A Retiring Cricketers Team of 2018

Autumn Test and ODI series are in full swing. However, I can’t help looking back upon the careers of cricketers who have bowed out after the latest season in England. The following twelve players make a pretty strong team, too.

He may not be a household name but Johannes Myburgh’s popularity with the Somerset faithful earned him a warm round of applause when he left the field at Taunton for the last time in August. The Pretorian had been at the county for only five seasons yet his one-day performances in particular, including a 42-ball T20 century against Essex a few months ago, endeared him to West Country crowds.

In his native South Africa, Myburgh had once played alongside Jonathan Trott, who also migrated to England to further his career. He did pretty well out of it, too. He eventually qualified for England and, after making piles of runs for Warwickshire, made his debut in the 2009 Ashes series. After a few years his Test batting average was way up in the sixties but by the time he retired in 2015 it was back at a still-decent 44. Although an even better 50-over batsman, he was still doing a sterling job alongside Ian Bell in the County Championship in 2018, striking 124 in his penultimate match.

Another South African-born batsman, Nick Compton has also called it a day. Part of the great Compton cricketing dynasty, he began and ended his county career at Middlesex but it was at good old Somerset that he reached his peak. In 2012, he came within a whisker of achieving the traditional landmark of 1000 runs before the end of May in 2012 and played 16 Tests for England. His steady style seemed well suited to five-dayers but he made only two centuries and was discarded two years ago He’ll be fine as an eloquent pundit, I’m sure.

Former Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams is also retiring at the age of 38. Despite his immense value as batsman and fielder to his county, he never quite managed a full senior international appearance ad, after a mediocre 2018, it was probably a good time to step back.

Paul Collingwood was another one-county stalwart, representing his home side of Durham for more than two decades. Including his 300+ appearances for England, he has quite with more than 30,000 runs, 400 wickets and 600 catches to his name. Not as tabloid-friendly as KP, Flintoff et al, he was nonetheless one of England’s finest all-round cricketers for a decade and was still an effective contributor to Durham’s cause into his 40s.

Will Gidman, who has also quite the game, was another all-rounder but who enjoyed a relatively brief stint at the top on the county circuit. He was already 26 when, alongside older brother Alex, he enjoyed a stellar season for Gloucestershire. Notts enticed him away in 2015, followed by Kent but his best cricket was behind him when he left the game aged 33.

Like Gidman, South Australian Stephen Crook may not be a familiar name but for the last several seasons he was a huge hit at Northamptonshire. His seam bowling and big hitting helped the county to two T20 titles but apparently his interests extend well beyond cricket so he won’t be bored in retirement.

Sean Ervine is probably better known, and for numerous summers was a banker in my fantasy cricket team. For Hampshire, he didn’t necessarily make loads of hundreds or collect five-fors but he was one of those consistent all-rounders who would always do a job for you. He split acrimoniously from the Zimbabwe set-up in 2004, otherwise he may have enjoyed more international success.

James Foster must be one of the unluckiest of England players in recent times. One of the best wicketkeeper batsmen in the country he had the misfortune of being a contemporary of Chris Read and Matt Prior, and picked up only seven Test caps in 2001 and 2002. However England’s loss was Essex’s gain and he was a hero at Chelmsford, regaining his place in 2017 to win the Championship crown. He lost his spot this year, though, and at 38 reluctantly stepped down.

James Tredwell was another whose England career was restricted by a parallel career; in his case, Graeme Swann. The mild-mannered, follically challenged Kent off-spinner was never destined for superstar status and he must be one of the very few cricketers who played for two different counties simultaneously (not in the same match obviously!) in different formats.

Another massive Fantasy Cricket points scorer in the past several seasons is Steve Magoffin. A bit of a county journeyman, the Aussie seamer was regularly near the top of the wickets table and bowling averages while at Sussex between 2012 and 2017 and he retires with a total of 597 first-class wickets at an incredible average of just 23.60. Understated, unsung but often unplayable.

Finally a mention for Andy Hodd. His whole career seems to have been spent as understudy, first to Tim Ambrose or Matt Prior at Sussex, then Jonny Bairstow at Yorkshire but when he did step up into the first XI he accumulated more than 5,000 senior runs and 400 dismissals. It seems fitting to make him my 2018 retirees’ twelfth man. Sorry, Hoddy!

Bangladesh crash England's World Cup party

So despite all the ICC's attempts to guarantee the aristocracy's progress to the quarter-finals, England prove to be so bad that one of the nouveau riche has crashed the party. After sacking Cook and shaking up the management and coaching staff, England may not have realistically expected lifting the World Cup but to garner fewer points than Ireland is definitely nothing to crow about. In fact it's a sporting disaster.

George Dobell's article on ESPNCricinfo perfectly picks over the bones of the defeat to Bangladesh and the implications for England's ODI future but I'll have my own say, too. All the talk pre-tournament was of the wrong batsmen and wrong run-making strategy. Maybe there are still lessons to be learnt there. Yet again I feel Ian Bell has been unfairly singled out for criticism. He did at least score more than 200 runs, double the aggregate made by skipper Eoin Morgan, who seems to collect more ducks than Tory politicians.

The fastest scorers Jos Buttler and James Taylor have languished at seven and six and they, rather than Alex Hales or - God help us! - Kevin Pietersen who need to be promoted up the order. I haven't changed my mind about Joe Root; the next ODI captain without doubt. Probably in Tests, too. Moeen Ali has the talent to hold his international place for years to come, too. Forget the batsmen for a moment; England's real problem lies with its bowling.

You have to go a long way down the wickets table for the competition so far to find one of our bowlers. Steve Finn is at twenty with eight wickets but his economy rate of almost 7 is worse than anyone else in the top 50 other than Kevin O'Brien! Chris Woakes has performed adequately but the 'star' seamers Anderson and Broad have been extremely disappointing. I agree with most commentators that the persistent refusal to countenance James Tredwell as a frontline spinner does seem peculiar and not only in retrospect.

As the Cricinfo feature elucidates, the truth is staring us in the face: we simply don't have bowlers to win World Cups. Those who catch the eye in county cricket are whisked away to have their pace and personality removed so that the very reasons for their recognition in the first place has been destroyed. Then people perversely blame the county system, and that's a fallacy.

Anyway, enough of England. Congratulations to Bangladesh! They deserved to win and have a small chance of reaching the semis for the first time. India and New Zealand remain unbeaten and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara is accumulating centuries like schoolboys collect stamps. Associate nation players like Scotland's Josh Davey and Kyle Coetzee, Shapoor Zadran (Afghanistan), Shaiman Anwar (UAE) and Zimbabwe's Sean Williams have enjoyed their time in the spotlight. Time which the ICC are determined to deprive them of in future years.

If only Ireland could join the leading eight. However, they will almost certainly have to defeat Pakistan to do so and I reckon Misbah's men, particularly the bowlers, will be too strong when it really matters.

Classy Bell compensation for England

Before the start of the Dharamsala fixture, India had already proved me wrong by recovering from their Rajkot reverse to win three ODIs on the trot and claim the series. However, credit to Ian Bell for steering England to a seven-wicket triumph to end their on-off tour on a high.

I've always liked Bell as a player in all three formats and, while he has off-days like anyone else, the Warwickshire man continues to prove while he simply cannot be left out of England's line-up. He doesn't do the eye-catching stuff like KP, Morgan or Buttler, but when you need an anchor who also keeps the scoreboard ticking, Bell is yer man.

Only Suresh Raina scored more runs across the five matches and duly snatched the Player of the Series award. However, this was perhaps overshadowed by the arguments about the selection of Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma over Rahane (correct) and Pujara (more debatable). Ravi Jadeja had a good all-round series but Kohli and Yuvi were more hit-and-mis.

On the bowling front, Steven Finn improved as January wore on, while Jade Dernbach had a nightmare. He may have earrings and tattoos but as a strike bowler he couldn't take wickets and as a death bowler he was hideously expensive. Nice to see Chris Woakes get a couple of opportunities and I do hope his Test debut is not far away. The battle between him and Bresnan for the number eight spot in 2013 will be interesting.

Top wicket-taker of the tournament and most economic bowler for England was, perhaps surprisingly, James Tredwell. Not exactly seen as the future of spin in this country, he nonetheless did his job in the middle of the innings as Graeme Swann's off-break deputy. The jury's still out on Samit Patel, just as it is on Ravi Bopara who of course wasn't in India. Joe Root did his future prospects no harm, though, even if his strengths surely lie in longer-form cricket.

Overall, the sides have been fairly well matched over the past three months. The T20 series was shared but told us nothing, India enjoyed some success in the 50-over format but it was England's superb first Test series win on Indian soil for decades that will give the Flower-Cook-Giles unit the biggest boost of all as a two-month spell in New Zealand beckons. The Black Caps will surely fail to pose as many problems as Dhoni, Tendulkar, Kohli and co.

England win an ODI in India at last!

England and India have had a real rollercoaster ride in the past few years, veering from one extreme to the other in the different formats. However, it has been almost one-way traffic in ODIs played in India since 2002. Sixteen defeats, a tie and a solitary win preceded today's match in Rajkot. However, everything seems to be going the way of Alastair Cook these days so it shouldn't really have been a surprise when England racked up 325 and were able to defend it - just!

Joe Root may not have batted on his debut, but the top six all made runs. Ian Bell looked particularly strong, outscoring his captain in an opening partnership of 158. Pietersen, Morgan and Patel also passed 40 as Ishant Sharma took a real pasting during his final stint. India also got off to a good start thanks to Gambhir and Rahane, that supreme first-class cricketer who gets picked only for one-dayers! Yuvraj Singh and Raina each made brisk half-centuries but failed to score quick enough. When they departed there was too much for Dhoni and the tail to do at the death, and they fell nine runs short. Not a huge margin in such a high-scoring match but, needing ninety-odd in the last nine overs, it was a case of too little, too late.

At the end of 2011, India smashed England just as convincingly as they had lost the Test series so dismally on foreign soil. Margins such as 126 runs, 95 runs and eight wickets had made Cook's team look like amateurs. In particular, the visiting batsmen were hopelessly inconsistent and unable to put more than an occasional half-century together. Much of that side remains, with the key exceptions of Trott, Swann, Bopara and Bairstow. Borthwick and Meaker have been replaced by Tredwell and Dernbach and it was the former, the second oldest man in the XI, who won the Man of the Match award with his 4-44.

The only other win in that dreary decade of ODI disasters came on 12th April 2006 at Jamshedpur. Only KP, Bell, MSD, Yuvi and Raina have survived that seven-year gap, but on that occasion, it was Jimmy Anderson and the much-maligned Saj Mahmood who were instrumental in restricting Sehwag's side to a mere 223. Only Dhoni and Ramesh Powar scored more than 15! India's attack featured three Singhs - RP, Munaf and Harbhajan - and only the latter had any real success. Nevertheless, a century opening partnership at more than five an over ensured that the rest need only keep things ticking over without crazy shot selection. This they managed with more than seven overs to spare, Ian Blackwell ending proceedings with a mighty six over long on.

Going back further through the archives, it hasn't always been a home-side success story. When the first ODI in India between the sides took place in Ahmedebad in November 1981, one-day tactics were very different. More like pick your Test team, anchor the innings for forty overs then try and pick it up near the end! India managed barely three an over in their 46 overs, and Willis, Botham and Underwood conceded two an over or fewer. Even with a batting line-up featuring Geoffs Boycott and Cook and Keith Fletcher, England knocked off the 157 quite easily, as Botham showed that it really is not too vulgar to hit sixes in such fixtures.

England won six of their first nine ODIs in India through the 1980s then drew the six-game series in 1993. In 2002, Nasser Hussain's men slumped to 1-3 with two games remaining. At Delhi, Nick Knight's 105 helped England to a useful 271-5. In reply, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Ganguly made a good start but Mongia, Kaif and Badani failed to maintain the early strike rate. Despite some late hitting by Agarkar, Ashley Giles took five wickets and India lost by just two runs.

At Mumbai, it was the same story. Instead of Knight (who was dismissed for a duck), it was Marcus Trescothick who laid the foundation for a 255 total. Sehwag was out too early then, while Ganguly performed admirably for 80, the duo of Mongia and Kaif were again suffocated. Flintoff, Giles and even Michael Vaughan kept the scoring rate down. Needing six from the last three balls, wih two wickets left, any of three results looked possible. However, Flintoff ran out Kumble then bowled Srinath first ball to secure a five-run victory. Two desperately close finishes but England have saved the series.

Eleven years on, can England build on their early success? The Test series triumph has surely consigned historical hoodoos to the dustbin so now it's up to India to turn things around. Coming from behind is not their strength and I wouldn't bet against a 5-0 whitewash!

England's go for a Spin Quartet

I can just about remember India regularly playing three or four top-class spinners like Bedi and Venkat back in the early 1970s. Now, with slow bowlers back in vogue thanks first to Warne, Murali and Kumble, then to their success in Twenty20, everyone wants to get in on the act.

In the recent UAE series against Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman destroyed England, but Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar also had their moments on the pitches of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is interesting that for the forthcoming Tests in Sri Lanka, the English selectors have gone for two other spinners in James Tredwell and all-rounder Samit Patel.

I rather suspect they may be on drinks duties unless injury strikes one or both of Swanny or Monty. However, by giving Eoin Morgan the boot, Patel's chances of making his Test debut look the stronger unless Andy Flower goes for Bresnan as an extra seamer and, alongside Matt Prior and Stuart Broad, useful late-order batsman. The Notts all-rounder has always been a batsman first and foremost but of course his additional bowling option has earned him 25 ODI caps. His first-class batting average is a satisfactory 41, with 13 centuries to his name. Ravi Bopara will presumably take Morgan's place at Galle as a like-for-like but should he fail, Patel is waiting in the wings.

Tredwell made just one Test appearance in Dhaka after an excellent season for Kent in 2009. Against Bangladesh he took six wickets for 181 before returning to the semi-wilderness. He made the one-day squad last winter, making the last of his five ODI appearances against Sri Lanka, taking no wickets. Mind you, so did all his colleagues, as Tharanga and Dilshan each scored unbeaten hundreds!

England's eleven will probably read: Strauss, Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Bopara, Prior, Swann, Broad and two out of three of Finn, Anderson and Panesar. It's possible that the Essex man could give way to Bresnan or even Anderson, if England opt for a five-man bowling attack. It's weird to think that the Lancashire paceman should find himself in danger of being dropped whilst still ranked third in the world. However, it would be tough to leave out Finn after performing so well in the one-dayers.

I have little sympathy for Morgan. He is a fine 'one-day' number six but I would go for Bopara every time. Patel's lack of movement in the field counts against him but, as I said, he could find himself called up in the event of injury, loss of form or just a gamble by the coach. Could we see an England Test XI featuring a full spin quartet? I somehow doubt it, but having four in a squad of fifteen opens up the intriguing possibility!