In the new issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly, out on April 9, Phil Walker heads to Sheffield for an exclusive sit-down interview with Joe Root.
"I don't think there's ever a sense of completion," says England's greatest run-scorer of his extraordinary career in a wide-ranging conversation that touches on parenthood, celebrity status and Root's concerns for the future of the Test game.
Elsewhere, David Hopps introduces our season preview by considering how county cricket can survive and thrive in a rapidly changing landscape before we analyse the prospects of all 18 counties and examine the state of the domestic game's finances in Katya Witney's special report. We also select our players to watch for 2026 and Raf Nicholson previews the second season of the women's county set-up.
Sussex starlet James Coles is this month's diarist, telling us about the Hundred auction which changed his life, and marauding chatterbox Daniel Norcross joins our impressive stable of columnists for the summer.
A jam-packed issue also features interviews with Sarah Taylor, Chris Rushworth and Danny Briggs, plus a vivid recollection of Steve Waugh's Sydney epic in 2003.
You can buy the magazine online, in stores across the UK (click here to find your nearest stockist), or purchase a subscription here.
Wisden Cricket Monthly is also available in digital form. You can purchase single issues or sign up for a subscription here
"I don’t think there’s ever a sense of completion. It’s not like you’re playing golf or tennis, it’s a game where you’re a cog in a bigger part of the machinery, and if you want to be a success you’ve got to make sure you’re doing your job correctly and encouraging everyone else to do it too."
Joe Root on his appetite for more
"It’s hard to imagine a more lugubrious start to a new era than the ECB have managed to conjure up in these past few weeks. The sense that there’s no course-correction available any more is overwhelming."
Andrew Miller on the ECB's post-Ashes review
"There is something inherently vulgar about following a national side. Whereas your county? You can be proudly passionate and irrational, while somehow not compromising but rather validating who you are."
Daniel Norcross is our new columnist for the summer, giving the inside track from commentary boxes across the country
"We sat around the hotel and heard a few more bangs. There’s a US military base in Abu Dhabi and it was under attack from Iranian missiles. They were getting intercepted above us by the missile defences."
Sussex starlet James Coles on his eventful month
"If a glitzy, privatised Hundred is essentially a parasitical money-making venture, county cricket must be the opposite. It must embed itself in communities with more passion than ever before and prove itself a force for the common good."
David Hopps introduces our bumper county season preview
"I absolutely wanted to bin the game off. I was so bitter about it. Stupid game. And it is a stupid game. But that’s what makes it loveable."
Sarah Taylor speaks to Phil Walker about reconnecting with cricket
"We were definitely disliked, because we walked around with arrogance and we hadn’t achieved anything. We weren’t popular. And we weren’t very good either... I think we just turned into a better cricket team. And then people kind of forgave the fact that we were such a bunch of wankers."
Adam Hollioake speaks to Cameron Ponsonby about Surrey's reputation on the county scene
"We want to win trophies, but we’ve got to be very careful that we don’t try to compete with the host counties in trying to win Division One. That’s not going to end well, because they’ve got deeper pockets and bigger resources than us."
Ashley Giles, Worcestershire CEO, on the reality of the county finances
"In the 2015 summer I had a brief chat with James Whitaker [England selector]. We’ll never know how I would have done at Test level. At my best I don’t think I’d have let anyone down. I would have loved to have found out how good I was. There’s worse bowlers who have played international cricket."
The recently retired Chris Rushworth reflects on a career which brought him 676 first-class wickets but no England recognition
"Bairstow was a ball of defiant charisma whose juices flowed like Niagara Falls when a match was in the balance – or, better still, when others had given up. His career was full of matchwinning heists."
Rob Smyth on the effervescent David Bairstow
You can order the new edition of Wisden Cricket Monthly, digital or print version, here.
