To complete my review of the year, I'll examine the performances across all three formats, and not restrict myself to international cricket.
have not been the most successful batsmen outside Twenty20 but David Warner has played himself into my good books. Having played for Australia in T20 before even playing a single first-class match, he has since become a vital cog in the Green Baggie wheel. With Chris Rogers playing the anchor role, Warner has been given free rein to play his strokes and in 2014 collated more than 2,000 runs, averaging over 63 in Tests and a T20 strike rate of 142. He has been paired with Hashim Amla of South Africa. He just oozes class and unflappability whatever the format, and made more than 2500 runs in total. He doesn't seem to have many weak points. Even in T20 his strike rate in 2014 was on a par with McCullum and Finch, superior even to that of Chris Gayle.
Kumar Sangakkara may now be 37 years old, but his batting just seems to improve with age. Top scorer in Tests and ODIs, who cares about T20? His Test average last year was 71, pushing his career figure to a mighty 58, ahead of Ponting, Lara and Tendulkar. A shoo-in at number three, and did I mention he keeps wicket better than Dhoni, too?
Virat Kohli is also starting to carry his 50-over talents across to proper cricket, even on the hard pitches of Australia. He was another of the 2,500-run select few, whose most noteworthy statistic was his ODI strike rate of 99.62! Somewhat less of a global phenomenon, Kane Williamson has shone in what was an excellent year for New Zealand. He averaged 62 in Tests and, with his county cricket exploits included, scored 1,558 first-class runs. Add his List A and T20 figures and the run tally extends towards 3,000. I really hope he shines at the World Cup.
Angelo Mathews also had a fantastic year, converting fifties into hundreds in Test matches, averaging 88 alongside 62 in ODIs. He has grown as a captain for Sri Lanka, too, a great example of a man who has not just fulfilled expectations but exceeded them. Steve Smith has perhaps enjoyed an even steeper rise to the top. With Michael Clarke sidelined by injury, Mike Hussey retired and the rest of the middle-order inconsistent, Smith has rescued Australia for much of the year. Five centuries and an average of 82 in Tests and a good record in ODIs, and by December he had also assumed the captaincy. A wonderful year for him!
While Warner, Williamson, Smith and Mathews have all bowled at international level, surely the best all-rounder in 2014 was Shakib-al-Hasan. Admittedly Bangladesh didn't always face the big boys but as a bowler who also averaged 47 with the bat in Tests he was again a class act. Narine (T20), Herath (Tests) and Mendis (ODIs) may have taken more wickets but in limited overs, few were consistently more economical than Shakib.
Mitch Johnson and Dale Steyn comprise my pace attack. The Aussie's main contribution was in Tests, the highlights coming in the 2013/14 Ashes series. He wasn't a prolific ODI wicket-taker but was surprisingly mean when it came to economy. Steyn is an amazingly consistent trouper over many years. 2014 may not have been his best year but his 39 Test scalps came at just 19.56 apiece and there were 22 ODI wickets at 26.54, too. A fearsome death bowler in T20, too, but not at the top of the tables. My last bowler is Jeetan Patel. The evergreen Kiwi has been a fantastic spinner for Warwickshire in recent years and his 2014 featured 133 wickets all told. His rare talent is to appear equally good in all three forms of cricket. Statistically maybe his best last year came in T20; in 28 games he took 35 wickets at a mere 15, and an economy rate of 5.86, better even than Saeed Ajmal and Malinga.
Just missing the cut were Joe Root, Brendon McCullum, Saeed Ajmal and AB de Villiers.
So my Eleven of 2014 stands as follows:-
Warner (Aust), Amla (SA), Sangakkara (SL, +), Kohli (Ind), Williamson (NZ), Smith (Aust), Mathews (SL *), Shakib al Hasan (Ban), Patel (War/NZ), Johnson (Aust), Steyn (SA).
Roll on 2015..!
