In early June, while England were playing their Ashes warm-up Test against Ireland, Ben Stokes walked into Lord’s and was met by some children asking him to sign bucket hats sporting the Three Lions logo. The England captain was immediately taken with the garments and asked where they came from. No sooner had he reached the dressing room than he said to a team manager: “We’ve got to get a load of these.”
From then on, barely a day went by without England players wearing bucket hats — even in press conferences, to the irritation of sponsors who paid to have their names on the team’s official headgear. Not only did the players start a fashion craze, but they gave off a vibe that chimed