BUY ISSUE 84

Jo Harman examines Bethell’s intriguing backstory, speaking to those who know him best about his journey from Barbados to Warwickshire, and considers where he fits into England’s immediate plans ahead of a tantalising year.

Elsewhere, a panel of more than 40 writers and broadcasters select WCM’s Men’s Test XI of 2024, and we also reveal our Women’s Cross-Format XI from the past 12 months.

We have exclusive interviews with Dan Worrall, the Australian international who could be playing for England in the Ashes, Scott Borthwick, who explains his new player/coach role at Durham, and Ricky Ellcock, the Middlesex tearaway who has led a life so extraordinary that it could have been taken from a film script.

Mel Farrell previews the Women’s Ashes as Heather Knight’s side bid for their first series win over Australia for 11 years, we reveal No.8 to No.1 in our countdown of Test cricket's greatest away series victories, and Rob Smyth trawls the ICC archives to reveal the English pairings which have topped the Test rankings.

As for our columnists, Lawrence Booth says player power has never been stronger, Andrew Miller argues Australia-India is bigger than the Ashes, guest writer Cameron Ponsonby looks ahead to the return of the Champions Trophy, and Katya Witney takes the ECB to task for turning a blind eye to the plight of women in Afghanistan.

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10 standout quotes from the new issue:

"When I started this job [in April 2022], he was the one being spoken about. Right from the start, all the people involved said, ‘The one you want to watch is Jacob Bethell, there’s some really good players out there but this kid is gonna be a star’."
Rob Key on why Jacob Bethell was fast-tracked into the England side

"My first impression of Jacob [Bethell] was that he was a Test-match batsman in waiting. Occasionally you just get a gem. I witnessed it myself playing in the same young England sides as Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick. Neither of them had the county records, but you just knew they operated at a different level to the rest of us."
Mike Powell, the former Warwickshire skipper who was Bethell's head of cricket at Rugby School

"He has always been a man of few words, but he’s had a lasting impact on those who have sought his advice. He will do his training in the nets and then spend time with the other bowlers and is able to guide them on what they should do, rather than telling them what works for him."
Mahela Jayawardene on Jasprit Bumrah, one of two unanimous picks in WCM’s Men’s Test XI of 2024

"Kagiso Rabada told me recently that he’s played in much better teams, he’s played with his heroes, but he’s never played with so many friends before. That sums up the environment we’ve created."
Shukri Conrad, WCM’s Test coach of 2024, speaks to Daniel Gallan

"By the end of it all, the question arose: is the ‘BGT’ (as no one had ever called it prior to November) now bigger than the Ashes? Definitely, probably, maybe… take your pick. The former involves India, and the latter does not, which might be a significant clue as to where the sport’s priorities lie, as is the ICC’s near-instantaneous suggestion that a two-tier Test system might be the way to go."
Andrew Miller on the Australia-India rivalry

"When we get to April and I haven’t got the yips or broken in half, and [if] they need someone to roll out a few swingers, then I’ll be happy to take a call."
Dan Worrall speaks to Mel Farrell about a possible England call-up

"Ultimately, the situation presented the question that cricket is too scared to answer. What happens without India? If ever there was a moment to hold power to account, it was this one. It was only money at stake. And it was only the Champions Trophy. No one knows for sure what would have happened if the game stood up to its one true powerhouse. But it collectively decided it didn’t want to find out."
Cameron Ponsonby on Pakistan losing sole hosting rights for the Champions Trophy

"I’ll always really loved cricket, but last summer was more of a battle for me. It was the first time in my career where I said to people out loud that I’m struggling… Now I’ve got the opportunity to start a new career. It was an absolute no-brainer for me really – I’ve got the best of both worlds."
Scott Borthwick speaks to Sam Dalling about his new player/coach role at Durham

"Gooch was joined later that summer by another hard-hitting moustachista, Robin Smith, who played an equally big part in England’s feel-good 2-2 draw with the West Indies. Smith’s unjustly forgotten 148 not out saved the second Test at Lord’s – at the time many hailed it the equal of Gooch’s Headingley epic – and he ignored illness to make another brilliant hundred in England’s series-levelling win at The Oval."
Rob Smyth on the most recent English batting pairing to top the Test rankings prior to Root and Brook

"My housemaster did a really strange thing. Bearing in mind this was at the height of apartheid – my chaperone was a white South African. Can you imagine that in 1981? You put a white South African in charge of a little Black boy from the Caribbean. I look back at it and think it was genius. It taught Gary, who’d only ever seen a Black chauffeur or maid, that Black people are just like you, and it taught me that white people are just like me. We’re still friends now."
Ricky Ellcock, the former Middlesex fast bowler, on his arrival at Malvern School

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