Well, that was a summer to remember for English cricket. I'll review the domestic season soon but today's ODI victory capped what has been a remarkable period for England. They just seemed invincible. Potentially tricky series against Sri Lanka? No problem. Four matches against the number one Test side, featuring some of the greatest players of a generation? Easy-peasy. Single T20 international? Lure them into a false sense of security before applying the coup de gras. Five ODIs against the format's world champions? Won 3, tied one, one rained off. OK, so we let them have a single half, but India just never got a look-in.
So how could that be? I've written before, as many others have, about the unbelievable reversal of fortunes, not just of India but also England. The latter have fed upon last year's development and the confidence borne of the Ashes demolition of the once all-powerful Aussies. Now they have done the same to Tendulkar, Dravid, Dhoni, Laxman et al. I know there were injuries, as Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and finally Tendulkar himself all succumbed to physical problems. However, more serious was the mental damage done by those early defeats. I have no doubt that bowing down to the IPL deity has done enormous damage to Indian cricket at Test level. T20 cricket does help fielding, broaden interest in the sport and increase investment but in India it seems to breed a new form of young cricketing talent and one that, so far at least, doesn't transfer to 50-over or five-day formats.
I really hoped that this tour would see the blossoming of Raina, Kohli, Ashwin, Sharma, Mukund and others but instead it just reinforced the importance of the old brigade. There was no 100th 100 for the Little Master, but Rahul Dravid demonstrated why he is nicknamed the Wall, for his three Test centuries, and why he commands enormous respect from players and fans alike when he bowed out of one-day internationals with a 69 today in Cardiff. Despite captaining a losing side, MS Dhoni was the most consistent in the ODI and named Player of the Series.
However, of course, the summer belonged to England. In particular, to Alastair Cook, but everyone played their part, from Strauss to Swann, Bell to Bresnan, Pietersen to Prior, Trott to Tremlett, and each of their team-mates. I will come up with my domestic players of the season but none of the England-qualified stars of 2011 will get much chance of usurping the incumbent thirteen or so Test squad players. It was nice to see the likes of Bairstow, Buttler and Dernbach being blooded, but all credit to the team, Andy Flower, Geoff Miller, David Saker and all others who contributed to Team England. The winter tours and 2012 will have a lot to live up to!
