What a weird summer it’s been. Covid has left thousands dead, many more struggling to get over the disease and its impact on society. Sporting arenas remain empty, and rightly so, given the importance of social distancing to keeping us all safe. I must admit I feared for domestic cricket but credit to the ECB, clubs and broadcasters for squeezing in so many meaningful matches in only a few months.
Of course, England played their part, along with their opposition who had to sacrifice so much in order to get the show on the road in the safe bubbles of Southampton and Manchester. Buttler, Broad, Stokes and Woakes did their thang, but this is about the county game.
A full Championship was out of the question but the makeshift Bob Willis Trophy, complete with a five-day final, turned out to be a success with clubs and online fans alike. As last year, Essex and Somerset were a class apart but the experience of the former ultimately held sway at Lord’s, but it was close. The abbreviated T20 Blast was harder to call but it was the superior all-round quality of Surrey and Nottinghamshire which produced the finalists last week, and the insanely enthusiastic skipper Dan Christian carried the Outlaws to victory. So who makes my county team of the year?
Openers:
The previous years’ stars Burns and Sibley seemed to establish themselves at international level, allowing others to shine for their counties. Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond was the T20 top scorer and another ex-England player Adam Lyth scored consistently in both formats. Sir Alastair Cook proved that class is permanent by scoring the century which clinched another red-ball title for Essex but another of Somerset’s recent rash of talented Toms, Tom Lammonby, announced himself with almost 600 runs in total.
However, it’s another pair of ‘L’s who make my XI. Alex Lees didn’t quite fulfil his potential at Yorkshire but he enjoyed a very successful 2020 at Durham, accumulating more than 350 runs in each competition for a struggling team. Then there’s another 27 year-old, Jake Libby, who scored runs for fun in August for Worcestershire. Nobody scored more than the Devonian across the whole season.
Middle-order:
A number of young players seized their opportunities created by the absence of overseas recruits, especially in the Blast. Zak Crawley’s season will be remembered for his mighty Test 267 for England against Pakistan but he proved a highly effective weapon in T20 for Kent, too. Joe Root was apparently a bit miffed at being omitted from England’s T20 squad but he responded in style, reinventing himself in Yorkshire towards the end of the season as a solid off-spinning all-rounder. However, I’ve picked Leicestershire’s one-man middle-order, Colin Ackermann for my team of the year. Once more he has combined first-class batting with white-ball bowling to keep his county’s had above the water.
My other two are the Nottinghamshire pair, Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke. The former appeared in a record four Teams of the Week this year, producing big innings when it mattered, including the Blast Final against Surrey. Clarke was quick off the blocks when cricket got the go-ahead in August, the highlight being a 44-ball ton against Durham in T20.
All-Rounders:
2020 wasn’t a vintage year for genuine all-rounders in the county game. Ed Barnard (Worcestershire), Graeme van Buuren (Gloucestershire) and Jamie Overton (Somerset/Surrey) were in the mix but my first choice was also in my 2019 Eleven, Ryan Higgins. The Gloucester man doesn’t rip up any trees with either bat or ball but is a huge asset in all formats, playing a major role in his county’s march to Finals Day. Amidst all Surrey’s international stars, Will Jacks could easily be missed but his hard-hitting and economic T20 bowling were probably more influential than Amla, Roy, Pope, Foakes, Plunkett et al. Given a good run in next year’s Championship the homegrown 21 year-old could join the county’s list of England caps.
Wicket-keeper:
Worcestershire’s Ben Cox claimed more dismissals than anyone else in the Bob Willis Trophy while Middlesex’s John Simpson and Nottinghamshire’s Tom Moores also combined runs with decent performances behind the stumps. Had Alex Davies been a regular ‘keeper for Lancashire he may have taken a slot but instead I’ve plumped for Glamorgan’s Chris Cooke. The Johannesburg-born 34 year-old rarely reaches three figures but in a side frequently short at the top of the order the skipper has shorn up the innings, made vital catches and as captain brought on some of the county’s young prospects.
Bowlers:-
Let’s get the no-brainer out of the way. Simon Harmer goes straight into the side for a third successive year. He took 38 red-ball wickets at under 16, along with ten in the Blast, pushing Essex towards another title. Team-mate Jamie Porter was also in the wickets, as were fellow seamers, David Payne (Gloucestershire), George Garton (Sussex), Jake Ball (Notts) and the incredible 44 year-old Darren Stevens (Kent). However, I have opted for another veteran paceman, Tim Murtagh of Middlesex, whose 25 four-day wickets came at just 12.72 and seven Blast victims at an economy rate of 6.61. When Jamie Overton switched mid-season to Surrey, Josh Davey stepped up admirably but it’s the other twin, Craig Overton who was even more instrumental in blowing away the opposition in August. It was only in the final that Somerset conceded a single batting bonus point and Craig was the man who led that formidable seam attack. One to watch is definitely Surrey’s 21 year-old left-arm spinner, Dan Moriarty. If he works on his batting, he could well be a future star.
And so, based on stats and my Teams of the Week, my County Eleven of 2020 is as follows:-
Libby (Wor),
Lees Dur), Duckett (Not), Clarke (Not), Ackermann (Lei), Jacks (Sur), Cooke
(Gla +), Higgins (Glo), C Overton (Sur), Harmer (Ess), Murtagh (Mid). 12th
man: Lyth (Yor)
