As with all sports English cricket has been brought to a halt by the coronavirus crisis, offering the opportunity to reflect on some of the greats the nation has produced down the years.
Here the PA news agency picks 10 of the finest players to have represented England in Tests.
WG Grace (1880-1899)
Dr WG Grace playing cricket for Eltham Cricket Club at Gravesend, 1913 (PA)
SF Barnes (1901-1914)
Sydney Barnes at Lord’s (PA)
Sir Jack Hobbs (1908-1930)
Surrey batsman Jack Hobbs scored over 60,000 first-class runs (PA Archive).
Wally Hammond (1927-1947)
Wally Hammond starred for Gloucestershire and England (PA)
Sir Len Hutton (1937-1955)
Sir Len Hutton scored a then world record 364 for England against Australia in 1938 (Malcolm Croft/PA)
Fred Trueman (1952-1965)
Yorkshire and England fast bowler Fred Trueman was the first man to reach 300 Test wickets (PA)
Sir Ian Botham (1977-1992)
Ian Botham raises his arms after dismissing New Zealand’s Jeff Crowe in August 1986 to become the then highest wicket-taker in Test history with 356 victims (PA)
James Anderson (2003-still playing)
James Anderson is England’s all-time record Test wicket-taker (Adam Davy/PA)
Kevin Pietersen (2005-2014)
Kevin Pietersen was a rare cricketing talent (Adam Davy/PA)
Sir Alastair Cook (2006-2018)
Record-breaker Alastair Cook celebrates reaching his century in his final Test innings for England against India at the Kia Oval in 2018 (Adam Davy/PA)