England's next Bazballer? McKinney happy to deal with hype

Ben McKinney has already had a brush with celebrity.

During series one of Netflix's fly-on-the-wall documentary Sunderland 'Til I Die, he is shown celebrating a rare goal in a season most Black Cats ers would rather forget.

"I got a message from one of my schoolmates saying they had seen me," McKinney tells BBC Sport.

"It summed the season up that it was just me and my dad because no-one else wanted to come any more."

Six years on, 20-year-old McKinney looks ready start his own journey, one he hopes will have a happier ending.

Having made his debut for Durham aged 18 in 2023 and scored his first first-class hundred a year later, the opening batter was already seen as someone with a big future.

Scoring 110 runs from 110 balls for England Lions this winter against an Australia A side featuring six full internationals confirmed it.

"It was pretty surreal," McKinney says. "In the moment you are just doing it off instinct.

"It is good, coming up against good players, to know you are worthy of playing at the standard."

England's hierarchy have shown they are not afraid of giving inexperienced youngsters a chance and they are known to like what they see in McKinney.

Former spinner Graeme Swann, part of the Lions set-up with McKinney in Australia, said the left-hander could "easily walk into Test cricket now", comparing him to New Zealand great Stephen Fleming.

He is a former England Under-19 captain, stands at 6ft 7in and falls into the Bazball mould as an aggressive batter.

It leaves those in the know thinking McKinney could follow where Jacob Bethell, Shoaib Bashir and Josh Hull have gone before in being given an early international bow.

"You say it's a bit of pressure but you would rather that than no-one speaking about you, wouldn't you">