“I remember having two references on my desk – one from Sir Garry Sobers and the other, I can’t recall whether it was [Desmond] Haynes or [Gordon] Greenidge, but it was definitely one of them,” laughs Michael Powell.
The former Warwickshire batter was director of cricket at Rugby School when Jacob Bethell’s application arrived on his desk. Unsurprisingly, given the names involved, it didn’t take him long to realise he had someone extraordinary coming his way from Barbados. And then he saw him play.
