James Wallace looks at times when football and cricket collide

Cross code: Ian Botham turned out as a pro footballer for the likes of Scunthorpe United but never hit the heights of Headingley and beyondHistorically, leather and willow have often had to compete with the pig bladder. In England at least, cricket is the less popular, more complicated cousin, grappling for column inches and headlines in an ever-elongated football season that seeps into the seams of the summer. Throw in a summer tournament such as the European Championships or the World Cup and the opportunity for cric...