So 2015 ended with Ashes success for England, a second Championship crown for Yorkshire, limited-overs trophies for Lancashire and Gloucestershire and a miserable finale for Sussex. But who were the individual stars of the summer? I’ve compiled my Team of the Year based partly on my Teams of the Week and partly on the end-of-season statistics.
Openers:
It wasn’t a vintage year for openers in first-class cricket, although Michael Carberry, Mark Stoneman and, in a September flurry, Marcus Trescothick each passed 1000 runs. However, there were some memorable summers for one-day pinch-hitters. Jason Roy and Steven Davies were superb for Surrey but for consistency I’ve gone for Michael Klinger and Alex Hales. The veteran Aussie arrived late but produced a devastating deluge of centuries in limited overs competitions, playing a major role Gloucestershire’s T20 Blast triumph. He also appeared in no fewer than five Teams of the Week in this blog. Hales chose to spend some time as a gun for hire overseas but when he put his mind to it, he scored heavily in all formats for Nottinghamshire. But will he get to partner Cook for England against Pakistan?
Middle Order
So many options here! James Vince outscored everyone in T20 but was unusually mediocre in proper cricket. James Taylor started poorly but gained ground to win back his international place in ODIs. Luke Wright was a ray of shining light in an otherwise dismal summer for Sussex, and James Hildreth likewise for Somerset. Indeed he was top scorer in Division One but was surprisingly short of runs in the one-day stuff.
My choice begins at Durham with Steve Borthwick. He still bowls some leg-spin in T20 but is more of a specialist batsman these days. He scored few centuries but chipped in regularly at number three. Kent’s young captain Sam Northeast also saved his best innings for Twenty20, and it was his hundred which thwarted Somerset in the match where Chris Gayle struck his 150.
The season’s greatest run machine was Ashwell Prince. The veteran South African delayed his retirement for just one season and how Lancashire must have been grateful for that decision. He was also part of that record-breaking 500+ stand with Alviro Pietersen. Niall O’Brien claimed the most dismissals, Ben Brown more runs but my wicketkeeper-batsman is Jonny Bairstow. He produced five three-figure scores for Yorkshire before he was brought in to replace Gary Ballance for England. His Championship average was a tidy 100-odd so who knows what he might have achieved with his county had his team-mate not lost form in Test cricket?
Amongst all-rounders, the evergreen Darren Stevens and Peter Trego were typically in the frame but I’ve gone for Samit Patel for his mixture of vital innings and handy wickets. Notts didn’t have a great year with the ball, so his off-spin rescued the side more than once.
Bowlers
Chris Rushworth made only one Team of the Week but he was the most prolific wicket-taker in first-class cricket, with 88. He rarely played in limited-overs fixtures but he has to be in this Eleven. Joining him as seamers are Surrey’s Tom Curran, James Harris of Middlesex and Yorkshire’s Jack Brooks.
Curran, helped by his 17 year-old brother Sam, was instrumental in hauling Surrey up to the Division Two title, while Harris’s Championship wickets and late-order runs gave Middlesex the impetus to be runners-up. It was hard to pick the final man in the Team of the Season.
Yorkshire’s success was built primarily on their attack. Twelve victories generally means bowling sides out twice, and the White Roses had strength in depth. Ryan Sidebottom missed some games through injury yet he claimed more than 40 wickets at under 18 apiece. Tim Bresnan, Steve Pattinson, Graeme Onions and Adil Rashid all contributed but the main man was Jack Brooks. If he wasn’t the wrong side of 30, the bandana man would have been in the England squad by now instead of Mark Wood.
The likes of Footitt, Rushworth and Brooks may have to content themselves with notching up hundreds of wickets in county cricket instead of the England kit, and their respective clubs will be grateful. Meanwhile, for all the talk of overseas stars, the only foreigners in my XI are Prince and Klinger. As far as England are concerned, I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of Curran, Northeast or Hales.
In short, my County Team of 2015 is:-
Klinger (Glo), Hales (Not), Borthwick (Dur), Northeast (Ken), Prince (Lan), Bairstow (Yor/Eng +), Patel (Not), Harris (Mid), T Curran (Sur), Brooks (Yor), Rushworth (Dur).
