A multitude of brothers and famous surnames – How England cricket could look in the next era

While the current India series bringing high tension has left for some forgetting about The Ashes preparation around the corner, the degree of nervousness has potentially been lifted for some England fans for now. However, what about if the Brendan McCullum style is a trailblazer and the selection style continues? What if excitement and players specific to scenarios still warrants being picked for the highest honours in cricket folklore?

Well, here is how England could shape up. Not in the upcoming away Ashes, or even the one after that, but in 2033/34 (mathematically, when an away series will take place), when who knows whether Test cricket will still be a five-day scheduled game or even be played at all. Whatever happens to the game, if this series does go ahead in eight years, it’s unlikely to have many of the current Test players involved, but you’d be sure to have heard of some of their names by now.

DISCLAIMER: don’t expect the projection of a current 10-year-old (18 at time of the series in question to be included in this list).

1.       Ben McKinney

Age: 20 (29 in November 2033)

The Durham left-handed opener has already been tipped with future full international honours after captaining England Under-19s and featuring with the England Lions.

Averaging 34.26 with three First-Class hundreds and a certain fluency to his game, and has kept players like Emilio Gay out of the opener role at Durham already, with more regular playing time he could well be the next England opener and was one of the only names that came to my head for this selection that I felt couldn’t be removed for one of the two slots at the top.

2.       Rehan Ahmed

Age: 20 (29 in November 2033)

Although not currently opening the batting for his county, Rehan Ahmed seemed the obvious option compared to the other top-order options for someone who warranted a place. Already making headlines this season after just completing a fifth century of the year, expectations are already being made for his future career.

Despite being capped for England already (and the holder of five out of eight caps in this XI), the Leicestershire all-rounder looks a completely different player from when he debuted as the fresh-faced, 18-year-old, leg-spin-focused kid that travelled to Pakistan, and rather a replacement to fill the Zak Crawley void with his Ben Duckett-like counterpart in McKinney.

3.       James Rew

Age: 21 (29 in November 2033)

I promise the whole of this squad won’t be 29 at the start of the 2033/34 Ashes, although it would show signs of an incredible boom of cricketing quality born in 2004. Rew is another with England full pathway credit, featuring in a successful Under-19s squad a year after his professional debut and recently for the England Lions thanks to a breakthrough year in 2023, where he scored over 1000 runs in the County Championship.

Along with being an exceptional wicket-keeper, the Somerset youngster looks inevitable to step into a role at number three eventually after already progressing his way up the Somerset order in four-day cricket and having a newfound impact in white-ball competitions. An average in excess of 40 at this stage in his career is certainly hard to overlook.

4.       James Coles (captain)

Age: 21 (29 in November 2033)

Another 2004 baby…James Coles. Sussex’s current stalwart of the number five position looks inevitable to play red-ball cricket for England. After promotion to Division One last season, three Championship centuries in as many games can only catch the eye of the selectors after making the step-up in division.

Although only 21, Coles is a name that has been familiar to avid County fans for a while, and potentially even longer to those who follow the game at a deeper level. Debuting for the south coast County with a three-for, including wickets of England internationals at 16 (as Sussex’s youngest ever debutant) and as a Bunbury Festival star a year earlier as the tournament’s winning captain, Coles has been a star in the making for some time.

A professional captain role isn’t on his CV yet, he has already done so for the Second XI, the aforementioned Bunbury Festival and shows signs in the Sussex camp that he has a leader’s personality. Should he stay at Sussex, it could just be the next step in the absence of an international call-up before then.

5.       Tawanda Muyeye

Age: 24 (32 in November 2033)

For someone not as young as the previous four names in the list, a punt on a batter with just three First-Class centuries may not have been the obvious choice. He also isn’t even England qualified yet…

The Zimbabwe-born Kent batter is certainly not a reason for them being on the brink of finishing with the 2025 County Championship wooden spoon. Although he only has three hundreds (his first coming in his third season as a pro), Muyeye has shown his ability to go on to make BIG hundreds – with a 211 and 179 to his name. The 24-year-old’s consistency averaging around the 35 mark has also been impressive and something that could be leant upon in England Test whites. After a recent County Championship match, Kent Head Coach Adam Hollioake said:

“I’m confident he’ll be turned into one of the best players in the world. I’ve worked with Queensland, Pakistan, England and he’s as talented a player as I’ve worked with.”

You can’t quite ignore that from an ex-England player…

6.       Jacob Bethell

Age: 21 (30 in November 2033)

While he is capped three times already, Jacob Bethell doesn’t quite fit the mold of the previous five batters in this line-up. Picked mainly for his batting exploits (and the option of some white-ball style darts, similarly to Coles), Bethell is already adored by the ECB setup, so it would’ve felt wrong to leave an already capped 21-year-old out.

Although the left-handed stylish batter boasts an average of 52 in Test cricket, his lack of First-Class exposure, still worries me.  Nonetheless, the hype around the youngster after an eye-catching series if New Zealand (initially for the wrong reasons, later resurrected in the blink of an eye) can’t be ignored. And while he doesn’t follow the mold of picking off Championship form, what he does have in common with the five names prior in this line-up is a certain destructive, free-flowing, easy on the eye, watchable nature.

7.       Thomas Rew (wicket-keeper)

Age: 17 (25 in November 2033)

Ah at last, a pick that could rock the boat of people’s opinions because he is so unproven in highly recognised cricket. Or is it?

Despite being 17, Thomas Rew was the first name I wrote down when compiling this list. With his brother already fulfilling the number three slot, the gloves were going to be passed on elsewhere, and who else to give it to than someone turning heads remarkably. Captaining the Under-19s, Somerset 2^nd XI and appearances in the T20 Blast, there is already a lot of talk about this youngster. To talk about his future almost feels inappropriate without a First-Class match to his name but if performances under pressure in the recent England U19s series with India have proven anything, it’s expect the most from this guy, or come to Rew it.

8.       Farhan Ahmed

Age: 17 (25 in November 2033)

The first and only 2008-born cricketer in this XI, Farhan Ahmed is to the ability that hearing he was born in 2008 might make you feel sick. Another player who debuted in the County Championship at 16 against Surrey, Farhan was thrown the ball 24 minutes into play on day one of a County Championship match – by the close he had seven wickets.

In opposing style to his brother Rehan, Farhan bowls right-arm off-spin and is already showcasing he can operate as a frontline, first-choice spinner, doing so for Notts in both formats so far this season. His early blossoming has been well documented too – a 2^nd XI debut at 14, a 7-for against Surrey at 16 with a Kookaburra ball, and most recently a 5-for on Sky Sports in the T20 Blast – he is exactly the Bazball type pick we can expect to see, maybe even before he leaves his teens.

9.       Eddie Jack

Age: 19 (28 in November 2033)

With the middle name Vaughan, born in September 2005, Eddie Jack seems destined to play Test cricket for England.

One of the numerous England youth prospects currently described as having a “high ceiling”, the England Lions star has been recognised as a potential 90mph bowler, standing out for dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal in the recent warm-up matches to India’s tour this summer. Despite the youngster’s exposure coming primarily in white-ball cricket at this stage, his England Lions performances and high pace, extra height and all-round X-factor bowling style makes him a probable for the future under the current regime.

10.  Ajeet Singh Dale

Age: 25 (33 in November 2033)

A potentially obscure pick for someone still uncapped and the only player not in the aged 17-24 bracket in this squad, Ajeet Singh Dale is a unique case in my eyes.

A First-Class bowling average of 38 feels unjustified for the bowler I have physically watched the most of in County cricket (excluding Glamorgan players). The lack of justification for his stats potentially comes due to playing the majority of his cricket at Bristol where seamers aren’t particularly well rewarded but yet I feel an excitement watching him, one I don’t get watching many others in Division 2.

Already rumoured with a move away from Bristol to a Test ground county, means a move, likely to Division 1. Probably the first step to international recognition. He has been picked for the England Lions last summer, so isn’t completely off the radar, albeit he was outbowled by his Gloucestershire teammate Zaman Akhter. What Singh Dale does possess however is roar pace, an adaptable plan for bowling on flat pitches and a certain Aussie conditions likeness to his bowling.

11.  Noah Cornwell

Age: 20 (29 in November 2033)

Another less obvious pick, but one that follows the theme. An ex-England Under-19 international and plying his trade Lord’s for Middlesex, Noah Cornwell has the makings of an all-format English bowler.

A left-handed seam option to complete the line-up without the same X-factor and pace as the two seamers alongside him but a more controlled, swing bowler with consistency already proving lucrative. In just four First-Class matches, he has yet to take a star-studded five-wicket haul like Farhan Ahmed, nor the wicket of a prized international like Eddie Jack, but he is playing at Lord’s, alongside county bowling been-there-done-that’s in Toby Roland-Jones, Dane Paterson, Ryan Higgins and Zafar Gohar while also being coached by Richard Johnson and Tim Murtagh who certainly know how to operate.

Other Squad Members:

Archie Vaughan

Age: 19 (27 in November 2033)

Another player who stamped authority on county cricket debut against high-fliers Surrey, Archie Vaughan outperformed his spin-bowling colleague, Jack Leach, in a match for the ages last September.

Playing on predominantly spin-favouring pitches in Taunton, and under mentorship of the aforementioned Leach, Vaughan is learning how to bowl on pitches that offer plenty for the off-spinner who appears to be making more of his time with the ball than with the bat after initially coming into the side as an opening batter before being shipped down to seven for the majority of the red-ball campaign for 2025 after early season concerns.

With this in mind, it felt difficult to give an opener slot to Vaughan in this XI, as did the Farhan Ahmed slot who has offered more excitement as an off-spinner at this early career stage.

Rocky Flintoff

Age: 17 (25 in November 2033)

Another son of a 2005 Ashes winner, it had to be, didn’t it?

His dad may be the England Lions Head Coach but this 17-year-old isn’t going places because of that. A County debut at 16 and showing excitement in the 2^nd XI prior to that has brought a recent century in the Youth series with India and a contract in The Hundred despite not playing a professional T20 match to date. He was my number six/seven at one stage in the making of this list (with fourth seamer an option), but a struggle to convert excitement to senior runs at this young age, Bethell was opted for.

George Hill

Age: 24 (32 in November 2033)

As another pick for a 30-plus-year-old (in 2033), Hill has also gone relatively unrecognised. A few token England Lions matches handed to the Yorkshire all-rounder although it feels as though no one is talking about him as a genuine spot contender.

If you break Hill down, he has been a mainstay in Yorkshire’s red-ball side for the best part of five years, batted all over the order and played a pivotal, unstylish role with the ball returning an average of 22. Without the pace X-factor he is less Bazball and more under the radar but Chris Woakes-esque stats and style to his medium-fast bowling style could make for a handy role, certainly in England, batting in the lower-order. I did consider for Bethell’s spot too (with Thomas Rew pushed up to six), but playing as a fourth seamer, batting at seven didn’t feel right in Australian conditions for Hill.

Ben Kellaway

Age: 21 (29 in November 2033)

A player known for one skill yet ignored for his best asset could just be the marketing genius to Ben Kellaway that makes him the first Welshman to play for England in Test cricket since 2005.

The ambidextrous off-spinner as he is so recognised, has been tearing up Division 2 with both bat and ball, beating his own First-Class best in each department on multiple occasions already this year as well as making a name for himself with a couple of brutal knocks and left-handed wickets in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup.

Falling victim to the ‘too many spin-bowling all-rounders’ in the listed XI, Kellaway has to sit on the bench for this list although I highly tip the youngster to receive an international cap; the direction in which he is managed towards with his traditional capabilities in red-ball cricket or his highly advertisable white-ball skillset will be the biggest determining factor.

Daniel Hogg

Age: 20 (28 in 2033)

In a toss up for the final spot of the 16-man squad, the reserve seamer spot has gone to Daniel Hogg over his Durham teammate James Minto.

The six-feet-seven-inches tall Hogg took seven wickets in an innings on debut for Durham last summer despite being almost entirely unknown on the county scene beforehand.

Just three First-Class matches this season, including in the Surrey 820 for 9 innings, despite that breakout begs a question of where he lies within Durham’s plans but the Bazball style pick of an unknown bowler of unusual height wouldn’t be the first time. The One-Day Cup could showcase a return for the young seamer but nonetheless an immediate impact such as the one he had will leave a lasting impression.