For many, the summer was all about England's clashes with the Indian tourists, and there was plenty of international cricket to savour. A shame about the less than savoury nonsense involving prickly foes Jadeja and Anderson. England's revival in mid-Test series and India's reversal of fortunes in the ODIs made for some drama but also much scratching of heads.
Perhaps it just demonstrates the joyous unpredictability of the sport. That certainly applies to the county game, even though I had a rare successful prediction of Yorkshire winning the County Championship and Northants being relegated. I'm glad, however, that my forecasts of Somerset going down and Surrey being promoted both proved incorrect!
Warwickshire (in the guise of Birmingham Bears) beat Lancashire in the T20 Blast final but missed out to Durham in the 50-over season finale that was the Royal London Cup Final. They finished second, too, in the Championship, where Yorkshire were simply too strong, especially in the batting department. Despite missing Gary Ballance and Joe Root for much of the season on international duty, and Liam Plunkett either with England or injured, the White Rose outfit, coached by Jason Gillespie, lost only once. That was back in April to a Middlesex side which ended up narrowly avoiding the drop. Yorkshire also topped their group in the 50-over tournament but were knocked out by eventual winners Durham.
Lyth, Leez and Leaning provided youth and plenty of runs, backed up by Bairstow, captain Andrew Gale and overseas signings Aaron Finch and Kane Williamson. Jack Brooks was the second highest wicket taker in Division One but Ryan Sidebottom's twelve appearances resulted in 48 victims at barely 18 apiece, one of the best averages in the top flight. Adil Rashid also made strong contributions with bat and ball, his spin being particularly effective in limited overs formats.
Warwickshire were just too inconsistent in the four-day game to take the title but they were in the frame for all three competitions. Jeetan Patel flew the flag for the old boys, the 34 year-old New Zealander capturing 107 wickets in total. Young Aussie born, Sam Hain, looked a real find in the middle-order, where Jonathan Trott, after a few early season stutters, made a successful comeback in the Championship run-in.
At the other end, newly promoted Northamptonshire found the going far too tough. Not helped by the loss of their regular captain, the form of Andrew Hall and opener Stephen Peters and David Willey's bowling, they lost twelve out of the sixteen matches, winning none. Lancashire also suffered key injuries but, despite 40 year-old Glen Chapple's never-say-die attitude and the all-round excellence of Tom Smith, they will join Northants in Division Two next year.
In 2014, Hampshire and Worcestershire dominated the second tier throughout although Essex's fantastic second half sequence of victories almost broke the duopoly at the end. Moeen Ali cemented his place in the England set-up, and Hampshire's James Vince has also staked his claim. Surrey's woes continued, winning only four first-class games and one in the Royal London Cup. Graeme Smith's second season was again curtailed by injury, which seems to have cut his playing ties with the county permanently. Derbyshire made a spirited challenge, too, after years of struggle. However, Leicestershire became the first county side since the Second World War to go through two whole Championship summers without a single victory. With some of their best young players now plundered by other counties, the future looks bleak.
While the likes of Ed Joyce, Daryl Mitchell, Darren Stevens, Peter Trego and Alex Gidman produced sterling work for their counties, the future of English cricket looks strong in the hands of the Yorkshire brigade, and their Academy's crop of 'undergraduates'. Vince and James Taylor showed they can score runs in all forms of cricket, and a bunch of Sams also made their presence felt. Sam Robson's promotion to England opener wasn't particularly successful. Indeed his brother Angus outscored him, even with Leicestershire. Sam Hain delivered centuries for Warwickshire and Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings thrashed some excellent attacks in the 50-over competition. A future rival to Jos Buttler, perhaps?
ANyway, lots to enjoy in 2014. I'll focus on my County Players of the Year in the next few days.
