Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 86 i Wisden Cricket Monthly

“Shake up the culture by empowering the very woman who’s perceived to embody its faults PHIL WALKER YAS RANA Wisden podcast host For both set-ups, this is an opportunity to de-burden the role of captain, returning the job closer to its core purpose – that of an on-field leader – than to the pseudo-statesperson status it has recently occupied. For the men, I don’t see the need to name a permanent captain before September, by which time they’d have only contested a pair of home series against West Indies. Harry Brook is the obvious choice for the ODI job given his excellent audition against Australia last summer but he lacks T20 captaincy experience, and next year’s World Cup in Asia increasingly looks like a hospital pass, especially for Brook who…

MATT ROLLER Assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo Increasingly unwatchable and pointless. That was how Matthew Engel described county cricket in the Editor’s Notes of the 2005 edition of Wisden. He viewed smaller clubs as “subsidy junkies” and lamented that “four-day cricket played by moderate players on dead pitches” would accelerate its journey from “the margins of British life into total oblivion”. Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. The same charges have been levelled ever since, but the start of the new county season carries with it a sense of genuine optimism — perhaps for the first time in the two decades since Engel’s fatalistic analysis. For the past five years, many counties have tried simply to survive the left-right punch of Covid and inflation; now, a transformative cash injection…

JO HARMAN Wisden Cricket Monthly magazine editor Rob Key is seemingly not for turning. Speaking to Wisden last December, he reiterated the profile of seam bowler he is looking for in the England Test team. “Whatever you reward in life grows,” the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket told the In The Bubble podcast. “And what we’ve rewarded in county cricket was medium-pace bowlers, for lots of different reasons. But international cricket doesn’t reward that, so you’re trying to find which ones are going to be suitable.” That search has led Key to hand Test caps to Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Josh Hull and Brydon Carse since taking charge in April 2022 — all tall men capable of bowling upwards of 85mph. Dillon Pennington is another strapping quick…

“There is a market there, there is a desire there, and there’s an opportunity there Beth Barrett-Wild, the ECB’s director of the women’s professional game KATYA WITNEY Wisden staff writer Waking up for the early-morning commute with the sun streaming through the gap in the curtains brings the first glimmer of relief at the end of a long winter. As summer wardrobes begin to come out from storage and gardens spring back to life, cricket grounds also become a hive of activity once more. This pre-season brings an extra buzz, as the 18 counties officially incorporate women’s sides under their umbrella for the first time. While the previous regional system saw teams loosely based at first-class venues while hopping around between other far-flung grounds, this year they will share a…

“I was sitting in the lobby, and then you see all the big boys strut in. You’re talking about blokes I idolised as a kid: IVA Richards, Marshall, Holding. They were like gods. To think these were my teammates. I felt 10-feet tall playing with those legends Homespun technique Guyana is below sea level, so we regularly get floods, and there’s a lot of rain. Because of that my home was built on stilts, big concrete columns, and we had an area below the house where I would play cricket with my mates. The area would have been maybe 16 yards, much shorter than the normal 22 yards for a cricket pitch, and that’s where I honed my skill. It was a very short distance to pick up line, length,…

Having caught the eye on social media for its viral misfields and comical run-outs, to many European Cricket isn’t something to be taken too seriously. However, at its top level, things are very di.erent, with the opportunity to compete in the European Cricket League one of the most sought-after prizes in club cricket across the continent. Dubbed “the Champions League of European cricket”, the European Cricket League is a T10 competition held at the Cartama Oval in Malaga, Spain. The inaugural tournament was won by Dutch side VOC Rotterdam in 2019, with the first post-pandemic edition won by Spanish outfit Pak I Care Badalona in 2022. French team Dreux were champions in 2023 while English club Hornchurch took the crown in 2024. Back for its fifth edition, the 2025 tournament,…

TEST CRICKET: A HISTORY BY TIM WIGMORE Quercus, £30 CRICKET CHANGED MY LIFE: ELEVEN PERSONAL JOURNEYS BY ANNIE CHAVE Fairfield, £18 It’s easy to see cricket’s ‘legacy’ formats as under permanent existential threat, but actually it’s worse than that, or at least it’s different to that. Pull out the lens to widescreen and look at sport in general. Boxing and golf have undergone radical restructures with Saudi money. Football floats on petrodollars. Half of the world snooker tour takes place in China and the Middle East (and the world number one, Bristol’s Judd Trump, lives in Hong Kong and Dubai). F1, the sport for people that don’t like sport, owes its newfound popularity to a Netflix show. Cricket of course has the IPL and now perhaps a Saudi-backed world league…

1. Rachin Ravindra New Zealand & Chennai Super Kings 5 Ravindra’s brace of hundreds in New Zealand’s run to the Champions Trophy final took him to five overall in ICC tournaments. No other player has scored their first five ODI tons in global events Having missed the Black Caps’ opener against Pakistan as he recovered from a head injury, the 25-year-old stroked 112 from No.4 versus Bangladesh and then made a brilliant century from the top of the order to defeat South Africa in the semis. Ravindra looked in the mood for another ton after cruising to 37 in the final against India before being castled by a peach from Kuldeep Yadav. A fortnight later, opening the batting in CSK’s IPL opener against Mumbai Indians, Ravindra took his side to…

NEW DAWNS AT NORTHAMPTON April 4 Northamptonshire v Kent, Wantage Road County Championship A standout fixture? Hmmm, ma ybe not. No disrespect to either team, but Northamptonshire hosting Kent is not one too many eyes scan for when the schedule drops. But here’s the twist: this year’s clash marks the start of two intriguing coaching tenures, both men with plenty of pedigree. Darren Lehmann versus Adam Hollioake. Rumour has it that dinner is riding on the outcome. If the weather plays ball, a draw feels unlikely. BEARS BACK IN TOWN April 30 Warwickshire v The Blaze, Edgbaston Women’s One-Day Cup The lack of a Birmingham-based franchise when women’s cricket first moved towards professionalism via the KSL meant some of the locals had to find new homes. Marie Kelly was a…

Jamie Overton Age: 30 County: Surrey Tests: 1 (2 wickets at 73, best bowling 1-61) Ashes prospects: 1/5 His 97 on debut at Headingley in 2022 was key to the launch of Bazball but he’s fallen down the Test pecking order since, with injury restricting him to two red-ball appearances last year. Josh Tongue Age: 27 County: Nottinghamshire Tests: 2 (10 wickets at 25.70, best bowling 5-66) Ashes prospects: 3/5 Long touted as a Test seamer, Tongue took a five-for on debut against Ireland in 2022 and impressed in the Lord’s Ashes Test later that summer before his injury curse struck again. Sidelined throughout 2024 after moving from New Road to Trent Bridge, he returned to action on the recent Lions tour of Australia and remains highly regarded. Gus Atkinson…

• The One-Day Cup (50-overs per side) begins on April 19 and concludes with the final at Southampton on September 21. The tournament is split into two leagues, with the eight Tier One counties (Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Somerset, Surrey, The Blaze, Warwickshire) competing in the main competition and the remaining 10 in League Two. • The T20 County Cup begins on May 5 and concludes on May 26 with Finals Day at Taunton. The tournament is a straight knockout competition and consists of 37 teams (the 18 first-class counties plus 19 minor counties). • The T20 Blast begins on May 30 and concludes with Finals Day at The Oval on July 27. The tournament is split into two leagues, with the eight Tier One counties competing in the main…

Ed Giles from Jersey club Old Victorians, beaten finalists last year, says the European Cricket League gives players from his territory a new platform. “It was an incredible experience. As a club side, we don’t play cricket outside of Jersey, really. To go away to Spain, the foothills of Malaga, and play in this competition was very surreal. “It’s putting Jersey on the map. Our national team has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. It’s a week’s trip with a bunch of your friends to Spain. There’s people around the world watching and it’s a cool thing to know that’s happening.” On the quality of cricket, he adds: “It was challenging. Club sides from Jersey are used to playing each other week in, week out, so…

GETTING OUT: THE UKRAINIAN CRICKET TEAM’S LAST STAND ON THE FRONT LINES OF WAR Jonathan Campion “How will we die,” asks Kobus Olivier on the book’s opening page, “I always just prayed that it was instant: one big explosion and then we’re gone.” So much of the horror of the invasion of Ukraine is held within those few words. Olivier was a burned-out South African pro who sought a life away from cricket in Kiev’s parks and coffee shops but found himself drawn back by the enthusiasm of local children and a big-name supporter in boxer turned mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Campion takes the accounts of those involved in Ukrainian cricket and uses them to humanise the devastation, how living hell came out of clear blue skies. IT’S NOT BANTER, IT’S…

Founded in 2002, Dorset Cricket Society is a small but steadily growing group that boasts over 80 members and an impressive and unique programme. From March to October, the society meets every Thursday afternoon, making full use of the facilities at its Hurn Bridge Sports Club home in Christchurch – a fully licenced bar with hot meals is available to all attendees, while those who love playing the game as much as discussing it can take part in the net sessions that follow every meeting in the neighbouring Dorset Cricket Centre. Starting at 1.45pm, the standard format for a Dorset meeting is a 45-60-minute speaker talk followed by a Q&A. Hosting around 24 meetings per year, the society always offers an eclectic speaker programme, with recent guests including Bill Athey,…

With India 105-0 in their pursuit of 252 to win the Champions Trophy final, Glenn Phillips takes a screamer at short extra-cover to dismiss Shubman Gill and give New Zealand a chink of light. Virat Kohli falls three balls later to Michael Bracewell as the Black Caps threaten an upset but the Indians are always ahead of the rate and hold their nerve, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja seeing their side home with an over to spare. Champions Trophy final, Dubai March 9 New Zealand 251-7 (Mitchell 63, Bracewell 53*; Kuldeep 2-40, Varun 2-45) v India 254-6 (Rohit 76, Iyer 48; Bracewell 2-28, Santner 2-46) India won by 4 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)…

DIVISION ONE 25 Sixes hit by David Bedingham last season, the most in Division One Durham CAPTAIN: Alex Lees HEAD COACH: Ryan Campbell LAST YEAR: 5th in Division One (WCM prediction: 2nd) IN: Emilio Gay (Northants), Will Rhodes (Warks), Sam Conners (Derby) OUT: Michael Jones (Lancs), Jonathan Bushnell, Brandon Glover, Oliver Gibson (all released) OVERSEAS: David Bedingham (SA), Brendan Doggett (Aus) KEY PLAYER: David Bedingham – the South African begins his sixth season at Chester-le-Street with a truly outstanding record for the club: 16 first-class hundreds from 55 matches with an average of 58.05. A throwback to overseas players of yesteryear, Bedingham has become part of the furniture at Durham, his prolific returns earning him Test selection for the Proteas. He is the fulcrum of a batting unit which packs…

SAM DALLING Freelance sportswriter “We’re going to call our approach ‘Balls of Steel’ actually,” says Darren Lehmann wearing a grin wider than Steve Harmison’s opening delivery of the 2006/07 Ashes. “It will be a bit of Bazball, a bit of Dazball and a bit of traditional ball. We’re going to have it all.” Dazball, it transpires, will be “a little less than Bazball. A little more sensible. We’ll certainly play Bazball at some stage when we want to drive the game forward. There are no problems with that. But we’ve got to respect the times when you can’t do that. That’s where Bazball gets shot down because they just don’t respect the times when it’s di?cult. That’s the hardest thing for a player, and that’s our role to teach them…

At Lord’s, a joint initiative between the Ramadan Tent Project, MCC and ECB, saw the first ever Open Iftar (the meal eaten by Muslims at sunset during Ramadan to break their fast) at the ground, with more than 450 people packed into the Nursery Pavilion. The free event, with guests coming from the Islamic community and far beyond, was a far cry from previous years where Iftar has been a closed event for invited guests in the exclusive surrounds of the Long Room. This year, everyone involved had the opportunity to embrace the values of unity, compassion and generosity associated with Ramadan. Sabah Hamed, ECB diverse communities manager, explains: “When you see the transformational impact of inclusivity like this, with more people able to attend in a more accessible fashion,…

“The wrist work from hockey certainly comes into my batting, especially playing against spin: sweeping, reverse sweeping, all the deflection shots I’d say I was a better hockey player than a cricketer as a youngster. My hockey journey moved faster than my cricket. I played for South Africa at the Commonwealth Games and World Cup in 2006 and had the opportunity to go to Holland and play hockey professionally. The Commonwealth Games was a really special tournament to be part of. We didn’t perform brilliantly as a team but I scored our team’s first goal in the tournament, which was pretty special. The whole camaraderie around the event was amazing. And then a few months later we went to Germany for the World Cup. The stadium was always packed and…