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Elsewhere, columnist Jonathan Liew imagines the impact Eoin Morgan lifting the World Cup on home soil might have on the country following the buzz created by the England football team’s run to the semi-finals in Russia, Simon Wilde marks England’s 1,000th Test match by selecting the most influential figures from our national team’s history and Elizabeth Ammon calls for an overhaul of the county transfer system.

Also in a jam-packed issue, columnist Kumar Sangakkara describes the thrill and fear of facing Shoaib Akhtar, Ed O’Brien of Radiohead invites Felix White to Madison Square Garden to talk about his love of cricket, Lawrence Booth recalls his summer of love and Virat Kohli picks out a pair of Sachin centuries which changed his life.

*Our countdown of the best young women’s cricketers in the world follows in our next issue

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10 standout quotes from the new issue:

“Jofra ambled in for his first ball and gave me a quick bouncer, and had it been on target I’d have been easily cleaned up. Shai Hope, who was keeping wicket, came up to me, had a little giggle and said, ‘I told you so’.”
Chris Jordan recalls his first encounter with his now-teammate Jofra Archer, who features in our countdown of the best 50 young cricketers in the world

“Cricket is not football. And yet if the 2012 London Olympics taught us anything, it is that the magnetism of home success can attach itself to some exceptionally niche pursuits. If the people of Britain can mass behind sailors, dressage riders and taekwondo fighters, then perhaps the idolisation of Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow is not such a far-fetched idea.”
Jonathan Liew on England’s World Cup dream

“There is an opportunity here for the ECB to show strong leadership and commitment to the smaller, less well-resourced counties by introducing a system that will help give them a fighting chance.”
Elizabeth Ammon calls for a more equitable county transfer system

“I thought the captaincy was a great way to channel my energy fully to Warwickshire but over the season I started to drop off and looking back there were things that I hadn’t put to bed with England.”
Ian Bell opens up on adjusting to life after international cricket

“My adjustment to Shoaib was that I actually batted out of my crease to him. Forget the pace, it was the swing that got me.”
WCM columnist Kumar Sangakkara on how he tackled Shoaib Akhtar

“Duncan Fletcher was the best technical coach England have had, teaching a generation of batsmen how to play spin and identifying reverse swing as a weapon to topple Australia and win matches in Asia.”
Simon Wilde picks out the former England coach as one of the most influential figures in the national team’s history

“Joel Garner always moved up a gear when he bowled at me and after we both retired I asked him why. He said, ‘Well you turned me down at Lancs’. I said, ‘No, no, no. I wanted you to come to Lancs and the powers that be had taken advice from Clive Lloyd, who’d recommended Colin Croft’. He’d got the wrong Lloyd!”
David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd looks back on a colourful life spent in the game

“I couldn’t see anything apart from cricket after those innings.”
Virat Kohli recalls watching Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘Desert Storm’ knocks of 1998 – two innings which sparked his thrill of the chase

“Cutting and hooking giant fast bowlers from somewhere between the peak of his helmet and the top of his moustache, Allan Lamb persuaded me that Northamptonshire, his county, would be my county too.”
Lawrence Booth recalls a summer of love, loss and Lamb

“I’ve had the odd gig where I’ve been able to slow down my breathing and my heart-rate. It’s the most intoxicating feeling. A batsman must have it. The great batsmen, they have all the time in the world. They’re able to stretch time with their breathing.”
Ed O’Brien, an early subscriber to WCM, invites Felix White to watch Radiohead play New York