As the 2025 Championships kick off, Pacific island nations continue to defy the odds — proving that population size is no barrier to producing world-class sport, writes JAMES NALTON
ENGLAND are ready to play the generation game after pairing 20-year-old debutant Shoaib Bashir and 41-year-old seamer James Anderson for the second Test in India.
Bashir, who has been fast-tracked into the XI after just six first-class appearances and 10 wickets, was born five months after Anderson won his first cap at Lord’s in May 2003.
The duo come into a winning team at Visakhapatnam tomorrow, with the young off-spinner replacing the injured Jack Leach and the country’s record wicket-taker in for Mark Wood.