Wisden Cricket Monthly Magazine December 2020 Vorige editie

"The real quicks leave their mark everywhere." The new issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly – out November 26 – is a pace special, as we confront the raw truth about authentic fast bowling. What it’s like to do, and what it’s like to withstand.

Where better to start than the fastest in the history of the game? In an exclusive interview, Shoaib Akhtar speaks candidly to Taha Hashim about the blood, sweat and tears that went into making him the first bowler to cross the 100mph barrier, and how he cultivated his image as the world’s meanest quick.

James Wallace speaks to batsmen and bowlers about the visceral thrill and inherent risk in fast bowling, English teenage tearaway Issy Wong tells Jo Harman she wants to become the first woman to break 80mph, and we pick out the most devastating wicket-taking acts in fast-bowling history. We also investigate the science behind the art and the physical properties which allow a special few to do it, and John Stern tracks down the elusive John Snow, an English fast-bowling great who has faded from view.

Elsewhere in the magazine, Phil Walker explores the lonely art of leg-spin and English cricket’s complex relationship with it, Tanya Aldred considers why the number of openly gay male professional cricketers in this country still stands at one, Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath reflects on his career of two halves, Adam Hollioake remembers a knock of sheer brilliance from his brother Ben, and Ted Dexter tells us why Zak Crawley’s the real deal.

We also have the usual expert opinion from our columnists Andrew Miller, Isabelle Westbury and the returning Adam Collins, and a guest column from Neil Manthorp on the financial crisis engulfing South African cricket.