Despite
chucking out coach and national legend Anil Kumble, India remain the most
consistent nation, ranked in the top three across all red- and whiteball
format. However, their domination of Test cricket was the most notable, even if
it was predicated on home series. Home advantage in the five-day game seems
more evident than ever, and India’s only victory abroad came in neighbouring
Sri Lanka back in the summer. In six matches between the two countries, India
racked up at least 600 in their first innings, as skipper Virat Kohli, Dhawan,
Pujara et al filled their boots. The forthcoming three-match rubber in South
Africa will prove a more formidable challenge.
England
advanced to third in the list, also on the back of summer wins on their
swing-friendly pitches. The thumping they are currently receiving in Australia
his winter proves that there is work to do before any consideration of
regaining the ICC mace. Keeping Ben Stokes away from drinking establishments
would be a start.
In ODIs, I
enjoyed watching Pakistan and Bangladesh playing well in the Champions Trophy
in Cardiff, before the former overcame India to win the final and a rare piece
of silverware. However, South Africa displaced the Aussies at the top of the
rankings despite losing again in England. New Zealand topped and tailed the
year with satisfying series wins against the Aussies and West Indies. The
highlights of Sri Lanka’s 2017 were probably their T20 successes in South
Africa and Australia although Pakistan top the rankings.
In county
cricket, newly-promoted Essex romped home to claim the Championship thanks
largely to a shedload of wickets from Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter.
Nottinghamshire, Perth Scorchers and the Mumbai Indians triumphed in the T20
Blast, Big Bash and IPL, respectively.
But who were
the individuals who shone most brightly throughout the year? First: the
batsmen. Nobody scored more first-class runs than South African Dean Elgar, who
contributed valuable runs to Somerset’s early campaign as well as his
country’s. Cheteshwar Pujara was the only other man to accumulate more than
2,000 runs with the red ball and averaged 67 in Tests. Kumar Sangakkara may
have retired from Tests but he proved that age is just a number by stroking
eight centuries for Surrey, ending his summer with a stupendous average of
106.50.
In T20, the
usual suspects Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch and Kieron Pollard
outscored the rest but in List A games, that man Kohli ruled the roost once
more, adding 1,460 runs to his already formidable tally. He and his team-mate
Rohit Sharma each notched six one-day hundreds with strike rates a smidgeon
under 100. Pakistan’s Babar Azam scored four, but his strike rate was a
relatively mediocre 79. Dhawan, Bairstow, Warner and, in a relatively leisurely
year, AB De Villiers were the only high scorers taking more than a run a ball
across the whole year.
After
accepting the England Test captaincy, Joe Root wasn’t his usual self with the
bat but, in addition to Kohli, the proven class of Hashim Amla, David Warner
and Steve Smith was again demonstrated in spades across all cricket. The Aussie
skipper has now averaged more than 70 in four consecutive calendar years and is
no slouch in the fifty-over stuff, although he didn’t play an awful lot of it
this year. He makes my Eleven for the third year in succession. Amla aggregated
more than 3,000 runs in all cricket, which I don’t think anyone else could
approach.
It wasn’t a
vintage year for all-rounders. The evergreen spinner Jeetan Patel took more
than 100 wickets in total but his batting was weaker than in previous years.
T20 specialist Sunil Narine improved with the willow, adding 760 runs to his 62
wickets in 64 games. India’s Hardik Pandya is perhaps one for the future but,
when it comes to the international stage, I have to select Shakib al-Hasan for
my Team of the Year.
In 2016,
England’s Bairstow took more catches behind the stumps than any other Test
‘keeper. Last year, he was a distant second behind South Africa’s Quintin de
Kock, who also dismissed 25 in ODIs. MS Dhoni may have greyer hairs these days
but he was still more than useful as a keeper-batsman in limited-overs cricket.
His India Test successor Saha made 61 first-class dismissals and young West
Indian Shai Hope had a breakthrough twelve months. Unlike most of his
countrymen, he looks to be better suited to the longer formats and may well be
one to watch in the coming years. De Villiers may still have the edge in T20
but De Kock has been the star stumpie of 2017.
Now for the
bowlers:
It seems to
me that bowlers, even more than the batsmen, are becoming increasingly
specialised. For example, Malinda Pushpakumara has long been a prolific
wicket-taker in Sri Lankan domestic cricket and in 2017 claimed a barely
credible 115 first-class victims at only 15.50 apiece. However, he made little
impact with the white ball. Similarly for Essex’s top bowlers Harmer and
Porter, Australian Test spinner Nathan Lyon, Ravi Ashwin and England’s number
one-ranked swing king James Anderson.
Meanwhile, Alzarri
Joseph, the 21 year-old Antiguan seamer, played several Tests with little
distinction, no T20s whatsoever, yet had a decent ODI return of 19 at 30.63. Hasan
Ali enjoyed a storming Champions Trophy for Pakistan and ended the year with 91
wickets in ODIs and Twenty20. He was the top wicket-taker in 50-over
internationals but Indian medium-pacer Jasprit Bumrah boasted a superior total
in all List A games, with 52.
One of last
year’s picks, Kagiso Rabada, proved that 2016 was no flash in the pan. Last
year he collected a round hundred wickets, including 57 in Tests for South
Africa. He is making Steyn’s absence as attack leader less problematic. Another
paceman, Marchant de Lange, hasn’t played for the Proteas for five years but
was in excellent form for his various teams around the world. Mitchell Starc
had injury problems so made little impact. However, that presented Josh
Hazlewood with an opportunity to make a mark in Tests and ODIs. He certainly
played his part in the Ashes clincher at Perth the other week.
My last pick
for the 2017 XI is only 19 years old and, because he’s from Afghanistan, doesn’t
play Test cricket – yet. Nonetheless he had a storming twelve months with the
white ball. Rashid Khan was by some margin the supreme wicket-taker in T20,
with 80, and his economy rate of 5.53 was just as extraordinary. While most of
his 43 ODI victims were representing Associate nations he is a great talent and
I hope he is allowed the chance to do his stuff against the leading teams in
five-day cricket. Afghanistan have finally had Test status bestowed upon them
but the likes of India and South Africa have yet to schedule matches against
them, even over four days. Perhaps they’re too scared of Rashid!
In summary,
here is my 2017 Team of the Year:-
Elgar (SA), Dhawan
(Ind), Amla (SA), Kohli (Ind), Smith (Aus), De Kock (SA, +), Shakib al-Hasan
(Ban), Hasan Ali (Pak), Rabada (SA), Bumrah (Ind), Rashid Khan (Afg).
My ‘squad
replacements’ would be Warner (Aus), Sangakkara (SL), Jeetan Patel (NZ) and Anderson
(Eng).
