Pat Cummins, Australia’s frontman, takes the cover of the latest issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly, out on July 13. In a wide-ranging interview with Mel Farrell in the midst of a wild Ashes series, Cummins talks about life, loss and leadership and insists he won’t back down from discussing the things he believes in. "One thing I’ve learned about being a captain,” he says, "is that whether you stand up for something or whether you stand up for nothing, both are going to create backlash. I think it’s important that you just stay true to who you are. If you believe something, you live it."

Also on the Ashes, Mark Ramprakash argues that Bazball can “deflect attention from performance-related inadequacies”, Andrew Miller reacts to a showstopper of a women’s Test match at Trent Bridge, James Wallace explores what it’s like to be burned by the game’s most iconic series, and Ollie Robinson gives the inside track from the England dressing room.

Elsewhere, Lawrence Booth shares his thoughts on the damning ICEC report, Ben Gardner delivers his magnum opus on the wobble-seam delivery, Nicholas Brookes considers whether cricket can finally crack America, and we have news on all 18 counties in ’The County Files’.

We also have exclusive interviews with the recently retired Katherine Sciver-Brunt on her riotous career, Daryl Mitchell on growing up as the son of an All Black, Dimitri Mascarenhas tells us what it was like to be a teammate of Shane Warne’s, and, with the game in a state of flux, we address the burning questions facing the ICC.