When Ryan Sidebottom was 14 he was told to go and find something else to concentrate on as he'd never make it in cricket. This week he will lead England's bowling at Lord's after a memorable year where he has burst back onto the international scene and quickly established himself as his country's key weapon. As he tells the Mail on Sunday he is determined to make the most of his time at the top level.

Ryan's mother Gillian thought something was up as he was unusually quiet in the car on the way home. When she stopped to drop off one of the other Huddersfield-based boys, she found out why — between the sobs and gulps and tears.

'I cried my eyes out,' admitted Sidebottom. 'I was just a schoolboy like any other, wanting to do well for my mum and dad and my grandad, who had been driving me all over the place to play. It was hard enough to be told I had no chance of making it. But to do it in front of all the other lads, that was unnecessary.'

Are we naming the coach in question? 'No. He knows who he is,' is all Sidebottom will say.