It certainly never happened to me when I was a lad – even after a particularly insightful essay on the causes of the English Civil War – but there’s a remarkable TikTok film purportedly showing Max Dowman, the Arsenal boy wonder, arriving at school on Monday (don’t forget he’s still only 16), and being applauded to the rafters by pupils and staff. It might of course be AI nonsense, but if it’s not true, it should be. Dowman has long been talked about for his extraordinary ability, and he finally burst into the public’s mind on Saturday with 23 minutes as a substitute in Arsenal’s nervy 2-0 win over Everton. Nervy, that is, until Dowman came on.
His balance is sublime, he seems to glide over the pitch and he has a staggering footballing brain. His brilliant pass into the penalty area baffled Jordan Pickford and allowed Viktor Gyokeres to score Arsenal’s first goal. Then, with Pickford up in the Arsenal box for a 96th-minute corner, Dowman picked up the loose ball, put Vitaliy Mykolenko, a terrifying defender, on the floor, before beating the experienced Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as if he wasn’t there.
Next, young Max – who still can’t change with his team-mates because of safeguarding requirements – set off through the wide open spaces of the Emirates to slot the second goal, untroubled, into an empty net. Arsenal will never be the most popular of teams, but Dowmania might go some way to shift the needle.
Needless to say, there’s a long list of young talents who’ve failed to fulfil their potential. Jadon Sancho, for example, was once the next big thing but now he warms the bench for Aston Villa, on loan from Manchester United. Clearly Mikel Arteta and Arsenal will be doing all they can to make sure that doesn’t happen to Dowman.
Meanwhile, might he even make England’s World Cup squad? It’s almost certainly too early, but he looked a damn sight more grown-up than almost anyone else on the pitch this weekend.
Aged 22, the English cricketer Jacob Bethell is another young star with seemingly limitless earning potential. He’s the real deal, who gives the impression of having just a bit more time than anyone else to play his shots.
T20 cricket can often be immeasurably tedious, with one side getting 160-180 and the other side either chasing it down or not. Yet everyone seems to love it and it’s where the big rupees are. Occasionally, though, it throws up a miracle and the India-England semi-final in the recent World Cup was one of the best games of cricket in any format that most of us can remember, thanks largely to Bethell’s flawless 105.
At 16, Arsenal’s boy wonder Max Dowman still can’t change with his team-mates because of safeguarding requirements
My anxiety about Bethell is that so many white ball franchises all over the world are willing to hurl huge amounts of money at him that he’ll burn out too young. Bethell’s coming IPL earnings with Bangalore are around a quarter of a million quid; his central Test contract with England is worth well over £200,000 plus match fees. The Hundred has now turned into a vast money-pit, and Bethell’s original £30,000 contract with Birmingham Phoenix has been upgraded to around £340,000 (quite a pay increase). Bethell also turns out in South Africa’s SA20 for Paarl Royals. You just hope that his family and advisers are making sure this luminescent talent doesn’t simply implode.
Who knows what Jim Laker would have thought of it as he drove quietly home after taking 19 Australian wickets in a Test match, but modern cricket has become a goldmine. And not only for men: the huge Hundred contract for Dani Gibson (£190,000) puts her among the highest-paid sportswomen in the country. So if your daughter shows promise, forget about university – take her down the nets.
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