Ben McKinney (Durham)
Replacing your county captain at the top of the batting order isn’t for the faint-hearted, but McKinney isn’t a man to get flustered. The uber-calm batter simply stepped into Scott Borthwick’s position against Nottinghamshire in August, smashed his first professional century in 117 balls, and penned his name onto the team sheet for the remainder of the season.
The left-hander backed it up with a century for England Lions in an unofficial Test against Australia A over the winter – a match in which none of his team-mates passed 35 in either innings.
All this came as no surprise to anyone who has followed McKinney’s progression. He captained England at the Under-19 World Cup at the beginning of last year, where he led the scoring charts for his country while gaining a reputation as an impressive leader.
His 6ft 7in stature can put even the most experienced bowlers off their length, while his consistently high strike-rates are perfect for Ryan Campbell’s preferred ‘in your face’ approach at Durham.
Rocky Flintoff (Lancashire)
The name grabs the attention, but the awe-inspiring batting makes you think you’ve stepped into a time machine.
Flintoff is, of course, the teenage son of England great Andrew Flintoff, and a side-by-side comparison of the pair batting would show plenty of similarities. For example, they heave the ball to the boundary in an identical manner which leaves bowlers with little response.
Aged just 16, Flintoff became a regular for Lancashire in their Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign in 2024, before learning the County Championship ropes at the end of the season.
That led to a boundary-laden hundred, while batting at No.9, for England Lions over the winter in Australia. That knock made him the youngest player to score a maiden hundred for England A/Lions… beating his father’s 1998 record by well over three years.
Archie Vaughan (Somerset)
Who could forget *THAT* balmy evening at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton last September with a title potentially on the line?
Somerset needed wickets, but Surrey were digging in. Enter the 18-year-old Vaughan to rip through the champions’ batting line-up with Jack Leach. He took five wickets, which went nicely with his six-for in the first innings. Vaughan had hit the headlines like his father, former England captain Michael, used to do.
Vaughan’s off-spin – with which he added another six-wicket haul for England Under-19s over the winter – has garnered most the attention so far, but his regular important runs and captaincy on that youth tour to South Africa prove he is the all-round package.
Sonny Baker (Hampshire)
The soil in Hampshire is rich with young and blisteringly quick fast bowlers, and who doesn’t like a blisteringly quick fast bowler? (Except batters!)
John Turner, Scott Currie, Eddie Jack, Dom Kelly are all part of bowling coach Graeme Welch’s academy at Utilita Bowl but there is a new face on the south coast who is getting pulses racing.
Baker, a winter recruit from Somerset, has excited over the winter with England Lions, and the Hawks in the Global Super League. With the Lions he took eight wickets at an impressive average of 16.
Injuries prevented Baker from truly breaking through at Taunton but a fully-fit Baker has the speed gun spitting out speeds in excess of 90mph, all while swinging the ball – a terrifying cocktail.
Two quotes sum up Baker: “I only tried cricket because I was terrible at other sports," and “I don’t think it’s fun unless you’re bowling fast.”
Farhan Ahmed (Nottinghamshire)
When you are breaking records set by WG Grace, you know doing something rare and special.
Ahmed did just that when, aged 16 and 192 days, he replaced Grace as the youngest player to take 10 or more wickets in a first-class match in Britain, as he claimed a seven-for, before taking three second innings to bamboozle Surrey with his off-spin.
He ended up with 22 wickets in the County Championship last season in just four matches.
Another glut of wickets, including a nine-wicket-haul in a Youth Test, followed over the winter for England Under-19 in South Africa, to suggest he is on the pathway to follow his brother Rehan into the senior England set-up.