There
were stark contrasts between white and red ball formats. For all Surrey’s
dominance in the four-day game, they were mediocre in limited-overs cricket.
Worcestershire wasted little time in being relegated back to Division Two but
were able to celebrate success in the T20 Blast that same week. Their 20
year-old medium-pacer Pat Brown proved to be a revelation in the 20-over stuff
but barely featured in the Championship. Meanwhile, Glamorgan endued a year to forget but Somerset confounded my worst
fears with another runners-up finish and surge to the Blast semi-finals. So
near, yet so far, yet again. Will Marcus Trescothick finally give up on waiting
and give his creaking body a well-earned retirement?
Sadly
he didn’t feature in any of my County Teams of the Week but who were the men (or
women) who contributed most to domestic cricket across all three formats?
Openers:
Last
year it was Mark Stoneman but in 2018 his Surrey colleague and captain Rory
Burns dominated the Championship run table, accumulating 1,359 at 64.71. Lancashire’s
Alex Davies was promoted to specialist opener with considerable success,
especially in T20, Daryl Mitchell was predictably consistent in four-dayers but
I’ve gone for Kent’s Joe Denly. The only survivor from my 2017 XI, he usually batted
at three in the Championship but was probably the best all-rounder in domestic
cricket, adding 57 wickets to a notable haul of 1,729 runs. Could he get back
in England’s ODI set-up after a nine-year absence?
Middle-order:
Champions
Surrey didn’t miss the retired Sangakkara and there were no truly dominant
middle-order strokemakers this summer. Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes were prolific
early on, before the former was granted a Test debut against India in July. At
36, Ian Bell who truly rolled back the years for Warwickshire. Several years
ago he was criticised by England for slow scoring but now he is reborn as a
heavy-scoring T20 Blaster. Only two men surpassed his 580 runs, at a decent
rate of 139, to accompany his 1,027 in the Championship. James Vince may not
have nailed down an England spot but he can still do the business for
Hampshire, as does James Hildreth for Somerset. His hopes of international recognition
are long gone but Hildy was brilliant for us in all competitions this year. Indeed,
he was the all-round top scorer in domestic cricket.
With
Denly available as a spinner, I am also including his Kent team-mate Heino
Kuhn. I confess I’d never previously heard of him but the 34 year-old South
African racked up the hundreds in the Royal London One-Day Cup and took the
gloves when Sam Billings was absent.
All-Rounder:
As
ever, Darren Stevens is in contention but he was never going to replicate his
2017 achievements. Ed Barnard enjoyed another fine season despite Worcestershire’s
relegation and Somerset’s Lewis Gregory had probably his best year yet,
assuming the onerous roles of opening bowler and late-order six-hitter. Messrs
Raine, Higgins and Harris had their moments but my primary all-rounder slot
goes to another veteran Surrey man, Rikki Clarke. Aged 36, he snaffled 47
Championship wickets at 21.53 and scored 500 valuable runs. Never write him
off!
Wicket-keeper:
Ben
Cox’s batting has come on leaps and bounds for Worcestershire, Tom Moores
looked a reasonable replacement for the retired Chris Read at Notts and Ben
Foakes made excellent contributions to Surrey’s title chase. I’ve already
mentioned Alex Davies but for most matches he ceded the Lancashire gloves to
South African import Dane Vilas. He proceeded to take more Championship
dismissals than anyone else and struck Division One’s highest individual score,
235 not out.
Bowlers:-
The
evergreen Jimmy Anderson may have continued breaking records for England but the
county game was the stage for some lesser-known bowlers. Essex duo James Porter
and Simon Harmer were again quite prolific in first-class cricket; ditto for Tom
Bailey and Graham Onions of Lancashire. Tim Murtagh seamed away in his usual mean
style for Middlesex and Ollie Robinson’s 74 wickets took Sussex very close to
Division Two promotion. However, Kent beat their neighbours to it, thanks in no
small way to their New Zealand paceman Matt Henry. He was superb in the first
half of the season and came back to give the county vital impetus. Another
import, Morne Morkel was also superb, grabbing 59 wickets at 14.32 in only ten
Division One fixtures. Finally, another thirty-something, Chris Rushworth was a
rare jewel in a drab Durham season, accumulating 80 wickets across all three
formats.
In summary, based
on stats and my Teams of the Week, my County Team of 2018 is:-
Burns (Sur *),
Denly (Ken), Bell (War), Vince (Ham), Hildreth (Som), Kuhn (Ken), Vilas (Lan
+), Clarke (Sur), Henry (Ken), Morkel (Sur), Rushworth (Dur); 12th
Man: A Davies (Lan)
