2015 Cricket Team of the Year

The cricketing year produced its usual share of successes and disappointments, retirements and blossoming new talent. Australia won the World Cup but lost the Ashes. India and Sri Lanka lost momentum, New Zealand won a lot of new friends and respect, while Pakistan and England experienced maddening inconsistency. Bangladesh finally showed they are more than Shakib plus fillers, but the West Indies have many mountains to climb if they are to be once again competitive in the Test arena. Gayle, Pollard, Bravo and Russell may be amongst the principal T20 globetrotters but sadly their success seems to be diminishing their prospects at proper cricket.

So who have been the stars of 2015? Steve Smith, Martin Guptill and Chris Gayle were the leading scorers in each of the three international formats. Ravi Ashwin and Mitchell Starc topped the wickets tables in Tess and ODIs. AB De Villiers proved yet again how important he is to South Africa in all types of the sport, and now on top of all his batting and captaincy responsibilities he has taken the gloves in the Test series against England. No wonder he is looking for some time off in 2016. Yet, as his appearances were relatively few, he doesn’t even make my team of the year as it is intended to reflect performances across all forms, domestic and international.

For example, Steven Smith may be righty feted for his form in Tests, but his Aussie team-mate Adam Voges comfortably outscored him (and everybody else) when it came to all first-class cricket. He aggregated 2,547 in the twelve months, but yet even HE doesn’t make my team, as he wasn’t very active in limited overs cricket.

With the ball, Stuart Broad produced one incredible session for England, backed by other useful contributions alongside Jimmy Anderson. Jeetan Patel, Abdur Razzak and Nathan Lyon all added plenty to their career wicket tallies, but time out taken to remodel illegal actions has diminished the effectiveness of traditional spin stars such as Narine and Saeed Ajmal. Instead, there seems to have been a renaissance in left-arm seam and swing bowling.

So to my Eleven of 2015: Chris Gayle may be a T20 specialist (apart from a few World Cup 50-over outings) but his dominance can’t be ignored. His opening partner is Michael Klinger. Arriving at Gloucestershire from a successful domestic season Down Under, the Aussie clumped three T20 centuries in quick succession, before helping them to an unexpected 50-over cup triumph against Surrey. He also amassed 1,666 first-class runs in only 17 matches, making an all-format aggregate of 3,383!

Kumar Sangakkara bowed out of international cricket in 2015 but his form and class were maintained to the end, not only for Sri Lanka but Surrey, too. His overall run total was also comfortably above 3,000 and his glovework did enough to make him my wicketkeeper, too. A modern legend.

Steve Smith’s rise and rise from so-so leg-spinner to Aussie captaincy and leading Test scorer in 2015 is remarkable. His consistency eased the transition from the Michael Clarke era, although it was painful to watch ‘Pup’ struggle for runs in England, which eventually led him to call time on a wonderful career. Yet perhaps the most enjoyable growth in talent belonged to New Zealand’s Kane Williamson. Brendon McCullum’s aggressive yet sporting approach reaped benefits in all forms, but Williamson’s runs were just as important. It is to his great credit that I can find no room for the admirable Joe Root.

My number six is perhaps a little surprising. With a full season with Glamorgan as well as in South Africa, Colin Ingram was free to amass runs in all form of cricket. He could play carefully in the County Championship, yet explode into strokeplay in List A and T20. His strike rate in the latter was 146, right up there with Pollard and Pietersen. I appreciated his willingness to sign autographs for children at the Swalec Stadium boundary, too.

Genuine all-rounders seem to be in short supply at the moment. Dwayne Bravo came into my reckoning but as a T20 one-trick pony, I’ve passed him over in favour of Aussie James Faulkner. Still only 25, his left-arm seam bowling may be his greatest asset, yet in his batting career he averages more than 30 in first-class and List A cricket, and he boasts impressive strike rates. His 2015 performances nudge him into my XI of the year.

Ravi Ashwin was head and shoulders above not only his fellow Indian slow bowlers in height but also every other bowler in Test cricket. He scooped 62 wickets at a mere 17.0 apiece. With 35 ODI victims, too, he’s the first bowler on my team sheet.

Another bowler who can add useful late-order runs is John Hastings. Like Faulkner, a current one-Test wonder, yet a vital cog in the wheels of Durham and Victoria. He took 115 wickets across the year, but even that was eclipsed by the statistics of another Aussie quick. Mitchell Johnson may be the most recognisable of the Mitches, but Starc was the outstanding bowler of 2015. 63 first-class victims at 21, a world-leading 67 List A at a mere 14 apiece, and 21 T20 wickets at an admirable sub-7 economy rate speak for themselves. 100 mph deliveries, too! I just hope he can stay fit for 2016.

My final bowling position is a tough one. Tharindu Kaushal has made little impact on the international scene. However, the 22 year-old off-spinner from Galle amassed a remarkable 111 first-class wickets last year, primarily for the Nondescripts club. Trent Boult has blossomed for New Zealand, yet can I afford to include another left-arm seamer? Perhaps Broad’s right-arm status makes him a contender after all.

Anyway, it’s been an interesting year for cricket in lots of ways. For the record, here is my 2015 Team of the Year:-

Gayle (WI), Klinger (Aus), Sangakkara (SL +), Williamson (NZ), Smith (Aus *), Ingram (SA), Faulkner (Aus), Ashwin (Ind), Hastings (Aus), Starc (Aus), Kaushal (SL). My ‘squad’ also contains Alastair Cook (opener), Root (batsman), Broad and Boult.

Essex and Durham make the Royal London running

With the County Championship on a midsummer break, it was all about limited overs. Most of the last group fixtures in the NatWest T20 Blast were rained off. However, the weather left some of the Division Two teams in the running for silverware. As a Somerset fan I'm well aware of the disappointment that failure can bring and we have lost far more one-dayers than we've won in 2015. Kent are having a poor run in the four-day game but, with the likes of Darren Stevens, Sam Billings and Sam Northeast, they boast a formidable batting line-up and look the side to beat in T20.

Warwickshire headed the North group, ahead of Worcestershire, Northants and Lancashire, with Sussex, Hampshire and Essex completing the quarter-final line-up. Meanwhile, the new 50-over tournament has launched with five washouts then a host of hundreds through the week. Essex are looking useful in this competition, the Royal London Cup, too. Openers Mark Pettini and Tom Westley each scored centuries in one fixture, and Ravi Bopara has been a reliable all-rounder.

Yorkshire's Glenn Maxwell has had a mediocre NatWest Blast, but rounded off a fine week with a 76-ball 111 to beat Worcestershire, and Gary Ballance has rediscovered the knack of scoring fifties while Steven Patterson has shone with the ball. Mark Stoneman, Phil Mustard and John Hastings have contributed to Durham's two wins, but captain Paul Collingwood hit the highest individual score of the week, 132.

Familiar big-hitters Jason Roy and Alex Hales each made three-figure innings but possibly the match of the week was Kent v Glamorgan. Stevens led the way with 110 from 66 balls but the response from South Africans Colin Ingram 109 then Chris Cooke (94 not out) was fabulous, and clinched victory with two balls left.

Things are just getting interesting, so the next week will let patterns emerge. I wonder whether the T20 frontrunners will be doing the same in the Royal London.

Team of the Week: Pettini (Ess), Mustard (Dur +), Madsen (Der), Maxwell (Yor), Collingwood (Dur, *), Cooke (Gla), Bopara (Ess), Hastings (Dur), Patterson (Yor), Anderson (Eng), Finn (Eng/Mid)