Joe Hart

The former Manchester City goalkeeper might have been a cricketer had he not chosen football. He was highly thought of at Worcestershire, where he was on the academy as a youngster.

James Milner

Liverpool midfielder James Milner played for Yorkshire juniors and has expressed an eagerness to return to his former club Horsforth CC upon retiring from football.

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Gary Lineker

Ex-England international Gary Lineker remains a big cricket fan and was close to choosing the game over football, having believed he had a better chance of making it as professional. He captained Leicestershire Schools at cricket between the ages of 11 and 16.

Gary Neville

Back in 1992, two young players made an impression with the bat for Greenmount CC in Lancashire. One of them, an Australian called Matthew Hayden, became a key pillar in arguably the greatest cricket team ever to take the field. The other won countless trophies with Man Utd. Gary Neville remains a keen fan of the game and attributes part of his footballing success to the grounding he was given by cricket.

[caption id=”attachment_58791″ align=”alignnone” width=”634″] Hayden and Neville: what a partnership[/caption]

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

The Liverpool star played district cricket for South East Hampshire as a junior before securing his path to becoming a professional footballer.