Wisden Cricket Monthly - Issue 86
In the new issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly, out April 3, we bring you our comprehensive preview to the 2025 English domestic summer featuring exclusive interviews with Darren Lehmann, who has taken charge at Northants, and Chris Silverwood, who has returned to Essex, the county he led to the Championship title in 2017.
Opening up with Matt Roller’s thought-provoking piece on what the Hundred windfall means for the county game, we analyse how each of the 18 counties are shaping up ahead of the new campaign, pick out the moments you won’t want to miss this summer, and examine if the less-than-rapid but hugely successful seamers on the circuit can force their way into England’s Test team. And as the women’s domestic game joins the men’s county structure, Katya Witney considers how the ECB’s ‘two teams, one club’ mantra will operate.
It’s also that time of year again when we reveal the best bats on the market in the 2025 WCM Bat Test, with the actual winning bat up for grabs for one lucky reader.
Elsewhere, we welcome back columnist Mark Ramprakash, who argues India’s Champions Trophy winners don’t get the credit they deserve, Carl Hooper tells Jo Harman how he developed his ineffable sense of style, Nathan Johns explores the deep family roots which bind Irish cricket, and Rob Smyth reveals the game’s greatest white-ball finishers.
We also have columns from Lawrence Booth, who says it’s a case of when not if Saudi Arabia launch their own T20 league, Andrew Miller, who considers the contrasting fortunes of London’s first-class counties, and Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen recalls leaving his first love behind to pursue a career in cricket.
