Like many sports and other areas of life, cricket made a bold attempt to bounce back from the Covid cancellations of 2020, only to find that the deadly pandemic was far from finished. The delayed T20 World Cup was won by Australia, the suspended IPL was completed in October and the blasted Hundred competition launched in England to a mixed reaction. The franchise-based format left me cold, I couldn’t tell you who was on it but the one compensation was the enforced parity of the women’s version, with double-headers and live TV coverage on the BBC.
India won four Test series, home and away, although officially the fifth match in England was merely deferred until next summer. Nevertheless, India lost the one that really mattered, the inaugural World Test Championship Final. Hosted by the Southampton Rose Bowl, it was New Zealand who romped home by eight wickets to claim their first global trophy. Revenge was duly taken in Mumbai where Agarwal, Ashwin et al destroyed the Kiwis by 372 runs. West Indies are a shadow of their former selves but edged a couple of very close encounters, notably a one-wicket nailbiter against Pakistan at Kingston.
While Test cricket was less prevalent than in pre-coronavirus days, England still contrived to compete in fifteen, losing most of them. Their 2021 began with success in Sri Lanka but ended in Ashes humiliation at the MCG. The Aussies didn’t see a great deal of international action, while the likes of Ireland, Bangladesh and Pakistan had busy ODI schedules.
2021 was also the year when AB De Villiers called time on his extraordinary professional career and South African team-mates De Kock and Du Plessis each bade farewell to red ball cricket. Mohammad Hafeez, Dwayne Bravo, Mahmudullah and Ross Taylor also announced their retirements from internationals while true greats such as Steyn and Malinga hung up their boots for good. Meanwhile in England, county stalwarts Peter Trego, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Rikki Clarke, Gareth Batty and Daryl Mitchell were amongst those quitting the treadmill, yet the venerable Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens continued to whack centuries and lead his county’s seam attack with aplomb at the age of 45!
Now for my eleven male stars of the past twelve months. As ever, the selection is based on performances across all three formats and doesn’t represent an all-conquering side in any particular one. Thanks largely to Covid-related schedule vagaries, Asian nations are more dominant than usual and just for a change there is no room for the likes of Kohli, Starc or Smith. Amongst others missing out, I should give special mentions to Marnus Labuschagne, Ollie Robinson, Fakhar Zaman, Tim Southee, Hasan Ali and, for his incredible 10-wicket innings in a lost match, NZ spinner Ajaz Patel.
At the top I’ve gone for Rohit Sharma and Devon Conway. There were other major contenders at the white-ball end of the spectrum (notably Ireland’s Paul Stirling) but what swung it for the New Zealander was his sensational 200 on his Test debut at Lord’s. Babar Azam has cemented his position as the most lethal limited-overs batter in the world as well as a top-class Test run-maker for Pakistan. Aussie Travis Head has also successfully transferred his stroke-making skills from white to red ball cricket, as illustrated by his devastating 152 at more than a run a ball against England to set up victory at The Gabba.
Then there’s Joe Root. To top the Test match run aggregate by a mile and accumulate 1,999 first-class runs in the year while skippering a struggling national side is some achievement. Like Lara in the Noughties, he seemed to carry his team’s batting every game and is an obvious choice. His occasional off-spin is also a handy accompaniment and his Test bowling average for 2021 was superior to that of specialists such as Nathan Lyon.
My wicketkeeper is Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan. Besides claiming almost eighty victims behind the stumps, nobody scored more T20 runs than his 2,036 at a decent strike rate of 132. With Ben Stokes opting out with injury and mental health issues, there was no stand-out all-rounder last year. West Indian Jason Holder just edges out Shakib for his Test match efforts.
Rashid Khan managed only one Test match and, given the Taliban’s Afghan takeover, it may well be his last. However, he was again the most prolific T20 bowler, which propels him into my XI. He is joined by Ravichandran Ashwin, who enjoyed one of his most productive years in Indian ‘whites’ at the age of 35. His 106 against England at Chennai demonstrates his value as a late-order batsman as well as off-spinner.
My seam attack is one I could never have envisaged twelve months ago. Giant left-armer Shaheen Shah Afridi may have proved that 2020 was no fluke and I could have picked South African Anrich Nortje, but my final choice is Sri Lankan Dushmatha Chameera whose 20 ODI wickets topped the end-of-year table with his speed and bounce.
To re-cap, here is my 2021 Team of the Year:-
R Sharma (Ind), Conway (NZ), Babar Azam (Pak), Root (Eng), Head (Aus), Mohammad Rizwan (Pak +), Holder (WI), Ashwin (Ind), Rashid Khan (Afg), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pak), Chameera (SL).
My ‘squad
replacements’ would be Labuschagne (Aus), Fakhar Zaman (Pak), De Kock (SA +),
Mustafizur Rahman (Ban), Shakib al-Hasan (Ban)
