A book about watching bad cricket (and playing cricket badly) in the 90s.

April 2022. In the icy stands of Headingley Cricket Ground sits writer Ben Richards, watching his home county of Yorkshire attempt to put months of off-pitch controversy and turmoil behind them.

This isn’t the magical rekindling of a teenage romance with the sport that he had imagined. And England have still been losing, just like they did in the 90s.

Back then, a team in disarray held a special and magical appeal. With the dawn of a new footballing age bringing Sky Sports into the Richards household, coverage of England’s cricket team getting thrashed on their winter tour is the unlikely origin story for a young Ben’s love of the game and a doomed quest to become the side’s next great all-rounder.

Young Lions Sometimes Roar is a look back at sport, and childhood, in the 90s: a tale of falling in love with Gooch’s hapless tourists on TV, following the travails of Atherton’s young lions via crackling long-wave radio coverage, before seeing the decade come crashing down on the captaincies of Stewart and Hussain.

From the early hope and optimism evoked by Sky’s ‘Young Lions’ theme tune, to becoming – officially – the worst team in the world, this is the story of a national cricket team’s tempestuous fortunes mirroring the ups and downs of teenage life.

Almost 30 years after watching his first match, Richards finds himself with time on his hands, watching county cricket in the cold, wondering if it was really that bad after all.

Profiles

Profiles of the major players, pundits and characters in English cricket during the 90s, based on their dusty old autobiographies.

© Ben Richards 2026