Kevin Pietersen made a lot of headlines in 2012, not always for the right reasons. It surprised me to see that he ended the year having scored more first-class runs than anyone else in the world! The tally of 1,932 probably owed much to his international layoff in the summer which enabled him to score heavily for Surrey, followed by a productive Test series in India.
England played 15 Tests in the year so their other top batsmen appear high on the list, too. Alastair Cook was in great form with or without the captaincy, accumulating 1,880, of which 1,249 came in England colours. Nick Compton started 2012 as an England Lions player, enjoyed a prolific start to Somerset's Championship season, spent months out injured then came back to play all four Tests on England's tour of England as a stand-in opener. His 1,855 runs put him third in the first-class list, averaging a very impressive 77.29.
Australians occupy the next three places. Ed Cowan has yet to cement a place in the national side but he played a lot of cricket, domestic and international, to score 1,784 runs in total. Michael Clarke appeared in barely half the number of first-class matches as Cowan, yet gathered only 16 fewer runs across the year. His Test tally of 1,595 was comfortably ahead of nearest challengers Cook, Hashim Amla, Pietersen and Trott, the only others to reach four figures in 2012. Chris Rogers is the only non-Test playing man to top 1,700 runs in the calendar year. His 2012 included a mighty 49 innings for Middlesex and Victoria, yielding 1,737 runs.
Like Cowan, Phil Hughes put in a good shift in all formats last year but in Tests, special mention should go to Shiv Chanderpaul, whose nine appearances for the West Indies brought him 987 runs at an average of just under 100. Mike Hussey can hold his head high as he faces retirement as his last full year for Australia brought him 898 runs at a shade under 60.
The most eye-catching stats for a wicketkeeper were AB De Villiers' 815 Test runs at 58, although he only donned the gloves after Mark Boucher's sad career-ending eye injury at Taunton in the summer. Matt Prior showed again how useful a batsman he can be, even at six or seven, accmuulating 777 runs at 39 for England. In all first-class games, only Sarfraz Ahmed dismissed more batsmen than Prior: 65 from 16 games in Pakistan. Hampshire's young 'keeper Michael Bates enjoyed a great summer, but needs to work on his batting to threaten Prior's position as England's number one.
Rangana Herath pipped fellow spinner Graeme Swann to top the Test wicket-taking table of 2012, with 60 in only 10 games. A shame none of his Sri Lanka team-mates could follow his lead. Anderson and Broad also took at least 40 Test wickets each but when it comes to all first-class victims, one Englishman stands head and shoulders above the rest in world cricket: Monty Panesar. His 102 included 33 in England colours, where he often outshone the established Swann, whose annual tally was 81.
Ahead of Swann was another off-spinner, Jeetan Patel. He didn't have a great year for Wellington or New Zealand but played a big part in Warwickshire's County Championship triumph, as did Chris Wright and Keith Barker. It wasn't a year only for the slow bowlers. Vernon Philander may not have matched his sensational start to Test cricket in 2011, but his 85 wickets in all first-class cricket placed him second in the world. A fair proportion of them came for Somerset, even on the traditional batting track at Taunton.
Jackson Bird's 70+ wickets for Tasmania and Australia A at under 20 apiece finally earned him an international call-up and he looked a useful fast bowler in the defeat of Sri Lanka in the dying days of 2012. Graeme Onions was also in fine form in an otherwise mediocre Durham side last summer, averaging a mere 16.24 from his 16 matches.
I haven't actually mentioned any genuine all-rounders. That's because 2012 didn't appear to be a vintage year for those who excel at both batting and bowling in the first-class game. Is this because T20 has channelled those with dual talents into playing in a way that simply doesn't suit longer-form cricket? Maybe it's just a blip!
If I had to pick first-class teams of the year, here goes....
ALL 1st class cricket:-
Cook, Cowan, Compton, Pietersen, Clarke(*), Pujara, Prior(+), Philander, Bird, Onions, Panesar.
TESTS: Cook, G Smith, Amla, Kallis, Chanderpaul, Clarke (*), De Villers(+), Swann, Philander, Anderson, Herath
One-day cricket to follow....
