England Success: Should Tests Rebrand as Cricket 5*?

What an extraordinary game of cricket the First Test in Rawalpindi was. Since BazBall was launched earlier this year, not only have England’s first-class cricket fortunes been refreshed and revitalised but also it seems that another new format has been introduced by the back-door. 

It has been coming. Setting aside the hideous Hundred, cricket records have been tumbling as fast as global temperatures in recent years. No UN conferences will be able to turn back the clock on the man-made shift to longer hitting and swifter scoring rates. 

When England’s tourists unveiled their starting XI last week, we knew what to expect. So soon after the Twenty20 World Cup was added to the 50-over title, it was inevitable that, should players learn not to get out early to silly shots, the limited-overs ethos could also be applied to the Test arena. With six-hitting all-rounders Stokes, Jacks and Livingstone batting down to eight, this match was never going to resemble a Boycott-Amiss-Tavare defensive masterclass from the mid-1970s. 

I never thought I’d see the day when a Test side racked up more than 500 runs on the first day, with four centurions contributing to a total of 657 compiled at more than 6.5 an over. Even Zak Crawley was at it, equalling Chris Gayle’s record of 14 runs from the opening over. His century partnerships with Ben Duckett in each innings were both in the all-time top ten of fastest ever. Overall, England’s two-innings total of 921 runs in just 136.5 overs demolished the previous run-rate record set by the same side at Trent Bridge only this summer. Harry Brook may have been the star, but even Ollie Robinson struck one ball over the ropes. 

Of course, we have witnessed some superlative Test innings in recent years but they don’t all result in victories. Whatever the declaration – if made – there is often insufficient time to fashion a result. However, if you plunder 900+ runs at such extraordinary rapidity, and you have a few decent proven Test bowlers amidst the T20 specialists, then there is always a chance. Seventeen years after his last appearance on this ground, a 40-year-old James Anderson was again on hand to take 4-36 and bowl 12 maidens to hasten Pakistan’s demise on the final day. 

The home nation should take some credit for making a fist of the response and restricting the margin of defeat to two figures. With skipper Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Imam ul-Haq in the batting line-up, they were able to score 579 in their own first innings. And yet they lost the match. 

It goes without saying that the pitch was ridiculously benign, offering little to seamers or spinners alike, but nonetheless England managed to take twenty wickets and emerge victorious. Personally, I feel a bit queasy. It was hardly the Test cricket that I have loved for six decades. However, can I really complain about a game which produced so many runs whilst maintaining the excitement of a potential close finish? That is the essence of entertaining sport and if it helps to retain the Test format amongst all the other micro-formats then it has to be applauded. 

Ever since the days of Packer’s World Series Cricket, Test matches and first-class cricket generally have been on a downhill slide but, given this massive injection of pace and sustained stroke-making pyrotechnics, perhaps all it needs is a tweak in branding. Goodbye, the 5-day Test Match, hello ‘Cricket 5*’!

2021 Cricket Eleven of the Year

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)

2020 World Cricket Team of the Year

Well, what a crap year! An unprecedented global epidemic wreaked havoc with all our lives and of course cricket suffered as much as any professional leisure activity, from village clubs to Test nations. When New Zealand beat India on 2^nd March, we could not have known it would be the last Test match for more than four months. There was a similar hiatus for ODIs and of course domestic competitions and the IPL were either cancelled or postponed until infection rates dipped by the autumn. 

It was a minor miracle that England managed to play a couple of Covid-secure series against an accommodating West Indies and Pakistan, and congratulations also to the counties who challenged not for a full County Championship but an abbreviated version climaxed by a five-day final. Just my luck that Somerset’s peerless group performance wasn’t rewarded with the Bob Willis Trophy. At least the dreaded Hundred nonsense was shelved for a year. 

At international level, major tournaments were ditched for several months but the remaining bilateral competitions did India few favours. Their first Test victory in 2020 came just days before the year ended, and New Zealand’s success has advanced them to the top of the Test rankings with Australia. England head the lists in white-ball cricket. 

As for individuals, the curtain fell on the year with Kane Williamson atop the Test table, displacing new dad Kohli and Smith who, while others tucked into turkey, experienced his first duck in the baggy green for years. Pat Cummins reached the top in bowling but in ODIs it was the turn of Trent Boult. But will they make my Team of the Year? 

As ever I have looked at first-class, List A and T20 to select a cross-format Eleven. They may not be brilliant at any one of the above but are who I consider to have been the best performers in world cricket across the whole year. 

With Tests in short supply, only Dom Sibley stands out as an opener so I’ve focussed on ODIs and T20. For me, Aaron Finch just edges out Aussie team-mate David Warner while one of my 2019 reserves, KH Rahul, is also promoted to the first XI. He may usually drop a few places in ODIs but with more than 1000 T20 runs and an ODI strike rate of over 100 he made the most of his limited opportunities. And he can also don the ‘keeper’s gloves if needed! 

In the middle-order, Virat Kohli is a rare absentee from my team of the year, but another Indian Shreyas Iyer made a considerable impact in white-ball cricket. Dawid Malan was named number one T20 batsman at the end of the year, West Indian Jermaine Blackwood was a rare beacon of light in what was another lacklustre twelve months for his side, while Dean Elgar, Henry Nicholls and Zak Crawley were also in contention. Then there’s Mumbai’s young Sarfaraz Khan who averaged an amazing 154, thanks to an unbeaten triple-century. However, Pakistan’s Babar Azam cemented his position as one of the very best all-round batsmen in the business, scoring more T20 runs than anyone. Steve Smith also makes it, but not for his Test performances. His strike rates were superior to Warner’s in ODIs and Maxwell’s in T20s. However Marnus Labuschagne, who deputised for the Aussie red-ball captain during his 2019 ban, maintained his form throughout 2020. 

For all the claims of Watling, Paine and Hope, my wicket-keeper’s spot again comes down to a straight race between Jos Buttler and Quinton de Kock. As in the previous year the South African is my pick. The England man had a decent Test summer but De Kock’s superior striking elsewhere had the edge. 

Ben Stokes may top the ICC all-rounder rankings but for a change I’m selecting his colleague Chris Woakes. He may not have the brutal batting ability of the Ginger One but took more wickets whilst scoring more limited-overs runs at a reasonable rate. 

There are so many excellent bowlers to choose from. Jimmy Anderson reached 600 Test wickets whilst his long-time England partner Stuart Broad topped 500. Nobody could match his 2020 haul of 38 at barely 14 apiece. Craig Overton was devastating for Somerset but couldn’t break back into the England set-up. All the New Zealand seamers excelled. Tim Southee achieved a career tally of 300 Test scalps, Boult and Wagner shared in the wickets but new boy Kyle Jamieson was even better in his debut Test season, definitely one to watch. Cummins, Hazlewood, Nortje and Haris Rauf are right up there and only Jofra Archer’s mediocre Test performances let him down. Jasprit Bumrah’s T20 economy rate of 6.62 is outstanding for a seamer but he’s edged out by a 6 foot 6 left-armer. No, not Mitchell Starc. Pakistan’s 20 year-old left-armer Shaheen Shah Afridi has become a giant of the game in more ways than one. Few surpassed his 2020 T20 tally of 52 wickets and his four in four balls for Hampshire was pretty special. 

I’ve space for two spinners in my Eleven and, thanks to his continued magnificence in T20, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan is one of them. Meanwhile Adam Zampa has successfully spread his wings away from the safety of mere four-over stints in T20 to the 50-over game and I wonder if he could eventually replace Nathan Lyon in the Test squad. Anything’s possible. Here’s to a safe, less socially-distanced new year. 

So to summarise, here is my 2020 Team of the Year:- 

Rahul (Ind), Finch (Aus), Babar Azam (Pak), Smith (Aus), Labuschagne (Aus), De Kock (SA +), Woakes (Eng), Broad (Eng), Rashid Khan (Afg), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pak), Zampa (Aus). 

My ‘squad replacements’ would be Elgar (SA), Buttler (Eng), Bumrah (Ind), Archer (Eng), Jamieson (NZ)

Gloucester in the Groove

 Back in the Blast, even with most counties facing only two further group fixtures, some of the quarter-final placings have already been confirmed. 

So far, only Gloucestershire have amassed six victories, three coming this week. Two were against closest rivals Northamptonshire and the Bears, giving them an unassailable 4-point lead at the top of Central group. Their bowlers inflicted the most damage, notably Smith and Van Buuren. Glamorgan seemed to be finding some kind of bowling form, too, led by Sisodya and Van Gugten, only to be thumped at Cardiff yesterday by the inconsistent Somerset, for whom Babar Azam crashed an unbeaten 114. 

In the South section, Surrey notched their fifth consecutive success to top the table. Jacks, Evans and Amla contributed with the bat, while 21 year-old Dan Moriarty has made an impact with his slow left-arm. Luke Wright’s top-order runs and the economic spin of Danny Briggs didn’t translate into four wins for Sussex. Middlesex opener Steve Eskinazi is currently the tournament’s highest scorer but his side have fallen short too often. The exception came at Canterbury where they held on by just two runs. I don’t normally associate the veteran Tim Murtagh with Twenty20 but this week he took five cheap wickets. 

Besides Azam, only Kent’s Zak Crawley reached three figures and wins over Essex and Surrey next week will enable their progress to the last eight. 

Up North, Nottinghamshire should consolidate their two-point lead at the top with just one win from their final three matches. An enviable batting line-up featuring the likes of Joe Clarke, Hales, Duckett and Christian has yet to disappoint. Yorkshire have been hampered by Covid cases while their Roses rivals and conquerors at Headingley this week, Lancashire, stand second. Durham struck the highest team score of the week: 223-8 against Derbyshire. In that game, Ben Raine slammed eight sixes and just one four in a 39-ball 71. However, they look unlikely to make the quarters. 

Team of the Week: Wright (Sus), Eskinazi (Mid), Lyth (Yor), Clarke (Not), Raine (Dur), Lawrence (Ess), Cox (Wor +), Van Buuren (Glo), Sisodya (Gla), Murtagh (Mid), Waller (Som)

2019 Review - My Team of the Year

As most years, 2019 experienced a range of cricket-related emotions. David Warner and Steve Smith returned from their bans to mixed reviews. Warner enjoyed some success in the IPLwhile his former Test captain swapped tears for a deaf ear to barracking England fans and almost single-handedly retained the Ashes for Australia. However, possibly the world’s only genuine world-class all-rounder, Shakib al-Hasan, ended this year in disgrace, suspended for at least a year for ‘failing to report corrupt approaches’. He really ought to have known better. 

Ben Stokes escaped a jail sentence and the dial on his luck-ometer remained fixed at eleven throughout the summer. His diving deflection and strokeplay carried England to an extraordinary World Cup Final triumph at Lord’s against a desperately unfortunate New Zealand, followed by a heroic unbeaten century of eight sixes and strike-farming to save the Headingley Test. India consolidated their number one Test ranking by winning all four Test series, including rubbers in Australia and the West Indies. After losing their inaugural Test in 2018, Afghanistan claimed their first wins, against Ireland and, more significantly, Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka struggled again and, despite retaining their T20 top-rank status, Pakistan had a nightmare year in all formats. Their only series success came against Sri Lanka in 50-over cricket in their long-awaited return to home-territory internationals. Let’s hope bringing internationals home after a decade will be the springboard to a change in fortunes.

South Africa were another side in transition. The Test team was slaughtered in India, but whitewashed Sri Lanka in ODIs before a lacklustre World Cup. They also suffered a whole host of international retirements, including Amla, Steyn, Duminy and Imran Tahir. At least they ended the calendar year with a first-class victory over England. Veterans Lasith Malinga and Shoaib Malik also bade farewell to ODIs this year, and Yuvraj Singh won’t be playing at the top level again. I wouldn’t mind betting, though, that they will continue to rake in the dollars and rupees in Twenty 20.

So who makes my team of the year? 

David Warner’s return to the fold reaped immediate rewards. Whilst not playing much 50-over cricket, he nonetheless accumulated more than 2,500 runs in all formats. KL Rahul was in superb white-ball form, nobody scored more List A runs than Aaron Finch and Mayank Agarwal struck some huge scores for India, but my other opener is Rohit Sharma. Outscoring even Virat Kohli in ODIs, he also scored three centuries in six Test innings, including two in the First Test against South Africa. 

His captain Virat Kohli’s place in my end-of-year Eleven is almost guaranteed. Will he ever suffer a loss of form? Skippering the world’s undisputed top Test nation hasn’t hurt him as a batsman, averaging 68 in eight Tests and achieving strike rates of 96 and 145 in ODI and T20 cricket, respectively. However, someone scored more than four times as many first-class runs as the Indian master in 2019. Not Smith, not Root, not Williamson. No, I’m talking about Marnus Labuschagne. I confess to being ignorant of him prior to his string of hundreds for Glamorgan in the early summer, but he proved to be no mere bully of Second Division county attacks. At first deputising for Steve Smith, he went on to out-score him, ending the year with three big Test hundreds in succession against Pakistan and New Zealand advancing him to four in the ICC rankings. Including his performances for Queensland he amassed 2,703 first-class runs in 2019, way ahead of anyone else, and his leg-spin gives him an extra dimension, too.

Faf du Plessis, Ross Taylor and even Dawid Malan had a commendable twelve-month period but for my final middle-order slot I’ve leaned towards Pakistan. Last year I narrowly plumped for Babar Azam in my XI. This time there can be no doubt he deserves his spot. In an under-performing Pakistan outfit he shone strong and bright. Not only was Azam the world’s top scorer in senior T20 cricket (1,607 runs) but he also completed 2019 in a red-ball purple patch, striking three tons and a 97 in four consecutive Tests. Aged just 25, he is young enough to develop into a truly world-class all-round batsman.

My wicketkeeper-batsman is an absolute shoo-in: Quinton de Kock. Carey, Paine, Hope and Buttler each had their moments but the South African left-hander was imperious in all forms of the game. He compiled more than 2,400 runs and 80 dismissals, boasting a three-figure strike rate in ODIs. AB De Villiers may have been missed in the World Cup but De Kock  maturing nicely into a formidable member of the Proteas and T20 gun for hire.

With Shakib al-Hasan in disgrace, genuine all-rounders were in short supply. Jason Holder is a big fish in a desperately diminished Caribbean pond where he contributes a few wickets and the occasional astonishing innings; more than half his 2019 Test runs were scored in that 202 not out against England at Bridgetown. With better team-mates around him, he would be in my team of the year but for sheer personality and big-match temperament I’ve plumped for Ben Stokes. His seam bowling may not have been world-class, and he didn’t really earn his millions for the Rajasthan Royals, but for promoting cricket to the UK front pages for the first time in yonks (probably since Stokes was up in court!) the Durham man gets the nod.

No bowlers were truly outstanding. Even in his mid-thirties, Peter Siddle remained one of the world’s most skilled seamers in the four-day game, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer led the England attack with brio, India’s Mohammed Shami was a deceptively swift and prolific swing bowler in ODIs and Kabiso Rabada was a consistent paceman for South Africa. The New Zealand seam attack of Boult, Southee, Wagner, Ferguson and Henry were always impressive as a unit, though not necessarily as individuals.

In their place I have selected the Aussie pair of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. At 26, the former is finally fit enough to fire on all cylinders on a regular basis, combining sheer pace with control. He’s not yet Glenn McGrath but he took 59 Test wickets at just over 20 apiece, which is world-class. The left-armer Starc is supposedly weaker in the Test arena but statistically he wasn’t far behind Cummins.

Spin bowling made less impact in 2019 so there were relatively few names in contention. Simon Harmer’s 99 first-class wickets, helping Essex to another County Championship, make him impossible to ignore. Naturally Rashid Khan entered my thinking, bowling Afghanistan to an historic Test victory over Bangladesh and doing his usual thing with the white ball. However, even he took fewer T20 wickets than Imran Tahir. The South African may be almost twice the age of Rashid but his 79 victims, allied to 30 in List A fixtures, established his place at cricket’s top table. And his joyful wheeling sprint celebrations after taking wickets at the World Cup always lifted the spirits. If sport can’t do that, what’s the point?!

In conclusion, here is my 2019 Team of the Year:-

Warner (Aus), R Sharma (Ind), Babar Azam (Pak), Kohli (Ind), Labuschagne (Aus), De Kock (SA +), Stokes (Eng), Starc (Aus), Harmer (SA), Imran Tahir (SA), Cummins (Aus)

My ‘squad replacements’ would be Rahul (Ind), Buttler (Eng), Rabada (SA), Mohammed Shami (Ind)

Seven Up for Ackermann

Leicestershire aren’t exactly setting the world alight with their cricket but the county will have its name in the record books thanks to captain, Colin Ackermann. It’s usually his runs which come to the rescue but against the Birmingham Bears at Grace Road, it was his off-spin which reaped rewards. Pitching a bit short the opposition obliged by heaving him to waiting deep fielders, six times in the last two overs, and Ackermann replaces the equally unlikely Arul Suppiah as holder of the best ever T20 bowling haul. With 7-18 he became the first man to take seven wickets in the format.

Indeed it was a week for bowlers around the country, and both Rolof van der Merwe and Steve Finn captured five-fors. The Middlesex seamer took 5-16 against Surrey but in his other fixtures his seven overs went wicketless for a hefty ninety-two runs. Team-mate Nathan Sowter was more consistent, spreading his eight victims across the three games. However it was AB De Villiers who hogged the headlines for his two half-centuries, particularly a 35-ball unbeaten 88 against Somerset at Richmond.

After soaring for much of the Blast, the Kent Spitfires were shot down decisively by Gloucestershire at Bristol where seamers fired most of the bullets. This enabled Sussex to leapfrog their neighbours thanks to another trio of triumphs. Ollie Robinson boosted his T20 wicket tally by eight, ably supported by Rashid Khan, Mills, Briggs and Topley. Still six games remain, so they need a few more wins to ensure a place in the knockouts. Kent at Canterbury next Friday is the most mouth-watering meeting.

Somerset have clawed themselves into contention thanks to Babar Azam’s 102 not out against Hampshire, the only century of the past week. Credit, too, to Tom Abell, who passed 40 in each of his three games at very respectable strike rates.

In the North division, umbrellas were in great demand much of the time. Sadly, the Roses clash at Old Trafford was completely washed out but a three-run margin at Manchester was sufficient for Lancashire to end the week four points ahead of second-place Nottinghamshire. Yorkshire and the Bears produced the season’s third tie. Chasing 177-4, Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s unbeaten 76 was not quite enough to get over the line and the Vikings ended on an identical score.

Worcestershire sit in third but with a game in hand. Playing Northants, Derbyshire and Durham, they may well close the gap next week but the Lancashire Lightning face the lumbering Bears home and away.

Team of the Week: Babar Azam (Som), Short (Dur), De Villiers (Mid), Cockbain (Glo), Ackermann (Lei), Abell (Som), Hill (Lei +), Van der Merwe (Som), Robinson (Sus), Sowter (Mid), Sanderson (Nor)

2018 Cricket Team of the Year

2018 wasn’t a vintage year for cricket, and there were no major international tournaments in the men’s game. However, Meg Lanning’s Australia reigned supreme in the Women’s T20 World Cup while Suzie Bates, Smiriti Mandhana. Poonam Yadav and Leigh Kasparek were the most successful exponents of the women’s game.

India remained the leading nation, retaining Test cricket’s ceremonial mace despite coming a 4-1 cropper last summer in England. Their travel woes currently seem behind them, temporarily at least, thanks to a resounding victory at the MCG this week. The Aussies are in minor disarray after having their captain and vice-captain banned for a year for their disgraceful policy of getting young Cameron Bancroft to cheat in South Africa. It didn’t help them much. Despite having destroyed England last winter, Australia were thoroughly outplayed by De Kock’s team.

England also ended the year in the top three of all formats and must be favourites in the 2019 World Cup. Pakistan head the T20 rankings while Sri Lanka’s decline has dropped them below Afghanistan and in danger of not qualifying for the next T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, the Afghans played their first ever Test match in June, but India trounced them inside two days. Rashid Khan may be the greatest limited-overs spin bowler in the world but he was granted a rude awakening in the first-class game, taking 2-154 on his Test debut.

Alastair Cook, Morne Morkel and Rangana Herath were amongst those announcing international retirements although only the former received a knighthood! Dale Steyn was fit for long enough to finally eclipse Shaun Pollock’s Test wicket record but Jimmy Anderson – wrapped in cotton wool for much of the year - just kept on swinging to become the most prolific fast bowler in Test history.

So who makes my team of the year?

Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque scored more first-class runs than anybody else, compiling four centuries in his last six games of the year, but openers were conspicuously absent from those near the top of the list. Instead I’ve had to raid the white ball stars. Shikhar Dhawan again makes my XI and, while Colin Munro was the leading T20 scorer, Jos Buttler beats him, thanks to a surprisingly successful recall to England’s five-day line-up. Only Jonny Bairstow had a superior ODI strike rate than Buttler’s 113.53.

Virat Kohli was the first name on my team sheet. Despite shouldering the burden of India’s captaincy in all three formats, it was his runs which did more than anything to keep his country at the top of the pile. I think he was the only man to accumulate more than 3,000 runs in all cricket, and that’s without any domestic first-class or 50-over fixtures. The man was a machine. It’s such a shame that New Zealand play so few internationals because Kane Williamson remains a global star, adding a T20 strike rate of 137 to his already impressive CV. 

Hashim Amla endured an uncharacteristically mediocre run, Steve Smith was crying on a beach somewhere, and Joe Root still couldn’t quite turn enough fifties into tons. In their places, Rohit Sharma, Bairstow and Khawaja were all in the frame but I’ve gone for Babar Azam. Whilst not as rapid as other contenders in the shorter formats, the Pakistani batsman was almost as consistent as Williamson across all types of cricket.

Shakib al-Hasan is officially the number one all-rounder but in 2019 I’d say he was marginally overtaken by West Indian seamer Jason Holder. Perhaps if Shakib had played more matches for Bangladesh he would have done enough to hold on to his place in my Eleven.

Behind the stumps, I could have plumped for De Kock or Buttler. However, I think 21 year-old Rishabh Pant has developed sufficiently to enjoy a stellar year. He made his Test debut in England while his T20 strike rate during the year of 173 was superior even to De Villiers and Finch! If only MS Dhoni would relinquish the ODI gloves, young Pant could step up to superstardom because he’s also no fool as a ‘keeper.

My leading pace bowlers are the same as 2018’s. Indeed, Kagiso Rabada is there for the third consecutive year. His Test figures were the strongest including 52 wickets at barely 20 apiece. Morkel, Anderson, Pat Cummins, Matt Henry and Duanne Olivier each staked a claim but I’ve selected Mohammad Abbas, whose 104 first-class wickets were achieved at a superb average of 15.37. He was brilliant for Leicestershire last summer and devastating against Australia in October.

Jasprit Bumrah’s peculiar straight-armed action proved equally adept in Tests as in the shorter stuff this year. His ODI economy was excellent as ever but he also took 48 wickets at 21 in the five-day game, including 6-33 in the recent contest with Australia at Melbourne. My final selection could have gone to South African Simon Harmer but there’s no ignoring Rashid Khan. He was by far the leading wicket-taker in T20, with 96 in 61 appearances at barely a run a ball, and also rattled off 48 victims in ODIs, albeit mostly against weak nations. The World Cup could be his stage this coming summer, and he’s still only 20. I wish him well.

In summary, here is my 2018 Team of the Year:-

Buttler (Eng), Dhawan (Ind), Kohli (Ind), Williamson (NZ), Babar Azam (Pak), Pant (Ind, +), Holder (WI), Rabada (SA), Bumrah (Ind), Abbas (Pak), Rashid Khan (Afg).

My ‘squad replacements’ would be Khawaja (Aus), Bairstow (Eng), Hasan Ali (Pak) and Shakib (Ban).

Pakistan deal England another blow

Pakistan don’t get many opportunities to play Test cricket these days. However, they must wish they played England twice a year every year because they seem to have our measure, to put it mildly. Two years ago, Misbah’s team drew 2-2 but could be said to have won on points after the ten-wicket massacre in the Oval finale. Now at Lord’s they have dealt England a First Test defeat for the first time since a West Indies team boasting Walsh, Ambrose, Lara et al won by the same margin, again on the fourth day. 

On the plus side, England fought back to draw that particular six-match series and it is not unfeasible they can salvage something from this truncated rubber in 2018. However, this week the gulf was somewhat embarrassing. Even Joe Root had to confess his side had been second best in all three disciplines: with the bat, ball and in the field. If England could blame unfamiliar conditions prepared by Johnny Foreigner for their winter travails, they can hardly use the same excuse for the pitch at HQ in May, ideal for Anderson and Broad to exploit, and Root’s top six to show the visitors how to bat on a Bank Holiday weekend. Oops!

It went wrong right from the first session on Thursday. Stoneman, Root and Malan were back in the pavilion inside sixteen overs. All that criticism of Alastair Cook – too old, too slow, too out of form, should be at three – and yet the ex-captain was he only man to show any stickability, easily the top scorer in the first innings, with 70. I’m sure Jos Buttler wasn’t selected as a specialist batsman at seven to come in and shore up the lower order midway through the second session, and of course he failed.

Mohammad Abbas and Hasan Ali aren’t usually touted as frightening pacemen but they skilfully showed up England’s deficiencies and bowled them out for 184. In reply, no fewer than four Pakistani batsman passed 50, and who knows how many Babar Azam might have scored had he not had his forearm broken by a rising ball from Ben Stokes when well placed on 68. Nobody bowled particularly badly; they just weren’t effective enough and Pakistan established a healthy lead of 179.

The obvious team talk would have been to exhort all batsmen to knuckle down, play each ball on its merits, blah-blah-blah. However, when Cook was LBW to an Abbas beauty in the second over to stunned silence in St John’s Wood, the warnings were there one more. Poor Mark Stoneman failed again while Joe Root did at least produce another useful 60-odd. When he was sixth out at 110, a three-day rout looked probable. But from such barren ground, the recalled Buttler and debutant Dom Bess – in his first ever first-class match at Lord’s – bore fruit, developing a 125 partnership which lasted to stumps.

Could the pair – Somerset past and present – maintain the stand and help set Pakistan a challenging target? Whaddya think?! Jos had added just a single before Abbas trapped him leg-before. Seventeen balls later, England had collapsed to 242 all out. Pakistan can be jittery when faced with an apparently straightforward chase but, despite Azhar Ali succumbing to an Anderson gem for 4, there were no major alarms and the job was done with some glorious strokes, including a clubbed six by Haris Sohail off a Bess full-toss.

There’s less than a week to regroup, reconsider and revive England’s fortunes. As for changes, Stoneman’s axe was inevitable and his former Durham team-mate Keaton Jennings has been in sufficiently fine early season for Lancashire to warrant a recall as Cook’s partner. Dom Bess took no wickets but, with his West Country colleague Jack Leach still out of action, should be in the frame again, if only because of his useful batting. At just 20, we Somerset faithful were hoping he would get a few good seasons to learn his craft so I hope the experience doesn’t dent his confidence. Fortunately, it is hardly a Kerrigan-esque situation.

In a way I can see why Ed Smith and co opted to bring back the IPL sloggers to try something more exciting but to me it smacks of desperation. I cannot understand why some suggest Bairstow hands the gloves to Buttler and swap roles. It would mean no change in personnel and arguably weakening the ‘keeping. Crazy! Maybe it’s time for the new chief selector Smith to venture outside Middlesex for a change and see who else is out there in county cricket other than Malan, Morgan and Finn, languishing in the second division. He may be in for a pleasant surprise. Meanwhile, Pakistan will be licking their lips, a well-drilled outfit of excellent young bowlers, able batsmen and enthusiastic fielders hoping to seal a series victory at Headingley next week. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility.