At last, a full season of cricket, post-pandemic. Too full, to be honest. With four domestic formats plus internationals to squeeze into six months, I thought the schedule ‘blocks’ worked quite well but it would be so much better if the Hundred was removed to allow free rein to the fifty-over One Day Cup during the summer, but we’re lumbered with the pointless innovation for several years to come.
The Strauss report advocates massive changes to county cricket supposedly to benefit England’s Test, ODI and T20 teams. So why are first-class and List A competitions being diminished while The Hundred continues despite the format not being part of international cricket at all? Crazy, or what?
Anyway, England seemed to prosper nicely in the summer’s Tests under the current system, with new skipper Stokes, Bairstow, Anderson, Root et al coping admirably with the lack of bowling resources. But what about the county system which has nurtured these England stars? Here is my annual review of the best and most consistent players across the County Championship, Royal London Cup and Blast which also provided plenty of excitement and record-breaking performances during 2022.
Openers
Kent’s
Ben Compton and Leicestershire’s Pakistan recruit Shan Masood were quick out of
the blocks and the latter was also prolific in the Twenty20, one of the few
bright spots in Leicester’s dismal summer, in which they failed to register a
single Championship victory. Sussex didn’t fare much better but their top order
was their strongest feature, particularly Ali Orr. Haseeb Hameed was scoring
runs for promoted Nottinghamshire right up to the last game, while Yorkshire’s
Adam Lyth maintained his transformation from blocker to blaster. However, it’s
Keaton Jennings who was one of the few who starred in all three competitions,
the top scorer in Division One and a key figure in Lancashire’s limited-overs
campaigns.
Middle
Order
Ben Duckett and 23 year-old Harry Brook played themselves into the notebooks of England’s management early on. The Yorkshire batter averaged an amazing 107 in the Championship during his limited appearances. Tom Alsop aggregated 1,644 runs for Sussex and, when he stepped into the shoes of Shan Masood, Wiaan Mulder was a revelation for Leicestershire at the crease. His 33 wickets also helped carry the county into the 50-over quarter-finals. James Vince was the highest T20 scorer as he led Hampshire to the title, and his former colleague, in his first season with Glamorgan, Sam Northeast shattered his county’s record by easing his way to 410 not out at Leicester. In that game, the home side amassed 584 in their first innings and still lost by an innings. Extraordinary!
He may be nudging forty years of age, but Stephen Croft’s experience and 1,774 runs played a major role in Lancashire’s excellent season and another veteran, Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen enjoyed one of his finest seasons in the Championship and was just one shy of 500 runs in the Blast. More surprising was the enduring India Test player Cheteshwar Pujara knocking the ball around so effectively for Sussex in the One-Day Cup. Only Steve Eskinazi outscored him. He also totted up over a thousand Championship runs in only eight outings. Remarkably, on each of the five occasions he reached fifty, Pujara went on to make three figures, including two double-centuries. Even more significantly, nobody achieved as many selections (five) as he did in my Teams of the Week.
All Rounders
2022 wasn’t a vintage year for genuine all-rounders. These days, Stevens Mullaney and Croft and Tom Abell bowl less than they used to, so for me it’s a toss-up between Rob Keogh and Ed Barnard. The Northants man added some solidity to the middle-order and contributed 34 Championship wickets with his off-spin. The Worcestershire all-rounder’s batting has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years and 2022 saw him average almost 60 and strike three tons in the four-day tournament. His 42 wickets total overall just elevates him above Keogh in my Eleven.
Wicket-Keeper
This
was an extremely difficult dilemma, leaving me humming and haahing for ages. Glamorgan’s
Chris Cooke claimed the most Championship victims behind the stumps but John Simpson
eclipsed his run tally with Middlesex, passing a thousand. Derbyshire’s
Manchester-born, Aussie-qualified Brooke Gest made his first impression on me
with big and small gloves but in the end it was Gloucester’s James Bracey who
clinched it, courtesy of his superior strokeplay in the one-dayers. An
extremely marginal decision.
Bowlers
Craig Overton and Durham’ young Matt Potts made some headlines back in the spring, the latter earning a deserved call-up to the Test team with his ace and Stokes-like passion and pace. Seamers Abbott, Barker and Mohammad Abbas hogged the Hampshire wicket list in the first-class format while Snater and Sam Cook seamed away to great effect for Essex. Like Hampshire’s, Nottinghamshire’s attack shared most of the honours but Dane Paterson was he pick of the bunch, taking 75 wickets in total. Oliver Hannon-Dalby carried Warwickshire’s seam threat in the Championship, and Tom Bailey was always dangerous for Lancashire but Toby Roland-Jones’ promotion-winning haul of 67 at 18.8 topped the lot. As for the spinners… Well, surprise, surprise, that man Simon Harmer makes my end-of season team for the fourth year running. When he wasn’t representing South Africa, the Essex spinner was accumulating another 76 wickets and being one of the most economical men in the T20 Blast. That’s what I call consistency.
Strangely, my County Eleven of 2022 features no members of Surrey’s Championship victors but stands as follows:-
Jennings (Lan),
Shan Masood (Lei), Pujara (Sus), Northeast (Gla), Madsen (Der), Mulder (Lei), Bracey (Glo +), Barnard (Wor), Roland-Jones (Mid), Harmer (Ess), Paterson (Not).
12th man: Croft (Lan)
