It was all change for the domestic trophies in 2016. Yorkshire relinquished the Championship pennant to Middlesex, albeit only after an incredibly close winner-takes-all final afternoon. Earlier, the 50-over competition was won by Ian Bell’s Warwickshire, and the T20 Blast by Northamptonshire, proving once again that the shortest format is the most unpredictable of them all.
For England, Joe Root’s all-round batting quality shone through, and it was wonderful to watch Chris Woakes finally make the step up from top-notch county stalwart to the international stage. Of course, playing for England deprives the domestic game of the best players for much of the season. It was nice to see Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow make some runs for Essex and Yorkshire before the ECB called them back for England duty, but they weren’t available for long enough to justify places in my county team of the year.
As before, this is based partly on my Teams of the Week and partly on the end-of-season statistics.
Openers:
In contrast to 2015, it was a fine year for opening batsmen. Marcus Trescothick, free from captaincy responsibilities and limited-overs cricket, enjoyed a fine 25th season for Somerset, Nick Gubbins’ runs were vital in Middlesex’s Championship success, and Mark Stoneman demonstrated why Surrey have prised him away from Durham. However, my places go to Adam Lyth and Keaton Jennings. The Yorkshireman may have been discarded by England, but he made runs in all competitions in 2016. The same is not true of Durham’s Keaton Jennings. Suddenly the Jo’burg-born left-hander found form of which I’d never dreamed him capable, doubling his career tally of first-class centuries in just one summer. He may not ‘do’ the one-day stuff but his dominance of the Championship run table (1,548 and 7 centuries), plus his record six Team of the Week appearances, earn him a spot in my Eleven.
Middle Order
It was a shock when James Taylor was forced to retire from cricket just as his international career was beginning to bloom. He left a big hole in the England middle-order which James Vince could not amply fill this summer. Steve Borthwick and Wayne Madsen were consistent performers but none could match Ben Duckett. The 21 year-old Northamptonshire man amassed well over 2,000 runs in all competitions. Hardly surprising then that he scooped both individual PCA awards and a place in the Bangladesh tour party. He is joined in my 2016 XI by Tom Westley of Essex and Kent’s Sam Northeast. They may have plied their trade in Division Two of the Championship but I wonder how long it will be before they also get their chance for England. Essex, in particular, have an encouraging talent pool of young batsmen.
All-rounders
Genuine all-rounders are a bit thin on the ground in the county game. Darren Stevens wasn’t his usual prolific self for Kent, while Samit Patel was unable to prevent Nottinghamshire from relegation. Somerset’s Peter Trego doesn’t bowl so much these days, helped by his county having the services of the Overton twins and Lewis Gregory. Nevertheless, he broke the 1,000 Championship run barrier in 2016 and struck a career best 154 not out against Lancashire. Now in his thirties, Tim Bresnan is carving quite a niche as a Yorkshire all-rounder these days. Besides supporting the likes of Sidebottom, Brooks and Patterson with the ball, Pontefract’s finest contributed essential runs in the lower order, culminating in his unbeaten 142 against Middlesex which almost clinched the third consecutive title.
Wicketkeepers
Ben Foakes (Surrey), Ben Cox (Worcestershire), Ben Brown (Sussex), James Foster (Essex) and John Simpson (Middlesex) each performed well with bat and gloves, but Tim Ambrose nicks it for me. He claimed more Championship victim than anyone else (57) and averaged a creditable 40 at the crease.
Bowlers
The reliable seamers Graeme Onions, Jack Brooks, Steve Magoffin, Clint McKay and Keith Barker each grabbed more than 50 Championship wickets as usual. Jamie Porter was promoted to new-ball duty for Essex and seemed to relish the responsibility. However, it was his 38 year-old team-mate Graham Napier, in his final season, who stole the glory. For so often he has taken the headlines for his six-hitting but in 2016 it was his wickets which did so much for Essex’s promotion challenge. Toby Roland-Jones seemed to enjoy match-winning performances at crucial times, none more so than the hat-trick which wrapped up the Championship on the very last afternoon. However, I have omitted him in favour of Worcestershire’s Joe Leach. He topped the Division Two table of wicket-takers (65), contributed another 20 in the T20 Blast and scored almost 600 runs in the four-day game.
The change in the toss rules was designed to benefit spinners and the jury’s out. I don’t suppose it made any difference to Jeetan Patel who underlined his reputation as the most consistent wicket-taker in county cricket. Ollie Rayner claimed 51 for Middlesex but the surprise name on the list was Somerset’s Jack Leach. The locally-born 24 year-old benefited from the county’s end-of-season turning track strategy and took his season’s tally of Championship wickets to 65, identical to his Worcestershire namesake.
It was encouraging to see so many different players emerging on the county scene. And I haven’t even mentioned Glamorgan’s Dutch-Aussie Timm van der Gugten, Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball or Lancashire teenager Haseeb Hameed! How many will kick on in 2017 and will there be more promising newcomers filling the void left by England call-ups? I can’t wait to find out.
In summary, my County Team of 2016 is:-
Lyth (Yor), Jennings (Dur), Duckett (Nor), Northeast (Ken, *), Westley (Ess), Ambrose (War, +), Trego (Som), Bresnan (Yor), Joe Leach (Wor), Napier (Ess), Patel (War)
12th Man: Roland-Jones (Mid)
