushfiqur Rahim 448
Sikandar Raza 368
Mitchell Marsh 267 Stats correct as of July 23, 2018
www.wisden.com 21
THE
Top Six
No.6
The world “
according to...
I THINK IF AN ENGLISH
CRICKETER WAS TO COME
AND SEE HOW ROUGH
ZIMBABWEANS HAVE IT,
HE WOULD UNDERSTAND
THERE ARE BETTER
THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT
SIKANDER RAZA 32, ZIMBABWE ALL-ROUNDER THAN THE 100-BALL
FORMAT
The Man of the Tournament at the ICC World Cup Qualifier on playing
cricket in the margins and not being able to appear in next year’s tournament
My father had a Japanese customer who was I think we all cried at certain points
INTERVIEW TRISTAN HOLME
buying a lot of stuff that Dad was sending after we failed to qualify. Me and Craig
to him, and the customer refused to pay. [Ervine] and [Malcolm] Waller and Hamilton
Dad went to Japan to find out why he wasn’t [Masakadza] were in the changing room
paying, and he said he couldn’t pay, that all the until 11 o’clock that night. We didn’t know
stuff we had been sending him was in a shop in what was going to happen in the future, so
Zimbabwe but that he was leaving Zimbabwe. we just said, ‘Gentlemen, if this is going to
So he gave us the shop in Zimbabwe. Dad be our last moment in the changing room,
spent three months here in Zimbabwe, and
then realised how nice it was so he asked us
all to move over from Pakistan. I was 14.
My faith is everything to me. I am who I am,

I’m going to be here all night with you
guys’. It might sound childish, but we just
didn’t know who was going to walk back
into that changing room.
and I am where I am, because of my faith. It has I didn’t know that I was Man of the
given me a way of life and shown me a path. It Tournament so I wasn’t prepared to give
has given me humanity, courage, bravery, how a speech. When I got that award, I just
to differentiate between right and wrong and said what I felt was right in my heart, and
the ability to stand up for what’s right. I said it without thinking. I wanted to give
credit to the other teams in the tournament
My game started improving when I stopped because they were all brilliant. One
carrying unnecessary burdens. The only hundred per cent of that speech was about
burden became not performing. I stopped the sense of injustice. I stand by my words.
allowing outside factors to affect me, whether A 10-team World Cup is not really a World
it was something the opposition was doing, Cup to me. I don’t think I’ll be watching it.
or not being paid on time. When I broke into
the top 10 all-rounders in the world after the Test cricket will die eventually. If the
Sri Lanka series last year, that was a moment ICC can have a plan where funds are
for me to remember, especially given the managed for lesser nations then it can
limited amount of cricket we play. survive. Ireland have just played their first
Test match. Fantastic, I’m really glad for
I think the true band of brothers came out for them. I’ll wait to see how many home Test
the [World Cup] qualifiers. The way the country matches they can afford to play in the
hosted them and the way people came out to next two to three years. We are not in a
support, the stadiums were full. We won a few position to play home Test matches for the
close games that helped the country come next two or three years, so eventually Test
together and start believing. It was one of the cricket is going to die for us. To be honest,
better tournaments I’ve been a part of. it’s already dead.

Press Watch
NEWS CYCLE
Could Gareth Southgate save Test cricket?
Ben Gardner investigates
ISSUE 10 AUGUST 2018
L
The cricketer learns cricket from playing Test ast month there was a football tournament to contend with. You may have
cricket because it’s the best format. You can noticed. Not that Joe Hart did – he was off playing for Shrewsbury CC when
be a Test cricketer and become the best T20 England were on.
player in the world, but I don’t believe you Amidst the standard bleating from the lunkhead brigade about the place
can be the best T20 player in the world and of female commentators in football – Jason Cundy, and roughly three-fifths of Twitter,
become a Test cricketer. Test cricket will teach we’re looking at you – it was distinctly heartening to hear that the mighty Ali Mitchell,
you cricket, the basics on which you can build of this parish no less, has been added to Channel 7’s roster for their much-vaunted
an empire of skills. takeover of Australia’s cricketing airwaves. Once the domain of the determinedly all-
If I have to say goodbye to Test cricket, it’s
only because Zimbabweans don’t play much
cricket. What future can Ryan Burl, PJ Moor,
Tarisai Musakanda or Tino Mutombodzi have,
male Channel 9 crowd, the times may just be a changin’ Down Under, as 7’s line-up
includes not just Mitchell but Mel McLaughlin, Lisa Sthalekar and Abbey Gelmi.
Back to events in Albion, and the latest garbled news on the ECB’s stillborn baby
‘The Hundred’. Nick Hoult in The Telegraph reported that the comp could now be
made up of 20 five-ball overs, but that captains will be able to keep certain bowlers on
if I stay where I stay? If Tino doesn’t play Test for two consecutive overs, while Elizabeth Ammon of The Times suggested that teams
cricket, how does he learn cricket? I can’t could be allowed to field up to 15 players in a rolling subs fashion.
stick around and watch those guys not have a Just to clarify matters, the Guardian then carried a piece by Adam Collins which
successful career because they don’t get an poured cold water on the 15-a-side suggestion, quoting an ECB spokesperson that “no
opportunity. My conscience will not let me live final decisions” have been made. Which just about sums it up.
with that. Inconveniently for the narrative of a domestic game on its knees, the T20 Blast
continues to go with a swing, as evidenced by the 22,000 who crammed into a sold-
One English cricketer said that we need to out Old Trafford for a thrilling Roses match that Lancashire stole by a run. A heaving
embrace the 100-ball format, otherwise cricket stand packed full of punters was captured on BBC producer Henry Moeran’s ever-
will die. I think if he was to come and see eager phone, and went emphatically viral. Of the many unintended consequences
how rough Zimbabweans have it, he would of The Hundred’s messy birth, the most notable has undoubtedly been a renewed
understand there are better things to worry respect for the status quo. It turns out we’ve never had it so good.
about than the 100-ball format. Talking of which, while middle England went mad last month for Gareth Southgate,
spare a thought for his erstwhile Boro teammate Dean Windass: after a tweet
How much money is good money? That’s originating from 2013 saw Our Great Leader proclaim that while T20s and ODIs are
what I want to know when I hear about “great for encouraging kids to play cricket” there’s nothing quite like the “ebb and
Australia cancelling Bangladesh’s tour, saying flow” of a Test Match, Deano was moved to enquire: “since whe (sic) can u play cricket
it won’t turn a profit. Does every series have gaz?”, adding somewhat superfluously that “cricket bores the tits of (sic) me”. Seeing
to make money? Some people might say it’s as you’re there, Gaz, and very much on message, what’s your standard consultancy
bad business if you can’t make a profit off a fee? Asking for a friend.
series, but why can’t we run cricket not as
a business but as a sport in itself so that it
doesn’t lose its identity?
www.wisden.com 23
HEAD TO HEAD
Ian
The serial Ashes-
winner on learning
BELL
to live without
England, smoking
cigars in the SCG
dressing room and
JOHN why all that beauty
STERN can also be a curse
Editor-at-large of
Wisden Cricket
Monthly
I
@JStern_Cricket an Bell is 36. A player who seems to have spent
an entire career as a youthful bright prospect is
now fi rmly in veteran territory. He has fl irted
seriously with retirement over the past couple
of years since being dropped by England in late
2015. Only now has he come to terms with life
back in the shires and is starting to contemplate
a post-international lease of life, eating county
attacks for breakfast in the manner of Marcus
Trescothick or Mark Ramprakash.
https://t.me/njmpdfall The mention of Trescothick’s name prompts Bell to explain how he sought
out his old England teammate at the end of last season when Somerset
visited Edgbaston “to discuss how he dealt with it”. The ‘it’ Bell refers to is
the transition from England duty to the county grind, which can be sudden
and – let’s keep this in perspective – slightly traumatic. “In a way you mourn
that you’re not that player anymore,” he says.
There’s status, money, the buzz of the crowd, the unique bonds within a
team, the acclaim, the sheer thrill of playing in a Test match. As Bell puts
it, some “massive highs” and lows too but the best bits of being an England
player can never be replicated, regardless of how much Edgbaston might
rock on a T20 night. “You can never recreate that nervous energy on the fi rst
morning of a Test match. I look back on that stuff – wow, I enjoyed every
single minute of that. The lows are well worth the highs.”
The end came in the form of a call from Andrew Strauss, the director of
England cricket, who asked to meet Bell following the three-Test series
in UAE in late 2015. He knew what was coming. Bell had averaged 31, not
awful but moderate for a player of his abilities and record. The decline was
unavoidable – he averaged a fraction under 26 in the whole of 2015.
He had already had discussions after the 2015 Ashes with Alastair
Cook, Strauss and assistant coach Paul Farbrace about retiring from
international cricket. There was even a discussion about having a winter off
but that, he felt, would have been an easy option.
“Straussy was fantastic as was Trevor Bayliss who also came to see me,”
says Bell. “Straussy gave me a lot of good advice and told me that I would
know how much I wanted it [to be back in the team] when the guys were in
South Africa [for the 2015/16 series which England won 2-1]. I had a lot of
mixed feelings and it was a tricky place to be mentally.”
No one likes to be dropped, whatever level of sport you’re playing. And Bell
clearly did miss playing for England but it was also pretty clear that he was
burned out.

Feature Title
www.wisden.com 25
HEAD TO HEAD
He was offered the Warwickshire captaincy by coach

Dougie Brown for the 2016 season and accepted it
perhaps, Bell admits now, against his better judgment.
“I thought it was a great way to channel my energy
fully to Warwickshire,” he says, “but over the season I
started to drop off and looking back there were things
that I hadn’t put to bed with England.”
He started the season with a century but made only
three more fifties, “despite never looking out of form”,
according to Paul Bolton in Wisden. Brown left the
club at the end of the season – a turbulent one that still
yielded a one-day trophy.
Last season was worse still with Championship
relegation for a squad now overhauled by the returning
Ashley Giles. Bell gave up the captaincy in August (“a
big relief”) as he failed to score a first-class century in
an English season for the first time since 2002. The end
looked nigh for one of England’s most watchable and
gifted batsmen after 118 Tests, the best part of 8,000
Test runs and a then national record 5,416 ODI runs.
He was close to packing the game in but instead
decided to take a complete break from it from the end
of last season until the new year. For club players, that
might seem like a standard winter hibernation but for a
man who has played professionally since he was 16 and ABOVE: Bell’s “There have been periods when I’ve been back to my
who describes himself as “obsessed with cricket”, it was Ashes: in the 2013 best,” he says. And the best of Bell is very good indeed,
a significant decision. series, Bell made not only productive but also achingly pleasing on the
He returned to the nets in January. “Everything
came out of the middle and I felt excited again. I’d got
that buzz back. I took time out and felt much happier in
myself. I had been trying hard before but I’d just run out
of steam and was going through the motions.”
three hundreds
RIGHT: Bell
made his first
Ashes century in
eye. “Sit back and feast your eyes on this,” read the
tweet from the official County Championship account
introducing a montage of Ian Bell cover drives.
He says that his classical style derives from hours of
grooving and honing shots with his mentor, Neal Abberley,
He had routinely practised with a thinner bat in the the final match the former Warwickshire player who coached Bell from
nets but admits that in recent times he had given up on of the 2010/11 the age of 10 all through his career until his death in 2011.
it because it was too challenging. series at Sydney, “When I was really young, people compared me
Throughout his England career, preparation and helping England to Michael Atherton who wasn’t necessarily a shot
training methods – mental and physical – were diarised to a landmark 3-1 player – he was gritty,” he says. “We [Bell and Abberley]
and he has revisited that material “which made my victory worked a lot on our technique. When I was growing up
game what it was”. But he has also made specific efforts if you wanted to be a top cricketer you had to play Test
to switch off completely once he leaves the ground, cricket – now there are lots of different routes. So we
despite being immediately required to play cricket with just honed our technique for Test cricket – leaving the
his five-year-old son in the garden once he gets home. ball well, a lot of repetition on the drive, cut shot, pull
“But it’s fine – I’m a bowler in that one!” shots, straight drives. It wasn’t a conscious effort to
On June 1, he shared a third-wicket stand of 202 with play a certain way. It was that we grooved a lot of cricket
Jonathan Trott, who retires at the end of the season, as shots and over time it started to look, um, nice!”
Warwickshire chased 300 to beat Durham in the One- Nice indeed, and sometimes the artistic can
Day Cup. Bell’s contribution was 145 not out. A week undermine or mask the artisanal. Just ask James Vince.
later, he made a Championship century in each innings Did the pretty batting give people a false impression?
against Glamorgan. In the next game he made what he “Maybe to an extent. I know I had the ability to play
considers his best innings of the season to date – 172 at every shot and maybe some people thought it looked
Tunbridge Wells against a Kent attack containing New easy but I worked as hard as anyone. I played alongside
Zealand pace bowler Matt Henry. Paul Collingwood who wasn’t as elegant but really
Having been dropped from the Bears’ T20 side gritty and maybe people did think I was a bit sloppy at
towards the end of 2017, he forced his way back this year times but it wasn’t through lack of effort.”
and kicked off with an unbeaten 82 in a win over the Bell’s career highlight is understandably winning
Blast champions Notts. In late July he made his maiden the Ashes in Australia in 2010/11 but his own personal
T20 hundred, 131 off 62 balls in a tie against Northants. Everest is the 2013 Ashes when he made three centuries

Ian Bell
and was Man of the Series. “There are

always questions thrown at you – Joe
reconciled himself to not being part of the
action. Will he be playing into his 40s like BELL IN 2018:
Root has conversion rates – and for me
people would say ‘Ian Bell, lovely cover
Trescothick? He’s not sure but he adds:
“To see the genuine enjoyment that he
STILL GO IT
drive, but can he do it under pressure?’ gets – at 42 – from playing the game was
The innings in Cape Town in 2010 [78 in so good to see.” 145* v Durham
almost five hours to help draw the Test] He can see life beyond the dressing One-Day Cup, June 1
was against all my instincts. It was nice to room now, too. “I’d love to stay in the game 144 balls, 14 fours, 2 sixes
show that I could do it mentally. in some way, maybe as a batting coach to
“In 2013 I felt I’d made a journey through start with. I’ve worked with people like 106* & 115* v Glamorgan
Ashes cricket. You grow up with Botham’s Neal Abberley and Graham Gooch who County Championship, June 9-12
Ashes and you want one day to be the guy just love the game and love passing on 248 balls, 12 fours; 164 balls, 17 fours
who makes that impact. Cooky did it in information and helping people. I can
’11, Fred [Flintoff ] did it in ’05. And for one see myself going down that route. I’m a 172 v Kent
series I wanted to be that guy. The 2013 cricket lover and that would give me a lot County Championship, June 20-23
series was me at the top of my game – I of pleasure.” 282 balls, 24 fours
scored runs in pressure situations and That all sounds a plausible future but
managed to make an impact.” surely the coaching badges can wait. The 131 v Northants
Bell says that he enjoyed watching last world wants more montages of Ian Bell T20 Blast, July 20
winter’s Ashes, despite the result, having cover drives. 62 balls, 11 fours, 7 sixes
BELL ON... World Cups

When I started it felt, rightly or wrongly, that
The future of England’s Test side
It’s hard now to bat long periods of time. You’re
if you won a Test series then the white-ball playing six games in April and May and we’re
The 2010/11 Ashes
The best moment from a team perspective
was that final Test in Sydney in 2011. It’s Trotty’s
final year this year so we’ve been talking a fair
bit about it. I can still vividly see that dressing
series was irrelevant. We played 50-over
cricket quite similarly to Test cricket – a bit
harder with one or two different players.
Over time 50-over is now closer to T20. In all
three of the World Cups I played in we made
not using heavy rollers so pitches become
dented if they’re a bit soft. When I started you
knew that if you got through the first part of the
season you could cash in later. Guys like James
Vince – good, good players – are playing on
room when we won. What do I see? A lot of last-minute changes. We were going into wickets where you know there’s a ball with your
cigar smoke. Andy Flower was trying to get World Cups with guys who had played five name on it. We’re asking guys in Test matches
everyone together and I couldn’t even see or six games. It didn’t seem there was much to bat four sessions or to leave the ball well
him really. I remember a feeling of relief. To planning. I just hope that doesn’t happen but they’re playing on wickets that are a world
know you’ve conquered something was pretty this time because we’re building something away. We need to get back guys scoring double
special. That will always be No.1 for me. special. The 2013 Champions Trophy, when hundreds and bowlers bowling on flat wickets
we reached the final, was the peak of that so we can identify the next Test players. I fully
side whereas other teams were building for get why T20 is slap-bang in the middle of the
the World Cup. summer. But even just bringing the heavy roller
back and trying to emulate Test cricket will help
us find who can make the next step up.
www.wisden.com 27
SPORTING
B e s tRST POLYMATHS
N D W O
A All cricketers want to excel in other arenas; some are more
equipped than others
WO R D S P H
I L WA L K E R
THE BEST…
Denis Compton – football Jeff Wilson – rugby
Middlesex and Arsenal, the middle order and The so-called ‘Double All Black’ who scored 44 unseemly face-off with ‘Jeff Brazier’, the
the right wing; Compton was a sporting cavalier tries for the All Blacks, Wilson also found time one off the lottery ads.
in an age when you could be such a thing. The to play four ODIs, with his final match in 2005
great batsman actually only played 54 times for coming 12 years after his first caps. A hard-hitting Mike Gatting – football
Arsenal, but his time with the club straddled the all-rounder, he would no doubt have had a Gatting, brother of former Brighton stopper
war and was sufficient to win an FA Cup and two successful international cricket career, but rugby Steve, was a decent young goalie who was
leagues, in 1938 and 1948. was always going to claim him. briefly on Arsenal’s radar and had a trial with
Bill Alley – boxing
Alley, Somerset’s Aussie-born all-rounder
between 1957 and 1968 who later stood in
10 Tests, possessed “the broad shoulders
CB Fry – everything
Charles Burgess Fry was a strange kind of genius.
Academically gifted, a stylish writer, drop dead
gorgeous, and a sporting polymath par excellence,
QPR, only to be told he was somewhat too short
and, well, ‘thick-set’ to be a keeper.
Ian Botham – football

No one’s suggesting Beefy didn’t possess a good
appearance of a prizefighter” according to the he was nonetheless susceptible to bouts of crushing touch for a big man, but in those marauding days
writer David Foot, and with good reason: as a kid depression and paranoia and ended up in thrall to as Scunthorpe’s rambunctious reserve centre-
he went 28 bouts unbeaten as a welterweight, Hitler. As a sportsman, however, Fry was a double half, it was primarily Botham’s immense self-belief
fighting once a month for a small purse before, international at cricket and football, the joint-holder that got him through. Making 11 appearances
in his words, the “betting boys” started moving in of the world long jump record, and a brilliant sprinter for The Iron between 1979 and 1985, as well as
and he was “ordered to lie down” at a designated who would almost certainly have won a medal at the a handful of turnouts for Yeovil Town, Botham’s
moment midway through one of his fights. He left Athens Olympics in 1896. John Arlott described him dalliance with the beautiful game never really got
the trade in disgust. as “probably the most variously gifted Englishman of beyond the first date stage, although for Scunny
any age”, and it’s a line that stands up to this day. themselves, it was a marketing dream.
Craig Kieswetter – golf
After suffering an eye injury that caused him to Andrew Flintoff – boxing
retire from cricket in his prime, Craig Kieswetter THE WORST… Fair play to Fred, he’s not been idle since finishing
turned to the sport they all want to master: Dominic Cork – ice skating with cricket. The most audacious of all his post-
golf. He took some lessons with Nick Faldo’s Ambitiously triple-piking in the vague direction career moves has to be taking on the sweet
old coach David Leadbetter, entered a few of a bandwagon marked ‘Ex Cricketer Turned science. Granted a licence from the British Boxing
tournaments, and moved through the ranks into Talent Show Behemoth’, the sequined seamer Board of Control, his pro career lasted all of four
the world’s top 2,000. He reached a high of found there was no room next to Goughie, Ramps rounds against a fellow novice called Richard
No.1,836 before the putting travails kicked in, and and the rest. His efforts on ITV’s Dancing On Dawson (not that one). Though Flintoff won the
he jacked it in to breed and train horses. Ice failed to convince the public that Cork was bout, and nailed his walk-on with Roll With It,
about to morph from Kevin Dean into Christopher, the event was greeted with derision by much of
and after finishing in the bottom two, he was the boxing fraternity, with pro boxer Jane Couch
booted off by his fellow contestants following an calling it a “laughing stock” and Olympic boxer
Khalid Yafai labelling it “embarrassing”.
28 WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY | MARCH 2017

the
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£1.50 Issue 260:
Friday, February 9, 2018
£1.50
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Friday, FebruaIssue 261:
CRICKET
ry 16, 2018
C RICKET
paper out EVER Y Friday
match to village green
From Test IZZY
I’M BACK
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From Test Y Friday
match to
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WESTBURY
Jones eyein GO!
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Even star players
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GOUGH: THE ULTIeMAT
need to be given
TBUR
in today’s T20 mark et time to shine...
pages 12-13
Pringle: Not
How cric
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Legend worth a fortun
page 19
paper
learn
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page 9
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Nixon: County oversea once had for finals Mitchell: Our int – P1
It’s red fo
9
have the
Pringle: Jofra Archer won’te Hick faced don’t have the impact they page 23 way to suppor game mu
t Universitystcric
find a
page 5
same problems that Graem
danger a r
page 16
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Big Ben’s
page 20
finally got s
Adil quit
YOUR WEEKLY CRICKET READ!
the Kiwis s
By Chris Stock
s with Yorkshire
in his sight
ADIL Rash season it appear is only for
the 2018
id
tively called has effec- year-old will s unlikely the 29- somethdecision to
make but
Test caree time on his cricket again
ever play first-cla ing I felt it’s
r ss “If I was to goI had to do.
Yorkshire after telling home 50-over World there is a red ball
given
back
he early in the to playing
ing to play is unwill- and a World T20 the year Cup in 2019
inside me would season, a bit
cricket this red-ball Yorkshire release after. have
summer. confirming: d a statement just playing because said, ‘I’m
In what “Rashid I had to make I have to’ but
could
selection by the ECB following
his worrying blow be seen as a approached director of recently say, ‘no, I can’t that decision and
arrest in September, had
initially game in this to the first-class Martyn Moxon to outline cricket motions’. It’s just go through the
his plans
By Chris Stocks been named in England’s the
Ashes spinner has country, the leg- for the forthcoming campai finished not me saying
I’m
then England playerbecome the first
These new terms gn. saying with red ball, it’s just me
to squad for Australia and
BEN STOKES is likely in missed to sign a limited and the were accepte
d
this summer
I’m going to
ODIs that followed, but
CLUB, COUNTY, COUNTRY -

join up with England on the
overs only contrac - Rashid club will now work with concentrate on white
the whole tour as he waited Others Englant for his club. to facilitat where that takes ball and see
New Zealand next week Crown Prosecution Service he
to
could now follow d stars who
with a review e his request,
Although me.”
of the situatio
after his court appearance on whether suit include anticip Yorkshire
on Tuesday to answer
a make a decision Buttler, limited Jos autumnated to take place in n granted Rashid’s request have
would be charged or not. Morgan, Alex -overs captain Eoin .” the said: “From ,
charge of affray. It means he has hardly played Hales Rashid, my point of Moxon
Willey. and David Englan who is current disapp view,
ly with Adil’s ointing but it’s obviou it’s
ecial
The all-rounder has not played Set to return: Ben
Stokes
last September, with his
incident
for his country since the in late ready sinceaction coming during a brief Rashid played d’s T20
Zealand, said: squad in New need decision,” he said. sly
The hope is he will be fit,
County Sp
only the last of his “It’s “We
outside a Bristol nightclub for the start of stint of limited-overs cricket with Tests against
India in Chenna ten coming and to see for this season play
our players
criminal and available
CRICKET COVERED!
to be able
September that led to this five-match ODI series Canterbury in New Zealand back December in
2016, finishin i in this moment in how it goes. At obviou all three formats. Adil
to
absence England’s Caps in
case and his prolonged against the Black in December. career with 38 g my sly
wickets at 42.78.his feel that white-b career, I just that at the feels he can’t achieve
from international cricket. from Hamilton on February 25. Despite that, England
coach Now he will where I am best all cricket is
g so Abell
momen
Stokes had his suspension if
That could be scuppered he Trevor Bayliss indicated at the on limited-overs focus exclusi “You get the t.
vely “England weresuited. odd specialist Nailing colour
Tom’s lookinVa charge

Cricket
the England & Wales who has indicated time of Stokes’ selection
for the although his formats county but
initial white-b , and decision I made happy with the odate set-ups can’t accomm
and was Stokes, mast: Adil s to the
Board lifted last month for his intends to plead not guilty to the New Zealand tour he is likely to all deal me and are backing specialists at - concentratiRashid is
expected to be available match charge, is due in court again later come straight back into the one- fully. It wasn’t in this momen on playin ng solely
any easy in time. Whether that will happent
t’sughan ‘stag
for Somerse
country’s T20 Tri-Series this month. who beat Australia 4-1 the future, we’ll cricket forg white-ball
against New Zealand next put on
week. his day team, Engla
Indeed, depending on how wait and see.” PICTURE: Getty nd
nell gered’ by Trent

away in their last series.
However, his return was that legal situation unfolds it is “It’s a good problem to
have, Images
Martin Bick
after
hold less than 24 hours he might not be and he might not fit back in TRENT BRIDGE
Bridge’s om
it was possible will not host
Sam Robson
ECB decision when to travel at all for the straight away, but I think everyone Ashes Test an not
have to available in 2023 and
former withchosen for the future series
l Hogan ission
confirmed he would tour, which also includes
two Tests
knows he is coming back
in the England
Michae fro
attend his first court appearance and ends on April 3.
captain the five games
m Ashes big
the selectio
Plus expert opinions from:

stage,” said Bayliss. Vaughan is “stagge Michael Lord’s,
Jamie Porter
well, team at some being n process than
in Bristol on the same day. yet to However, all being their red”. the Oval, Edgbas held at on-field
“That keeps everyone on The Notting action. the but I guess
stage
While the ECB have have their star all- Old Trafford ton and
travel England will toes, trying to score runs to
and where Austral hamshire ground, . The 43-yea into it…” While
cricket doesn’t
come 2024
finalise the 26-year-old’s Test vice-captain
outcome rounder and camp by next putting their name forward win since 2001 ia have failed to 2019, That’s the same
as will be social media: r-old posted on Ashes missing with
plans as they wait for the a back in their they are not the ones “I
just seven timesand tasted victory Englanand Vaughan, who in that Trent Bridge am staggered the domest Test, Trent Bridgeout on an limited oversfour Tests and six
there is make sure will host there. games to be and that gives
of Tuesday’s hearing, aside when he in 22 Tests, was d to a famous led hasn’t got an ic played us sustainability.
to fly out weekend.
contingency plan for him initial Stokes, who was
made who get pushed in 2005, believe Ashes win Ashes Test in 2023. Purely from 2020, One-Day Cup final “Everbody
wants the Ashes,
cricket reason taking over Notting
to New Zealand after his
Peterssion comes back.” s there’s more s, you could on Lord’s. from executi hamshire we’ve
of Glenn Maxwell’s progre

unavailable for international page 15 to Trent Bridge chief here had some great games
Hayter: Ha
● Derek Pringle ● tPeter Hayter
court date. say ve Lisa
“We are really Pursehouse said: enjoyed
s are right to be critical
is England’s The so of course
Gabba, interna stadium will we would have
Marcus North: Aussie ve DRS refe tional cricket see pleased having
from 2020- allocation we’ve got. with the there are only it back. When
rrals becom four Test matche We have
s in the period two are in London
five matche
s and
e jus a ploy to affe lot of compe
tition.”
, that leaves
a
ct opposition
● Marcus North ● Paul Nixon ● Chris ?
Stocks page 24
● Tim Wigmore ● Adam Collins
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SANGAKKARA AND THE TITANS OF CRICKET
No.8 SHOAIB AKHTAR
WCM’s columnist on the fastest of them all, and his
unique approach to playing him
F
acing fast bowling, and I mean really fast bowling, is about technique, focus,
mindset and courage. Courage plays such a large part; if you talk to any batsman
about fear, the whole point is to face up to the quicks despite having fear. It’s not
about the absence of fear, but about being able to conquer it.
With Shoaib Akhtar, that was definitely the case. He was stocky, strongly
made, built like a tank, and his entire focus was to bowl as quickly as
possible. It was seriously intimidating. He was asked once
why he needed such a long run-up and he said that a
KUMAR jumbo jet needs a long runway to take off.
SANGAKKARA The first time I faced him was in Pakistan, in Lahore, in
the final of the Asian Test Championship in 2000. I was
Former Sri Lanka facing Waqar Younis, more towards the end of his
cricketer, compiler career, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Sami and this
I L LU ST R AT I O N JA M E S H U S BA N D S
of 63 international Shoaib Akhtar. We won the toss, put them into
centuries; the fifth- bat, and skittled them out for 230-odd. I was
highest Test run- just putting my pads on when, to the first ball of
scorer of all time, our innings, Marvan Atapattu was caught at fine-
and the fastest in leg hooking a Waqar Younis bouncer, so I was
history to 12,000 straight in and had to face the next five balls of
Test runs Waqar’s over.
@KumarSanga2 In the next over, I was at the non-striker’s end
and I saw Shoaib Akhtar mark his run-up and
come charging in to Sanath Jayasuriya. The first
ball was hit over cover for four. So was the second.
The third ball was a bumper. Sanath just about got
out of the way, it went high over his head, and flew
over the keeper Rashid Latif’s head too, one-bounce
for four. I was at the other end thinking, ‘What have
www.wisden.com 31
TITANS OF CRICKET
FACTFILE
SHOAIB
AKHTAR
BORN August 13, 1975, Rawalpindi
TEAMS Pakistan, Agriculture Development

Bank of Pakistan, Asia XI, Chittagong
Division, Durham, ICC World XI, Islamabad
Leopards, Khan Research Labs, Kolkata
Knight Riders, Pakistan International Airlines,
Rawalpindi, Somerset, Surrey, Worcestershire
CAREER 46 Tests, 178 wickets at 25.69, 12

five-wicket hauls, 2 10-wicket matches, strike
rate 45.7, best of 6-11
163 ODIs, 247 wickets at 24.97, 4 five-wicket
hauls, economy rate 4.76, best of 6-16
15 T20Is, 19 wickets at 22.73, economy rate
8.15, best of 3-38
d Bowled the fastest recorded delivery in

history, 100.2mph, at the 2003 World Cup
d Castled Tendulkar with the first delivery

he bowled to him, in the Asian Test
Championship match at Kolkata in 1999
d Took 17 wickets against England in the
2005/06 series as Pakistan won 2-0
d Won 10 Man of the Match awards in his

international career
d Sent home from Pakistan’s 2005 tour of

Australia for alleged poor attitude
“
I got myself into?’ It was a jarring experience
facing up to that kind of pace.
But it wasn’t just the pace. He didn’t have a EVERY BATSMAN IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO INTIMIDATION. YOU NEVER WANT TO ADMIT
pure fast bowler’s action where you can see the THAT YOU’RE ACTUALLY AFRAID, BUT IT DOES HAPPEN TO YOU
ball from his hand and into his delivery. You’d
lose sight of it because his hand would go right
behind his body. When you take Brett Lee, who one of those fast bowlers who seemed almost knew that he would tire and his pace would
was as quick as Shoaib, you saw the ball all the larger than the game, and not just the game but drop, and he would almost seem disinterested
way through. It’s the same with Dale Steyn. They larger than life: this flamboyant fast bowler who at times when he couldn’t break through as
both have very pure, very rhythmic beautiful cared for nothing other than bowling as fast he wanted to. The challenge was not to score
actions, but Shoaib had this whole unorthodox as he could. It was a beautiful sight watching runs but last the time that it took to tire him
part to his run-up, his gather, his sheer effort and him run in almost from the boundary, grunting, out. But then other times he would come
the way his body and hand would obscure the his thick matted hair flying all over the place, back, take a wicket or two, and he’d get into
ball from you. It was terrifying at times. sleeves rolled up to his forearms delivering this zone where tiredness didn’t matter. When
He would swing the ball into you and once in a thunderbolt after thunderbolt. Shoaib was on song, you had doubt and
while he would nip it away from the left-hander. The one chink in his armour was of course fear in your mind, for sure. It was such a fun,
He had a deadly yorker with the new ball – his fitness. It would be a ploy of ours to just enjoyable challenge to try and conquer it.
we’ve seen him knock over Sachin Tendulkar survive that first three-over burst. If we didn’t Every batsman is susceptible to intimidation.
first ball with such a delivery. I think Shoaib was get out and he hadn’t taken any wickets we You never want to admit that you’re actually afraid,

Kumar Sangakkara
but it does happen to you. I once spoke to Sir

Vivian Richards, who always wore a cap to fast
bowlers and they would bounce him, even his own
teammates in the nets. He said to me, “I knew in
myself I could get scared, I knew I was going to get
hit but my thing was never to show it, I would never
give anything away to the bowlers, my job was to
just keep my calm, keep my cool, keep my focus
and get on with doing what I did best”.
It was never an absence of fear, it was the ability
to function with and conquer that fear, to surmount
it. My adjustment to Shoaib was that I actually
batted out of my crease to him. Forget the pace,
it was the swing that got to me, batting at three,
that really used to annoy me. So batting out of my
crease was one way that I found I could deal with
him. When I played Mitchell Johnson I used to bat
with both feet in my crease because he didn’t get
a lot of swing, especially when I played in Australia,
but in the subcontinent, facing Shoaib, it was the
opposite; getting closer to him was an option for
me but it was always a challenge.
The challenge was wonderful, not just for
me but the whole dressing room – watching
batsmen try to deal with him was just
unbelievable. He was remarkable to watch and
so good for the game.
SANGA ON: “
ENGLAND V
I THOUGHT MOEEN BOWLED BEAUTIFULLY AGAINST INDIA IN THE LAST TWO ODIS,
HE TOOK 19 WICKETS AGAINST THEM THE LAST TIME INDIA WERE IN ENGLAND, AND
I DON’T THINK THEY SHOULD LOOK BEYOND HIM
INDIA TEST
SERIES doesn’t give you the same amount of comfort
that one-day cricket does. The batsmen are
love watching and I think is a fantastic batman, is
just coming back in, and then there’s Kohli who’s
A
under no pressure to score continuously against been bursting at the seams to score hundreds
t this initial stage I would give the you, they’re not chasing anything and so the in England. That’s going to be a huge plus for
advantage to England, because pressure is always on the bowler, and I don’t India, that aspect of motivation, one just hopes
of the experience of their bowling think Rashid is comfortable when that happens. that motivation doesn’t become desperation and
attack and the fact that they are a Moeen Ali is a much better spinner than makes him want it so much that it actually works
more settled side. Dom Bess; overall he has a lot more to offer against him.
As ever, the spearheads are Broad and the English Test side. I thought he bowled I think Kohli should stay at No.4. It’s a case
Anderson. How they set the tone and how they beautifully against India in the last two ODIs, of figuring out a batting strategy that works for
impact the Indian batting in their first spells is he took 19 wickets against them the last time them, and understanding that in England, batting
going to be key. If the likes of Kohli are going to India were in England, and I don’t think they in certain conditions is very challenging. Being
be successful in the middle order, then it’s vital should look beyond him. I think they need to able to absorb the pressure when the bowlers
that the top order blunt their early spells. understand that he is their best spinner and are bowling well, and then capitalising when the
England’s spin options are less clear-cut. Adil not just a batsman who can bowl spin. I think advantage is with the batsmen, that is going to
Rashid bowls well in the one-day context, but any spinner that plays should be picked for his be really key.
bowling in four-day or Test cricket is very different. bowling first and then his batting second.
You have to be absolutely accurate and you have For India, finding a settled batting line-up Kumar Sangakkara’s column is sponsored by
to bowl line and length for long periods. You can’t is important. Cheteshwar Pujara has been Red Dot Tours, the Sri Lanka Travel Specialists
bowl all your variations over after over, your field struggling for Yorkshire; Ajinkya Rahane, who I www.reddottours.com
www.wisden.com 33
LETTERS
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LEFT: Dhoni
nurdles another
one to mid-wicket
as the required
run-rate rises
c LETTER OF THE MONTH
THE DHONI GO-SLOW believe that Dhoni was trying his best to win the game.
I subscribe to both your magazine and the notion that And neither did most of the crowd. Whatever his
we cannot get complacent about the popularity of reasons, it left a bitter taste in the mouth and took the
cricket (or should I say decreasing popularity). shine off an otherwise beautiful day.
I live in Belgium and enjoy reading your magazine every This certainly won’t encourage my 13-year-old son to
month – interesting articles and a ‘taste of home’. I am get excited about the game or me to spend another few
now travelling back by Eurostar from London after a day hundred pounds coming over from Belgium again.
at Lord’s watching England v India in the second ODI.
Whilst I love spending a day at the classy home of Ben Lewis, via email
cricket, I felt the need (for the first time ever) to write a
letter about my disappointment/frustration at what I saw
as dishonest behaviour from professional cricketers.
MS Dhoni in particular showed no intention of trying BUTTLER DELIVERS
to win the game, coming in with just four Indian wickets Phil Walker’s interview with Jos Buttler (WCM June
down and a run-rate still within reach. He managed 37 issue) is just excellent! A glimpse into the mind of a
off 59 balls, playing defensively and demoralising an cricketing genius, highlighting how critical he is to
increasingly sceptical and frustrated crowd. the future of Test cricket.
No matter what Kohli may say to defend his colleague @freya_ryder, via Twitter
(“everyone has a bad day at the office”), I cannot

Letters
REACHING FOR THE SKY DON’T FORGET KEN

In response to Jonathan Liew’s column on the changing landscape of cricket Following Steve Foster’s letter (WCM July issue) and the article on
broadcasting (WCM June issue) the history of overseas players that embraced Essex (WCM May
issue), I feel one more overseas player should be mentioned in
I think Sky’s coverage has improved dramatically this summer, especially on relation to the county.
the ODIs. Partly because the BT Sport coverage over the winter was a lot His batting average in the County Championship may not have
fresher, and younger. It has a lot more energy. Maybe BBC Sport can tempt been as high as the Aussies Stuart Law or Mark Waugh, partly
Greg James to do the City100 in two years’ time… because half of his career in England was on uncovered wickets,
but South African cricketer Ken McEwan, who will be remembered
@realRLJ, via Twitter by anyone now over 50 (I am 55!), deserves to be mentioned in
the same breath as the above pair and Keith Boyce.
Feature Title
THE
Top Six
McEwan scored more than 40 centuries in the County
Championship over 12 seasons (1974-1985) for Essex and was a
No.2
As English cricket is beginning member of three Championship-winning teams and five one-day-
to pull apart, its broadcast cup-winning teams.
landscape looks poised to follow
JONATHAN After Stuart Broad and James Anderson’s
impressive and
box, Jonathan
He was a consummate stroke-maker, and the fact that Essex
LIEW contrasting recent stints in the commentary
Wisden Cricket Monthly
columnist and chief sports
writer for The Independent
Liew sees a divide developing between
demand to know as much as possible,
consumers who
and those who simply replaced him with Allan Border for the 1986 season demonstrated
want to be entertained
how highly McEwan was rated by the county.

@jonathanliew
Partly because fellow South Africans such as opening batsman

S
there is a captive
Broad on low six figures, and so they know
omehow, it feels all wrong. Stuart the
Test Match audience that thirsts for depth. Occasionally
Sky Sports, James Anderson on (has
deluge of data can feel a touch gratuitous
Special; both commentating on England’s of the ‘batsman
Not anyone yet worked out the point
recent ODI series against Australia. is rich
Barry Richards plus all-rounders Mike Procter and Clive Rice had
quite the opposite, in reaction time’ statistic?). But its commentary
because either did a poor job – and detailed, its documentaries
sumptuous, its
more sense the
fact – but because it made so much Masterclasses so good that they
really
other way round.
and pained deserve a Masterclass of their
Anderson, who with his curt quips
“
own, which would presumably
more high-profile roles in county cricket, and the fact that South
still mourning the
demeanour resembles a fisherman involve Ian Ward interviewing
natural fit for the
loss of his fourth wife at sea, is a himself in front of a giant
strike up an
Sky box, where you imagine he would touchscreen, pre-loaded
By contrast POSSIBLE
instant comedy double act with Bumble. REVOLUTION , IT’S ENTIRELY
of middle with Ian Ward’s greatest GREASES UP FOR ITS 100-BALL
AS THE GAME LATHERS AND
Africa were excluded from Test cricket because of apartheid,

Broad, the polite, well-spoken sweetheart CHARACTER ISE THE AIRWAVES:
England with the grinning earnestness
of a lower touchscreen analyses. N MAY EVENTUALLY COME TO
his Duke of The problem is that THAT A SIMILAR POLARISATIO STYLES OF CRICKET COMMENTAR
Y
sixth-former who has just completed Sky’s demographic – the BETWEEN THE NICHE AND POPULAR
wants to tell you all
Edinburgh gold award and really knowledgeable devotee
TMS material.
about it, would appear to be born
McEwan’s abilities did not get the full coverage they deserved.
– could scarcely be less
But over time, you began to see the
logic of it. Broad, a focus on all-format commentators
congruent to the one Sky may be good, but TMS is fun,
despite an understandably nervous
start, showed probably the TMS style that looks like Ricky Ponting, as comfortable
English cricket is trying ABOVE: James and when you’ve staked the game’s
enough to suggest he will make a
terrific analyst one
Anderson, pictured best equipped to navigate English deconstructing a trigger movement
to seduce. The ECB is future on winning over a generation
day. Anderson, meanwhile, slotted
nicely into TMS’s cricket’s brave new future. It is, after John during a Test match as he is poking
chasing new markets here while more in thrall to John Cena than
McEwan is a name that is not often remembered now, but he

the
more conversational style, an understated
deadpan foil all, still where the majority of people did. fun at Mark Waugh’s shirt during
now, and given that commentating Crawley, that counts more than it
to Dan Norcross’s fantastical flights
of verbal fancy. in this country get their live cricket, Big Bash.
serious consideration for Sky Sports Which is not to say, of course,
I wonder, too, if this parting of the
ways may and owes its wide appeal not to The point is that just as English
was given to scrapping last summer, that the new 100-ball competition so
offer us a glimpse of the wider divergence
within
impressed recently a granular interest in the game’s cricket is beginning to pull apart,
the lbw law for ‘The should be based on TMS. Indeed, to
of English cricket deeper truths – anyone who tells its broadcast landscape is poised
was a class act and combined well with the likes of fellow Essex
cricket broadcasting. The history Hundred’ on the grounds on Test Match you can almost guarantee that it
is essentially one of divides – gentleman and player, you they listen to TMS for the quality follow: between those who demand
that it might be too Special will end up sounding like something
village green and colliery, state
school and private, of analysis is probably having you to know as much as possible,
confusing for new viewers to else entirely: probably some all-star
red-ball and white. And as the game
lathers and on – but to the patter, the whimsy, and those who simply want to be
understand, I think we can safely ABOVE: Agnew, team of Zoella, David Gower, James
greases up for its 100-ball revolution,
it’s entirely that nice young man Charles Dagnall, entertained. And in their different
players Keith Fletcher, Graham Gooch and Brian Hardie in giving

assume that pitch maps and Mitchell and Corden and Alex from Love Island.
possible that a similar polarisation
may eventually the sense that at any given moment, ways, you wonder if Broad and
angles of seam deviation are Samson in the Or maybe, in the same way that a foot
between, for nobody in the commentary box is Anderson have already planted
come to characterise the airwaves: unlikely to be of much interest TMS commentary the rise of one-day cricket placed
a
want of better terms, the niche and
popular styles of more than eight seconds away from be in opposing camps.
to them either. box premium on all-rounders, there will
cricket commentary. potentially dissolving into guffaws.
Paradoxically, then, given
the county enough runs for their capable attack to defend.

firmly in the
Sky, for all their qualities, belong its advanced years, it is
barely breach the
former camp. Audience numbers www.wisden.com 15
| JULY 2018
14 WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY
David Rimmer, Hertford Heath
STEELY FOCUS
In response to Felix
White’s interview with
comedian Mark Steel
(WCM June issue)
I remembered the other

day I played against Mark
on the day Nadal played
Federer in the best
Wimbledon final ever. He
was deliberately fielding
on the boundary so he
could listen to the radio.
He then tried to drag tea
out to watch as much of
the game as possible.
@thom_dorke, via
Twitter
www.wisden.com 35
RE:VIEW
HARSHER SANCTIONS
FOR BALL-TAMPERING
After the ICC’s announcement that they are increasing
the severity of sanctions against anyone found guilty of
altering the condition of the ball – with bans stretching to
six Tests and 12 ODIs for what is now a Level 3 offence –
we ask if the problem is finally being addressed
MIKE PROCTER LEFT: Cameron

Former South Africa all-rounder and ICC Bancroft puts a
match referee piece of sandpaper
I think it was absolutely the right decision down his trousers
to increase the length of bans for ball- and sends the
tampering. I really do. It’s a part of the game which has game into moral
crept in and hasn’t been sorted out and it’s good to see meltdown
the ICC acting on it. I think it’s a great thing that it’s all
come to a head and now let’s get on with enjoying the
game. I know some people have been critical of the ICC
https://t.me/njmpdfall for not acting sooner but I think that’s quite harsh. I’ve
worked for the ICC and it is only coordinating what all the
countries want to implement. That’s really what the ICC
is. I think Dave Richardson has done a fantastic job as
chief executive. He’s always under the radar but he just
seems to make things work. I don’t think he gets enough
recognition. If anyone tries ball-tampering now they’d
have to be bloody stupid, what with all the publicity that’s
been going around. With those increased bans in place
I really think it will put a stop to it and the players must
realise that.
ED KEMP
Digital Editor, wisden.com
Whether or not cricket is better or worse
off for a stricter position on ball-tampering
is actually a separate question. What was
required was greater clarity. Previously there seemed, in
some minds at least, a tacit acknowledgement that certain
practices were a part of the game and the fairly minimal
punishments were the game paying lip-service to them
as cheating only when someone was unlucky enough to
get caught. However stupid they were, it was perhaps
understandable, in this context, for Smith and co. to be
taken aback at the reaction to their misdemeanours. Now,
the Cape Town scandal and the ICC’s new sanctions have
made it crystal clear to players: don’t do it, or it’ll seriously What are your views?
Let us know on Twitter
affect your career. That greater clarity, at least, has to be a @wisdencricket or email
helpful thing. [email protected]

JOHN STERN
WCM editor-at-large
It’s an inevitable reaction to the extraordinary
“
IT’S AN INEVITABLE REACTION TO THE
EXTRAORDINARY STORM OF OUTRAGE AND
storm of outrage and opprobrium that was
heaped on the Australian team after Cape
Town. The existing sanctions were probably too lenient but
the new ones seem quite harsh. And a major part of the
issue in Cape Town was the way that the players lied about
their actions, first to the umpires and then to the public. Ball-
OPPROBRIUM THAT WAS HEAPED ON THE
AUSTRALIAN TEAM AFTER CAPE TOWN. THE
EXISTING SANCTIONS WERE PROBABLY TOO
LENIENT BUT THE NEW ONES SEEM QUITE HARSH
JOHN STERN
tampering is against the laws of the game, though, as we
know, it has been common practice in some form or other
since forever. But like drugs in sport, sharp practice doesn’t
suddenly turn you into a world beater. I think there are more VITHUSHAN
insidious forms of unsportsmanlike conduct, like abusing or ABOVE: Faf du EHANTHARAJAH
intimidating opponents and officials. Plessis has twice CricBuzz English correspondent
been found guilty File ball-tampering next to ‘Things we don’t like
of altering the to see but actually do like to see’, right next to
ADAM COLLINS condition of the ‘Players squaring up to each other’ and other such hijinks. For
WCM Australia correspondent ball but has never starters, I think the sentence, if there is to be one this severe,
Matter of time, wasn’t it? Sure, it took the missed a Test as a should be around time – months, say – rather than six Tests or
sandpaper fiasco to really land the topic On consequence 12 ODIs. It’s a penal system that can be exploited very easily.
Broadway but it always struck me as odd that But, I suppose the deterrent is in the severity and therein lies a
there was any room for latitude in the first place. When Faf du sadder state of affairs. The method to get a ball to reverse swing,
Plessis was pinged for the offence in Hobart two years ago, even by legal means, requires a level of care that, to the average
there was definitely a debate to be had about the premise viewer, could come across as highly inappropriate. Knowing that,
of changing one’s saliva through sugar but there was no don’t be surprised to see television producers carrying greater
doubt that he had done what was alleged. Quelle surprise: sway with the home side. One of the minor unedifying parts of
he played the next Test after the appeal (negotiation might ‘sandpaper-gate’ was the nod from the South African players to
be a better word for it) process had run its race. It was a clear the director’s box, via a former Proteas captain, to keep an eye
price signal to prospective tamperers that the greater risk was on the ball at all times when Australia were in the field. They
embarrassment than any meaningful sanction. Now, with the were right to, of course. But consider the floodgates open for
ICC’s timely change, the balance shifts back the other way. a lorry-load of “He said, she said” nonsense. Heck, no doubt
After seeing first-hand what happened in Cape Town, that’s we’ll get plenty of it in this England-India series. Along with less
surely for the best. reverse swing. Because that’s what we want, right?
www.wisden.com 37
THE
50 BEST
YOUNG
What are your views?
Let us know on Twitter
@wisdencricket or email
[email protected]
PLAYERS
IN THE
WORLD
W
ith fresh young talent We have prioritised players who
surfacing seemingly by have already broken through on the
the day in a plethora of international stage, but also tried to make
competitions across the room for those who we believe have
world, and emerging nations producing exceptional raw talent but don’t yet have
more exciting cricketers than ever the numbers to prove it. And we tended
before, putting a list like this together to give more weight to performances in
has never been more challenging. To Test cricket because, in our view, that
ensure no one slipped through the remains the premier format.
net, we asked our stable of overseas
correspondents to nominate the best The only stipulation was the players
they have seen in their respective had to be aged 23 or under on August
countries, then condensed that long 1, 2018, and they had to be male.
list into this final 50 – which includes We’ll be counting down the best
cricketers from 13 different nations – young female cricketers in the world
which we reveal over the next 19 pages. in our following issue.

50 KEEMO PAUL
AGE: 20
THE NEXT: Kenny Benjamin
The burly Guyanese seamer is probably still
best known for the Mankad dismissal he effected against
Zimbabwe in the 2016 Under 19 World Cup but Paul has shown
enough promise since to suggest that episode won’t be the
lasting memory of him. A genuine swing bowler of the type the
West Indies have struggled to produce in recent years, he took
a wicket with his first legal delivery in international cricket after
receiving a late call-up to the World Cup Qualifier in March and
averages 17 at first-class level. Paul took three wickets on Test
debut against Bangladesh last month.
49 HASEEB HAMEED
AGE: 21
COUNTRY: England
THE NEXT: Michael Atherton
Anyone who witnessed Hameed’s Test debut at
Rajkot in November 2016, when he batted for almost four hours
for his 82, and then hit an unbeaten 59 with a broken finger two
matches later in Chandigarh, will be scratching their heads at his
slump since. A player who looked so at ease as an international
cricketer while still in his teens has somehow found himself
languishing in Lancashire’s seconds. Incredibly, he averages
8.38 from eight Championship matches this season, with a high
ABOVE: Anshy
Rath has passed
47 ANSHY RATH
AGE: 20
score of 31 – hardly numbers to justify a place in this list. But the 50 seven times in COUNTRY: Hong Kong
natural ability he showed while making his first steps as a Test 16 ODI knocks THE NEXT: Moeen Ali
opener doesn’t just desert a player. “He’s going to be a future Hong Kong-born and educated at Harrow, the
star,” said Virat Kohli on that 2016 tour. We’re sticking with that. left-handed strokemaker is the leading light in a fast-improving
national team who defeated Afghanistan at the World Cup
Qualifier in March. Rath struck a classy 65 in that victory, skilfully
48 TASKIN AHMED negotiating the spin of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman,
AGE: 23 and followed up with 85 in his next knock against Zimbabwe.
COUNTRY: Bangladesh An ODI batting average of 53 is a marker of Rath’s talent and
THE NEXT: Mashrafe Mortaza Middlesex have expressed a strong interest in signing him after
The right-arm quick’s star has fallen somewhat he impressed in their second XI last season.
since bursting onto the scene in 2014, a serious knee injury
and then a ban from bowling due to a suspect action halting his 46 GLENN PHILLIPS
progress, but he remains one of the most exciting fast bowlers AGE: 21
Bangladesh have produced. He’s struggled so far in Test cricket COUNTRY: New Zealand
but Taskin’s ODI strike-rate is an impressive 31.4, superior to that THE NEXT: Brendon McCullum
of Allan Donald, Shoaib Akhtar and Kagiso Rabada. A hard-hitting keeper-batsman capable of
providing McCullum-style pyrotechnics at the top of the order.
Born in South Africa before moving to New Zealand at the age
of five, Phillips was the leading scorer in the domestic T20
competition in 2016/17, hitting 116* from 57 balls for Auckland
against Central Districts in just his eighth appearance. A handful
of international T20 caps have yielded just one half-century
but he remains firmly on the Kiwi selectors’ radar ahead of next
summer’s World Cup.
www.wisden.com 39
THE50
45 LLOYD POPE
AGE: 18
COUNTRY: Australia
THE NEXT: Shane Warne
“White smoke coming from the chimney of the
Sistine Chapel,” tweeted former Australian leggie Kerry O’Keefe
during this year’s Under 19 World Cup. “Cricket has a new Pope.”
On first appearances Lloyd Pope is more Worzel Gummidge
than Shane Warne but he showed during his outlandish spell of
8-35 in the quarter-final against England – the best ever figures
in an Under 19 World Cup – that he is a rare talent with a fizzing
googly. Pope is yet to make his professional debut in any format
but Rob Key, who commentated on his haul against England,
believes all the ingredients are there to succeed at the top level.
“He has a pace that you can see working in professional cricket,”
said the Sky Sports pundit. “You can always learn control but
the ability to rip the ball as a leg-spinner, to really turn it and get
revolutions, is just a gift. We could see a lot more from him –
unfortunately, from an England point of view.”
44 SHIVAM MAVI
AGE: 19
COUNTRY: India
THE NEXT: Mohammed Shami
Mavi spearheaded India’s attack during their
imperious Under 19 World Cup campaign earlier this year,
taking nine wickets at 19 and clocking 91mph. Standing at 5ft
9in, with an open-chested action, his low trajectory has already
helped him develop a devastating yorker. Kolkata Knight
Riders splashed more than £300k on him before he’d played
a professional match and his performances in the IPL led Brett
Lee to describe him as the “future of Indian bowling”. “He has
everything,” said the former Aussie quick. “His action is beautiful 43 JOSH TONGUE
and he is a fully furnished bowler.” AGE: 20
COUNTRY: England
THE NEXT: Andrew Caddick
The Worcestershire quick was considered an
outside bet for an Ashes call-up last winter, which gives an
indication of how much he impressed in his first full season of
county cricket, when he took 47 Championship wickets at 26,
and also of his skillset. At 6ft 3in, Tongue hits the deck hard,
operates in the mid-to-high 80s and has a smooth, rhythmical
action. It hasn’t prevented him picking up injuries – he has been
ruled out until mid-August due to a stress reaction in his left foot
– but he has impressed when fit, taking match figures of 9-98
against Essex in May.
42 AFIF HOSSAIN
AGE: 18
COUNTRY: Bangladesh
THE NEXT: Tamim Iqbal
An aggressive left-handed top-order
batsman and canny off-spinner, it was Afif’s bowling which
initially made its mark when, at the age of 17, he took

Best Young Players
40 SHIMRON HETMYER
AGE: 21
THE NEXT: Larry Gomes
A cultured southpaw strokemaker from
Guyana who captained West Indies to glory at the 2016
Under 19 World Cup, scoring vital half-centuries in the
quarter- and semi-finals, the national selectors have had
to be patient with this mercurial talent. Hetmyer has a
solitary fifty from 10 Test innings but showed his quality at
the World Cup Qualifier in March, albeit against the weaker
opposition of UAE, when he hit a maiden international
century, only to then misfire for the rest of the tournament.
“He’s one hell of a talent,” said Windies coach Stuart Law.
“He has something in him.”
39 MASON CRANE
AGE: 21
COUNTRY: England
THE NEXT: Stuart MacGill
Crane’s stock has fallen a little after being
thrown in for a Test debut at the SCG last winter, Scott
Borthwick-style, and conceding 196 runs for a solitary
wicket – albeit he was unlucky to finish up with just one
scalp, having Usman Khawaja reprieved by a borderline
https://t.me/njmpdfall no-ball and seeing chances go begging as England wilted

in the heat. But while Borthwick hasn’t seen England
duty since, Stuart MacGill, a mentor of Crane’s, insists the
Hampshire leggie has the skill and temperament to prosper
at international level. “One of the big differences between
Mayso and me is he’s very resilient,” said the former Aussie
leg-spinner. “I know this guy has got what it takes to cope
5-21 on his T20 debut in the Bangladesh Premier League BELOW: Crane with a bad day. I’m a big believer in that being a real guide
– making him the youngest player to take a five-wicket has taken 77 first- [as to] whether or not a slow bowler will make the grade –
haul in the format. He has impressed with the bat at first- class wickets and and Mayso can.” Crane will have to bide his time though – a
class level, scoring four centuries in 13 innings, and was is still just 21 stress fracture to his back has ruled him out for the rest of
Bangladesh’s standout player at this year’s Under 19 World the season.
Cup. Afif has since earned a senior call-up, making his T20I
debut in February.
38 KAMLESH NAGARKOTI
AGE: 18
41 HARRY BROOK COUNTRY: India
AGE: 19 THE NEXT: Bhuvneshwar Kumar
COUNTRY: England Another star of India’s Under 19 World Cup
THE NEXT: Michael Vaughan victory, the right-arm quick caught the attention of Ian
A well-organised top-order batsman who Bishop during that tournament. “He keeps everything
is a rarity among young English players in that he looks close to the body, he has a rhythmical, smooth and
equally comfortable against seam and spin, Brook made a efficient run-up, and it helps him get the ball down
superb maiden first-class century in front of the national chief at over 140kph consistently from that whippy action,”
selector Ed Smith in May, scoring 124 on a green seamer at said the former West Indies fast bowler. A livewire in
Chelmsford in a match where no other batsman passed 50. It the field and a talented enough ball-striker to develop
was the kind of knock that gets remembered by the people into a genuine bowling all-rounder, Nagarkoti looks the
that matter. It came off the back of an attention-grabbing complete package. Like his under-19 teammate Shivam
Under 19 World Cup campaign where Brooks, who captained Mavi, he was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders at the
England, averaged 120. IPL auction but missed the season due to injury.
www.wisden.com 41
35 BLESSING MUZARABANI
AGE: 21
COUNTRY: Zimbabwe
THE NEXT: Lungi Ngidi
In a tumultuous time for Zimbabwean cricket,
Muzarabani offers genuine hope that an emerging bunch of
players can compete. At more than two metres tall, the seamer
has already made his Test debut and took 4-47 in an ODI against
Afghanistan in March’s World Cup Qualifier. “He offers some
variation to what we have,” said Heath Streak during his time as
Zimbabwe coach. “He’s an exciting prospect for the future.”
34 DARWISH RASOOLI
AGE: 18
COUNTRY: Afghanistan
THE NEXT: Mohammad Shahzad
Rasooli is Afghanistan’s great batting hope.
A muscular ball-striker, he shot to prominence with 76* in
Afghanistan’s shock Under 19 World Cup victory against Pakistan
in January. He currently boasts a three-figure List A average,
alongside a first-class average of 82.53, assisted by back-to-back
double centuries in March. Furthermore, when Afghanistan under
19s won their first Youth Asia Cup in 2017, Rasooli was the star,
finishing the tournament with 191 runs at an average of 96.
37 FINN ALLEN
AGE: 19
COUNTRY: New Zealand
33 SHAHEEN AFRIDI
AGE: 18
COUNTRY: Pakistan
THE NEXT: Wasim Akram
THE NEXT: Ross Taylor The left-arm beanpole stormed into the record
Allen burst onto the scene at this year’s Under books when he claimed 8-39 for Lahore last year, the best-ever
19 World Cup, scoring an unbeaten 115 against the West Indies figures by a Pakistani on first-class debut. Fast-tracked in classic
and 87 against England. He has also spent time in English Pakistan style to the senior team, he made his mark in the recent
club cricket: playing for Brondesbury in 2017, he smashed 275 ODI tri-series against Australia and Zimbabwe, taking the wickets
off 124 balls for the London side and averaged 40 across the of Finch, Maxwell and Short in a 45-run win at Harare. Making the
season. He duly made his first-class debut for Auckland earlier most of his 6ft 6in frame, he’s already a threat in T20, with a best
this year. of 5-4 for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League.
36 OLLIE POPE
AGE: 20 32 JOE CLARKE
COUNTRY: England AGE: 22
THE NEXT: Jonny Bairstow COUNTRY: England
People at Surrey will say they knew THE NEXT: Joe Root
all along, and in fairness England Lions were sniffing If England’s Test team are looking for a middle-
around Pope with very little record behind him. But order technician around whom all the others can play, then they
no longer is there scant evidence upon which to should turn to Joe Clarke. The unflustered way he bats in four-day
build the case that the innovative right-hander will be cricket is not shorthand for limited shot-making – he already has
promoted to the senior team before too long. He currently four hundreds in the short forms for Worcestershire, and rattles
averages 66 in first-class cricket after hitting three industrious along at a strike-rate of 160 in T20 cricket. But it’s this desire for
centuries this summer, including an unbeaten 158 against statement hundreds that marks him out ahead of England’s other
Yorkshire in the first week of the season, while his creativity as young batsmen. With 12 hundreds from 54 matches, including a
a short-form shotmaker in the Buttler mould is already obvious. superb 177* in a pink-ball Championship game against Notts, he
He’s a tidy keeper to boot, stepping in for Ben Foakes in two possesses the class to go big when he gets in. It’s so nearly his
Championship matches this season already. time, it might actually be now.

Best Young Players
31 SANJU SAMSON 28 ANDILE PHEHLUKWAYO

AGE: 23 AGE: 22
COUNTRY: India COUNTRY: South Africa
THE NEXT: Rohit Sharma THE NEXT: Lance Klusener
Anointed by Rajasthan Royals coach Shane The Durban-born all-rounder’s deceptive changes
Warne as the “next superstar of Indian cricket” after he saw of pace and hard hitting from the lower order have made
Samson adorn this year’s IPL with some brutish cameos, him a regular fixture in the Proteas’ ODI team. The son of a
including a 45-ball 93* against Kohli’s Royal Challengers domestic worker, Phehlukwayo’s hockey skills earned him a
Bangalore. But Samson has been on the outskirts of mainstream scholarship to the prestigious Glenwood High School where his
honours since he was a teenager, and has yet to kick on; a first- cricketing ability soon became apparent. “I don’t think I’ve ever
class average south of 40 suggests he will remain in coloured encountered a young man so cool under pressure,” says Roger
clothing for the foreseeable. He became just the third Keralan to Telemachus, the former South Africa seamer who has worked
represent India when making his T20I debut in 2015; expect him with Phehlukwayo at domestic level. “We underestimate being
to break through to the ODI side in due course. strong in the mind. Not everyone has that gift.”
30 MOSADDEK HOSSAIN 27 IMAM-UL-HAQ

AGE: 22 AGE: 22
COUNTRY: Bangladesh COUNTRY: Pakistan
THE NEXT: Mahmudullah THE NEXT: Aamer Sohail
Bangladesh have yet to figure out how best Accusations of nepotism were levelled at
to use their brightest young batting all-rounder. Slotted into Pakistan’s chairman of selectors Inzamam-ul-Haq when he called
the lower-middle order in ODIs and in his two Tests to date, up his nephew, particularly with Fawad Alam ignored despite
Mosaddek has made just a solitary fifty in each format, and his boasting a far superior domestic record. However, Imam’s
off-breaks, though tidy, are not yet incisive enough to suggest second-innings 74 not out at Malahide, which allayed genuine
he’s a frontline option. The clue is in the first-class batting fears of an upset, suggested he has the technique and bottle for
record. From 30 matches he’s struck 10 centuries, with a high
of 282 – one of three double tons – at an average of 70. In a
country that prioritises short-form cricket, Mosaddek favours the
long stretch. This can only be a good thing for Bangladesh.
Test cricket. He was less productive in the series that followed
against England but with two centuries in his first six ODIs he
has shown glimpses of being a cross-format mainstay.
29 TOM CURRAN
AGE: 23
COUNTRY: England
THE NEXT: Darren Gough
The Surrey seamer made his Test bow in
thankless circumstances during last winter’s Ashes defeat but
his England future looks best-served in coloured clothing. Eoin
Morgan’s side, while increasingly brilliant, have continued to
struggle at the death, when they concede more runs than any of
their likely rivals at next year’s World Cup. Curran bowls perhaps
the best yorker in the English game and has a range of slower
balls, making him a neat fit for a problem area.
www.wisden.com 43
THE50
26 ISHAN KISHAN
AGE: 20
COUNTRY: India
THE NEXT: MS Dhoni
Hailing from the same Jharkhand backwaters
as his idol, and faithful to Dhoni’s freewheeling batsmanship
and quick-sharp hands behind the stumps, Kishan is yet another
young Indian stylist grabbing the IPL by the throat. Snapped
up by Mumbai Indians for the 2018 show from the now-defunct
Gujarat Lions and immediately thrown the gloves, he responded
by slapping a 17-ball fifty in the glamour tie against Kolkata
Knight Riders – the second-quickest IPL half-ton ever. He bats
like Suresh Raina – all wrist-snapping violence through the leg-
side, and absolute commitment on the frequently uppish drive.
He’s still in the all-or-nothing stage of his career; but when it
clicks, the ball striking is terrifying. Just ask Delhi, against whom
Kishan, then aged 18, struck 273 in a Ranji Trophy match (14
sixes), with the next highest score in the innings just 55.
25 JHYE RICHARDSON
AGE: 21
COUNTRY: Australia 24 ALZARRI JOSEPH
THE NEXT: Jason Gillespie AGE: 21
Slender and slippery if not yet express pace, COUNTRY: West Indies
Richardson is another young quick who’s cut his wisdoms in THE NEXT: Kemar Roach
T20 cricket, hitting the gloves hard for Perth Scorchers since
early 2016 – and dominating the 2017 Big Bash final with
a three-wicket burst against Sydney Sixers. On the back of
that campaign he was fast-tracked into Australia’s short-form
teams as back-up to the big four. He’s only played six first-class
Plaudits rained down on the Antiguan’s
shoulders after a sparkling 2016 Under 19 World Cup in which he
recorded a 143kph exocet that broke the stumps of Zimbabwe’s
Brendan Sly, and with the backing of the big beasts – Ambrose
is a fan, Bishop an advocate – he was rushed through to full
matches, claiming 22 wickets, but as we’ve seen with Cummins, honours. Perhaps, it turns out, a little too early; although he’s
Pattinson et al, building up the overs in whites is no pre-requisite picked up 15 wickets in his six Tests to date, the pace has
to doing damage when the Test team comes calling, as they fluctuated, and he was mercilessly ground down by Cook and
surely will before too long. Root at Birmingham last year. A back injury may have been
behind his struggles, however, and after some time out, he’s
since returned to the national side in finer and stronger fettle.
23 DOM BESS
AGE: 21
COUNTRY: England
THE NEXT: Graeme Swann
If his Test cameo against Pakistan suggested a
cricketer of immense potential, one who can bat, catch, and trap
Test-match opening batsmen in front of all three, then it also
served to remind us just how raw this sparky Somerset product
is. He bowled more full tosses in his 190 balls in Test cricket than
Ashwin will in a full summer, and yet, in his effervescence and
brilliant fielding, he looked at ease on the stage. With seven five-
wicket hauls from just 21 matches, he boasts a first-class record
that suggests he’s much more than a jack-of-all-trades trier, and
having just turned 21, he has plenty of time on his side. After
all, Graeme Swann spent a decade learning in county cricket
before becoming the most successful off-spinner England has
ever had.

Best Young Players
20 SAM CURRAN
AGE: 20
COUNTRY: England
THE NEXT: Chris Woakes
Only time will tell whether Alec Stewart’s
description of Curran as “the best 17-year-old I have
ever seen” will prove a blessing or a curse but the
England selectors are confident enough in this
precocious young talent to have handed him red- and
white-ball debuts this summer. A tricky 2017, when
Curran averaged 42 with the ball and 25 with the bat
in first-class cricket, dampened the hysteria a little after
his sensational breakthrough, and that was probably
no bad thing. Curran is still finding his identity as a
cricketer – those who know him best say in time he
will be regarded as a batting all-rounder, but bowling
remains his stronger suit for now, something that was
in evidence against Yorkshire in May when he picked
up a maiden 10-wicket haul which included Root and
Pujara (twice).
22 SHREYAS IYER
AGE: 23
COUNTRY: India
THE NEXT: Virender Sehwag
With 11 centuries from 46 first-class matches
including a ton for Mumbai in the 2016 Ranji Trophy final,
and all at an eye-popping strike-rate of 80, Iyer – a whirr
of action and taut muscularity – is clearly a Test player in
waiting. An India A regular, touring England this summer as
captain, the right-hander has already tasted the ODI team,
cracking a 70-ball 88 against Sri Lanka last December.
And in the last IPL, in his first gig as captain of the misfiring
Delhi Daredevils, he smoked 93* against Kolkata Knight
Riders from 43 balls. The only thing holding him back is
that India can’t pick them all.
21 SANDEEP LAMICHHANE
AGE: 18
COUNTRY: Nepal
THE NEXT: Rashid Khan
As the most staggering of all the recent
stories to emerge from the Associate nations, Lamichhane
made history this year when, aged 17, he became the first
Nepalese cricketer to play in the Indian Premier League.
Snapped up by Delhi Daredevils, the leg-spinner played
three games in total, taking five wickets, including the scalp
of Kieron Pollard. Nepal’s urbane captain, Paras Khadka,
is well aware what he’s working with: “He is hardworking,
very confident in his ability and wants to perform. He is
hungry to do well and that has pushed him to keep going
and prove himself at higher levels.” In a cricket-mad
country, Lamichhane is already a teen icon. Now the big
challenge: to turn his skills into a sustainable career.
www.wisden.com 45
19 MEHEDI HASAN 17 SHUBMAN GILL
AGE: 20 AGE: 18
88.8
COUNTRY: Bangladesh
THE NEXT: Shakib Al Hasan
There were echoes of Harbhajan against
Australia when the 18-year-old Mehedi ran through England in his
debut series in 2016. Brash ebullience allied to relentless probing
Billy Stanlake
was the
quickest
COUNTRY: India
THE NEXT: VVS Laxman
Unique among the heaving stocks of
thrusting new Indian wannabees is the ethereal Shubman Gill:
otherworldly, possessed of aeons of time, with a heartbeat that
accuracy, generally delivered from round the wicket, produced bowler in this never gets above 60 and the world at his tangoing feet. He’s a
19 wickets across his first two Tests, with his 12 wicket-haul at year’s Big Bash throwback, more of an Azhar, a Vengsarkar or a VVS than just
Dhaka driving Bangladesh to a maiden Test win against England. League, with another bristling hipster-kid of Viru and Mahendra. The fear is
Since then it’s been steady returns across the formats for the an average that all this atavistic elegance in the age of schlock and awe
off-spinning all-rounder, but if he’s yet to develop a magic ball, speed of may in the end hold him back, but the romantics are rooting
and with it the big contracts, in his work so far this charismatic 88.8mph for him. Already this year he’s broken into the Kolkata Knight
pin-up has shown he has the minerals to take Bangladesh on to Riders middle order – calm yourselves, he keeps it along the
the next level. carpet – and won an Under 19 World Cup, stroking a century in
the semi against Pakistan. Rob Key was there for that one. His
assessment? The best young batsman he’s ever seen.
18 BILLY STANLAKE
AGE: 23
COUNTRY: Australia 16 LAHIRU KUMARA
THE NEXT: Brett Lee AGE: 21
The action is no thing of beauty, but the effect COUNTRY: Sri Lanka
– and the fear factor this dead-eyed giant generates just by THE NEXT: Lasith Malinga
standing at the top of his mark, the ball a pea in his palm – is why “Great pace and great control” is Sangakkara’s
Australians are getting so lathered about their latest nasty fasty. assessment of the hyper-aggressive, bumper-hungry new
Given his head in Australia’s miserable recent ODI series against tearaway lighting up Sri Lanka’s stuttering ranks. At the moment
England, he swiftly became their enforcer. His opening burst he’s all about the pace, but when he’s consistently pushing on
in the final match on a quickish pitch at Old Trafford saw him past 145kph there’s little reason not to. The star of the recent
scream through three of England’s top four, and though he tired series-halving Test win at Barbados, where he took six wickets,
in his later spells – a sign that perhaps he’s not yet ready for the Kumara is still raw – Sanga cautions that he will need to learn
slog of multi-day matches – he showed enough to suggest he “when to bowl at 145-plus and when to tone it down” – but he
could be something very special. Be afraid, be very afraid. has that priceless commodity: wheels.

Best Young Players
15 PRIVTHI SHAW
AGE: 18 During this year’s Under 19 World Cup, Shaw scored 160 runs from five
COUNTRY: India innings in the powerplay overs, more than any other player. He was not
THE NEXT: Sachin Tendulkar dismissed during that phase of the innings
H
e’s still a teenager. At a few inches over five feet, appetite for scoring big, quickly, and that makes him stand
WORDS SHAMYA DASGUPTA
he is a compact young man (a fact that often invites out from Sarfaraz Khan and Armaan Jaffer, two other
comparisons to Sachin Tendulkar). He was educated youngsters who had shown huge early promise. With
at Rizvi Springfield School in Mumbai, and his father has a Shaw, there’s solid technique, a marvellously straight bat,
small-time business in garments. Unassuming, he comes good feet – and eyes and hands – and runs. Across all
across as sharp and quick-witted. Even astute, but that’s too formats. The sort of boy you would back for the long haul.
weighty a word to place on the shoulders of a youngster. Very much a modern-day cricketer, but a dash of the old-
Or not. Because Prithvi Shaw isn’t your everyday teenager. fashioned too.
He can bat – and how! It’s a skill most Indian children would Shaw’s story is entwined with that of Sanjay Potnis, a local
give an arm and a leg for. politician who must have an eye for early talent-spotting.
At only 14, Shaw scored 546 in an innings for his school For years now he has been backing the young prodigy, and
against St Francis D’Assisi High School in the prestigious this was when Shaw’s father was still wondering about his
Harris Shield schools’ tournament. son’s ability. Potnis “gives me gifts when I score runs and I
In early 2017 – 17 then – he made his first-class debut for love them”, Shaw once said in an interview. The gifts haven’t
Mumbai, in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy, and scored stopped and Shaw has already become bigger than even
a match-winning second-innings century. Shaw has since Sanjay kaka could have imagined.
become the youngest centurion in the Duleep Trophy – beating Shaw is already the next big thing in Indian cricket – not
Tendulkar’s record – and led India to the Under 19 World Cup title quite the next Tendulkar, but closer to being him than other
earlier this year. He also made a splash in his first IPL campaign. youngsters on the horizon.
He isn’t 19 yet. By the time he is, Shaw is likely to have “It’s been a difficult journey,” the grounded boy-man says of
added to the very substantial 1,200 first-class runs – with six
centuries – he has already scored in 11 games.
“Sometimes things go wrong, and while there’s support,
you’ve to do it on your own. I’ve that maturity now,” he says.
A Mumbai kid becoming a cricketer isn’t news, but the
the endless travel from the outskirts of Mumbai to training, every
day, when he was younger – well, even younger – with his father.
“I’ve worked hard for this, and I’m proud of what I have done.”
Shaw is past the prodigy-age now, but if he can wait, and
not tire of waiting, and stay focused, there’s big cricket in the
quality of Shaw’s game is. It’s the T20 era. Shaw has an young man. He might not have to wait too long.
www.wisden.com 47
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14 JOFRA ARCHER
AGE: 23
“
I’VE NOT SEEN ANYONE WITH AS MUCH
NATURAL ABILITY AS JOFRA
COUNTRY: England/West Indies CHRIS JORDAN
THE NEXT: Michael Holding
T
he first time I saw Jofra was in Barbados back in 2012. INSET: Archer and He’s a smart cricketer too in the way he goes about his
WORDS CHRIS JORDAN
I think he was on the Barbados Under 17 programme Chris Jordan, in business. He can sustain his pace in four-day cricket when
at the time and he used to bowl at us in the nets. I partnership for he wants to but he’s clever in the way he goes through the
remember facing him for the first time and Shai Hope, the Sussex gears. If a batsman’s set he knows how to sit in but if he gets
West Indies international, was keeping wicket at the time. He a sniff he’ll up his pace by another 5-6mph.
came up to me and said, ‘This guy is actually a lot quicker Off the field he’s very easy going, looking to have a laugh.
than you think, his run-up and approach can trick you’. I was What you see him as now is how he’s always been, even before
like, ‘Yeah, yeah, no worries’ and didn’t think much of it. He he was tipped for stardom. He’s a good kid, very humble, and
ambled in for his first ball and gave me a quick bouncer, and what’s impressed me most is that he’s always been able to
had it been on target I’d have been easily cleaned up. Shai keep his feet on the ground and is constantly trying to improve.
came up to me, had a little giggle and said, ‘I told you so’. In the last year or so he’s really got into looking after his
That was my first encounter with Jofra. body and the more professional side of things. He’s a good
We became good friends and he told me he had a British teammate who always puts whatever the team requires first.
passport, because his dad is English, and expressed an That side of things is why I’m most proud of him.
interest in coming over to the UK. I had a chat with the We have this routine, especially when we’re in the rhythm
Sussex coach at the time, Mark Robinson, and he said to of four-day cricket, which I helped get him into. Two days
bring him down so they could take a look at him. He came out from the game he’ll do a specific gym session where
over to play club cricket and train with the first team and he uses weights and once you understand that you can do
everything just took off from there. weights and still play, you really feel the positive effects of it,
I’ve not seen anyone with as much natural ability as Jofra. especially at the back-end of four-day games. When people
You can ask him to bowl any type of delivery you can think of,
and he’ll bowl it. With the bat he’s got very good balance, a
good eye and he’s very brave as well – he’s not afraid to try
new shots and really take the attack to the bowlers.
One of his main attributes as a bowler is his deceptive
are getting tired he’s still running in hard and bowling quickly.
If there is an opportunity to get Jofra in the England set-up
before the World Cup then I think it’s something that should
be jumped at because he’ll only add to the team and make it
stronger, not just from a bowling point of view but also with
pace. It’s amazing how easy he does it. He’s got an the bat and in the field. He’s a real asset to any team lucky
exceptional wrist as well and his whole approach is unique – enough to have him.
he’s one of a kind.

Best Young Players
17.7
In the 2018 IPL, Mujeeb had a bowling strike-rate of

17.7. Only Shreyas Gopal (16.8) could better that among
spinners who bowled 100 deliveries or more
13 MUJEEB UR RAHMAN
AGE: 17
COUNTRY: Afghanistan
THE NEXT: Sunil Narine
To have one Afghanistan cricketer playing county
11 MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN
AGE: 22
COUNTRY: Bangladesh
THE NEXT: Chaminda Vaas
The breakout star of IPL 2016, where he
cricket is extraordinary. To have two is cause for wild celebration. spearheaded Sunrisers Hyderabad to a maiden tournament
After Sussex plumped for Rashid Khan to spearhead their T20 victory, the fast, late-swinging, yorkers-at-will southpaw-angles
campaign, so Hampshire turned to the boy who makes even of ‘The Fizz’ strongly suggested that Bangladesh had found its
Rashid feel old. Mujeeb taught himself the game via YouTube, first world-class quick. Injury and a loss of rhythm has stymied
bowling in the streets with a taped tennis ball until his fingers his progress since, but this year’s show with Mumbai Indians
could take it no more. Now the kid who still has videos of Narine represented a return to form. Bangladesh, still suffering from
and Ashwin on his phone has secured an IPL contract, a county a lack of potency in Tests away from home, need him for the
gig and a Test debut – Pujara was his first scalp. challenges to come.
12 WASHINGTON SUNDAR 10 SHADAB KHAN

AGE: 18 AGE: 19
COUNTRY: India COUNTRY: Pakistan
THE NEXT: Ravichandran Ashwin THE NEXT: Shahid Afridi
Beanpole-tall, with scraggy features and a Our comparison with Afridi could end up selling
forename that evokes a certain gravitas, Sundar’s mature Shadab short. While he might not possess the fabled hitting
vibe is accentuated by the supreme control he exerts on his power, he has the range and class to make runs in all formats,
off-breaks. Employed by Royal Challengers Bangalore to bowl as evidenced by his trio of Test fifties this summer against
the tricky opening overs in T20 cricket, he tends to bowl flat, Ireland and then England; and though he may be a scintilla shy
unhittable darts in the short stuff, while varying it in the longer of Boom Boom’s potency with the ball, there’s not much in it,
forms – from 11 matches in first-class cricket, he averages just with Shadab the middle-overs mainstay of their extraordinary
26. Like Ashwin, he’s a former batsman turned finger spinner; Champions Trophy win last summer. Finally, in the field, where
like Ashwin, he’s going to take boatloads of wickets for India, he is as good as any, he has already eclipsed the great street-
once he recovers from injury – he missed this summer’s series god of Pakistan cricket. It may not be long before Shadab can
against England after rolling his foot playing football. claim to be Pakistan’s best modern-era all-rounder.
www.wisden.com 49
Best Young Players
9 LUNGI NGIDI
AGE: 22
COUNTRY: South Africa
“
IF I CAN CONTRIBUTE TO SOUTH AFRICA BECOMING A
BETTER COUNTRY AND A BETTER CRICKETING NATION,
THE NEXT: Joel Garner I’M WILLING TO DO SO IN ANY WAY I POSSIBLY CAN
T
here’s a lot to like about Lungi Ngidi: a smile that It’s a theme Ngidi warms to willingly, and mindfully in a
WORDS TELFORD VICE
seems to stretch beyond the broad shoulders that society where race is always relevant. “Things are changing,”
bookend his 6ft 4in frame, a bowling action that he says. “One thing I was made to realise was that, as a
hasn’t had its smoothness scratched by all that muscle, young, black South African cricketer, it’s not just about
and a match haul of 7-90 on Test debut against India at me. There’s a lot more kids out there who could represent
Centurion in January. South Africa, and that’s not based on skin colour: hard work,
To watch him power towards the crease, covering a skills, those kind of things. If I can contribute to South Africa
good chunk of the time zone with every pace, is to see becoming a better country and a better cricketing nation, I’m
something close to the perfect life for a 22-year-old with willing to do so in any way I possibly can. It’s bigger then me.”
talent, skill and energy to burn. But what you see isn’t Not much is bigger than Ngidi. But, like we said, there’s a
necessarily what you get. lot to like.
“It was something that crossed my mind but I knew that
I’m lucky in that I’ve got time on my side, so I pushed that
thought out of my head,” he says of wondering whether he
would ever play again while he was laid low for four months
by a spinal stress fracture that struck during South Africa A’s
tour of England last year.
In April he was off to play for the Chennai Super Kings in
the IPL. But before he could play a match he was on his way
home — his father, Jerome, had died after back surgery. The
journey’s lowlight was a ‘random’ airport strip search.
Jerome and Bongi Ngidi are important parts of the non-
fiction fairytale that is their son’s rise from humble beginnings
to the spotlight permanently trained on big cricket. Television
footage of them celebrating another of their boy’s wickets
became a happy refrain in the three Tests he played last
season. For one of those smiles to be removed will hurt those
far removed from Bongi and Lungi.
“A lot of people have been interested in talking to them to
find out what I was like as a kid,” Ngidi says of his parents.
“It’s been good to see them being recognised as well; it’s not
just me. It was a bit overwhelming for them, it’s something
they’re not used to. But they seemed to enjoy it.”
His mother gave him his unusual second name – True-
man – and he lived up to it by returning to India after his
father’s funeral to play seven matches for Chennai and take
11 wickets.
With Morné Morkel having retired and Dale Steyn and
Vernon Philander significantly into their 30s, South Africa’s
future belongs to bowlers like Ngidi. Or does it in a country
that seems able to pluck quality quicks from nowhere and
everywhere, Ngidi being a case in point?
“There’s always a lot of competition, there’s always a lot of
people watching, and there’s pressure,” Ngidi says. “You’ve
got to be ready for what comes with that.”
Does part of that readiness involve keeping an eye on who
else is going somewhere fast?
“I don’t really focus on other players but it’s good to have
people chasing you. But if I can help another person improve,
that’s more important. There’s a bigger picture, and that’s
South African cricket — it’s not just myself.”
www.wisden.com 51
THE50
What have you learned playing in early-season English

conditions, especially thinking ahead to the Ashes
next year?
In Test cricket you don’t have the same type of bowlers who
seem to take lots of wickets on English seaming tracks. But
facing Jimmy Anderson at Old Trafford was a challenge, just
seeing where I am at compared to him. It might have been a
flat wicket but it was still challenging with a swinging ball.

Did Anderson give you any chat?
He let me know that I’d been dropped for Bancroft and I
thanked him because I think I’d forgotten at that point. It was
all good fun.

8 MATT RENSHAW
WORDS ADAM COLLINS
AGE: 22
COUNTRY: Australia
THE NEXT: Chris Rogers
M
ost players would jump on the next plane. When
Matt Renshaw broke a finger against Surrey in
June that was the expectation, given he was at the
fag-end of his highly productive Somerset stint. But who were
his fellas playing next? The team with the player who has
more runs to his name than any other England batsman. Like
Renshaw, Alastair Cook is a lean left-hander who made his
international bow at 20. So he decided to travel with the team
to Chelmsford to watch him bat, hoping to grab him for a chat
and a beer as well.
The Queenslander only had his thigh pad and box on him
while on a European jaunt when the phone rang with Taunton
on the line. When Renshaw lost his spot in the Test side to
Cameron Bancroft before the Ashes, he thought his chance
of joining the county circuit this season had gone with it. But
with Bancroft’s contract torn up before arrival following the
ball-tampering fiasco, he knew there was a decent chance of
a call. He wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.
County cricket agreed with Renshaw to such an extent – his
six-game stretch included three centuries; one on debut then
another from 86 deliveries before lunch on day one against
Yorkshire – that he now wants to follow another antipodean
southpaw, Chris Rogers, as a regular fixture in the shires.
WCM sat down with Renshaw in the stands at Chelmsford as
Cook ticked past 50.

Best Young Players
Greg Chappell played for Somerset at a similar age to

you and said the experience was vital in improving his
game. You’ve had a fair bit to do with him? When Renshaw and David Warner each scored
Less now that he is a selector but he was very involved at the centuries in the same innings of the 2017 Sydney Test
national academy when I was there. I remember how simple against Pakistan, Renshaw left 17.3 per cent of the balls
he made batting sound; for instance, that you should be able that he faced, compared to Warner’s 7.3 per cent
to hit any full toss over mid-wicket or cover. The way he talks
about it you can tell he was on another level.
Do you have a routine to preserve energy when
Your dad Ian [a cricket coach who taught sports batting for long periods?
psychology at Sheffield Hallam University] has clearly If you’re going to bat all day it is mentally draining and you
been a strong influence on your career. Is he a big have to switch off. So between balls I sing whatever I have in
reason behind the fact you’ve progressed so quickly? my head. That song during my Shield hundred in Melbourne
I think so, but I never went into a session with him and thought, was Redbone by Childish Gambino. And I always make a
‘This is going to make me a Test cricketer at 20’. I played a lot groove with my back foot using my spikes, and as I go back
of men’s cricket when I was young and that helped. I was quite onto the pitch I’ll put my foot exactly in that spot and that’s the
small and didn’t have my growth spurt till I was 16. I remember ‘on’ switch.
batting in a sixth-grade match where I was 33 not out at stumps.
You’ve been pigeonholed as a grafter but during your
What sort of exercises did your dad put you through? stint with Somerset you made a century before lunch
For practising the short ball he hit the ball at me using a tennis on a green top. Can you make the Australian limited-
racquet and if I hit any of the nets on the full I was out. We also overs teams as well?
had a game about knowing where your off-stump is. If you I think so. After getting dropped [from the Test team] my stint
played a shot between off stump and fifth stump you’d lose a with the Brisbane Heat was important. It helped me develop a
point, and if you let one go through there you’d gain a point. few shots and change my mindset. If I went to hit every ball for
six in a Queensland Bulls net session it would be like, ‘Get out
On debut against South Africa you made 37 not out of the net, Renners, you’re not taking this seriously’. Before I
from 137 balls, playing and missing a fair bit in the
fourth innings. The crowd started booing but Chris
Rogers was impressed because you played the line
rather than following the moving ball. Is that linked to
those off-stump drills?
got dropped I wasn’t looking to score and I was getting into a
rut. Now I feel as though I’m putting the pressure back on the
bowlers. Going into the BBL [Big Bash League] set-up, I was
able to relax and be free.

It was. South Africa had a strong attack and with those chases Was that defensive mindset a result of how you
of 140-150 if you lose a few wickets you start panicking. were expected to play on the Test tours of India and
Everyone was fine with it in the dressing room, it just seemed Bangladesh last year, when you were holding on for as
boring for some of the crowd – who the week before were long as you could?
saying we needed to have more value on our wicket! I was Yeah, and the added pressure of being a Test player. I got
thinking, ‘What if I hit Rabada back over his head?’. But I knew that mixed up and started batting without any intent. I got a
that was stupid. When I got the hundred in that Shield game [to message from Greg Chappell and I also had a text from David
get selected for the Test team] I must have played and missed Warner saying it didn’t look like I was trying to score. My
about 40 times to Chadd Sayers on a Gabba wicket where you defence was okay but I wasn’t going away from that and it was
play the line and play and miss. But if you chase it that’s how getting me into playing half-aggressive shots.
you’re going to get out.
Very few people make their Test debut at 20, are
dropped at 21 and recalled by 22. Do you now feel you’re
in a good place to capitalise on your second chance?
“
Cricket is massively about timing. Look at the way I got picked
originally: coming back from injury I got a hundred and was in
the Test side a week later. Things happen for a reason. Getting
AFTER GETTING DROPPED FROM THE TEST TEAM MY dropped has made me a stronger cricketer and person. Talking
STINT WITH THE BRISBANE HEAT WAS IMPORTANT. to Justin Langer, he said every player who has debuted before
23 has been dropped, including Ricky Ponting and Langer. I
IT HELPED ME DEVELOP A FEW SHOTS AND CHANGE
take that as a positive and keep learning as much as I can.
MY MINDSET. NOW I FEEL AS THOUGH I’M PUTTING
A
THE PRESSURE BACK ON THE BOWLERS s we wrap up our chat, Cook is given out lbw four runs
short of what would have been his 62nd first-class
century. Later, he had that beer with Renshaw.
www.wisden.com 53
THE50
7 KUSAL MENDIS 5 KULDEEP YADAV

AGE: 23 AGE: 23
COUNTRY: Sri Lanka COUNTRY: India
THE NEXT: Mahela Jayawardene
He’s got the style, technical fluency and self-belief
to fill Mahela’s shoes. What he lacks so far is the game-sense
to pull it all together. His 176 against Australia at Kandy in 2016
accounted for half of his team’s total en route to a famous win, and
THE NEXT: Anil Kumble
If ever a left-arm wrist spinner is truly going to
crack the Test game – and few have in history – then surely it’s the
magus from the northern tip of India. Yadav is already a terrifying
proposition in white-ball cricket: he nabbed 17 wickets in this year’s
since being promoted to open in the short formats he has begun to IPL – of the spinners, only Rashid Khan grabbed more. In ODIs,
exert his authority there too. The snag with Mendis is impetuosity. he has snaffled 48 wickets from 23 matches and as England have
His wild swing to Shannon Gabriel at Bridgetown last month belied found this summer he swarms on new batsmen with the relish of a
the class which had gone before. When he’s good, though, Mendis quick bowler – which he was as a youngster. A ripping leg-break, a
is the most watchable young batsman in world cricket. well-hidden googly, a seam-up quicker one and natural accuracy is
a potent combination that will surely see him featuring in the Tests
this summer.
6 RISHABH PANT
AGE: 20
COUNTRY: India 4 BABAR AZAM
THE NEXT: Yuvraj Singh AGE: 23
The technique is something to behold: the huge, COUNTRY: Pakistan
Lara-like backlift unfurling through a violent downswing, the wrist- THE NEXT: Javed Miandad
snap on connection, and the reverberating pistol-crack echoing For too long, Pakistan has been searching for a
around the arenas of this year’s IPL. The batsman of the 2018 pure batting artist in the vein of a Miandad, Saeed Anwar or, latterly,
tournament, this lefty is as flamboyant as they come. He hits at a Inzamam. A few pretenders have failed to live up to the early hype,
strike-rate of 165 across 55 T20s; oh, and while Younis Khan’s immensity was, in his own estimation, grafted
he averages 54 in first-class cricket. on to limited natural talent. Which brings us to Babar Azam: self-
contained, beady-eyed, slightly stooped of posture yet touched,
Pant was one of only four batsmen in this year’s IPL to score at in his economy of movement and natural lyrical timing, by a kind
more than 10 runs per over (minimum 100 balls faced) of understated genius. Already averaging north of 50 in both the
Pant scored at 14.73 runs per over in the last five overs, faster short forms – he has seven tons from 43 ODIs – his modest Test
than any other player to have faced 50 balls or more during record so far seems incongruous when one considers how suited
that stage of the innings his classical technique should be to the longest form. No matter;
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur sees in Azam a young Virat Kohli.

Best Young Players
As of July 11, Markram had scored exactly 1,000 Test runs since coming into
3 AIDEN MARKRAM the team last year, more than any other opener in that time
AGE: 23 Markram has only missed 4 per cent of the balls he has faced in Tests. West
COUNTRY: South Africa Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite (3.6 per cent) is the only opener to have missed a
THE NEXT: Graeme Smith lower percentage in the time since Markram’s debut
H
aving just finished school, Aiden Markram was Bangladesh in Potchefstroom last September, being run out
WORDS LUKE ALFRED
sitting on the beach, working on his tan, when he by Dean Elgar in the first innings for 97. In the second Test in
received a call from Ray Jennings, the South Africa Bloemfontein he scored 143.
Under 19s coach. Jennings, the father of England opener Another century followed in the Boxing Day Test against
Keaton and a former stand-in coach of the national side, Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth, but Markram was less assured in
was concerned. He had a little over a year to prepare for the the home series against India. Following that, he temporarily
2014 Under 19 World Cup and recognised he was a batsman took over the captaincy of the ODI side against the Indians
light. He’d seen what the system had to offer and was and suddenly the Social Media Aristocracy were venting that
working the worry beads. too much had come too soon.
In desperation he phoned Murray Coetzee, South Africa’s With the Ashes-winning Australians due to arrive in March,
skipper at the Under 19 World Cup in 2012, and asked if there people were beginning to mutter that the young opener was
was anyone the system had overlooked. Coetzee, slightly older a flat-track bully. The Aussie quicks would work him over and
than Markram and his skipper at Pretoria Boys’ High, mentioned Nathan Lyon would find him out.
the greenhorn right-hander. Jennings was straight on the blower. Markram duly scored first and fourth Test tons, calling
To disquiet from the provincial under 19 selectors, Jennings to mind Chris Morris’ quip that in him South African cricket
invited Markram to the first under-19 camp of 2013. He later has its first post-AB de Villiers genius. On the face of it, the
took him to India – which wasn’t successful for Markram, Morris quote seems overblown, but for those who witnessed
according to Jennings – and promptly made him captain. It Markram’s century at the Wanderers it came close to the
was one of those inspired, off-the-wall gambits that tends to mark. Markram’s 152 was flecked with rare brilliance, with one
divide South Africans about Jennings. cover-drive off Lyon late in his innings bearing the mark of a
Jennings’ gut-feel proved right. Markram was named Man
of the Tournament at the Under 19 World Cup, scoring 370
runs at 123, as South Africa beat Pakistan in the final. Told
beforehand that this would be his last World Cup, Jennings
was summarily dismissed.
once-in-a-generation talent.
With his second-innings 37 at the Wanderers, Markram
went to 1,000 runs in 10 Tests. The tour of Sri Lanka in July
and August will test him but already he’s vindicated Jennings’
desperate phone call. “I knew early on that in Aiden we had
Markram might have been expected to cruise into his something very special to work with,” says the man who
franchise team – the Titans, based in Pretoria – but it wasn’t picked up the phone and dialled the unfamiliar number.
to be. Schoolboy and club cricket in Pretoria is famously
competitive, with locals in the know chuckling that the
University of Pretoria’s first team could probably give the
franchise’s semi-professional outfit a run for their money.
Instead, Markram was condemned to play in the university
first team because of a bottleneck up ahead. He bided his
time, sometimes chafing, sometimes not. A season went by,
then another. Playing for Walkden in the Bolton Leagues in
the English summer of 2016, he considered turning his back
on South Africa completely.
The 2016/17 domestic summer back in South Africa was to
prove his making. He was offered a rookie contract by the
Titans and in seven first-class games scored more than 500
runs at a shade over 51. At the end of the season, he opened
for the Titans in the final of the domestic 50-over competition
and breezed his way to 163 in 121 balls against the Warriors.
It was a thoroughly modern innings – quick, destructive and
brutally efficient – and it called to mind something Coetzee
said to Jennings: that he loved playing with Markram because
he scored his runs so effortlessly, and so sublimely, that it
made things easier for him at the other end.
It was only a matter of time before the national selectors
trooped to Markram’s door. He made his Test debut against
www.wisden.com 55
THE50
“
HE HAS DISMANTLED THE WALLS THAT HAVE STOOD
AROUND ASSOCIATE CRICKETERS FOR TOO LONG
AND PROVED THAT IN CRICKET, RAW, STREET-
LEARNED SKILL CAN STILL TRIUMPH ON THE
GRANDEST OF MODERN STAGES
2 RASHID KHAN In the 2016 World T20, 43.7 per cent of Rashid’s deliveries were googlies, far
AGE: 20 higher than all other leg-spinners in the tournament. Imran Tahir was second
COUNTRY: Afghanistan with 28.2 per cent
THE NEXT: Mushtaq Ahmed
T
he story, one of cricket’s greatest, is out there. Kid Nitish Rana from the mid-wicket boundary, took three wickets
WORDS PHIL WALKER
from Jalalabad, 100 miles east of Kabul, one of seven (Lynn, Uthappa, Russell) for 19 runs, and took two boundary
leg-spinning brothers; debut at 16, IPL millionaire at catches in the last over as Sunrisers got home by 14 runs.
18, national team captain at 19. Afterwards he dedicated his Man of the Match award to those
Afghanistan’s credulity-stretching rise required a true club cricketers who had just lost their lives in a bomb blast in
world-class talent to legitimise it, and Rashid is that boy. his hometown.
He has dismantled the walls that have stood around So what next in this extraordinary tale? Here’s the thing.
Associate cricketers for too long and proved that in cricket, Rashid Khan has played just five first-class matches. His
raw, street-learned skill can still triumph on the grandest of first, against England Lions in December 2016, delivered
modern stages. 12 wickets. His last, a Test debut against India, did not go
In a heartbeat, he has become the most valuable bowler quite so well. He is already a modern icon and all that. Rich
in the IPL. He doesn’t bowl bad balls. He rips his leg-break beyond his dreams, the Afghan president on speed dial,
at a pace that makes him hard to attack and spears his the biopic surely around the corner.
undetectable googlies past players who have invariably But cricket fans want it all. They want to compare this
learned their games in the cloisters of the privileged. His talent to the other greats of the leg-spin art. They want
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson says he’s to place him in the pantheon. And to do that, he needs to
simply one of the best spinners in the world. play lots more long-form cricket. A stint with Sussex in this
In IPL 2018, against Kolkata Knight Riders’ glamourpusses year’s T20 Blast is a beautiful story; now, surely, it’s time
in a must-win game, Rashid rescued a misfiring middle-order for the full contract to play all the formats. And for others to
with a stunning 10-ball 34*. Then, defending 174, he ran out follow. The cricket world demands it.

Best Young Players
“
YOU KNOW WHEN YOU SEE A GUY WHO NATURALLY
1 KAGISO RABADA BELONGS IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF INTERNATIONAL
AGE: 23 CRICKET AND KAGISO JUST GRACED THE GAME WITH
COUNTRY: South Africa A NATURAL FLAIR, A NATURAL FEEL AND A GENUINE
THE NEXT: Dale Steyn ABILITY TO BOWL QUICKLY CONSISTENTLY
W
e all knew in South Africa that Kagiso Rabada was I first worked with him when he made his senior debut for
WORDS ALLAN DONALD
destined for big things. I knew it was going to South Africa in a T20 game on the 2014 tour of Australia.
come, but I didn’t know it was going to come this You know when you see a guy who naturally belongs in the
quickly. When Dale Steyn first broke through his consistency environment of international cricket and Kagiso just graced
and the rate he was taking wickets at was quite frightening the game with a natural flair, a natural feel and a genuine
and the same is now happening with Kagiso. He’s just ability to bowl quickly consistently. The areas he bowled
incredible, a machine really, and fantastic to watch. and his aggression impressed me. I remember he really
The first time I saw him was on television when South Africa gave Shane Watson a working over.
beat Pakistan in the final of the 2014 Under 19 World Cup. I He impressed me as a character, too. He’s a humble kid from
was immediately struck by his athleticism and his ability with a good family background and a very well-grounded individual.
the ball. He stood out for me as a very natural On that first tour sitting in the dugout together he loved to pick
athlete and a bowler who was genuinely and my brains, asking questions about what it was like to work with
effortlessly fast at that age. Malcolm Marshall or bowl at Desmond Haynes.
As his coach one of my biggest aims was to get him
competitive. I had no worries about his technique at all –
he’s one of the most natural fast bowlers you’ll ever see.
No seamer has taken more Test wickets (143) than Rabada since his debut. For me it was about getting him engaged and able to
Anderson is second with 114 Of those wickets, 61 per cent were top-six batsmen compete against the best players in the world.
Rabada has the best Test strike-rate (39.2) of all bowlers to have bowled 1,000 I was very surprised when he had those flare-ups with
balls or more since his debut Australia in Cape Town earlier this year [when Rabada
https://t.me/njmpdfall was reprimanded for brushing shoulders with Steve Smith

after dismissing Australia’s captain and then delivered
a send-off to David Warner two days’ later and was
disciplined again]. Most fast bowlers will tell you that
they need to be aggressive, and Kagiso’s a feisty
man, but I did not expect that from him. I think
R A BADA he knew he let himself down that day and he
SO
K AG I apologised afterwards. It’s not good for the
game and in South Africa we pride ourselves
OY
EN B on how we behave on the field. In Ottis Gibson
2018
L D
GO he has a very good mental coach who’s going to
make sure he doesn’t do it again.
His workload is a concern for me. Of course you
want guys like Rabada to be on the field all the time,
and you want them winning games for their country,
but there has to be a rotation system in place; there has
to be a period where you say to him, ‘Mate, take three
weeks off and come back strong’. At one stage I thought
he was going to have to retire before he reached 30
because of the workload he’s dealing with. Managing him
is going to be crucial and South Africa need to make sure
that he is absolutely 100 per cent fit for next year’s World
Cup in England.
Kagiso is well on his way to becoming South Africa’s all-
time greatest fast bowler. Going at the rate he is it’s a case
of when rather than if he becomes our country’s leading
Test wicket-taker and it will be a proud moment for me
seeing this young man do that, a magnificent achievement
for him and an inspiration for all young black cricketers in
South Africa.
www.wisden.com 57
SIMON
WILDE
Sunday Times cricket On the eve of England’s 1,000th Test, Simon Wilde, the
correspondent
@swildecricket
author of England: T he Biography, a new release giving a
comprehensive account of the 141 years since their first
Test match, picks out the most influential figures in our
national team’s history
England’s
GREATEST
T
he England team
today is well run,
well managed and
16. RE FOSTER
Roles: Captain, batsman
A gilded amateur of the Edwardian era,
has been exposed as more self-serving
than principled; as chairman of selectors
from 1955-61, pitch-doctoring at home was
well resourced, Reginald ‘Tip’ Foster captained England in rife; and while he worked at the ICC, South
but if the story of 1907 when it was decided to design a cap Africa had no greater friend.
the last 141 years, for those chosen to play home Tests. The England players crossed Allen at their peril,
emblem of three lions under a crown was his vetoing of John Snow for the 1974/75
spanning 1,000 Tests and more than
derived from the England football team, Ashes tour being just the most egregious
800 limited-overs matches, tells which Foster had also represented (he is example. Allen, who himself liked to drive
us anything, it is that this has only still the only person to captain both sides). Bentleys, saw nothing wrong in England
recently been the case. The team has The three lions remains an intrinsic part players being paid a pittance. Unsurprisingly,
evolved as much by chance as design, of team regalia, though under a coronet he never saw Kerry Packer coming.
and the longest-serving captains, rather than crown. Foster’s legacy was
highest run-scorers and greatest mixed: capable of achieving top form
wicket-takers are not necessarily
without practice, his example encouraged 14. IAN BOTHAM
the very bad idea that it was possible to go Roles: Captain, all-rounder
those who have had the most into Tests with little preparation. Botham was as fine an all-round cricketer
profound effect – whether for good or as England have produced and won many
ill – on its culture and fortunes. Of matches for his country, but his contribution
the 16 names listed here, half were 15. GUBBY ALLEN went further.
Roles: Captain, fast bowler, chairman of Displaying a zest for life that put him on
not even born in England.
selectors, MCC president, MCC chairman, front pages as well as back, and saving
MCC treasurer many of his best performances for home
Allen’s career as a fast bowling all-rounder Tests against Australia which were accorded
was intermittent but as a committeeman healthy exposure on terrestrial TV, he
his influence over England affairs lasted became the most recognisable sportsman
decades. The years have not been kind to in the country and a godsend to the game’s
his reputation. His opposition to Bodyline accountants. He put bums on seats, inspired

INFLUENCERS
future generations of players and laid the
ground for the entry into the rights market of
cash-rich satellite broadcasters.
his generation and his self-discipline was
perfectly suited to the Sisyphean task of
keeping at bay the mighty West Indies
best, while England regularly entrusted
him with the captaincy. Grace did it on his
own terms: he was handsomely rewarded
pace attacks. Handed the captaincy after for his one Test tour of Australia and play
a chaotic period, Gooch joined forces with in England was only extended to six hours
13. JACK HOBBS manager Micky Stewart to turn perspiration once he retired, but it was a fair price for
Roles: Batsman, selector into a team ethic. his popularising influence.
Hobbs was a master of all types of bowling By publicly excommunicating David
on all types of surfaces during the era of Gower, his most gifted player, Gooch lost
uncovered pitches and remains England’s the PR war but on the broader point that 10. ROLAND BUTCHER
most prolific batsman in Ashes Tests. He a semi-professional approach was no Role: Batsman
could be a hard-nosed competitor but his longer good enough he was proved right. Butcher was the first black player to
decency and integrity greatly advanced the As batting coach to Andrew Strauss’ team, represent England and his selection proved
cause of the professional, and when Arthur Gooch mentored one of England’s most a watershed moment in the evolution of
Carr was indisposed at Old Trafford in 1926 productive run-scoring units. a team that today is as multi-cultural
Hobbs – the son of a college servant from as any in the world. A cousin of Basil
Cambridge – led England in his absence, the Butcher, the West Indies Test batsman
first professional to do so since the 1880s. 11. WG GRACE of the 1960s, the Barbados-born
Along with Wilfred Rhodes, he became Role: Batsman, captain Roland moved to England in 1967
the first professional co-opted onto an Grace confirmed his long-held status as the where he learnt his cricket on the MCC
England selection committee. He was a world’s best cricketer with a hundred in the groundstaff alongside Ian Botham,
reluctant pioneer but by example did much first Test match played in England in 1880. under whose captaincy he would later
to democratise the England team. Over the next 19 years his involvement in every play his three Tests and three ODIs.
home Test match bar one (which he missed A few non-white players had represented
through injury) gave Test cricket its imprimatur. England before but they were exceptional
12. GRAHAM GOOCH Australia knew that if they wanted to be cases; since Butcher, one in six of
Roles: Captain, batsman, batting coach taken seriously they needed him in the England’s Test cricketers have been of
Gooch was the best England batsman of opposition to show they were beating the Afro-Caribbean or Asian extraction.
www.wisden.com 59
England’s
GREATEST
INFLUENCERS
9. FLORENCE MORPHY There was nothing glamorous about his 6. ANDREW STRAUSS
Role: Creator of ‘the Ashes’ cynical pad-play against Sonny Ramadhin Roles: Captain, batsman, director
Australians gave important impetus to or his supervision of England’s slow over- As opening batsman, Strauss was a key
the Ashes legend. Australia press reports rate, but he won more Tests as England member of the England team for eight years;
picked up on the idea that Ivo Bligh was captain than anyone else in the 20th when Australia were finally beaten in 2005
on a quest to regain the ashes of English century. As head of selection in the 1980s, after 18 years, he was the only player to
cricket when he led a team there in he shed captains and players like confetti, score two hundreds in the series. As captain,
1882/83 but the decisive act came from an and strained relations over his support for he achieved the rare double of winning
unlikely source when Bligh’s team visited South Africa. Ashes series home and away (England’s only
William Clarke’s mansion near Melbourne, series win in Australia in the last 31 years).
where Florence Morphy was governess. As director of cricket since 2015, he has
Morphy and a group of girlfriends cut 7. LORD HAWKE overseen a long-overdue revolution in
out and pasted to the front of a miniature Roles: Captain, batsman, chairman of England’s white-ball cricket; although great
urn lines of verse published in Melbourne selectors credit goes to Eoin Morgan as on-field
Punch praising Bligh’s team and presented Martin Hawke was a player of modest captain, Strauss gave the 50-over and 20-
it to him, thereby giving physical form to gifts but as county captain for more than over players the support and encouragement
the myth. Florence and Ivo married and 20 years he built Yorkshire cricket into a they had long lacked, including allowing
kept safe the urn until his death, when it major force, to England’s lasting benefit. them greater access to the IPL.
was bequeathed to MCC. Yorkshire have provided more Test players
to England, and won more Test caps, than
any other county. He was also prime mover 5. PELHAM WARNER
8. PETER MAY behind the creation in 1898 of a Board of Roles: Captain, batsman, chairman of
Roles: Captain, batsman, chairman of Control for Test Matches in England and a selectors, tour manager, MCC president,
selectors panel of Test selectors (of which he was the journalist
May was a contradiction. As a batsman he first chairman), initiatives which cemented Pelham Warner was the first man to devote
was classically educated at Charterhouse the status of the England team. himself body and soul to doing what was
and Cambridge, and became the best in the His notorious prayer for England to never best for the England team. As captain, he
world by the mid-1950s, but as captain he
learnt about winning from Stuart Surridge at
Surrey and under Len Hutton with England,
and was uncompromising in the extreme.
be captained by a professional – words
uttered in his mid-sixties when out of touch
with modern life – should not overshadow
his good work.
led a successful tour of Australia in 1903/04
and but for illness would have done so
again in 1911/12; instead, he pulled Johnny
Douglas’ strings from the sidelines.

Influencers
He possessed a sharp eye for a good 3. DUNCAN FLETCHER amateurs to buy into it exposed them for
cricketer and brought a new thoroughness Role: Coach what they were: irresponsibly free spirits.
to chairing selection, promoting the England’s first foreign coach, Duncan Although the Establishment disowned him
captaincies of Percy Chapman, Douglas Fletcher was at the heart of the team’s and Bodyline, future England captains from
Jardine, Gubby Allen and Wally Hammond. modern revival. The Zimbabwean’s eight- Hutton to Strauss absorbed the message
Even his most notorious act – sitting on year reign spanned 42 of Nasser Hussain’s that to win big series England needed
his hands while Jardine executed Bodyline 45 Tests as captain, and 33 of Michael to find ways to contain the opposition.
tactics he had condemned when he saw Vaughan’s 51, and his relationships with Jardine’s bravery in the face of opponents
them used in county cricket – confirmed them enabled both to excel as leaders. who turned his tactics on himself only
the point that England came first. “He taught me… the team way, the right reinforced his integrity.
way,” Hussain said. “And he made me a
better person.”
4. LEN HUTTON Fletcher was the best technical coach 1. TONY GREIG
Roles: Captain, batsman, selector England have had, teaching a generation Roles: Captain, all-rounder
Hutton’s path towards his appointment as of batsmen how to play spin and identifying Greig was a pioneering force in several
England’s first modern professional captain reverse swing as a weapon to topple ways. Born in South Africa to a Scottish
in 1952 was smoothed by Wally Hammond, Australia and win matches in Asia. He father, he learnt his cricket overseas
a former professional, turning amateur worked less well with less gifted players, and qualified to play for England by
to take on the role, but he came under and eventually ran out of energy, but residence, an unusual path before 1970.
enormous scrutiny and strain nonetheless. finished hugely in credit. He met what he called an “undercurrent
He conducted himself like a man who knew of resentment” but through talent and
that if he slipped up often, the amateur-led energy rose to the captaincy. The hostility
Establishment would get rid of him. If that 2. DOUGLAS JARDINE may explain why many of his best Test
was reason enough to be cautious and Roles: Captain, batsman performances came overseas where he
inscrutable, numerous bitter defeats to Jardine’s reputation as the man who shook felt more comfortable.
Australia only made him more determined. an Empire with his morally questionable As an outsider he saw clearly the
His England sides were hard to beat, as Bodyline strategy obscures an important injustices of the cricket system and acted to
were those of Peter May (England lost just
one series from 1951-60), but home-and-
away Ashes wins in 1953 and 1954/55 were
his great legacy.
truth. He was the first England captain
to devise an overarching tactical system
which required the collaboration of the
whole team. The reluctance of some
improve pay for England players, challenge
restrictions on how long wives could spend
on tour, and force the introduction of a
minimum wage into county cricket.
www.wisden.com 61
DANIEL
GALLAN
South African
sports writer
@danielgallan

New
Feature
Frequency
Title
THE
NEW WAVE
Daniel Gallan looks at the shifting landscape of radio commentary in this country and
argues the reaction to TalkSPORT outbidding the BBC for England’s overseas tours this
winter revealed deep-rooted divisions
I
n light of TalkSPORT outbidding the BBC inner sanctums. Losing this is devastating for many.
for the free-to-air radio broadcast rights for Losing this to TalkSPORT, a station fi nancially
England’s forthcoming tours of Sri Lanka and supported by Rupert Murdoch’s Wireless Group
the West Indies, it is a shame we can’t dip back with its unapologetic commercial strength, will
in time and share a pint with the late American have struck a further blow to devotees of TMS. But
Marxist and cricket tragic Mike Marqusee. perspective is needed.
In his seminal book Anyone But England, Marqusee The decision to award TalkSPORT the rights was
takes aim at the myriad hypocrisies ingrained in the made by the Sri Lankan and West Indian boards who,
sport and pokes at ancient scabs left by the ideological given their financial concerns, understandably opted
battle between ‘professionals’ and the gentlemanly for the most lucrative deal. This was not, as some
‘amateurs’. Superficially, the struggle between have incorrectly claimed, the result of greed on the
TalkSPORT and the BBC is nothing more than part of the ECB.
straightforward business. But scratch beneath the
surface and some of the same old power relations that so
fascinated Marqusee are revealed.
In response to TalkSPORT’s coup, the BBC’s media
editor Amol Rajan wrote: “For devotees of Test
Furthermore, this is not the fi rst time that they have
secured the rights for an overseas tour. TalkSPORT
brought England’s tours of Pakistan in 2000, Sri Lanka
in 2001, West Indies in 2003/04 and South Africa in
2004/05 to listeners in the UK. So why the commotion
Match Special the sound of Jonathan Agnew and his this time around? 
colleagues isn’t just part of summer. It is the summer.”
Hyperbolic hubris perhaps but judging by the
outpouring of grief on social media, echoed by Agnew
himself, one might have assumed that a beloved figure
had suddenly passed away.
TMS, with its 60-year heritage and array of erudite
commentators, has always been able to reach across
the airwaves and transport listeners to the game’s
www.wisden.com 63
THE
NEW WAVE
“There was no Twitter back then,” is the simple

response from Jonathan Norman, cricket editor
and presenter at TalkSPORT who has been with the
company since 2004. There is little doubt that the great
online soapbox has fuelled vociferous debate, but these
battle lines have deeper origins.
“What the BBC and TMS does has an echo of the
gentlemen and players era,” says TMS commentator
Daniel Norcross. “Without commerical constraints,
the gentlemen amateurs were perceived to be freer to
play entertainingly but were in fact highly skilful and
‘professional’ in their approach. The TMS broadcast
team has similar freedom to express themselves while
being at the top of their professional game. It’s a luxury
that works. The establishment is the establishment for
good reason.”
Norcross would know better than most. He began
his journey to one of the most prized seats in sports
broadcasting by being a thorn in the side of the
establishment. After being made redundant from his
job in fi nance during the 2008 global crisis, Norcross
lent on a lifetime of playing club cricket and cobbled
together a team to provide ball-by-ball commentary for
the 2009 Ashes to be streamed for free across the world.
Test Match Sofa, which was re-launched in 2014 as
Guerilla Cricket, had a simple formula: a bunch of mates
would gather around a telly at a house in Tooting with
beers in hand and speak freely about the cricket. Soon
https://t.me/njmpdfall thousands of fans were tuning in to this irreverent

but well-informed alternative commentary. Jingles
were a regular feature and, crucially, listeners were
encouraged to engage with the commentators live on
Twitter during games.
At fi rst, Test Match Sofa barely registered a blip on
the establishment’s radar but when Norcross’s motley
crew were bought by The Cricketer magazine in 2012
they were promoted from amusing upstarts to a threat
to the rights-holding status quo. A legal spat involving
the ECB and The Cricketer followed, as well as online
feuding between fans of the two rival commentaries.
Disenchanted, Norcross tendered his resignation and
left the project that had given him so much joy.
“I had become this fi gurehead for entrenched loonies
on the one side and a fi gure of hate for entrenched
loonies on the other,” recalls Norcross. “Worst of all
was the backlash from the establishment. Perhaps
I was naive but I couldn’t quite believe it. Access to
“
ANYONE WHO LISTENED TO OUR COVERAGE OF THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY LAST YEAR
OR OF THE IPL WOULD KNOW THAT UP UNTIL THIS POINT WE HAVEN’T PLAYED ADVERTS
DURING OUR COMMENTARY. THE CRITICISM HAS MORE TO DO WITH PRECONCEIVED
NOTIONS AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE QUALITY OF OUR BROADCASTS
JONATHAN NORMAN, CRICKET EDITOR AND PRESENTER AT TALKSPORT

New Frequency
GUERILLA When Norcross left to join the BBC shortly

after the 2013/14 Ashes, the animosity
were the only name in the hat, he must have
figured that we were better than having no
TACTICS between the alternative broadcaster and

their parent company worsened. Reading
the writing on the wall, Walker, along
one on board for their first ever Test. I feel we
did a fantastic job for them.”
More than 150,000 listeners tuned in over
With established radio broadcasters with experienced journalist and regular the fi ve days at Malahide to listen to Walker,
opting not to cover Ireland’s inaugural contributor Nigel Henderson, sought to buy Henderson and 10 other Guerrillas. “We
back their naming rights but The Cricketer toned down the swearing a touch – though
Test match in May, the alternative
would not budge. a few f-bombs did slip out – and we drank
commentary team at Guerilla Cricket Cutting their losses – which included less on air,” Walker says. “But that was only
sensed an opportunity that could have 28,000 Twitter followers – Walker and because we were so amazed and excited
ider ra ifications Henderson launched Guerrilla Cricket in July to be at the ground and were just incredibly
T
2014 and returned to their tried and trusted positive throughout the match.”
he first signs of real discontent formula, bouncing from an independent TV Is this plucky organisation’s success
became apparent when someone studio to a sports bar to a number of flats a harbinger of things to come, or will
said ‘twat’ live on air around 8am before settling at a space owned by Walker. this merely be a footnote in an industry
during England’s tour of Pakistan in 2012. When Walker and Henderson heard dominated by the BBC and the deep pockets
Test Match Sofa commentators had said that neither the BBC or TalkSPORT were of TalkSPORT? Much will depend if the
far worse in the past but, by this time under interested in bidding for the radio rights for smaller cricket boards accept broadcast
the ownership of The Cricketer magazine, the historic Test match between Ireland and deals at a fraction of the standard going rate,
they were expected to behave themselves Pakistan in May, they sniffed an opportunity. as well as Guerrilla Cricket’s ability to tap into
and received a swift reprimand from the Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom was crowdfunding schemes.
publication. This did not sit well with Nigel contacted and agreed to a meeting. Now that Guerilla Cricket have had their
Walker and his team. “He seemed a touch standoffi sh at first,” moment in the sun, Walker is determined to
“We were baffled and felt they were Walker says, “but that’s probably because he feel its glow again. “We want to move up to
treating us like children,” says Walker, who was holding out for a bigger company that another level,” he says. “We have an office
was a founding member of Test Match Sofa could spend more money (Guerrilla Cricket space, over 50 commentators from a variety
with Daniel Norcross in 2009. “It was like paid £1,000 for the exclusive radio rights of countries. Now that we’ve been to a major
they’d never listened to us before buying us.” for the match). But when it was clear that we sporting event we’d love to do it again.”
cricket should be a basic human right and I thought
we were simply supplying cricket to parts of the world
that couldn’t get it. As for our style, we were plugging a
BELOW: Daniel
Norcross
co-founded
I do get it. Back in 2012 when I was an English teacher
in Thailand and had no access to a TV, I relied on TMS
to paint a picture of Hashim Amla’s triple ton at The
gap in the market with alternative commentary. It was Test Match Oval and Vernon Philander’s five-for at Lord’s. I became
certainly a reality check.” Sofa before captivated by that old-world charm that the BBC’s
Norcross gambled on a dream career move. “I imagine I’m becoming part coverage provides, and my fi rst real experience of the
the last person you’d expect to hear from given we have been of the Test tangential burbling that attracts so many to TMS. As
in notional competition for the last few years,” began his bold Match Special a South African, it didn’t matter to me that they were
email, “but is there any chance you may have some work for commentary English; I’d fi nally found a team of commentators that
me?” Ten minutes later TMS producer Adam Mountford team treated cricket with the respect it deserved.
offered Norcross a slot for the Championship match between And so I understand the fear among fans of TMS; that
Surrey and Gloucestershire at The Oval in May 2014. the more commercially driven TalkSPORT might dumb
Norcross’ acceptance by the BBC may have been made things down in order to squeeze in an advert just as
easier by his Oxford education but he says the landscape Stuart Broad begins his run-up. But according to Norman
is shifting, with voices such as Alison Mitchell, Phil this is an easy stick with which to beat TalkSPORT, and
Tufnell and Isa Guha offering a point of difference not an accurate representation of their coverage.
from the perceived TMS stereotype. “In the past, if you “Anyone who listened to our coverage of the
sounded like me you could be fast tracked,” he says, Champions Trophy last year or of the IPL would know
“as coming from the establishment meant you were that up until this point we haven’t played adverts during
connected to people and had friends of friends. But that our commentary,” says Norman. “The criticism has
doesn’t happen as much today. There has been a loud cry more to do with preconceived notions and has nothing
from some people in sports journalism in this country to do with the quality of our broadcasts.”
to bring in more diverse accents, and we’re slowly Marqusee noted that the war between the
seeing this change for the better.” ‘modernisers’ and ‘traditionalists’ will never end, and
Nonetheless, the negative reaction to the recent will simply reshape itself to fit the zeitgeist of the time.
TalkSPORT deal may in part be explained by people “It is an illusory one and for that reason, perhaps, all the
feeling a sense of loss at being denied the style and tone more potently symbolic. But a socialist would be foolish
of TMS which has become so familar over the years. to take sides in it.” If only we had that time machine.
www.wisden.com 65
143 & 134
SACHIN
TENDULKAR
India v Australia,
Coca-Cola Cup, Sharjah, 1998

eeeee
My
Favourite
Innings
BY
VIRAT
KOHLI
India’s captain and World Cup winner
on the moment he woke up to the
thrill of the chase
A
s a kid the innings that really pushed me
to work towards my dream of playing for
India were Sachin’s back-to-back hundreds
against Australia in Sharjah – the ‘Desert
Storm’ knocks.
He made one to qualify for the final and then another
in the final, single-handedly winning both games, and
that’s where my excitement of wanting to chase totals
came from. It was such a thrill to see one man working
relentlessly towards a target and being able to achieve
it wearing your national team’s jersey. I couldn’t see
anything apart from cricket after those innings.
I was a massive fan of Sachin’s and when India were
playing I would go to the shops and get my pack of chips
and chocolate to prepare myself to watch him bat. I did
exactly the same with both those games, and he batted
for so long that I had to refill my snacks! It was worth
it, watching him play in a manner that at that stage no
one else was doing. It was literally a change happening
in front of my eyes. I was like, ‘Wow, this sport can be
played in this manner’. It was just so exciting. I asked my
father to get me enrolled in a cricket academy and two
or three months later I joined. And from there the whole
journey started.
When India couldn’t get across the line after that I used
to literally see myself in those moments. I used to be
like, ‘Give me a jersey, I can do it, I can get us across
the line’. I used to have those dreams.
Now when I’m in the middle of chasing a big total and
I’m able to finish the game off for my team I get those
memories back, of sitting in front of the TV watching
Sachin. The conviction was so strong that I always
believed I could do it and when that happens you feel
so grateful someone up there is watching you and that it
was meant to be for you.
Look out for an exclusive interview with Virat Kohli in the

September issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly
www.wisden.com 67
A
CRICKET
LIFE
David
LLOYD
Bumble looks back on a colourful life spent in the game which has taken in playing,
coaching, umpiring and broadcasting
INTERVIEW JO HARMAN

Feature Title
“
JOEL GARNER ALWAYS MOVED UP
A GEAR WHEN HE BOWLED AT ME
AND AFTER WE’D BOTH RETIRED I
ASKED HIM WHY. HE SAID, ‘WELL
YOU TURNED ME DOWN AT LANCS’.
I SAID, ‘NO, NO, NO. I WANTED
YOU TO COME TO LANCS AND THE
POWERS THAT BE HAD TAKEN
ADVICE FROM CLIVE LLOYD, WHO’D
RECOMMENDED COLIN CROFT’.
HE’D GOT THE WRONG LLOYD!
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED

My dad was a lay preacher and he always just
said, ‘Be yourself’. Whatever I’ve done, I’ve
followed those two words. I got in trouble as
a coach with my bosses but I was just being
myself and I ain’t going to change. It’s held me
in good stead in broadcasting. Peter Baxter,
who first got me started on Test Match Special,
he used the same two words. ‘How does it
work?’ I asked him when I started. ‘Be yourself,’
he said. The same two words have helped me
all along.
BEST PLAYER YOU’VE

PLAYED WITH
You’ve always got some sort of gameplan
against Hadlee or Marshall or Roberts. No such
gameplan against Garner. Do you get under
what happens where and when. It blew me
away. I thought it was absolutely fantastic,
but the lads would have to be sponges to
The brand of cricket right at the minute is no the bouncer? Do you ride it? I’m certainly not take it all in.
fear. Well, Tony Greig played no-fear-cricket. going to play it. And there’s the toe-crusher Glen addressed the squad and said, ‘We’ve
That’s how he conducted himself – in cricket, that you know is coming, and he just doesn’t got a three-day window to prepare for this,
in his life and in business. He was a genuine miss. whereas in the past we haven’t because
all-rounder, up and at ’em, and a visionary for Garner always moved up a gear when he we’ve just gone from Championship or
his time. He left a massive mark on cricket, as a bowled at me and one time in Barbados, after one-day cricket into the Blast’. Three days is
player, as an innovator and as a broadcaster. we’d both retired, I asked him why. He said, nowhere near enough to prepare for a massive
He was a terrific bloke, too – gregarious, ‘Well you turned me down at Lancs’. I said, ‘No, competition. People will say the best coaches
mischievous, and he could be quite cutting no, no. You were playing at Littleborough, I are in the IPL. Well, there’s absolutely nothing
at times. But he was bloody good company wanted you to come to Lancs and the powers else for them to consider. There’s no four-day or
and made an impression on me. I just thought, that be had taken advice from Clive Lloyd, one-day cricket, very few outside international
‘I wish I could have been a bit like that’. His who’d recommended Colin Croft’. He’d got the commitments to think about. It’s a block of T20
broadcasting in the vintage years at Channel wrong Lloyd! cricket and you prepare accordingly. I take my
Nine, with Bill [Lawry], Richie [Benaud] and hat off to any county coach. They’ve got plates
Chappelli [Ian Chappell] was absolutely box- spinning in the air all the time.
office. I had goosebumps when I did a couple THE GAME’S BIGGEST
of stints there. CHANGE
I had occasion to spend a day with Lancashire THE BEST YOU’VE
Cricket Club recently. The coach Glen BATTED
TOUGHEST OPPONENT Chapple asked me to go along and spend I got 195 against Gloucester at Old Trafford,
Joel Garner [above right] gave me some a day with the team. I watched a sit-down in I think 1978, and I’d been out at the local
sleepless nights. He was so tall, so big. That tactical meeting ahead of the T20 Blast, the Conservative club in Accrington with my
front foot came up and I used to think, ‘This coaches and the analyst were there and it was cousin Jack till the wee small hours. And
bloke’s going to tread on me’. I had neither like a classroom situation, with a big screen, I’ll swear I wasn’t sober for that innings.
head nor tail of how to play him. Not a clue. analytical information and percentages of Apparently I played out of my boots.
www.wisden.com 69
A
CRICKET
LIFE
INFLUENTIAL COACHES
In my opinion the game is better now than
it’s ever been: the strength of the players, the
power, the skill. When I was speaking to the
current Lancashire team I told them a bit about
the coaches when I was a boy, to show much
things have changed.
When I joined Lancashire as an amateur,
the coach was Mr Worthington. He used to
coach in a trilby, a cravat and his Lancashire
blazer, with a cigarette holder. So that was Mr
Worthington. And then there was Mr Hallows.
He was a fabulous man, Charlie Hallows.
Scored 1,000 runs in May in 1927 and won
the Championship with Lancashire in 1927
and 1928. He got the job as head coach of
Lancashire at the age of 74. Then we had Mr
Reddick, who captained us young shavers in
the second XI. Mr Reddick had an arthritic hip
and couldn’t run so if the ball was hit to him at
mid-off he’d ask mid-on to go and fetch it. We
had another one, Ralph Alderson, our assistant
coach. He turned up one morning and he said,
‘I’m sorry I’m late everybody, we’ve had a beer
delivery’. He had a pub in Bolton.
This was Lancashire County Cricket Club.
You fast forward to Peter Moores and Glen
Chapple and it’s out of sight the work they do.
COACHING ENGLAND 1999 when I was coach of England was an

It was fantastic. I had a great bunch of lads. awful feeling. We were optimistic ahead of the
One of my main concerns was to protect them tournament, we thought we had a really good
but the frustration was that they would finish squad, but we went out in the group stage on
county fixtures on Monday or Tuesday and net run-rate, even though we had three wins
then come to wherever we were to prepare from five. Everything transpired against us.
for a Test match starting on Thursday. Well, There was a freak result in one of the other
they were knackered most of the time. Fraser, matches which I’ve heard since they were
Caddick, Gough – they were running on empty. looking into, but it’s a bit late now.
It took David Graveney [chairman of selectors] I remember myself and Alec Stewart,
and Ian MacLaurin [ECB chairman] to realise who was captain, wanted Chris Lewis in the
that we needed to employ these blokes on squad but we were turned down. They didn’t
central contracts to manage their workloads. want him around but we thought he would
Right now it’s probably gone too far the have been a real asset. I wanted to stay on
other way. I don’t think they play enough for as coach after that but I had a long chat with
their counties and there could be more leeway, Ian MacLaurin and there were no guarantees
with the Lions especially. We could be a little made so I thought it was best to pursue
bit more open-minded about England players other things.
playing for their counties.
COACHING PHILOSOPHY
WORST FEELING IN To diffuse a situation I’d always like a cup of
CRICKET tea. ‘Let’s have a cup of tea.’ It buys you a little
Going out of the World Cup on home soil in bit of time to think.

“
THE EMERGENCE OF
KAGISO RABADA AND
Feature Title
TEMBA BAVUMA IS
GRATIFYING ON A NUMBER
OF LEVELS. BOTH ARE
HUGELY EXCITING,
INFLUENTIAL TALENTS
AND STANDARD-BEARERS
FOR THE PROCESS OF
TRANSFORMATION IN THE
SPORT AND THE COUNTRY
AS A WHOLE
We didn’t have any financial clout when I was nearest I’ve seen to that in cricket was John PLAYING FACTFILE
coaching but I always wanted specialists. Don’t Inverarity when Warwickshire won the County
ask me about wicketkeeping – ask Alan Knott Championship under Nick Knight in 2004. DAVID LLOYD
or Bob Taylor or Jack Russell. Fast bowling – Inverarity used to walk out in his suit and flat-
don’t ask me, ask Malcolm Marshall, ask Geoff cap and just observe while his coaches worked BORN: March 18, 1947, Accrington,
Arnold, ask Bob Cottam. They’ll tell you about the team. It’s not here quite yet in cricket but I Lancashire
fast bowling. think that’s the way to go. ROLE: Left-hand opening bat, left-arm
In my opinion the head coach should orthodox spinner
oversee everything. During my time with TEAMS: England, Lancashire
England we had a trainer called Dean Riddle, FAMILY CONNECTION CAREER:
a New Zealander who’s gone on to do great He was a bloody good player, my oldest lad 9 Tests, 552 runs at 42.46, 1 hundred
things in American football [as sports scientist Graham [former Lancashire and England 8 ODIs, 285 runs at 40.71, 1 hundred, 1
at Seattle Seahawks]. We went out for our first batsman] – a real dasher. He went into the wicket at 3
session, I split us into different groups and he community police for a while before becoming a 407 first-class matches, 19,269 runs at
said, ‘What are you doing? You shouldn’t be first-class umpire and I think it stood him in good 33.33, 38 hundreds, 237 wickets at 30.26, 5
anywhere near here, you should be sat in a stead for the job in terms of dealing with people. five-wicket hauls, 1 ten-wicket match haul
room watching and if someone’s not pulling I don’t know if he wants to officiate at the 288 List A matches, 7,761 runs at 32.74, 7
their weight then you pull them aside at the highest level but I’ve been involved with hundreds, 39 wickets at 22.89
end’. That advice always stayed with me. the umpires at the ICC and I know there’s a
I know that was Alex Ferguson’s approach. definite move to get younger umpires. Richard
He had a massive window at Carrington Kettleborough, Alex Wharf and Michael Gough
training ground and he could see everything, will have fabulous careers, and further afield
talk to his coaches and then react. I’ve Marais Erasmus, Kumar Dharmasena. They’re
always thought that’s the way to do it. The definitely looking at the younger end.
www.wisden.com 71
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The Club Debate
GAME
At the heart of club cricket
YOUR
Friendly fire: Do we
No.10 need to rescue friendly
cricket from obscurity?
Friendly cricket has been muscled out by league cricket in
I L LU ST R AT I O N J O E P ROV I S
recent times, but is this to the grassroots game’s detriment?

Rich Evans investigates
T
he batsman, wearing
a dowdy fisherman’s
hat, had two shots – a
permeable forward
defence and a late cut.
The presence of two effigies in the
RICH
cordon didn’t deter him from playing the
EVANS
https://t.me/njmpdfall WCM club

cricket editor
and digital
editor of
latter. The batsmen fist bumped between
overs, presumably to muse over the heat
or what’s for tea. There were clusters of
families and youths basking in the rays on
a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in July. They
wisden.com weren’t all familiar with the thespians;
@rich_wisden this open stretch of green lushness on
the outskirts of town was humming with
dog-strollers, tanners and outflows from
the local watering holes. The bowling and
field placement symphonised with the
social, relaxed setting.
A batsman soon entered the crease
with the look of a ‘proper’ player, warmly
greeted with a unified clap without
a tinge of sarcasm. He got off to a
nonchalant flier before a slightly aerial
cut was plucked one handed, low to
the ground at point, by a man of about
50, fielding at point because it’s near to
third man for the next set. The joyous
disbelief implied the batsman was truly
unlucky. This was Sunday friendly cricket
in all its uncooked, untampered glory.
The rise in league cricket and the
gradual marginalisation of its more
innocent and less organised sister has
paralleled falling participation. More likely
a bi-product than a cause, but are we
www.wisden.com 73
GAME
YOUR
RIGHT: Has
league cricket
fostered an
environment
where it’s
difficult to
sit back and
appreciate the
game’s truest
pleasures?
missing a trick? Does fierce competition

and structure really cater to our desires?
And does the slow death of casual cricket
“
THE ADVENT OF LEAGUE CRICKET WAS A RETROGRADE STEP
signify the removal of many of the game’s Phil Mist, chairman of Bicester & North Oxford CC
A
truest and purest joys?
nglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift

once pronounced on the nature
of sport that “Most sorts of
against. League cricket has really
enabled clubs to develop in their
communities, focus on who they are
all gone. It’s now about money. It’s all
stranger cricket now.”
Phil Mist, chairman of Bicester &
diversion in men, women, children and and what they can achieve. It provides North Oxford CC, shares a similar view.
other animals are imitations of fighting”. a structure that is utterly consistent, “The advent of league cricket was a
Cricket is a cultured war surrogate: which is why people like it. I can no retrograde step,” he says. “The quality
a team game shaped by one-on-one longer imagine club cricket without of players is not as good today. Their
gladiatorial jousting. Leadership is league structure.” behaviour on and off the pitch is poor
critical, while weaponry, armoury and But not everyone supports the and first XIs are now comprised of
techniques advance to self-protect and growth of league cricket. Nick Patefield, those 25 years and younger because
counter one’s opponent. You could Brighouse CC’s second-team captain, they’re the only people who can
argue league cricket is a tidy fit for blasted the “monster” of league cricket dedicate their whole Saturday. These
the game’s primal nature, despite self- when I spoke with him last year. “These super leagues pushed by the ECB
aggrandising its gentlemanly ways. organisations are creating these require more travelling than ever.”
“Somewhere within most big monster leagues with pyramid So how has it all changed? Paul
sportspeople is a competitive ticker structures. You might have 10 different Blackwell, a committee member of the
that says, ‘I want to define myself’, teams in your area but now you’re Hertfordshire Cricket League, recounts
so organised, competitive sport is travelling 25 miles to play a team the demise of friendly cricket: “Back
a way of identifying your status and you’ve never played before. You’re then we played a load of friendlies.
competencies within your group, as losing that local rivalry and banter.” There were fewer teams. You would
a team and as a club,” says Simon He adds: “League cricket has created play Saturday and Sunday, mostly
Prodger, managing director of the its own monster. It has taken the values made up of the same people. People
National Cricket Conference. out of the game for financial gain. I want to play competitive cricket now
“I just about remember a time when just want to get on that field with my and only play one day. Now, if we
there wasn’t league cricket. Clubs whites on and play with my son, against [Rickmansworth CC] organise a friendly,
played the same sides every year – a friend who plays for a local village people can’t be bothered. If it’s always
there was nothing to grow your club team and just have a laugh, but that’s league cricket, where do youngsters

The Club Debate
“
I’M NOT SURE WE’RE GOING TO RECOUP THAT RICHNESS OF FRIENDLY CRICKET
ACROSS OUR SUNDAY FIXTURE CARDS. IT HAS GONE BY THE WAYSIDE
Simon Prodger, managing director of the National Cricket Conference
learn their trade? My 14-year-old is Clubmark accreditation, while some League cricket’s rise has also fed a
a good player and obsessed with leagues or divisions demand that clubs behavioural crisis – the driving force Your voice matters:
Join the debate and
cricket, but he doesn’t like playing provide an umpire and scorer. Friendlies behind the recent introduction of Law share your views on
Saturdays in league cricket. The also have their drawbacks, of course 42, which empowers umpires to dismiss grassroots cricket by
emailing
cricket club is all about winning and – finding a fixture can be troublesome players from the field of play and/or [email protected]
everybody is miserable if they lose. while last-minute cancellations or introduce run-penalties. “I hope that we or tweeting
@WisdenCricket
There’s an obsession with league mismatches are common. Both modes can adjust back to a time when there was
cricket. I understand it’s important to are well-accustomed to questionable more honour or integrity in club cricket,”
have competition, but that’s driven the umpiring decisions. Prodger says. Mists adds: “I don’t agree
families away.” Nevertheless, is senior club cricket league cricket is the right thing. Winning
Established league clubs charged neglecting its fringe audience by not is about doing it nicely. League cricket
with grants and junior cricket factories providing enough friendly cricket? is a different world and not terribly nice.
are bumping off the friendly village Mist, Blackwell and Prodger all agree When I played friendly cricket we played
sides. League cricket is now their that the loss of friendlies and the rise hard but there was none of the nastiness
priority, so friendlies have largely of league cricket have driven families you get these days.”
C
become a second-class citizen away, and that the casual form offers a
banished to the bookends of the better setting for youngsters entering lub cricket’s overarching
season. Regular Sunday cricket, in senior cricket. predicaments are all interlinked.
some areas, is all but dead, though Russell Doel, a batsman of 32 years Our desertion of friendlies is
British-Asian communities are still
carrying the torch.
“It’s difficult to see why Sunday
friendly cricket has been in a state of
demise other than a lack of interest
with Cambridge St Giles CC, who also
works for the ECB as national training
and county services manager, told
Cambridge News in July: “Clubs need
to offer a family-friendly atmosphere,
interlaced with the game’s behavioural
problems, formatting issues, the decline
of the family atmosphere and the
teenage drop-off rate.
Matt Dwyer, the former director of
and availability,” Prodger says. “People facility-wise and culture-wise”. The ECB growth and participation at the ECB,
voted with their feet. It wasn’t the naturally want clubs to reside under their is big on variety. “What we are trying
clubs who decided to do away with league umbrella, but does league cricket to do is offer choice,” he told WCM in
Sunday fixtures, it’s people saying, ‘I itself help foster the right ‘culture’? April when asked about ‘The Hundred’.
don’t want to play two days a week’. “I’d love to see our 15-year-olds play “We want people to be able to play
That’s undeniably true. I’m not sure senior friendlies rather than league the format that’s most appropriate for
we’re going to recoup that richness matches, because I think it would be a their lifestyle… ultimately, participation
of friendly cricket across our Sunday more enjoyable environment, but it’s is everything.” But instead of fiddling
fixture cards, with the pressure on not there,” adds Prodger, who is also with format and duration – how about
clubs to play cup competitions. Sunday chairman of Watford Town CC. “They’re altering the approach?
cricket has fallen by the wayside.” guaranteed to get a game, it isn’t cut Perhaps those who are slaves to
Running a league team can produce and thrust, and they’re encouraged to structure and competition in their
a heap of admin, especially those with blossom.” working lives don’t always seek
it out on a Saturday. This is not a
disparagement of league cricket, rather
a rallying cry for its ailing sibling. If
choice is so critical, the game needs
both league matches and friendlies
to remain viable options, even if the
revival of the latter could reduce the
ECB’s dominion in the grassroots game.
Friendly village cricket has largely
perished in both body and spirit. It’s
time for a resurgence.
www.wisden.com 75
GAME
YOUR YOUR VIEWS ON LAST MONTH’S
CLUB DEBATE
What makes a good club

cricket captain?
YOUR
GAME
club cricket
The Club Deb

ate
At the heart of
How do we
No.8
club crick ’ssolve

teenage dret
op-off?
SECRET DIARY OF A
VILLAGE SKIPPER
IS
O E P ROV
Why do so many
“A good cricket club captain is someone who

with the game young cricketers becom
and ing disconnected
conversion rate? how can we improve
AT I O N J
Rich Evans the junior-to-sen

investigates ior
“ THE YOUN
I L LU ST R
GER GENE
understands that not everyone has a cover-drive

IT OR NOT, RATI ON, WHE
ARE JUST THER YOU
ECB chairman NOT ATTR LIKE
Colin Graves ACTE D TO
CRIC KET
C like David Gower or the confidence of Kevin
D
olin Graves’
commen
regarding cricket’s ts
appeal to youngste
rs
Pietersen, who can encourage and ensure their

compelled
Phil Mist,
RICH North Oxford
chairman of
Bicester &
EVANS letter to the
CC, to write
a passionate
Daily Mail on
WCM club state of the the declining
grassroots
game. Mist
I L LU ST R AT I O N J O E P ROV I S
cricket editor blamed the
ECB policies
and digital to a decline that had “led
in players”
players’ efforts are valued.” eath, taxes and selection dilemmas.

their “single-minded and lamented
editor of
Premier League approach to
wisden.com cricket”.
@rich_wisden It speaks volumes
assertions about that Graves’
the perceive
of interest among d lack
sparked a wider the next generation
Mike Yates – via Twitter Few things in life as a club captain are certain
dissection of
cricket. It cuts club
to the core
future-proofing of the issue:
our game is
anxiety for the biggest
many people
grassroots involved at
level. If kids
the appeal, really don’t
where does see
P
that leave us?
but you can bet that come July you’ll have more
layer retention
in the 16-to-19-
year-old age
bracket is one
cricket’s, and of
biggest problem sport in general’
s. The ECB s,
Playing Survey National
in 2013 conclude
40 per cent d that
of young people
“Alchemy, specifically the ability to turn eight on a than a few evenings scratching your head over
more than 12 who play
weeks a season
dropping out were
of cricket by
the age of
Wednesday into 11 on a Saturday is a useful quality how to get a decent XI out/tell someone they’re
www.wisden
.com 73
for whoever oversees the lowest team at a club. dropped/give everyone a game (delete as appropriate).
“
As is the willingness to both put yourself a distant With availability varying wildly from one week to the next,
second to the others in the side, but also step up part one of getting the game on – i.e. picking 11 players for
THERE WILL when required.” a Saturday – can be the most maddening part of the whole
ALWAYS BE Neil Pickup – via Twitter damn summer.
NUMPTIES One game I’m dropping quality all-rounders to the seconds
AND THE “A bad captain is somebody who is not flexible because there’s just not room for everyone – ‘Sorry mate, hard
PUNISHMENT
enough to realise that not everybody is as luck – oh, and not sure I ever got your match fees off you, if
SHOULD FIT
THE CRIME, committed as he is.” you could just…’. The next I’m begging and borrowing from
BUT IT DOESN’T Burnley CC president, Michael Brown, from the thirds because the county are in the cup final, England
REFLECT THE last month’s Club Debate, which we posted on are playing football and couples continue to get married in
THOUSANDS Twitter... the summer. Congratulations on your nuptials, lifetime of
WHO MANAGE
TO PLAY AND
OFFICIATE EACH
WEEK WITHOUT
ANY HASSLES
John Fuller of
“Turn that on its head: an excellent club cricket
captain uses his influence to ensure all teammates
are as committed as he or she is.”
Godmanchester Town CC – via Twitter
happiness, blah, blah, blah – you’ve ruined my week.
It’s that time of year when tensions come bubbling to the
surface. Traditionally that means players making increasingly
unreasonable demands about where they play and what they do,
and volunteers beginning to voice their dissatisfactions. At our
Cricket Yorkshire, place, it’s also around the time that skippers tend to jack it in.
in response to last “Unachievable! Skill is to get the players to commit So, at this potentially tricky time, how is it going? Well,
month’s allegation
as much as they are able to.” the team is going well and seem to be enjoying things. I’m
of a player head-
butting an umpire Michael Brown – via Twitter captaining a good side so can’t claim much credit, but my
decisions clearly aren’t making us lose, so that’s something.
“I’m no motivator but good on tactics and strategy. But my word, it’s a pain in the arse.
My two key points: work hard off the pitch and We’ve got two lads arriving half an hour late this weekend.
through the winter to get the best team out you can. Pick them both and gamble on the toss? Or sling one or both
On the pitch, always act immediately on any hunch.” out? And if so, who to pick as replacements? We need a scorer
Andy Pye – via Twitter the week after and there’s no one to do teas in August. What’s
this now from the groundsman? Oh, good, X and Y think they
“I will never forget my third-team captain at should be batting higher and Z says he’s giving up. My iPhone
Middlesborough CC. My role was a sheet anchor, trills till I dream of its destruction.
and early season I was barracked for slow scoring Did I mention that my last three scores are 0, 4 and 0? That
and got out cheaply trying to play a shot I should at present I can’t actually imagine how to score runs, much
have eschewed. The skipper took me aside and less actually do it?
told me he would deal with those who criticised me Perhaps it doesn’t take Freud to work out the real root of my
and reassured me that the team needed an anchor. disgruntlement. Just as a simple night of passion can turn a usually
The runs did come and I scored more than 600 runs cantankerous old curmudgeon into something approaching
that season. My captain was a marginal pick as a a Buddhist monk, so one fifty-plus score lightly sprinkled with
player but more than worth it as a man-manager.” well-timed drives would see all these seemingly insurmountable
David Rimmer captaincy frustrations melt away to blissful irrelevance.
I just hope that when the opportunity comes I can still
remember how to do it.

Feature
Club News
Title
Club News
5 Dan Hayden hit 202 not out in a 12-ball eight-over match
for Pepper Stoke Row CC versus Mortimer CC.
5 Meg Cureton, 16, scored her first century for Oxton Ladies
CC in the Cheshire Women’s Cricket League – the club’s first
ton in a women’s match. During the knock, the captain also
became the team’s all-time leading run-scorer.
5 Charles Clist broke a Millfield School batting record when

the 17-year-old opener smashed 254 against Canford School.
Millfield, whose alumni includes James Hildreth, Craig
Kieswetter and Simon Jones, racked up
an incredible 492 from 50 overs. Clist,
a member of Taunton CC and the
Worcestershire Academy, added
https://t.me/njmpdfall 344 for the first wicket with

fellow centurion Alex Eckland.
Millfield director of cricket
Mark Garaway, formerly on the
coaching staff at Somerset, said:
“He’s a strong hitter of the ball.
5 Randwick CC’s Seb Dix, 30, produced a career-best His style reminds me of Graeme
performance with both bat and ball in the Martin Berrill Smith.”
Stroud League, smashing 101 in the first innings
before claiming 7-51 with the ball to clinch a 150-run The World Cup impeded the grassroots cricket
5
victory against Rockhampton CC’s third team. “I schedule when England beat Sweden on Saturday July
would have been in dreamland with a fifty and a 7, which proved an availability nightmare. Many leagues,
five-for, so it’s all a bit surreal,” Dix said. Spare a however, devised creative ways to accommodate both
thought for the Rockhampton fielder who dropped games, such as starting at 9am or allowing an elongated
him on one. tea interval. Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart [above]
was among those who played that weekend, representing
5 Richard Symmonds, a second XI player Shrewsbury in the Birmingham Premier League. The shot-
at Yorkshire-based Burnt Yates CC, hit an stopper made six runs at No.9 and later took a catch.
unbeaten 343 in a 40-over match against
Darely CC in the Nidderdale and District 5 A match in the New Forest had to be abandoned when
Amateur Cricket League. The opener hit an umpire lost a tooth after allegedly being headbutted by
30 sixes and 29 fours in a barnstorming a bowler after rejecting an lbw appeal. Police
knock, including 36 in one over. “I think confirmed they were investigating the
the skip may be able to slot him into the incident, which occurred during a local
ones next week,” the club tweeted. The derby between Hythe & Dibden fourth
hero added: “It’s not about me, it’s about the XI and Fawley third XI in Hampshire
team – I can only do my best and get runs on League Regional 1 South West. No
the board for our bowlers.” We like modesty, Rich, arrests had been made at the time
but this one’s about you. of writing.
www.wisden.com 77
THE CRICKETERS’
WHO’S WHO 2018
The Essential Guide to the English County Season
N
AVAIL OW
A
A N E- B L E A S
BOOK
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 Profiles every player from every county, England Women and first-class umpires
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Club Hall of Fame
The Wisden Club Cricket Hall of Fame

NUMBER 10
RUSSELL FLOWER
Next in our series recognising maestros of club cricket,
Scott Oliver speaks to a left-arm spinner from Staffordshire who
counts Boycott, Procter and IVA Richards among his victims
T
o call Russell Flower – and he also regained his Staffordshire
a late bloomer is both spot in the late-1970s, having sat out
to repeat a few dozen most of the decade while ex-Pakistan
unimaginative headlines Test spinner Nasim-ul-Ghani got the
and to be metaphorically nod. Despite being struck by a bolt of
Do you know
accurate. In 1978 the then-35-year-old lightning from a perfectly blue sky one someone deserving
left-arm spinner – who, despite making afternoon, Flower survived to remain a of a place in the
Wisden Club Cricket
a Staffordshire debut aged 21, still only much-loved fixture in the county side Hall of Fame? Let us
had two seasons of experience in the until calling time on his Staffs career know on Twitter
@WisdenCricket or
region’s top league, North Staffs and aged 45, having picked up 322 wickets email
South Cheshire – was offered a shock at 22.8 in 109 appearances.
“
[email protected]
first-class debut and pay-as-you-play He also debuted for the Minor Counties
deal by Warwickshire alongside the XI in 1982, touring East Africa (cost £200),
DESPITE BEING STRUCK BY
likes of Bob Willis, Dennis Amiss and where he took twice as many wickets as
A BOLT OF LIGHTNING FROM
Alvin Kallicharran. the next man, and playing two B&H Cup
A PERFECTLY BLUE SKY ONE
Flower only managed 10 wickets in AFTERNOON, FLOWER SURVIVED games, including a shock 131-run win over
his nine first-class games, although TO REMAIN A MUCH-LOVED Leicestershire, who were rolled for 56.
those did include Mike Procter, David FIXTURE IN THE STAFFORDSHIRE There was a reunion with Boycott
Steele and Geoffrey Boycott, caught at SIDE UNTIL CALLING TIME ON HIS in the showers at Bradford, too, with
slip for 115. Oh, and Viv Richards. COUNTY CAREER AGED 45 Yorkshire 100-odd for two wickets down
“Our captain John Whitehouse told overnight chasing 192. “Don’t worry
me I must bowl straight at Viv,” recalls Cheadle in the lesser North Staffs and lads,” crowed Boycott, who was already
Flower. “‘You mustn’t err’. So I didn’t, District League, turning down twice as out for 2, to his teammates. “There’ll be
and kept it flat, but from nowhere he much money (“almost as much as my plenty of runs tomorrow when ‘Cauli’
shuffled over and flicked me over mid- salary”) from Great Chell in the North has a bowl.” “Yes, Geoffrey, but none of
wicket for six. ‘Was it straight?’ ‘Dead Staffs and South Cheshire League in order ’em’ll be made by thee,” Flower flashed
straight.’ A couple of overs later, off an to complete his spinner’s education. back, to widespread guffaws.
identical ball, he hit me over extra-cover His five years there yielded three Tall, thin and thickly bespectacled –
for six. Again John asked me if it was titles and two runners-up finishes, with one of his nicknames was Foggy, from
straight. ‘Yes, as an arrow. Same bloody Flower topping the league averages Last of the Summer Wine – Flower
place!’ Anyway, a little later he missed on four occasions. In 1976 he returned, played his last game aged 57, then
one. I gave it the yell of all yells, and the as pro, to his childhood sweetheart, slipped into various admin roles: county
umpire raised his finger for lbw. I ran Stone, where he would spend the rest selector, president of the North Staffs
straight over to the skipper: ‘And before of his playing days – even coming out and South Cheshire League, chairman
you ask, yes it was bloody straight…’” of retirement for the penultimate time and now president of Stone, whose first
Flower left his hometown club of to bag a fairytale Man of the Match- XI he watches every week without fail
Stone at 15 in search of regular senior winning six-fer against neighbours Little – an amiable figure sat on a deckchair,
cricket, serving a long and enjoyable Stoke in the 1997 Staffs Cup final. flicking an imaginary ball off the long
apprenticeship playing “competitive Stone won a league and cup double fingers of his left hand, still as hopelessly
friendlies” a mile down the road at Little in his first season back – Flower besotted and fascinated by cricket today
Stoke. Aged 28, the transport manager topping the wicket charts, as he would as when he was routinely bamboozling
at Bassett’s Coaches became pro at in seven of his 11 years as the paid man the county’s best players.
www.wisden.com 79
GAME
YOUR LEARN FROM THE PROS
Facing the new ball with

Nick Gubbins
The Middlesex and England Scoring areas When to take cover
Lions left-hander on his
First and foremost I’m looking to It depends on the deck and how much
approach to tackling score straight – that puts me in a the bowler’s moving the ball whether
the new cherry positive frame of mind straightaway I feel like the cover drive’s an option.
because I’m looking to take the If it’s a good wicket and there’s not a
bowler on. Then it’s about focusing on huge amount of movement in the air, I
my strongest areas and playing the can back my eye to hit the cover drive.
percentages. But if it’s a sticky, nipping wicket, then
it’s probably a shot I put away.
My biggest shots are the straight
drive, the cut and the pull, and on all I keep the other shots – the straight
wickets I’ll look to play them when the drive, cut and pull – as my absolute
ball’s in the right area. go-to options, then on a good pitch I
can add the off-drive and cover-drive,
https://t.me/njmpdfall REMEMBER!
• Hit the ball back past
the bowler
or take them away if the pitch is doing
a bit and focus on leaving the ball well.
Adapting to spin
• Identify your go-to My strength is facing pace and all the

scoring options coaches that know me will tell you
• Assess conditions that, but that doesn’t mean I’m a weak
before taking on the player of spin. It’s certainly a weaker
cover drive part of my game but something that
I’m developing.
“
You don’t really get the opportunity
to play a huge amount of spin in
MY BIGGEST SHOTS ARE this country – it’s very much pace-
THE STRAIGHT DRIVE, dominated. I’m certainly a much-
THE CUT AND THE PULL, improved player of spin having been
AND ON ALL WICKETS on tours to the subcontinent.
I’LL LOOK TO PLAY THEM
WHEN THE BALL’S IN THE
RIGHT AREA The key is to face as much of it as you
can, and the main thing I’ve learnt is to
try and play with the spin. That’s when
I’ve been at my best against spin in
the past.

Batting masterclass
Key influences
Back in the day a massive hero of mine

was Marcus Trescothick. Growing up
I absolutely loved Tres. I don’t model
my game on anyone else nowadays
but I talk a lot to certain players
within the Middlesex dressing room,
Dawid Malan in particular. We’re quite
similar players and go about things
in a similar manner. Eoin Morgan is
another. He’s a great player of spin
and someone I speak to quite a lot to
try and improve my game.
Aggressive from the outset
As an opener in four-day cricket I’m

there to bat six hours, whereas in the
Last season my bat path was coming
across the ball slightly, my weight was
going over and I was cutting across
the ball to mid-on. If you think about a
limited-overs formats I’m willing to take ball going across you, if you’re cutting
Switching between formats more risks. across it then you’re reducing your
chances of hitting it.
In one-day cricket my set-up is slightly In one-day cricket now it’s all about
NICK
GUBBINS
different – I trigger back which then getting your team off to a fast start and My access to the ball also wasn’t
gives me momentum back into the ball working out a method of how I can do great last year and my shoulders were Left-handed
when playing on the front foot. that consistently has been the key for getting in the way of my actual bat opener, 24, who
me. It doesn’t mean running up the strike. I ironed those things out over the scored more
In limited-overs cricket I’m constantly wicket and trying to whack the bowler winter with the England Lions and then than 1,400 runs
trying to put the bowler under over his head – it’s about working coming into the season with Middlesex. in Middlesex’s
pressure, whether that’s forcing them out what my most effective shots are Championship-
to change their length or change their against the new ball for scoring and it’s The conundrum of form winning
line, and looking for any kind of width often playing proper cricket shots. campaign of
to throw my hands through. Form is a strange one. I think it really 2016
Riding out a slump comes down to confidence, but also
enjoyment. I’m really enjoying batting
When you go through tough periods at the minute and when I enjoy it, I
JARGON BUSTING you actually become a better player bat better.
because you learn more about your
Trigger – the movement a batsman game. I feel this year I know when My advice for anyone going forward,
makes just prior to the bowler something’s wrong and how to at whatever level, is to try and enjoy
releasing the ball, often used by correct it whereas last year I wasn’t your cricket as much as possible, and
players to get their feet moving completely sure how to fix it when it not worry about what might or might
was happening. not happen.
www.wisden.com 81
BOOKS
BOOK OF THE MONTH

THE TEST: A NOVEL
NATHAN LEAMON
Constable, £16.99
M
artin Amis once wrote a terrific it has not had the same grip on the culture of the vernacular of professional cricketers, and
short story called Career that, for example, baseball has in America. In for their daily routines, that Leamon makes most
Move, in which the literary recent years, I can think of Joseph O’Neill’s vivid. Here is his narrator, England’s stand-in
world is inverted: poets are Netherland, Malcolm Knox’s The Adult Book, captain James McCall, going out to bat against
bestsellers, flown around the world first-class Shehan Karunatilaka’s dazzling Chinaman Australia with his side at 17-2 in the second
and paid millions for a fragrant villanelle, while and Peter Gibbs’ Settling The Score; and of innings, chasing a distant 557:
screenwriters live in garrets, their damp print- these only Gibbs, a former Derbyshire opening They meet me halfway to the crease.
outs of action blockbusters lying in the slush- bat turned television writer, and Knox wrote ‘Morning, shithead.’
piles at disinterested publishers. directly about the experience of playing ‘How’s it feel to be playing your last Test,
I doubt that Amis was tempted to replace professional cricket. Mac?’
the poets of his story with the hopeful authors Into this tremulous arena steps Nathan I nod back, face carefully neutral. ‘Gents’.
of cricket novels, yet it’s an eminently suitable Leamon, until now best known as the ‘Dead man walking! Dead man walking,
sub-genre. For a sport with such a vast and performance analyst for the England team, coming through…’
explorable hinterland, a past rooted deep in who, with the thudding humour of the dressing Leamon is excellent too on what comes next,
history and empire, and that often beats with room, was quickly nicknamed ‘Numbers’. It’s that the existential nature of batting that offers the
the deep, slow rhythms of long-form fiction, authenticity, a feel for the cadences and limits game its psychological pivot: “Sometimes you

Book Reviews
ALSO OUT
“ THIS MONTH…
FOR A SPORT WITH SUCH A VAST
AND EXPLORABLE HINTERLAND, A
PAST ROOTED DEEP IN HISTORY AND
EMPIRE, AND THAT OFTEN BEATS
WITH THE DEEP, SLOW RHYTHMS
OF LONG-FORM FICTION, CRICKET
HAS NOT HAD THE SAME GRIP ON
THE CULTURE THAT, FOR EXAMPLE,
BASEBALL HAS IN AMERICA
pick up your bat because you’re told to. Sometimes

you pick it up out of habit, because that’s what
F
you’ve always done. Sometimes because you want
to, for the sheer joy of hitting balls. Sometimes ollowing Boria Majumdar’s Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians, reviewed
you do it to show off, because it’s expected of you, last issue, is James Crabtree’s The Billionaire Raj (One World, £18.99),
or because you’re bored. But eventually you find a hair-curling account of the rise of India’s new-gen super-rich. Cricket
yourself picking up your bat because you’ve got is confined to a single chapter here, yet Crabtree is clear about the
nothing else left, no other way out. You have to bat symbolism and significance of the IPL as a part of a wider story of the nation’s
for the life you know.” expansion towards the superpower that is emergent. The chapter opens with
It sounds melodramatic, but many, many Sreesanth’s arrest for spot fixing in 2013, and, as Crabtree writes: “there were
professional players have been there.
Leamon has had a direct line into this authenticity,
and it takes a writer to bring it out – if it didn’t a novel
wouldn’t be necessary, because the autobiographies
of cricketers would read this way, they would ring with
few clearer emblems of the country India was becoming” than the IPL, with its
superficial glamour and dubious finances. At its heart was Lalit Modi, the entitled
visionary who conjured it all up: “Modi soon became a character in a show of his
own creation, one in which he wrote the script and controlled the outcome down
to the smallest detail”. Like Packer before him, Modi was a curious and compelling
such truth. mix of brilliance and bullshit, and without doubt the architect of cricket’s future.
More difficult are the deep problems that the
novelist encounters when fictionalising sport; Far more gentle are reminiscences about and from two county stalwarts; firstly
those of character names and situations and plot the Essex twirylman Robin Hobbs in Hobbsy: A Life In Cricket by Rob Kelly
that feel like simulacra. They can be resolved in (Von Krumm, £16). Hobbs was both a man of his time, when, as Kelly captures
the way that David Peace did with Brian Clough; memorably, “the Essex circus, led by Brian ‘Tonker’ Taylor and featuring three
to essentially allow the power of fiction to abut spinners, was, for cricket fans, as bewildering and beguiling as its contemporaries
reality. Leamon does not take that step, and Sergeant Pepper and Monty Python,” and out of time, in that his 1,000 first-class
so some of the most best and most successful wickets earned him just seven Tests – his containing leg-spin would be highly
passages of The Test come away from the field of prized in T20 cricket. Hobbs is also renowned, despite a first-class batting average
play, in flashbacks and meditations of McCall’s life of 12, for a 44-minute hundred against the Australians in 1975, a remarkable innings
as a partner, father and son. The dressing room amusingly recounted here.
too, comes alive as a place of both sanctuary and
insecurity; intimate, dirty, real. Equally good-hearted is Alan Wilkins, the former Glamorgan and Gloucestershire
In the inverted world of Martin Amis, The Test would seamer who made a significant second career as a sports broadcaster with the
become a Harry Potter-style phenomenon, offering Singapore network ESS. So well liked is Wilkins that Easier Said Than Done: A
the chance to visit Disneyworld and be virtually Life In Sport (St David’s Press, £20) begins with a preface (from Vijay Amritraj),
sledged by David Warner [‘Morning shithead!’]. That foreword (Sunil Gavaskar), introduction (Lynn Davies) and quote (Majid Khan)
probably won’t happen, but I hope Nathan Leamon before the man himself has cleared his throat. His gentle humour pervades, as
writes more. Jon Hotten here with the advice offered on bowling to Viv Richards for the first time: “Don’t
bowl short. Don’t bowl full. Don’t bowl on his legs. Don’t bowl too wide”. Richards
duly smites the first delivery back past him for four, “almost decapitating” umpire
LEFT: Nathan Leamon has a direct line to Barrie Meyer as it goes, belts the next to mid-off, where spinner Gwyn Richards
the on-field experiences of cricketers at the “nearly lost two fingers” stopping it, and then has the King caught at third-man
highest level from the next. Ah, those were the days, my friends… Jon Hotten
www.wisden.com 83
CRICKET
MONTHLY
COMPETITION
WIN!
A VIP EXPERIENCE
AT LORD’S
We’ve teamed up with Kingfisher to offer

you and a bunch of friends the five-star
treatment at Lord’s for day three of
Middlesex’s County Championship fixture
against Sussex on Friday August 31.
The prize includes a hospitality box which

can hold up to 12 people, with unlimited
Kingfisher beer and curry being provided
throughout the day.
And we have two boxes up for grabs, so

you’ve double the chance of winning!
Answer the following question to get your

name in the hat:
In which year did Middlesex last win the

County Championship title?
A 2017
B 2016
C 2015
To enter the competition visit

www.wisden.com/play/win
Competition closes on August 23, 2018

Competitions
THE CROSSWORD
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9
10
11 12
14
13
15 16
WIN!
The winner of
17 18 this month’s
crossword will
19 receive a copy
of England:
20 21
The Biography,
22
Simon Wilde’s
story of
23 24 English cricket
from 1877-2018.
25
Send in your completed crossword via email

26 27 28 ([email protected]) or via post (Crossword,
Cricket Properties LTD, Fourth Floor, Bedser
Stand, Kia Oval, Kennington, London, SE11 5SS)
29 30
31 32
34
33
MYSTERY MAN
Bowling with a unique slingshot action,
‘Irongloves’ claimed I hurled it down in
excess of 180kph, and if I wasn’t quite that
fast, I was still quick enough to claim exactly
200 Test wickets. Not quick enough to ever
ACROSS DOWN be one of the Wisden five however! Still,
1. Bat, often wielded (3) 1. Jain, former India cricketer, now Bangladesh my one piece of advice to young cricketers,
6. Brittin, woman with more Test runs than any other (3) Women’s coach. Not exactly the second coming of Don wasn’t about fast bowling, it was, “Never
7. Moeen, England all-rounder (3) Juan (4) refuse a young boy an autograph for he
8. Big grounds (6) 2. Chew tea, what cricketers do between sessions (3) might have an older sister!”
11. Qadir, Kardar, Razzaq (5) 3. Former India slow left-armer and captain, once
13. The tag South Africa bear at world tournament (7) threatened to dump the entire India team in the sea
15. Initialism describing most details of the ECB’s after a poor performance (6,5,4)
mooted ‘The Hundred’ competition (1,1,1) 4. David, never won a Test match but did win BBC
?
17. Average cricketer, surname O’Neill, scored 181 in the Sports Personality of the Year in 1975 (6)
first tied Test, Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1962 (4) 5. A fine sweep (3)
18. Middle (6) 9. It can be hard to do this between Somerset’s
19. Batsman’s training area (3) Overton twins (11)
20. The type of all-rounder 7 across is (11) 10. A team hoping for intervention from the weather
22. A good ball, or what Bairstow does as a greeting (3) might do this (4,5)
23. Jason, Australia U19 captain, scored a first-class ton 12. Hong Kong-born mid 90s England all-rounder and
against England in November 2017 (6) Warwickshire captain (6,5)
24. Nash, New Zealand quick who took 11 wickets at 14. The highest pair of Owais Shahs (4)
Lord’s. Now retired, but his heart will go on (4) 16. Space explorer which might come back with a skied
25. A top-order bat might try and do this for a few runs cricket ball, according to the commentary of Danny
with the tail (3) Morrison (9)
26. Location of a birthmark which prevented Sunil 21. Zambian-born Worcs fast bowler, one of 29 players
Gavaskar from being lost by his parents as a baby (7) used by England in the 1989 Ashes (4)
27. Surname of Jawaharlal, India’s first Prime Minister, 23. Sight and sun, both vital for cricket (6)
who has many cricket grounds named after him (5) 28. Ray, Essex slow left-armer in their glory years (4)
31. Someone who sees off the shine (6) 29. A yorker might crush this (3)
32. Knott formed a deadly one of these with Deadly (3) 30. Lewis, sounds like a department store chain (3)
33. Lanka (3)
34. Sciver, inventor of a shot between the legs (3)
Last month’s mystery man: Mahela Jayawardene
LAST MONTH’S WINNER: DAVID RIMMER LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS: ACROSS: 1. MACGILL; 4. ABUSING; 9. SUSSEX; 11. RAMAGE; 13. MOVES; 14. IMAM; 15. ANALYST; 17. ADR;
www.wisden.com 85 18.
DOCTORED PITCH; 22. RPO; 23. UPWARDS; 26. TEEN; 27. YADAV; 28. ATHERS; 30. ANSARI; 32. AIRSHOT; 33. IGNORES DOWN: 1. MISHITS; 2. GUS; 3. LAXMAN; 5. BURSTS; 6. SAM;
7. GREGORY; 8. NEVILLE CARDUS; 10. SCARBOROUGH; 12. AIZAZ CHEEMA; 16. TRI; 19. TAU; 20. GRENADA; 21. BUNNIES; 24. PHYSIO; 25. DEVANG; 29. ELS; 31. SCO
THE
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G O L D E N S U M M E RS
Tales & treasures from cricket’s glorious past
1990 MY GOLDEN SUMMER

LAWRENCE BOOTH
The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
editor recalls a summer of love,
https://t.me/njmpdfall loss and Allan Lamb
I
t was a summer of small seams,
big runs and a French kiss.
Wonderfully, it was a time
before the internet. It meant my
cricket awakening passed in a
blur of Tony Lewis and the BBC, Ceefax circa
page 340, and two-day-old newspapers from
our campsite shop in the Provence. You had to
make an effort to keep up, and I volunteered
for the morning croissant run more than once,
rifling through the back pages as I fumbled for
francs. God, it was rewarding.
A couple of months earlier, England had toured
the Caribbean, losing 2-1 to West Indies in a
series they might easily have won. I had fallen
under the spell of Test Match Special – and Allan
Lamb. Cutting and hooking giant fast bowlers
from somewhere between the peak of his helmet
and the top of his moustache, Lamb persuaded
me that Northamptonshire, his county, would
be my county too. Since England’s top seven
also boasted Wayne Larkins, Rob Bailey and
David Capel, it was clear I had chosen one of the
domestic game’s traditional powerhouses… 
www.wisden.com 87
MY
GOLDEN SUMMER
1990
LEFT: Devon
Malcolm and Allan
Lamb consider
the price of fish
BELOW: Kapil
Dev struck four
consecutive
sixes off Eddie
Hemmings to help
India avoid the
follow-on at Lord’s
BELOW RIGHT:
Sachin, aged 17,
walks off at Old
Trafford, 117*
TOP RIGHT: Daffy

DeFreitas in full
cry for Lancashire
“
So when the 1990 home Test summer began
with failure for my new hero (Lamb lbw b
Hadlee 0), I steeled myself for disappointments
to come. It was only a game. None of it
mattered. The real world doesn’t give a
damn about runs or wickets. Even today, it
feels like a useful lesson, especially where
Northamptonshire are concerned.
CUTTING AND HOOKING GIANT FAST BOWLERS FROM
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE PEAK OF HIS HELMET AND
THE TOP OF HIS MOUSTACHE, ALLAN LAMB PERSUADED
ME THAT NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, HIS COUNTY, WOULD
The New Zealand series wasn’t up to much, BE MY COUNTY TOO
though England won 1-0, which was rare enough
in those days. Oh, and Hadlee took a wicket with
his final ball in Tests – Devon Malcolm. It was like second innings by a young Sachin Tendulkar, For me, though, matters did not properly
Shakespeare signing off with “The End”. I was stooping low at long-off to take the ball one- hot up until the family holiday in the south of
happy just to have seen him at work before he handed. Damn him. We’d have to keep an eye France. We caught the ferry, drove through
retired. Even so, I was secretly hoping that things on Sachin Tendulkar. most of the night, and woke up by the edge of
would get better against India. a farmer’s field somewhere in the Auvergne,
Most people remember the first Test at Lord’s my two brothers and I crammed into the back
for Graham Gooch’s 333, when the BBC missed and grumpily wondering why we weren’t nearly
the big moment – England’s first triple-century there yet.
for 25 years – because they wanted to show a Once we arrived, the tranquillity of our sylvan
horse race. But the outrage felt by my 15-year- surrounds wasn’t immediately appreciated.
old self at their priorities was nothing compared The walk from our pitch to the lone shop would
with a more personal sense of injustice: Lamb normally have been long enough to put off a
had made 139, yet all the talk was of Gooch and tetchy teenager, but the overpriced copies of
his triple. Fair enough, I suppose. But that didn’t the British newspapers were my only way of
make it right. staying in touch with news of the second Test
England ended up winning a lovely game. at Old Trafford.
Mohammad Azharuddin made a sparkling We three boys received a holiday allowance
hundred, Kapil Dev saved the follow-on by from our parents. My brothers bought sweets,
hitting Eddie Hemmings for four successive chocolates, tennis balls and snorkels. I bought
sixes into the building site at the Nursery End, out-of-date copies of the Daily Telegraph,
Gooch scored another century in his summer of which the whole family proceeded to read
summers, and Lamb was brilliantly caught in the anyway. It was worth it, even as I watched my

brothers benefit from both their money and

mine. Some prices were worth paying.
The game was probably already over as
I excitedly returned to the family tent one
morning brandishing news of Lamb’s almost
entirely irrelevant second-innings hundred.
No matter that the first-innings hundreds
by Gooch, Mike Atherton and Robin Smith
had already battered India’s bowlers into
submission. Lamb now had two centuries
in two Tests – and, counting the Caribbean,
four in his last nine. His average, I noted
after a quick calculation on the back of the
newspaper, was now exactly 37. Greatness
wasn’t necessarily beckoning, but this was a
basis for negotiation. And it was higher than
Mike Gatting.
Tendulkar saved the Test, announcing himself
with a precocious hundred, but my attention hadn’t even heard of Northamptonshire. In fact, led Northamptonshire to a one-run win in the
was starting to waver. In the table-tennis room, cricket may not have featured much at all. I was semi-final of the NatWest Trophy over Mark
across the swimming pool, and over the pots a latecomer to girls, being shy and at a boy’s Nicholas’ Hampshire. Since they had beaten
and pans I inevitably found myself washing up school. It was my first kiss. And England just Worcestershire in the quarters by four runs,
after lukewarm meals of beans and sausages, needed to avoid defeat at The Oval to secure with a fuming Ian Botham stranded at the non-
a French girl had caught my eye. Miraculously, I the series. striker’s end while Mark Robinson delivered the
seemed to have caught hers. All things considered, I was in a good perfect final over, they were plainly determined
Her name was Aurelie (don’t worry, she’ll state of mind. I was learning unexpected to do it the hard way.
never read this), and she cared little for the French words on a daily basis, and found a Though the supply of newspapers proved
favouritism shown to Gooch over Lamb; she newspaper which revealed that Lamb had sketchy over the next few days, it was clear by
the time we left the Provence that England were
in trouble. In fact, they were following on (Lamb
b Kapil Dev 7). My final rendezvous with Aurelie
had ended in humiliation, after her father and
brother rumbled us in a secluded thicket. The
entente cordiale was officially over. But there
was no time to brood: England were fighting for
their lives.
News of their progress depended on being
able to tune into any genre of British radio
station as we drove north through France.
Finally, not far from Calais, came news that
David Gower had saved England’s bacon
with an unbeaten 157, aided and abetted by
Lamb’s 52. On the ferry, we sat next to a pair
of Scrabble-playing cricket-lovers who hadn’t
heard the news. “Good for Gower,” said one. He
seemed genuinely happy.
That summer wasn’t just special because
England won, I found love, Lamb scored runs
and Northamptonshire reached the NatWest
final (where they were scuppered by September
dew and Phillip DeFreitas). It was a reminder,
now I think about it, that summer holidays back
then really could take you to another world, with
no wifi to keep you in thrall to your own. And
the memories feel the sharper for it.
I miss them, those innocent times. I wonder if
my French amie feels the same.
www.wisden.com 89
DAY O F
DAYS
Next in our series looking back at the

moments that changed cricket for good, Matt
Thacker goes back to Headingley in 2008,
where a nervous Mark Ramprakash is again
trying to add to his 99 first-class centuries
AUGUST 2
2008 HEADINGLEY, YORKSHIRE
I KNOW THAT ONLY TWO OF THOSE HUNDREDS
WERE TEST HUNDREDS. WHEN YOU LOOK
AT THE OTHER PLAYERS ON THAT LIST,
“
THEY’RE ALL GREAT INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS,
BEFORE
SO MY EMOTIONS WERE QUALIFIED
F
irst, always first, there MARK RAMPRAKASH
comes WG. He had
broken every batting
record already, damn Woolley. Then came Sutcliffe, Tyldesley and Boycott reached their landmarks
near invented the art and Hammond, the youngest man to (as a runner for Geoff Howarth in the
of modern batsmanship, and then in achieve the feat at just 31. That same case of the former).
MATT 1895, his annus mirabilis (1,000 runs year, 1935, Andy Sandham – another It had been some 15 years since
THACKER in May, sole Wisden cricketer of the Surrey man – who had batted at No.8 the English game had seen the formal
Managing Year), he hit his hundredth hundred. in Hayward’s 1913 match, struck his own introduction of overseas players in
editor of The In his 46th year on the planet, his 31st hundredth to became the 10th man to county cricket and the results now
Nightwatchman, of first-class cricket played on pitches achieve batting’s high watermark. started to show on the century-scoring
the Wisden that would have today’s inspectors It was to be 12 years before Bradman charts as Glenn Turner became the
Cricket Quarterly working overtime, he hit Somerset for was added to the list and, Bradman first New Zealander, and the second
288 at Bristol, notching his hundredth being Bradman, there were a few non-Englishman, to reach one hundred
century in his 1,113th innings. A distant supplementary records thrown in. He hundreds, 72 of his overall 103
second on the list at the time was Arthur was the first non-Englishman to get centuries coming for Worcestershire.
Shrewsbury, with 41. there, he did so in just 295 innings Later in 1982 he was joined by Zaheer
It would be 18 years before anybody (next best on the list is Compton’s 552), Abbas, who hit a double hundred for
else reached such a state of Grace. 65 of his hundreds were for Australia, Pakistan against India to become the
Surrey’s Tom Hayward, stranded on 99 and 29 of them came in Tests. A glut 20th batsman to reach the landmark, 49
at the start of the 1913 season, fretted of England greats followed in his wake of his tons coming for Gloucestershire.
his way to the end of June before – Ames, Hutton and Compton in the Until Ramprakash, only four men had
his teammates were able to cheer early 50s, Graveney in ’64, Cowdrey in reached a hundred hundreds since
him to his landmark. A decade later, ’73, then Edrich (Surrey’s fourth entrant Zaheer – Dennis Amiss, Viv Richards
Jack Hobbs, one of those teammates on the list) and Boycott in ’77, on-driving (47 for Somerset, 10 for Glamorgan),
and Cambridge-born like Hayward, memorably for four at his beloved Graham Gooch and Graeme Hick.
replicated the feat, followed in fairly Headingley. Remarkably, Graham Roope With the ever-decreasing number of
quick order by Mead, Hendren and was at the other end when both Edrich first-class matches and the emergence

G O L D E N SFeature
U M M ETitle
RS
to Surrey in 2001. Ramprakash chewed up county attacks,

remorselessly churning out the runs, his stop-start England
career long over as he made his peace with his position in
cricket’s world order and contented himself with terrorising
the shires.
He had become the first player to score a century against
each county, he had scored over 2,000 runs and averaged
over 100 in both 2006 and 2007, compiling 18 centuries
in that time. In the last game of that 2007 season, he had
scored twin hundreds against Lancashire, and they were
Surrey’s first opponents in 2008. The inevitable hundred
followed and another came against Sussex just two matches
later to take him to 99. And then… 10 innings came and went.
TV trucks on wasted trips, local sports desks on high alert,
whispers about that suspect temperament resurfacing…
It did not help that Ramprakash, a bat-obsessive and
meticulous to the last in ensuring that everything was exactly
as it should be with his blade, had broken his beloved Gray-
Nicolls shortly after hitting that 99th century. In the ensuing
10 innings, he tried out five new bats before discarding each
of them. He didn’t make it to 50 once.
Desperate times, desperate measures. Up against Yorkshire
at Headingley, the scene of his first first-class hundred
back in 1989 (watched by Boycott – “Well done young
man, but why did you give it away?”) and his Test debut in
https://t.me/njmpdfall 1991, Ramprakash was captaining Surrey, who were over

200 behind on first innings. He borrowed a bat from Scott
Newman, with whom he then put on over 250 to save the
game, a cut off David Wainwright bringing up the landmark.
He says: “Once it got to 10 knocks, Sky Sports were
of central contracts meaning players turned out more for ABOVE LEFT: turning up at every game asking me: “Do you think it’ll be
country than county, when Hick joined the club in 1998 in his Ramprakash today?” There are only so many times you can answer a
574th innings, (third quickest behind Bradman and Compton) drives towards his question like that! When it eventually happened there was no
many thought they would never see a batsman scale such hundredth first- glory about it – there was a Test match on at the time and we
heights again. class century were batting out a draw, so it was pretty low key. Having said
But that was to ignore the utter brilliance with which that, I was captain, Goughie was captain of Yorkshire and my
Ramprakash bestrode the county game for 25 years, helped ABOVE: In parents came to watch, which was nice. But I know that only
no doubt by the struggles endured at Test level, which meant his pomp for two of those hundreds were Test hundreds. When you look
he turned out more in county cricket than most of the very Middlesex, for at the other players on that list, they’re all great international
best players. whom he made players, so my emotions were qualified.”
46 centuries
THE DAY AFTER
W Q
atching Mark Ravin Ramprakash bat for ualified they may have been but the
England, more often than not it felt like achievement highlights how great a player
he had the weight of the world on his Ramprakash was, and how unlikely it is ever
shoulders, the accumulated mass of to be repeated. A look at the list of century-
batsmanship stretching through the greats makers still playing shows Shiv Chanderpaul
all the way back to Grace. Two hundreds over 52 Tests, a on 77, with Justin Langer’s 86 the highest of anyone retiring
tortured soul averaging a mocking 27, a career unfulfilled. this century. By comparison, Marcus Trescothick has 66 and
At county level it was oh so different. Making his debut for Alastair Cook 62. Ramprakash himself went on to score 14
Middlesex in 1987, he was a star immediately, hitting 46 more hundreds, ending up 15th on the all-time list, level with
hundreds for the county before making the move south Viv Richards.
www.wisden.com 91
THE
NIGHTWATCHMAN
SHOWCASE

THE GLORY OF
KIRKBY-IN-ASHFIELD
JOE
WILSON Joe Wilson spent a day with Enid Bakewell, a colossus of women’s cricket
who is still as passionate about the game now as when she made her Test
BBC Sport
correspondent debut for England 50 years ago
T
he United Nations list of World Heritage Before we sit down to chat in the supermarket café she
sites does not appear to include any cricket takes me to a newly pedestrianised precinct just a few strides
venues. If it did, there would be obvious from the Larwood statue. The artwork here is creative but
candidates: Lord’s, the MCG, Newlands, a little less obvious. Various images from the town’s history
perhaps Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium are displayed on the walls as if they’ve been photocopied
might immediately cross your mind. The Morrisons car park,
Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire might not.
Enid Bakewell has come to meet me here, but she’ll gladly
engage any passer-by. She knows every inch of this town.
She knows that the statue of Harold Larwood was relocated
in monochrome onto the brickwork. One of them is a bob-
haired batter, turning to look over her shoulder as she flicks
the ball down to fine-leg. Pads, knees and pleated skirt – it’s
Enid in action. She poses for a photo for me in front of it.
Enid is not one to be bogged down by statistics, but a
recently as part of a town-centre regeneration. Now he bowls few are worth noting. She started her England career in the
to a bronze Bradman just between the library and the entrance 1960s and finished in the 1980s. This was an unrelentingly
to the new supermarket. Bill Voce, a little incongruously, amateur era for women’s cricket. But in her 12 Tests Enid
crouches to field at silly mid-off. After all, this display made four hundreds and seven fifties. She also took 50
immortalises the Bodyline series. If not bowling you’d have wickets at an average of just over 16. In her last Test, against
thought Voce might at least have been fielding on the leg-side. West Indies in 1979, she made a hundred and took 10
But Kirkby-in-Ashfield knows its cricket history; it wickets. She also helped England win the first World Cup, in
remembers its famous cricketing sons and can claim 22 first- 1973, two years before the men’s version began, scoring 118
class players, including Larwood and Voce. But look a little in the de facto final against Australia at Edgbaston. Only five
harder and you’ll also find one of cricket’s greatest female female cricketers have been inducted into the ICC’s Hall of
players. Enid Bakewell has just been waiting for the rest of Fame; Enid was the third.
the world to discover her. “What did you get paid for winning the World Cup, Enid?”
“When the girls got their sponsorship deal with Kia “Paid?” she replies. “Are you joking? We didn’t get paid anything.
[in 2014] I went along to one of their showrooms, near Honestly, we were not allowed to claim travelling expenses.”
here. I said, ‘You know you’re giving all the England By 1973 Enid was in the prime of her cricketing career. She
players a new car? Well, I played for England for nearly was also a mother of three children. “They told us the children
20 years’. It didn’t work. ‘We know about cars, not couldn’t be with us during the tournament. We thought that
cricket,’ they said. But when I brought it back in for a service was dreadful at first but in the end it helped us concentrate
they did knock 40 quid off,” Enid laughs. She often laughs. on the cricket. My mum had died in 1970 so my dad – who
I’m pleased to have caught up with her. She’s busy. She was 75 at the time – was absolutely marvellous. He used to
rearranged a bowls match so we could do an interview, take the children to the beach or the zoo.”
she’s dressed in a fleece and tracksuit bottoms because Surely she at least indulged in some sort of celebration
she’s taking a cricket coaching session at 5.30. And she’ll on the night of the final? “I went home that night to see the
go directly to yoga after that. This might be the time to point kids, and then I had to come back to Birmingham the next
out that Enid Bakewell is 75 years old. day because we were playing this Rest of the World game.”
www.wisden.com 93
THE
NIGHTWATCHMAN
SHOWCASE
Talk to Charlotte Edwards or Sarah Taylor about Enid
Bakewell and their faces light up. As women’s cricket has
ABOVE: England’s
players are
These days women’s cricket is becoming a year-round
pursuit for the very best players. Alongside the international
become properly professional, she is a living, breathing, welcomed by fixtures, the Women’s Big Bash League is now established in
testament to how far it has come. She’ll tell you stories Warwickshire Australia and the Kia Super League is into its third summer.
about selling bars of chocolate at committee meetings at chairman Cyril As a young woman, Enid played hockey during the winter
Trent Bridge to raise funds for women’s cricket. Or about Goodway before months and cricket during the summer. As much as she
being picked to tour Australia in 1968 and then being told the 1973 World loved the competitive nature of hockey and the camaraderie,
she had to pay for the flight herself. She raised the money Cup match against Enid admits she’d have been tempted to have done nothing
and went, having agonised about leaving her daughter Australia at but cricket if she’d been blessed with modern opportunities.
behind, aged two and a half. Edgbaston in 1973 “I wouldn’t have got bored, I’d have probably got better. I
“I kept saying, ‘I can’t leave her’, but my mother – with didn’t give up until I was in my forties. I remember sitting at
her first grandchild – said, ‘We’ll have her’. I said, ‘Mummy’s the airport thinking, ‘This is the last time I might be wearing
coming back when the daffodils are up’. Of course, they an England blazer’. Mind you, we had to provide those too.”
came early that year didn’t they…” Enid has so many stories. But it would be deeply unfair to
What Enid sees of modern women’s cricket she enjoys. suggest she spends her time in the past. Few people I’ve
“It’s phenomenal,” she says, “they’re so good at these met embody the ethos of ‘get busy living’ quite like Enid
reverse sweeps, so improvised. There’s so much watching Bakewell. This is, again, where the statues come in. Enid was
and analysing now, which we didn’t have.” invited to the grand opening alongside the supermarket.
Back in the 1970s, female cricketers were often lacking “When they unveiled the statues there were some girls
even basic equipment. During the early stages of the 1973 there in school uniform. One of the dads was at school
World Cup, England had a game against New Zealand with my eldest. She’s 50 now. Anyway, I’d got there early
in Exmouth. The rain had fallen heavily. “A lot of the girls because I wanted to do my shopping. Luckily my son said to
didn’t have spikes in those days, would you believe? The me, ‘Look, there’s some people there, don’t you want to go
umpire decided, because we weren’t wearing the right gear, and talk to them about cricket?’ Well, we got talking, and it
someone was going to have an accident. So she stopped turns out now the dads want their daughters to play.”
the game. We were behind the run rate. Shoes stopped
play. England lost.”

“
WHEN THE ENGLAND GIRLS GOT THEIR SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH KIA I WENT ALONG TO ONE OF THEIR
SHOWROOMS AND SAID, ‘YOU KNOW YOU’RE GIVING ALL THE ENGLAND PLAYERS A NEW CAR? WELL, I PLAYED
FOR ENGLAND FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS’. IT DIDN’T WORK. BUT WHEN I BROUGHT IT BACK IN FOR A SERVICE
THEY DID KNOCK 40 QUID OFF!
K
irkby-in-Ashfield is suffering from the same issues As for the future of cricket here, a key part of the club’s
that face so many parts of the British cricketing policy is establishing female participation. “I would sooner
landscape: in short, fewer clubs and fewer teams work with the girls,” Kevin tells me. “They tend to listen
within those clubs. I was told that Kirkby alone once more, they don’t want to show off so much, they’ve got a
boasted six cricket clubs. That figure is now one. But Kirkby greater focus and I think they’ve got greater grace when
Portland is not standing idly by. Terry Barrett from the they play.”
club hands me a sheet of A4 paper that condenses Kirkby The club has linked up with Chance to Shine, the charity
Portland’s history with key dates and achievements. They that promotes cricket participation in state schools, but the
include the following: chance to get Enid involved was too good to miss.
This is an abridged “She used to live at the bottom of the street where we
1878 Club formed. Played on farmer’s field near Portland and updated version lived,” Terry Barrett explains. “I grew up hearing, ‘Enid
colliery of an article which Bakewell used to play for England,’ and thinking, ‘but this
1908 Notts Senior League champions originally appeared woman only just lives down the road!’ It was great for the
1921 Notts Senior League champions and Notts Senior in issue 14 of The area, along with all the other cricket history we’ve got
League Cup winners Nightwatchman: around here.”
1978 Celebrated centenary with match against local The Wisden Cricket When Enid tried to teach cricket in PE lessons in
celebrities. Took out 20-year lease on Nuncargate Cricket Quarterly Nottinghamshire in the 1960s she was told by her (female)
Ground (where Harold Larwood first played cricket) thenightwatchman.net PE adviser “Ooooh no! That’s too unladylike!” Nowadays
2003 Recognised as ECB Focus Club
2015 Kirkby Portland Girls’ Team formed
That last entry is why we’re in a school hall with matting

wickets on the floor and nets pulled into place. Enid has got
BELOW: Bakewell
was inducted into
she helps out at Kirkby Portland on a voluntary basis –
she’s been teaching sport her whole adult life. But she’s
aware of how she needs to adapt.
“It’s interesting, having watched this Twenty20, the way
that players are improvising, it makes you think. There
her pads on and is now wearing her MCC jumper. She’s over the ICC’s Hall of are some keen lasses, but it’s no good being traditional. If
in the corner, shouting “Well done, lass!” More children are Fame in 2012 some kiddy has got talent and they’ve got an eye for the
arriving all the time, some boys, some girls. ball, you’ve got to build on that positively. It’s no use trying
As the chairman of Kirkby Portland, Kevin Jones is charged to play by the book or coach by the book. I mean, I was
with protecting the club’s future. Some of the challenges never coached how to bowl.”
he faces are those you’ll often hear in connection to youth Only twice during my time with Enid does she
sport in modern Britain. For example, Kevin believes interest express anything approaching regret. On the 1968/69
in cricket is affected by the range of alternatives for young tour of Australia she turned down a chance to go and
people. But in Nottinghamshire, in particular, Kevin knows visit the man who is still the most famous cricketer in
cricket has been damaged by the decline in traditional Nottinghamshire. Harold Larwood had emigrated in 1950.
industries, like the collieries that produced Larwood. “We were told he was very shy, and I was exhausted
“You do not have that unity of purpose in regards to from all my efforts playing, but I’ve always regretted not
the ordinary man. You do not have the same communities meeting him.”
because they’re not all working in the same areas. Around The other uncertainty that Enid confesses is her fear
here there’s still a working-class base but its not a working- that she’s taken up bowls too soon. After all, with matches
class base that stands up for itself like it once did, and scheduled for MCC and the Redoubtables Club this season,
Larwood can be seen as an embodiment of that.” her cricket career is far from over.
Over 80 years on, Larwood’s treatment at the hands of the “I’m going to try to keep going until I’m 80, at least. I
establishment in the wake of the Bodyline series is still an once saw a chap at Timperley captaining a side, standing
open wound here. He refused to apologise for doing what at mid-off, and he bowled an over. He was talking about all
the captain had told him. He didn’t play for England again. the lads he’d coached. And I thought, if I can do that when
The word is ‘scapegoat’, I suggest. Both Kevin and Terry I’m 80, I’d feel very, very proud.”
nod. “People here still feel for him as someone who was Building a statue of Enid Bakewell would almost seem
treated with contempt, treated poorly by the authorities,” is inappropriate. After all, in her life thus far, she has never
how Kevin puts it. remained still.
www.wisden.com 95
THE DECADE
THAT WAS...
1900
THE
s
1900 THE GOOGLY CLAIMED ITS
FIRST VICTIM
https://t.me/njmpdfall On July 20, Leicestershire opener Samuel Coe had

moved his way to 98 against Middlesex at Lord’s when
Bernard Bosanquet decided to test out a delivery he had
originally discovered while playing a game of ‘Twisti-
Twosti’ – a parlour game involving a tennis ball – three
@Benedict_B years earlier. Coe aimed to stroke the delivery through
the off-side, but it spun the other way, leading to a
Sky Sports’ stumping for William Robertson.
statistician Benedict
1901 CB FRY SCORED SIX
Bermange takes us SUCCESSIVE CENTURIES
back to the start of
the 20th century After starting the English domestic season with three
double-centuries in the month of June, CB Fry’s
and the heart of record-breaking sequence of six consecutive first- had collapsed to 48-5 when Gilbert Jessop strode to the
cricket’s Golden Age class hundreds began in mid-August with 106 against crease. With a previous highest Test score of just 55, the
Hampshire at Portsmouth. He then followed up with 209 Gloucestershire all-rounder took the attack to Australia,
against Yorkshire at Hove, 149 against Middlesex at the reaching his century from only 76 deliveries. When he was
same venue, 105 against Surrey at The Oval and 140 dismissed England still required 76, but George Hirst and
against Kent, again at Hove. Finally, he hit 105 for ‘The Wilfred Rhodes delivered a nail-biting one-wicket victory.
Rest’ against champion county Yorkshire at Lord’s to set a
record which still stands today, now jointly held with Don 1903 TIP FOSTER SCORED 287 ON
Bradman and Mike Procter. TEST DEBUT
1902 GILBERT JESSOP HITS THE Tip Foster [above] still has a unique place in English
QUICKEST ASHES CENTURY sporting history as the only man to captain his country at
both cricket and football. His prolific returns with the bat
Australia held an unassailable 2-0 lead when the two for Worcestershire earned him a Test debut at Sydney in
sides met at The Oval for the final Test of the series. On December 1903. Coming into bat at 73-3, he added 192
a rain-affected pitch, England were set 263 to win and for the fifth wicket with Len Braund before marshalling

“
LEFT-ARM SPINNER
COLIN BLYTHE OPENED
THE BOWLING AND THE
NORTHANTS SCORE SOON
READ 26-9 – ALL TO BLYTHE.
THERE WAS A BRIEF FLURRY
BEFORE THE 10TH WICKET
FELL TO GIVE HIM FIGURES
OF 10-30. NORTHANTS WERE
THEN DISMISSED FOR JUST
39, WITH BLYTHE TAKING A
FURTHER 7-18
the tail to perfection, putting on 115 for the ninth 1906 GEORGE HIRST DID THE
wicket with Albert Relf and 130 for the 10th with ‘DOUBLE DOUBLE’
Wilfred Rhodes, finishing with a world-record
individual score of 287 which stood until Andy
Sandham’s 325 in 1930.
1904 GEORGE BELDAM TOOK

HIS ICONIC PHOTO OF RANJI
Born in the same Yorkshire village of Kirkheaton
as fellow Yorkshire all-rounder Wilfred
Rhodes, in 1905 Hirst had struck 341 against
Leicestershire, which remains the highest first-
class score for the county. The following year
AT HOVE he scaled new heights with 2,385 runs and 208
wickets – a unique ‘double double’, the highlight
It was August 27 and Middlesex had just of which was twin centuries and 11 wickets in a
defeated Sussex at Hove by nine wickets, with comprehensive win over Somerset at Bath.
George Beldam hitting the winning runs. No losing six. As on previous tours, the Americans’
sooner had the match ended, Beldam grabbed 1907 COLIN BLYTHE TOOK 17 undoubted star was 35-year-old fast bowler Bart
his camera and invited Ranji to demonstrate his WICKETS IN A DAY King, who took 87 wickets at an average of 11.01
repertoire of strokes to CB Fry’s bowling, most including two 14-wicket match hauls. His average
notably jumping out to play the drive. Beldam’s After the second day’s play at Northampton remained a record for an English domestic
photo took pride of place in Fry’s Magazine of was entirely lost to rain, Kent were eventually season until Les Jackson took 143 wickets at
Action and Outdoor Life and became an iconic dismissed for 254. Left-arm spinner 10.99 in 1958.
image of the Golden Age of cricket. Colin Blythe opened the bowling and the
Northamptonshire score soon read 26-9 – all 1909 THE ICC WAS SET UP
1905 STANLEY JACKSON the wickets falling to Blythe. There was a brief
DOMINATED ENGLAND’S flurry of hitting before Lancelot Driffield was The president of the South African Cricket
ASHES VICTORY bowled to give Blythe figures of 10-30. The Association, Abe Bailey, suggested to Francis
follow-on was enforced, and Northamptonshire Lacey, the MCC secretary, that an organisation
In the 1905 Ashes, Stanley Jackson [above] were all out for just 39 in persistent drizzle, with be formed to govern the rules for international
became the first captain to win all five tosses in Blythe taking seven more wickets for 18. matches. Representatives of England, Australia
a Test series. He elected to bat each time and and South Africa met at Lord’s on June 15,
England won the Ashes 2-0 with comfortable 1908 BART KING STARRED FOR and the Imperial Cricket Conference was
victories at Trent Bridge and Old Trafford. THE TOURING PHILADELPHIANS formed. The name – but not the initials – would
Jackson dominated the series with both bat subsequently change to International Cricket
and ball, scoring 492 runs at 70.28 and picking The Philadelphians played 10 matches on their Conference in 1965 and International Cricket
up 13 wickets at 15.46 apiece. third and final tour of England, winning four and Council in 1989.
www.wisden.com 97
CLOSE of PLAY
CRICKET & I
...with Ed O’Brien
FELIX WHITE
WCM features writer,
musician, record-label owner
and broadcaster
WCM’s features writer heads to New York to interview this month’s If live music and cricket do have common
cricket obsessive ground in their public service, the blissed-out
simplicity of bringing people together would be
T
it. “Great gigs are like a ceremony, a sporting
here are good bands, there are event is like a ceremony,” says Ed. “There’s
special bands, and then there is something that’s very deep about it.” Gower’s
Radiohead. An eternally evolving innings, I’m prepared to believe, was deep. U2 in
think-tank of a group, they’ve spent ’85 I’d have to take his word for.
the last two decades proving that the biggest Radiohead tonight are very, very deep. They
can also be the best. are so mesmeric, the guitar playing so lucid and
During the 15-year lifespan of my own band, expressive, they make an arena with a legacy
The Maccabees, we’d await each new record even bigger than the artists it houses seem
with trepidation. The perennial concern was that small. There are pointed moments where you
they were going to prove to us that everything we can actually feel 20,000 people all experiencing
knew was wrong, again. Large parts of subsequent the same feeling at the same time. “That’s the
rehearsals after said release would be spent bit I love of a gig. I think arenas can be amazing
locked into grooves that would begin with charged places like that. I remember that from the first
positive intensity, until someone would look up, time we played here. It’s almost like there’s a
wincing, and mouth ‘Too Radiohead?’ ‘Scrap it, it’s calmness, you’re just a part of something.”
too Radiohead.’
We did a lot of that. I can vouch that we weren’t
the only ones either. Groups, and very, very good
ones at that, still stretch whole albums out of
Ceremony and belonging, then, have proved
kind rewards for obsession and refuge, and the
zen-connections between passions don’t end
there. “I’ve had the odd gig where I’ve been able
“
transient ideas seeded on Radiohead songs. They to slow down my breathing and my heart-rate.
remain so strikingly of their own laws and universe, I remember playing this show where I could
their impression has seared its way into the heads I’VE HAD THE ODD GIG WHERE I’VE BEEN divide the bar up, a four-beat bar into 32 or 64s,
of musicians globally. ABLE TO SLOW DOWN MY BREATHING and play anywhere on that beat. It was the most
Tonight, they play the first of four sold-out AND MY HEART-RATE. A BATSMAN intoxicating feeling. A batsman must have it. The
MUST HAVE IT. THE GREAT BATSMEN,
shows at Madison Square Garden in New York. THEY HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE great batsmen, they have all the time in the world.
Outside the arena are 10-foot painted quotes from WORLD. THEY’RE ABLE TO STRETCH They’re able to stretch time with their breathing.”
alpha sports and rock/pop stars that the space TIME WITH THEIR BREATHING Our conversation veers through music and
has housed over history. Eddie Vedder of Pearl An early subscriber to Wisden Cricket cricket in some detail for the next two hours.
Jam tells us “You ain’t nothin’ till you’ve played Monthly years before he read NME, his own Littered with the customary stories of personal
Madison Square Garden”. The general theme is gateway moment was sparked by, fittingly, cricketing failures (“I was fielding on a cratered
pretty conclusive. Playing the square is the stuff of one of the most artistic English batsmen to outfield, misjudged the ball and ended up doubled
childhood dreams. play the game. “I wanted to be David Gower. I over, hit in the nuts”) we conclude with Ed earning
For Radiohead guitarist, singer, founding saw him bat on the Saturday of the Edgbaston some validation in the company of the game’s
member and general band glue Ed O’Brien Test in 1985.” On a beautiful summer’s day in greats. Introduced to Mike Brearley, they shared
though, it is unlikely that his childhood dreams are Birmingham, Gower scored a majestic double notes. “He invites me into this box and there’s
in danger of being etched on the walls any time hundred. “You know, the serendipity. Me and Botham, Gower and Gatting. I was so overawed.
soon. Meeting post-show, he tells WCM: “It was my mate, at 17, on the train going from Oxford. I remembered my 11-year old self. I didn’t always
like an epiphany, cricket. It was the first place I It was like going to see a great band, at the have the happiest childhood. Cricket meant a lot.
found solace as a kid, before music. These were height of their powers, like U2 in 1985, an I thought, if he could see me now, you know. It
my refuges. I had that obsessive thing.” Obsession incredible experience. I was so lucky to get was just amazing.” I think those words would look
and refuge. Snap. that window.” pretty good on the walls of the MSG.
Ed’s All Time World XI: (West Indies 1980, touring England) 1. Greenidge, 2. Haynes, 3. Richards, After interviewing Ed I listened to:
4. Bacchus, 5. Kallicharran, 6. Lloyd (c), 7. Murray (wk), 8. Marshall, 9. Holding, 10. Garner, 11. Croft Radiohead – The National
Anthem


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