"It's the best thing ever" - Sam Hain on fatherhood and a very special winter away in Australia

But everything is different.

Much water has flown along the River Rea since Hain made his Bears debut against Middlesex at Edgbaston early in the 2014 season. The 18-year-old went in at 27 for two and made an immediate impression with a resolute 42 which helped turn the innings round and set his team on the way to an innings victory.

More than a decade - and 7,931 first class runs - later, Hain remains integral to the team in all formats. In 2026, he will apply himself to the art of making runs as diligently and skilfully as ever – but to an entirely different backdrop. This is the first season that Sam and wife Sophie enter as parents. Hainy is a dad now - a development which, he is quick to observe, changes everything.