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)

The Hundred: 50 to 41

 50: Imran Khan

Martin Crowe may have enjoyed a great 1992 World Cup, but it was 39 year-old Imran Khan who ultimately held the trophy aloft. In the mid-‘70s I remember him as a top-class batsman for Oxford University and Worcestershire but he quickly developed his fast bowling with no adverse effect on his ability to score runs. I saw him only once, bowling Gooch for a duck at Chelmsford for the Pakistan tourists in ’87. In his thirties his pace and control were as superb as ever and history should recognise him as one of the top three Test all-rounders of the past fifty years. 

49: Tony Cottey

Harry Pilling may have been shorter but, at 5 foot 4, Tony Cottey was the superior batsman. He even played pro football for his home club, too (but not as West Ham’s Tony Cottee!). The son of Swansea was a vital cog in the Glamorgan middle-order through most of the Nineties, helping them to the County Championship in 1997. I enjoyed watching him at the crease, including his sprightly 20 not out in a 40-over rout of Hampshire at Sophia Gardens in ’95. He saw out his career at Sussex where he won another league title, but missed out on an England call-up. 

48: Glenn McGrath

OK, so he wasn’t as exciting to watch as fellow Aussies Lillee, Thomson, Johnson or Hughes, but Glenn McGrath was the finest seam bowler of his generation. His metronomic accuracy rendered him almost impossible to score from, and until Anderson pipped him recently, had more Test wickets than any other paceman in history. His career average of 21.64 is, however, considerably better than the Englishman’s and achieved in thirty fewer matches. I witnessed first-hand his 8-38 at Lord’s in 1997 when in his absolute pomp. 

47: Moeen Ali

I feel a bit sorry for Moeen Ali. As a youngster playing in the second flight initially for Warwickshire he won plaudits for his stylish batsmanship but it was only when he produced outstanding stats as a slow bowler in one Championship game (he was in my Fantasy side) that England began to take note. Forced to focus more on his twirling, his red-ball batting suffered although he remains devastating in limited over cricket. Observing him in an ODI at Cardiff I was touched by the huge affection in which he was held by fans, but only Pakistani fans! At least they recognise his talent. 

46: Curtly Ambrose

It was hard not to admire Curtly. You certainly couldn’t miss him. At 6 foot 8 his stride ate up the ground and his ability to routinely dig ‘em in just short of a length and extract unseemly bounce was legendary. I remember enjoying him tickle the ribs of Nasser Hussain at Chelmsford in ’91 with astonishing consistency and accuracy. I doubt that the Essex captain felt the same. Two years later he claimed 7-1 in a single spell against the Aussies, one of the most remarkable ever. Forget the extraordinary bowling figures: Curtly was the ultimate cool icon in a frantic world. 

45: Brian Lara

Had BC Lara been born twenty years earlier he’d probably have topped this list but his heyday fell in the era in which my exposure to cricket was abysmally low. However, in 1994, there was no avoiding him. In April he broke the world Test innings record then, at Warwickshire, he enjoyed a patch so purple Prince would have sued out of jealousy. He scored six centuries in seven innings before thrashing the highest score in any professional cricket, 501 not out. Sadly in the only time I saw him play in the flesh he made just , but merely the sight of his distinctive follow-through flourish made it memorable. 

44: Steve Smith

In contrast, Steve Smith’s batting technique seems to have been plucked from the pages of a joke book. And yet in the past few years, apart from his twelve months in enforced exile, the Aussie skipper has been the most prolific Test batsman in the world, keeping his nation in the 2019 Ashes series almost singlehandedly. Originally he was just a gangly leg-spinner who could bat a bit. I was in the Oval crowd in 2013 when Steve scored his maiden century with a straight six, and he hasn’t looked back. 

43: Mike Smith

Over the years there have been three of my namesakes in county cricket. MJK had been England’s captain but I recall his bespectacled face batting for Warwickshire in the ‘70s, while MJ opened for Middlesex for ages. Then in the Nineties came AM. This Mike Smith bowled left-arm fast-medium for Gloucestershire and, being only 5 foot 9, relied on skiddy swing to worry batsmen. His county form finally won him an Ashes appearance in ’97 but he went wicketless and that was that. An unsung hero of county cricket. 

42: Wasim Akram

There’s nothing unsung about Wasim Akram. He was initially the apprentice to Imran’s master before eclipsing him, at least in the one-day format. I once saw him accompany his old skipper against Essex, in which he produced a typical all-round performance. A devastating batsman he was primarily a fast left-arm bowler whose run-up suggested a befuddled schoolboy but once the ball left his hand….. The ‘Sultan of Swing’ could move it both ways, produce a brutal bouncer or a lethal yorker, making him one of the most complete fast bowlers in my lifetime. 

41: Allan Border

I wasn’t particularly enamoured of his legendary rude bloody-mindedness as Aussie captain but there’s no denying Allan Border’s effective innings building or his success at turning the Baggy Greens into the best cricketing outfit in the world. However, before he became the infamous grouch, I remember him best as a fresh 25 year-old whose refusal to lose his wicket made his team-mates look awful during the 1981 Ashes tour, where he averaged 59 batting at six. People remember Botham but I haven’t forgotten the gutsy little left-hander and his short-arm pull shots.

Ashes 2019 – England’s luck finally runs out

Last week I wrote that England looked set to build on that incredible Stokes-led fightback  at Headingley and surely seize the Ashes as they did in 2005. Well, how wrong I was. Yet England’s new-found back-to-the-wall resilience produced a second Test classic in succession even if they had evidently exhausted their huge reserves of good fortune in the previous match.

As in the 3^rd Test, Australia bossed much of the game. Or should I say Steve Smith did. Apart from Marnus Labuschagne and Tim Paine, the visitors’ batting has been abysmal. At Old Trafford, Stuart Broad’s opening spells twice accounted for openers Harris and Warner for the total of just 19 runs, the latter bagging a pair. 

Twice, Smith has strode onto the pitch with the innings under eighth overs old and twice he has flummoxed England’s attack with his mix of quirky mannerisms, mutterings and manic walkabouts, interspersed with coruscating cricket shots, piercing the field brilliantly. In the first innings he punctured Stokes’ puffed-up chest superbly, and Jofra Archer went wicketless for 97 as the former Aussie captain executed his third Ashes double-century.

On Friday, I watched incredulously as Rory Burns somehow avoided not only getting an edge to the pacemen but also dislocating every joint in his body as part of his peculiar batting stance, but he and Joe Root put on a stubborn 141 for the third wicket to keep the match very much alive. When Josh Hazlewood’s seamers did for both men in successive overs, England’s white-ball specialists couldn’t keep it going and only a belligerent extra-cover drive by Buttler prevented the follow-on.

Broad and Archer did give the Lancashire crowd something to roar about on Saturday afternoon but that man Smith steadied the ship, reaching 82 – his lowest score so far! – before skying Leach into the hands of Stokes. The declaration wasn’t long in coming, and Paine set the home nation the challenge of scoring 383 or surviving three-and-a-bit sessions for a draw.

England did neither, but it was mighty close. It didn’t look that way at stumps, Pat Cummins’ third ball inducing a Burns leading edge followed by the perfect delivery to bowl Root. And so the fifth day was all about the Dunkirk spirit. Wickets fell regularly and, apart from Joe Denly, nobody got anywhere near 50. That didn’t matter. It was all about eating up the overs and, once Somerset heroes Overton and Leach found themselves together in the middle, wasting as much time as possible. They must have used every spare pair of gloves in Manchester and Leach’s lenses were wiped so often that the glass would have been wafer thin. The boozed-up spectators cheered each defensive stroke, every lengthy pause, but the frustrating tactics proved insufficient in the face of superb bowling by Cummins and Hazlewood especially. When the latter finally trapped Overton lbw to end his near-three-hour resistance for 21, the review was purely cosmetic. It was plumb, and Australia had not only won the match but also ensured England could not wrest the Ashes back from their clutches. 

You have to say the Aussies have deserved it. England have shown faith in their World Cup-winning stars but, apart from Stokes and Archer, they haven’t really demonstrated their red-ball credentials. The winners also clearly have their own problems. Sooner or later, Smith will be out cheaply, leaving the weight on someone else’s shoulders. He only lost his wicket in this match to an audacious reverse sweep off Root and a mistimed slog when well set. David Warner finds himself in an uncharacteristic slump and neither Bancroft, Harris or Khawaja have fared much better. 

Will The Oval witness wholesale changes? In the week when the cricket world bade farewell to the Pakistani pioneer of 1990s leg-spin, Abdul Qadir, perhaps Joe Denly will open the bowling. As the home side, England could call up a whole raft of young replacements. I just hope they leave Somerset players alone and draft half of the Essex team so we have a chance of success in the County Championship! Whatever. Another exciting Test match  finish would do very nicely.

Ashes 2019 – Smith back on song as Aussies win a rollercoaster

Well, I didn’t see that coming! On the eve of the 2019 Ashes series, or indeed by lunch on the first day, none of the probable scripts would have told the story of what actually prevailed at Edgbaston. This was supposed to be the summer of England, buoyed by an historic World Cup success, carrying their confidence through to smash an Australia side only just welcoming back their banned trio of batsmen. Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft would surely wilt under the pressure and Joe Root would follow Eoin Morgan to Buckingham Palace for his knighthood. On the basis of the First Test I suggest PM Johnson and the Queen had better hold fire for the moment.

The final day collapse and consequent drubbing should not come as a complete surprise. At Headingley thirty years ago, the Aussies arrived without a strong reputation, yet bowled out David Gower’s men on the last day for a 211-run victory which laid the foundation not only for a series win but also a whole decade of world domination. Two years ago in Brisbane, the then-captain Steve Smith scored 141 not out in the first innings en route to a ten-wicket victory. Six months later he was cast into the wilderness for his role in the sandpaper controversy in Cape Town, the last time he played first-class cricket until this week.

At 112-8 last Thursday, Australia looked dead and buried. However, despite the chorus of boos and predictable beer-fuelled taunts with sandpaper and Smith-in-tears masks, the restored Smith was resolute. Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon kept him company through the afternoon as their side more than doubled their score. Until he was bowled by Broad, Smith had demonstrated the art of a Test batsman to perfection. And yet 284 all out was hardly a match-winning score. 

At stumps on day two, it was Rory Burns soaking up the adulation and some well-meaning handshakes from the opposition after his battling maiden Test century. Even on Saturday evening, England were still on top but Sunday was no day of rest for England’s fielders. They were run ragged by Steve Smith (again), fellow centurion Matthew Wade and then James Pattinson’s six-hit salvo. The final day saw England echo Australia’s woes on the first but this time there was no Steve Smith to salvage the situation. Roy, Denly, Buttler and Bairstow are hardly the types to knuckle down, and Nathan Lyon was extracting formidable turn from the pitch. Cummins’ short-pitched deliveries did the rest. Game over.

Love him or loathe him, you have to admire Steve Smith. His batting style looked more unorthodox than ever but he played superbly, punching cover drives to pile on the runs or shuffle outside off stump to frustrate Ben Stokes with a nudge behind square. In one of those freaky statistics I love about cricket, Smith became the first man in Test history to be dismissed twice in the 140s. Yes, England were a bowler light after Jimmy Anderson’s early breakdown but even with a fully-fit Anderson or Jofra Archer firing them in, I’m not sure the outcome would have been any different. 

It was an extraordinary Test match. I doubt that Tim Paine’s side will emulate Allan Border’s Class of ‘89 nor that England will resort to picking four different captains as they did that year. However, as with Steve Waugh three decades ago, the home nation has to work out how to dismiss Steve Smith, and hope that Warner, Khawaja and co don’t also find their form. Otherwise it could be a long hot summer and the World Cup fever will feel like a distant memory.

England’s NZ nightmare buried by the Aussie cheating scandal

I normally relish cricket grabbing the global sporting headlines. It makes a welcome change from Andy Murray’s injured back, Russian athletes’ drug test failures or another £100million+ football transfer. However, the admission by Aussie captain Steve Smith that he and his ‘leadership team’ sanctioned the policy of ball tampering during the Third Test in South Africa is a headline cricket could do without. It was uncomfortable watching Smith and his gopher Cameron Bancoft squirm in front of the cameras. There didn’t seem to be much contrition on display; Smith just looked miserable at being caught out by the TV cameras.

The suggestion that Australia may have used similar unlawful tactics in the Ashes series is hardly unexpected. The corollary is clearly that England may not have been humiliated Down Under had Smith and his men not have used yellow tape, sugar granules or whatever. I doubt it would have made a difference. Furthermore, England can’t necessarily claim the moral high ground given Mike Atherton’s ‘soil in pocket’ history and – Michael Vaughan, take note - Marcus Trescothick’s admitted use of Murraymints to enhance shine back in 2005. Nonetheless this latest allusion serves to deflect attention away from yet another overseas drubbing, this time at the hands of New Zealand.

Trevor Bayliss may look unabashed at his team’s innings defeat in Auckland but he can surely not be embarrassed by England’s dismal dismissal for only 58 in the first session of the Test, their fifth lowest ever and easily the worst against this opposition. The twin spearhead of Trent Boult and Tim Southee were hardly unknown quantities, and yet the batting line-up crumbled one by one to an excellent display of seam and swing. And no indication of illegal activities; just bowlers’ skill and airy-fairy drives.

Heaven knows what depths could have been plumbed had our number nine, Craig Overton not clumped an unbeaten 33, well over half the total. A score of under 30 was a distinct possibility and the Test may not have extended into a second day, let alone a fifth. Of course, two days of rain allowed England to either re-group or dwell on their disastrous start to a new series. New Zealand rubbed the tourists’ noses into the soil by racking up 427 -8, helped by a record eighteenth century by Kane Williamson (can he really still be only 27?) and an unbeaten, spanning four days, by Henry Nicholls.

At least Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad could hold their heads up high, and their batting colleagues showed some fight in the second innings. Stoneman, Root, Stokes and Woakes each passed fifty but it was all too little, too late. Boult took his match figures to 9-99, late bloomer Todd Astle polished off the tail with three wickets and the game was over. There was to be no last day heroics, unlike five years ago on the same ground, when Prior and Panesar thwarted the Black Caps and drew the series.

Sadly all the one-dayers have restricted the 2018 Test competition to a mere two matches. Consequently, England cannot win the series but must surely seek to avoid a sixth Test defeat on this lengthy winter tour. Handing Jack Leach his cap in place of a miserably misfiring Moeen Ali is a no-brainer while replacing Overton with the greater pace of Matt Wood is another possibility. However, with the Somerset seamer frequently outscoring his more illustrious colleagues with the bat, can the selectors afford to drop him at Christchurch?! Whatever the eleven which takes the field, they had better leave the sweets, sugar packets, etc back in the dressing room. Those pesky camera lenses get everywhere. 

Ashes 2017-18: England save the worst for last

Congratulations, Australia. One more, they made home advantage count and duly wiped the floor with Joe Root’s tourists, extending the winning margin to 4-0 courtesy of an innings victory at a scorching Sydney. It seemed somehow fitting that poor Root was too ill not only to complete his final innings but also to attend the end-of-series presentations.  It also seemed appropriate that Root retired ill having outscored all his colleagues in the final game. One of the other two Englishman to leave with reputation reasonably intact, Jimmy Anderson, was left with the thankless task of trotting out the pleasantries and excuses.

When the Aussies amass 649-7 and then dismiss the opposition for 180, it’s a pretty conclusive result. I commented a few weeks ago that there wasn’t a huge difference between the teams but those words look woefully misjudged today! Steve Smith’s run glut obviously caught the eye but his four-man attack of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and indefatigable spinner Nathan Lyon each captured more than 20 wickets. England managed to take only 58 in the whole series.

Both Marsh brothers reached three figures at the SCG while Cook, Bairstow and Malan were England’s only centurions of the series amidst generally pitifully low scoring. Anderson was the only English bowler to average under 35 and also led the wicket table on 17. Moeen Ali, Jake Ball and young Mason Crane each ended with bowling averages in three figures, and the Hampshire leggie was considered to have bowled well! Never mind; 25 years ago, Shane Warne was tonked on his debut, too, and I believe he went on to have quite a useful Test career.

So, in terms of Test cricket, what can Bayliss, Strauss and Root do to stop the rot? First of all – and this might seem perverse - they should forget the Ashes debacle Down Under. 4-0 looks – and was – humiliating but I don’t think any country would have beaten the Aussies this winter. England won at home last time and will probably do the same in 2019, with the likes of Anderson (if fit), Broad, Overton, Roland-Jones and Porter leading the attack.

Short-term, there are Tests to play in New Zealand. Conditions there will be more conducive to Root’s less pacey but perhaps more skilful seam and swing merchants, and the Black Caps don’t have Steve Smith in their line-up. I suggest that England don’t make wholesale changes. Give Ball, Crane and Overton another go but not sure about Tom Curran. He was only picked because of his Surrey connections anyway; certainly not on 2017 county form.

In addition to Moeen, James Vince was perhaps the most disappointing. His one-day batting seems to have matured as his first-class performances have declined. He wasn’t a complete disaster. After all, had Alastair Cook not produced that Melbourne masterclass, his series average would also have loitered in the low 20s at best. Malan and Stoneman must stay, but perhaps Ballance could have another chance to walk to the middle holding a bat instead of drinks tray.

At least England can say they pushed the Aussies into a fifth day every time, a modern rarity. The same can’t be said for India in Cape Town. Kohli’s world leaders played their part but, in the event, they were undone by South Africa’s fast bowlers, led by Vernon Philander. Only 760 runs were scored, not many more than Smith et al compiled in their single Sydney innings. However, unless you held unused tickets for the fifth day, it made for a good contest. Kohli’s men must be strangers to defeat but, on foreign soil, South Africa will surely look to reduce the ranking points difference between the two nations. AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn are back, and that can only be good for cricket, too.

2017 Cricket Team of the Year

2017 ended with all three cricketing formats intact following some memorable competitions and team performances. There was even some favourable headlines when Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Harry was to marry Morne Morkel – or didn’t I hear that correctly?!

Despite chucking out coach and national legend Anil Kumble, India remain the most consistent nation, ranked in the top three across all red- and whiteball format. However, their domination of Test cricket was the most notable, even if it was predicated on home series. Home advantage in the five-day game seems more evident than ever, and India’s only victory abroad came in neighbouring Sri Lanka back in the summer. In six matches between the two countries, India racked up at least 600 in their first innings, as skipper Virat Kohli, Dhawan, Pujara et al filled their boots. The forthcoming three-match rubber in South Africa will prove a more formidable challenge.

England advanced to third in the list, also on the back of summer wins on their swing-friendly pitches. The thumping they are currently receiving in Australia his winter proves that there is work to do before any consideration of regaining the ICC mace. Keeping Ben Stokes away from drinking establishments would be a start.

In ODIs, I enjoyed watching Pakistan and Bangladesh playing well in the Champions Trophy in Cardiff, before the former overcame India to win the final and a rare piece of silverware. However, South Africa displaced the Aussies at the top of the rankings despite losing again in England. New Zealand topped and tailed the year with satisfying series wins against the Aussies and West Indies. The highlights of Sri Lanka’s 2017 were probably their T20 successes in South Africa and Australia although Pakistan top the rankings.

In county cricket, newly-promoted Essex romped home to claim the Championship thanks largely to a shedload of wickets from Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter. Nottinghamshire, Perth Scorchers and the Mumbai Indians triumphed in the T20 Blast, Big Bash and IPL, respectively.

But who were the individuals who shone most brightly throughout the year? First: the batsmen. Nobody scored more first-class runs than South African Dean Elgar, who contributed valuable runs to Somerset’s early campaign as well as his country’s. Cheteshwar Pujara was the only other man to accumulate more than 2,000 runs with the red ball and averaged 67 in Tests. Kumar Sangakkara may have retired from Tests but he proved that age is just a number by stroking eight centuries for Surrey, ending his summer with a stupendous average of 106.50. 

In T20, the usual suspects Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch and Kieron Pollard outscored the rest but in List A games, that man Kohli ruled the roost once more, adding 1,460 runs to his already formidable tally. He and his team-mate Rohit Sharma each notched six one-day hundreds with strike rates a smidgeon under 100. Pakistan’s Babar Azam scored four, but his strike rate was a relatively mediocre 79. Dhawan, Bairstow, Warner and, in a relatively leisurely year, AB De Villiers were the only high scorers taking more than a run a ball across the whole year.

After accepting the England Test captaincy, Joe Root wasn’t his usual self with the bat but, in addition to Kohli, the proven class of Hashim Amla, David Warner and Steve Smith was again demonstrated in spades across all cricket. The Aussie skipper has now averaged more than 70 in four consecutive calendar years and is no slouch in the fifty-over stuff, although he didn’t play an awful lot of it this year. He makes my Eleven for the third year in succession. Amla aggregated more than 3,000 runs in all cricket, which I don’t think anyone else could approach.

It wasn’t a vintage year for all-rounders. The evergreen spinner Jeetan Patel took more than 100 wickets in total but his batting was weaker than in previous years. T20 specialist Sunil Narine improved with the willow, adding 760 runs to his 62 wickets in 64 games. India’s Hardik Pandya is perhaps one for the future but, when it comes to the international stage, I have to select Shakib al-Hasan for my Team of the Year.

In 2016, England’s Bairstow took more catches behind the stumps than any other Test ‘keeper. Last year, he was a distant second behind South Africa’s Quintin de Kock, who also dismissed 25 in ODIs. MS Dhoni may have greyer hairs these days but he was still more than useful as a keeper-batsman in limited-overs cricket. His India Test successor Saha made 61 first-class dismissals and young West Indian Shai Hope had a breakthrough twelve months. Unlike most of his countrymen, he looks to be better suited to the longer formats and may well be one to watch in the coming years. De Villiers may still have the edge in T20 but De Kock has been the star stumpie of 2017.

Now for the bowlers:

It seems to me that bowlers, even more than the batsmen, are becoming increasingly specialised. For example, Malinda Pushpakumara has long been a prolific wicket-taker in Sri Lankan domestic cricket and in 2017 claimed a barely credible 115 first-class victims at only 15.50 apiece. However, he made little impact with the white ball. Similarly for Essex’s top bowlers Harmer and Porter, Australian Test spinner Nathan Lyon, Ravi Ashwin and England’s number one-ranked swing king James Anderson.

Meanwhile, Alzarri Joseph, the 21 year-old Antiguan seamer, played several Tests with little distinction, no T20s whatsoever, yet had a decent ODI return of 19 at 30.63. Hasan Ali enjoyed a storming Champions Trophy for Pakistan and ended the year with 91 wickets in ODIs and Twenty20. He was the top wicket-taker in 50-over internationals but Indian medium-pacer Jasprit Bumrah boasted a superior total in all List A games, with 52.

One of last year’s picks, Kagiso Rabada, proved that 2016 was no flash in the pan. Last year he collected a round hundred wickets, including 57 in Tests for South Africa. He is making Steyn’s absence as attack leader less problematic. Another paceman, Marchant de Lange, hasn’t played for the Proteas for five years but was in excellent form for his various teams around the world. Mitchell Starc had injury problems so made little impact. However, that presented Josh Hazlewood with an opportunity to make a mark in Tests and ODIs. He certainly played his part in the Ashes clincher at Perth the other week.

My last pick for the 2017 XI is only 19 years old and, because he’s from Afghanistan, doesn’t play Test cricket – yet. Nonetheless he had a storming twelve months with the white ball. Rashid Khan was by some margin the supreme wicket-taker in T20, with 80, and his economy rate of 5.53 was just as extraordinary. While most of his 43 ODI victims were representing Associate nations he is a great talent and I hope he is allowed the chance to do his stuff against the leading teams in five-day cricket. Afghanistan have finally had Test status bestowed upon them but the likes of India and South Africa have yet to schedule matches against them, even over four days. Perhaps they’re too scared of Rashid!

In summary, here is my 2017 Team of the Year:-

Elgar (SA), Dhawan (Ind), Amla (SA), Kohli (Ind), Smith (Aus), De Kock (SA, +), Shakib al-Hasan (Ban), Hasan Ali (Pak), Rabada (SA), Bumrah (Ind), Rashid Khan (Afg).

My ‘squad replacements’ would be Warner (Aus), Sangakkara (SL), Jeetan Patel (NZ) and Anderson (Eng).

Ashes 2017-18: Cook and Smith share New Year’s Test Honours

Congratulations to those English cricketers who were rightly represented on the New Year’s Honours List. However, Joe Root, James Anderson and Alastair Cook will have to wait a bit longer for their knighthoods. Heather Knight’s OBE and the ‘M’s for Amy Shrubsole and Tammy Beaumont were dished out for their contributions to England’s World Cup triumph last summer but after Cook’s innings at the MCG this week you’d think the British media were celebrating an even greater success.

Well, the former skipper undoubtedly demonstrated why he has been retained as Test opener. I don’t know when an English batsman last batted not only through a whole day’s play but an entire innings without being dismissed, but this is precisely what the side has been missing. Cook himself admitted his effort was several weeks too late. Nevertheless his 244 not out was just what the doctor ordered following the three successive defeats, not just for England but also his own cricketing health. Since his 241 at Edgbaston in August, he scratched around for just 261 runs in 14 innings before accumulating almost as many in just the one outing at Melbourne. Talk about peaks and troughs!

Root declared himself proud of his team’s response to losing the Ashes and it was certainly a revelation to see Stuart Broad and Anderson turn a poor first day position into a promising one by lunch on day two. Broad’s batting broadside also boosted England’s first innings total to almost 500, sharing a century stand for the ninth wicket and putting severe pressure on Steve Smith.

However, the Aussie captain hasn’t amassed a world-beating Test average of 63 without showing grit and determination on a consistent basis. Despite having 80,000 spectators watching your every twitch, and knowing he had already dropped Cook in the slips, Smith stepped up to the plate and, by the close of the final day’s play, had delivered yet another century, the sixth of 2017, to steer his side to a draw. Even David Warner reined in his natural aggressive instincts, sticking around for a five-hour 86.

Honours even? Maybe, but it was England’s fightback which caught the eye. Like Craig Overton, his replacement Tom Curran made Smith his first ever Test wicket, but nobody else seems able to get him out. Anderson’s handiwork on a dirty ball may have been proved to have been entirely legal and with the blessing of both umpires, but it was Broad’s five wickets which pleased selectors and fans the most. 

So what will change for the Sydney climax? Moeen Ali may well be stood down to give Mason Crane an opportunity, although that would weaken England’s batting. It may also weaken the bowling as for much of last summer, he wasn’t even deemed good enough to play for Hampshire.

Deputising for Starc, Jackson Bird proved to be a turkey for the Aussies, going wicketless for 108 runs, even worse than Moeen. Apparently, Ashton Agar has been called up to the home team’s squad for Sydney, but he certainly won’t be scaring the England’s batsmen. Perhaps this is a ruse to lull them into a false sense of security before another short ball battering. We’ll see. Alastair Cook will presumably return to single-figure scores so maybe this is the stage for Vince and Woakes to show what they’re made of. I sincerely hope so. There may be a few spare MBEs going come the Queen's Birthday....

Ashes 2017-18: Smith Three, Root Nil

When Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow were stroking the ball to all corners on Thursday afternoon, it genuinely looked like an England reversal of fortunes. 305-4 at stumps became 368, with the Yorkshireman joining his team-mate on three figures. However, once Malan was brilliantly caught by the sub fielder Handscomb, the walls came tumblin’ down. Moeen Ali went three balls later and the next four wickets fell within another eight overs.

Still, it’s not often England make 400 overseas these days, and the Malan-Bairstow partnership of 237 had somewhat incredibly broken the national record for the WACA. Good news, yes? Then you realise that this is Perth. In a recent Sheffield Shield contest, Western Australia had amassed more than five hundred and still lost! There was still a lot of hard work to do. Getting Steve Smith out would be a good start.

Oh, dear. Overton’s early strikes produced a smidgen of optimism but once Steve Smith put down his roots, normal service was resumed. Day three saw the Aussies pile on 346 runs with Shaun Marsh’s wicket the only loss. His brother Mitchell proceeded to hit his first Test century at long last, while the skipper cut, pulled, flicked and drove impeccably to a career-best 239. Even when Smith was adjudged LBW to Anderson after a review, the eighth and ninth wickets added more than 100 before a declaration at 662-9. From such early promise, England now faced a day and a half to bat and save not only the match but the entire series.

That was never going to happen, especially when the out-of-sorts Alastair Cook gave Josh Hazlewood a leading edge caught-and-bowled for just 14. Vince and Malan managed to make fifties but nobody else passed 22 as the procession duly unfolded. A mysterious wet patch on the wicket almost succeeded in wiping out the final day’s play (which member of the England squad sneaked out to the middle with a hose under cover of night?) but Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon managed to finish things off with minimum fuss.

I confess I hadn’t foreseen such a one-sided set of results, although there could yet be compensatory victories at Melbourne or Sydney. It would seem that, given no obvious superiority on paper, the planets were perfectly aligned for the Aussies. The Aussie bowling quartet have performed admirably, the quicks knowing when to bowl short, especially to the England tail, and Nathan Lyon’s spin option making Moeen look the part-time county twirler he was only a few years ago.

Pre-series, much was made of the battle between the world’s best Test batsmen, and opposing captains, Smith and Root. Well, there has been only one winner in that contest. Oddly, it has been the Ashes new boys who have been largely free from criticism. Stoneman, Malan, Vince and Overton have all contributed with a measure of consistency. However, Root, Cook, Broad and Moeen have so far failed to find any kind of form when it mattered. Mind you, take out Steve Smith’s 426 runs and the home team’s batting hasn’t been electric either.

While he and the squad can now celebrate Christmas with the urn already in the bag, what can Strauss and the coaching team do to prevent a whitewash? Well, you can’t expect the England fast bowlers to suddenly fire in 90mph bouncers with any regularity. The only Englishmen capable of doing so are either injured, too raw, too focussed on T20 riches or have had such strengths eliminated by coaches placing more emphasis on swing and control. It is also a bit much to expect things to improve as a result of the tail practising more against the short ball; the top order need to produce most of the runs. Cook and Root will surely come good before the series ends next month. There are no better openers waiting in the wings, either at home or in the Lions. It's also nothing to do with Ben Stokes' absence, Bairstow's butting or Duckett's water throwing. They are minor distractions, surely more in the minds of the media than the players.

The Ashes have been lost, so perhaps a little experimentation might be attempted. On the other hand, a more productive option might be to focus on existing strengths, hope for a bit more luck and prepare to win the trophy back on familiar slow pitches. I don’t have the answers. However, congratulations to the Aussies and we should sit back and admire Steve Smith’s superb batting and three fast bowlers close to the top of their game.

Second Ashes Test Sledging result

I was watching the news this evening, observing wintry scenes in North Wales and Scotland featuring children pulling sledges. Ah, sledging! Such an innocent pastime. If only the same could be said of the other meaning of the term, which seems to be applied only to the noble sport of cricket.

In the aftermath of England’s second successive defeat, Johnny Bairstow has said that if Aussie sledging “crosses the line” again, he would “take matters further”.  This statement bothers me for various reasons. I love the idea of opposing players exchanging jokes on the field but verbal abuse designed specifically to unsettle or upset batsmen is totally out of order.

When mentioning ‘crossing the line’, what does he mean? It seems to me that when it comes to sledging, there are no limits, no line. Secondly, for Bairstow and the English squad, they are hardly angels when it comes to the verbals. James Anderson is probably the worst of the current crop, but the likes of Hussain, Prior et al always gave as good as they got. And then there’s the barely veiled threat of reprisals. What does England’s current ‘keeper have in mind? Racing around the pitch swearing and head-butting everyone in a green baggie?

I’ve written before that if you don’t want things to get nasty, it would be very easy for umpires to stamp it out. Three bouts of abuse and you’re off the field with no substitute allowed. The issue of stump microphones is totally irrelevant; it’s what the abuse victim hears which matters, whether Bairstow, Smith or whoever. Some players, as in the wider population, will be better able to withstand abuse, but that doesn’t mean that those less able to do so are weaker individuals and consequently ‘fair game’. Bairstow’s dad committed suicide and so he must be painfully aware of the dangers of mental illness. Perhaps this is why he has made the comments; I don’t know. What would a bowler think if, as a result of persistent offensive ‘banter’, the batsman subsequently retired or did himself harm? I think this is a more dangerous activity than bowling deliveries meant to cause physical harm, and should be banned before something very serious takes place.

Rant over! As for the cricket in Adelaide, Australia opened up a 2-0 Ashes lead to give England palpitations. Joe Root was right to insist there wasn’t a great deal between the sides. Anderson and Woakes bowled well enough with the pink ball to bowl Australia out for 138 in the second innings but, despite Craig Overton’s debutant delight at dismissing Steve Smith first time out, the damage was done on the first two days. The decision to recall Shaun Marsh had been widely derided, yet his unbeaten 126 was by far the highest individual score in the match. The fact that Overton, batting at nine and after a sequence of ducks, top-scored in England’s first innings, must be a concern.

In the series so far, the four-man Aussie attack of Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyons is looking more formidable than it ought. And now England move to Perth, where they haven’t won for forty years. The notoriously pacey WACA pitch will surely benefit the home pacemen rather than the cannier swing and seam merchants like Anderson, Broad, Woakes and Overton. Root’s poor record at converting fifties to centuries is an issue but at least he scores fifty more frequently than his colleagues. Cook and the supporting cast now need to step up a notch before the series is lost before Father Christmas arrives on his sleigh. That’s sleigh, not sledge. Sadly, cricket proves that you don’t need a snowy slope to participate in that particular pursuit.

Ashes First Test - Smith and Bancroft keep their heads down

After all the fuss about Ben Stokes and now Johnny Bairstow’s peculiar mode of greeting friends and rivals, Australia can point to a statistic which simply reads Played 1, Won 1.

Their undefeated Gabba sequence now extends back a remarkable 29 years to 1988 when Viv Richards’ all-conquering West Indies made mincemeat of Allan Border’s side. England’s last win at Brisbane was two years previously, featuring a century by Ian Botham, a name so redolent of a bygone age that he now resorts to advertising a circulation-boosting device.

Much of the 2017 version was played in an Eighties vein, too; all short-ball strategies and scoring rates below three runs an over. For the first three days, there wasn’t a great deal between the sides. After England decided to bat, relative Test newcomers Stoneman, Vince and Malan each passed fifty and at 246-4 seemed fairly comfortable on day two. However, three wickets promptly  fell in three overs and Joe Root’s team could barely reach the 300 mark.

Australia endured a worse start but the mighty Steve Smith held the innings together with an excellent unbeaten 141, with vital support from the recalled Shaun Marsh and Pat Cummins. The skipper’s Test average has crept to a stunning 61 and has converted half his 50s into hundreds. For all Root’s undoubted world class, the Yorkshireman’s stat is only just above one in four. When England batted again, he succumbed in typical style, advancing to 51 before falling leg-before to Hazlewood. Nevertheless, he was still the top scorer, and the four-man Aussie attack this time restricted the batsmen to a mere 195.

When David Warner and debutant Cameron Bancroft, sensibly wearing his helmet while Bairstow kept wicket, safely saw their side to stumps on day four, any hope of an England revival was dashed. To rub it in, the openers then took their partnership to 173 and inflict a ten-wicket drubbing. 

So can we learn anything from this result? While Jake Ball is not certain of keeping his place, basically it boils down to England dismissing Steve Smith early on and relying on Anderson and Broad to bowl diligently and cannily. No shit, Sherlock! Could be worse; they could be bowling to Virat Kohli’s Indian centurions. Seeing that Anya Shrubsole is the only cricketer to make the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist, maybe we should give the Somerset medium-pacer a chance in the Adelaide game instead of Ball and another Taunton favourite, Craig Overton? Perhaps not, but great to see her World Cup-winning performance rewarded in this way.

2017-18 Ashes Preview

There always seems to be a great deal of aggressive talk before an Ashes series. Some of the press conferences or solo interviews sound more like heavyweight boxing weigh-ins than anything related to cricket. Of course, the media like to focus on a single throwaway comment more than a balanced preview. If the question of a whitewash is not laughed off, it’ll be printed as xxxxxx predicts 5-0 massacre.

In the end, it’s all about who wins on the pitch but in the past the Aussies have benefited from some early pre-series sledging instead of relying on childish baiting in the middle. That might have worked when the side led by Border or Waugh were clearly miles ahead of England. In 2017, any talk of a crushing series victory won’t seem such a mental sledgehammer. England should have no inferiority complex this time. However, nor should they be overly optimistic about their own chances.

In the ICC Test rankings, England currently sit in third place, two ahead of Australia. Neither have any kind of recent consistency. Last winter, England were thumped by India and held 1-1 by Bangladesh but, with Joe Root at the helm, turned things around in last summer’s home rubbers against South Africa and West Indies. The Aussies have also suffered an historic defeat by Bangladesh and been beaten by India so, if anything, are looking shakier than their visitors.

On the face of it, the Ashes could be decided by the home team’s apparently superior bowling attack. The batting on each side looks rather shaky. The two skippers Steve Smith and Joe Root are one and two in the player rankings, while Alastair Cook and David Warner also occupy places in the top dozen or so. It’s in the rest of the top six that both nations look creaky. For England, Mark Stoneman looks in good nick and Jonny Bairstow deserves credit than he is often given. Dawid Malan has at last made a hundred in England whites. Gary Ballance and James Vince promise much but can both deliver? With the charmless thug Ben Stokes sidelined, more responsibility weighs on Moeen Ali’s shoulders, and Chris Woakes will be expected to hang around with the bat as well as prove he is not just a useful one-day death bowler.

In the green baggies, Peter Handscomb has a decent recent record in Tests and Cameron Bancroft will look to build on last week’s Sheffield Shield double-century. Thirty-somethings Khawaja and Shaun Marsh certainly won’t put the fear of God into England’s bowlers, and Tim Paine has been recalled as wicketkeeper despite not even wearing the gloves for Tasmania. Hmm.

So what about those bowlers? Four years ago, it was Mitchell Johnson who devastated the tourists. That feels so long ago it may well have been broadcast in black and white. Mitchell Starc is probably the best all-format bowler in world cricket and achieved the rare feat of claiming two hat-tricks in the same match for New South Wales last month. He’s a leftie, called Mitchell, but that’s no guarantee of repeating Johnson’s Ashes heroics. Hazelwood, Bird and Cummins are all mighty quick but also mighty injury-prone. The focus on pace could unravel if any of them break down.

Nathan Lyon has just joined the 30-something club and boasts twice as many Test wickets as Moeen, with a notably superior average. I’m not convinced England’s 20 year-old leggie Mason Crane will do much damage either. Of course, Root will be turning to the guile and experience of James Anderson and Stuart Broad to upset the Aussie batsmen. However, it’ll be interesting to see which of Jake Ball and Craig Overton – or both? – get to play. As a Somerset fan I’ve followed the progress of the latter for several years. He has earned his opportunity with England. Trouble is, should he succeed Down Under, I’m worried he’ll nab a central contract and consign our county to Division Two next season.

If this series was to be played in England I reckon Root and co may just edge it. A few weeks ago, I was predicting something similar for the series in Australia.  However, having given much thought I have changed my mind. I’m going for another narrow Aussie win but should it be 2-1 or 3-2 the other way I won’t be at all surprised. Yes, it’s down to the difference between the pace attacks but if Root offers Starc a tasty-looking burger and the bowler is subsequently ruled out by a mysterious illness, things will look a lot more even.

India Still Top of the World

Congratulations, India! Not only have they consolidated their number one status in Test cricket with a 2-1 series win over second-ranked Australia but they managed it having been comprehensively crushed in the first game at Pune. In fact it’s only the fourth time in India’s history they have come from behind to clinch a series.

The eight-wicket margin at Dharamsala looks impressive but, not for the first time, the match was won in the second innings when India’s attack was simply too much for the Aussie batsmen. For much of 2016-17, India’s dominance has largely been the result of Ashwin’s bowling and Kohli’s batting. However, both have been uncharacteristically quiet in the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The home side’s captain aggregated a paltry 46 runs in five innings, while Ashwin was overshadowed by team-mate Ravi Jadeja and even, on occasions, Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keeffe. Umesh Yadav picked up five wickets in the final Test and 22 year-old Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the first innings bowlers, marking his debut with 4-68. Yet Ashwin, with Jadeja, could still teach the Aussie slowies a thing or two about bowling on the fourth and fifth days.

Kohli’s lack of form and Fourth Test absence was compensated for by the excellence of Pujara and Rahul. This week, the latter made it six half-centuries out of seven, a display of remarkable consistency not achieved by an Indian since 1982-3. As the bowlers, especially the spinners, were so on top, there were only six hundreds scored across the whole series. What really stands out is that half of them flowed from the bat of Aussie skipper Steve Smith.

While the ‘brain fade’ incident left a sour taste in the mouth, Smithy was brilliant at the crease. He accumulated 499 runs at 71, remarkable on largely bowler-friendly pitches and seems to be in a golden patch right now. He has the rare gift of converting half his 50s into 100s and also boasts 40+ averages in every country in which he has played. Leading his country has not hurt him one jot either. As captain, his Test average is an amazing 73.27, and his strike rate is a none-too-shabby 57 per 100 balls.

He said he feels pride despite the latest defeat in Asia, and that’s fair enough. It was a great series and I hope there will be many more in the coming year. I particularly look forward to seeing how Kohli and co fare in their next away Test series.

Smith, Shakib, Jadeja and Pujara at the top of their game

With apologies to South Africa, who took an unassailable series lead against New Zealand, this has been a week when cricket’s focus has been on events at Colombo and Ranchi.

First of all, congratulations to Bangladesh for recording only their fourth away Test victory in their 100th match. Beating Sri Lanka by four wickets was arguably their best performance on foreign soil, and coming fewer than 6 months after giving Alastair Cook’s England a momentous hiding. To some extent the result in Colombo this week is an indication of Sri Lanka’s regression as much as Bangladesh’s progression, but let’s not take anything away from Mushfiqur Rahim’s side.

Whilst not being one of the three centurions in the game, Tamim Iqbal was named Player of the Match. Whilst never really fulfilling his early potential on the global stage, Tamim remains an important part of the Bangladeshi line-up. And yet the world’s undisputed number one all-rounder Shakib al Hasan still had a major role to play in this latest triumph. He has participated in almost half of his nation’s Tests, accumulating almost 3,500 runs at over 40 and 176 wickets at barely 34 apiece. That’s pretty good going, especially as most of his performances have come in a losing cause.

India’s spin kings Ravi Jadeja and R Ashwin are hot on his heels, and both stand on top of the ICC bowling rankings. The former has emerged from the shadow of his team-mate over the winter, and added a further nine wickets and a rapid half-century in the latest contest with Australia. After the surprise thumping in the series opener, Kohli’s men seem to have regained the upper hand. It’s been an impressive period for Cheteshwar Pujara, too. Amidst all the headline-catching six-hitters and tight slowies, the 29 year-old right-hander has grown in my estimation. It’s brilliant to see a five-day specialist adding a third double-century to his tally, boosting his average to almost 52.

The opposition skipper Steve Smith may be heading for a series defeat but his personal stock as ace batsman continues to rise. His imperious first innings 178 not out did, in hindsight, probably saved his side in the 3rd Test although it was the resilience of Shaun Marsh and Handscomb which kept the Indian attack at bay on the final day.

In 98 Test innings, Smith has already amassed 19 hundreds and 20 fifties, boasting an incredible average of a shade below 61. His ICC ranking score of 941 is also up here with the best batsmen not only of his generation but any era. Not bad for a much maligned converted leg-spinner! Not bad, either, for someone burdened with captaincy of the green baggies, forever in the media spotlight. Few can outshine Virat Kohli but, at least in the five-day format, Smith is doing just that.

The Smith-Kohli battle in the remaining two fixtures will be almost as fascinating as that of the two teams, and I’d love the overall result to rest on the final match. Five-Test series outside the Ashes are rare but this one thoroughly deserves it.

Steve Smith’s Brain Fade, Australia Outplayed

At Pune, planet Earth was almost jolted off its axis when India suffered their first home Test defeat since Alastair Cook and co wrought havoc in December 2012. Indeed, it wasn’t so much a defeat as an annihilation by Australia. The opposition spin attack, so long derided by the cricket world, suddenly became world beaters, outclassing Ashwin and Jadeja at their own game on their own pitch.

Could Virat Kohli’s men put that embarrassment behind them, shake off the Pune dust and get back to winning ways at Bengaluru? Absolutely! For the first few days, it looked like a Test match of old. Spinners bowling maiden after maiden and batsmen concentrating on keeping their wicket.

However, whereas back in the Seventies, visiting batsmen often had the wherewithal to withstand such pressures, the current crop of Twenty20-softened strokemakers are often unable to grind out a score and save a match. When their mental resolve is further tested by exceedingly ungentlemanly, yet apparently legal, conduct (i.e. sledging), performances seem to suffer more. Which I guess is why the likes of Kohli, Warner and many other leading cricketers continue to indulge in the practice.

As for the cricket itself, Nathan Lyon’s sensational 8-50 on day one seemed to be setting the scene for the Aussies to make it two out of two. But on the next three days, India remembered why they were the world’s top cricketing nation and they fought back. Even Ishant Sharma conceded fewer than two runs an over as Australia struggled for runs. Ravichandra Ashwin twirled away for 49 overs but it was fellow spinner Ravi Jadeja who completed a six-four, restricting the opposition to a lead of 87.

When India batted next, it was the quicks, Starc and Hazelwood who did the damage. Rahul again passed 50, as did Pujara and Rahane, but the rest capitulated. The outcome was that Australia were left with almost two whole days in which to knock off the required 188 to win. However, they knew that this pitch was proving decidedly tricky with uneven bounce and lateral movement. It wouldn’t be easy.

In the event that was an understatement. David Warner signalled his intent not to block and nudge by striking an early six but he was second out, for 18, in the tenth over. As the day progressed, the wickets tumbled but it wasn’t just the batting which was disintegrating; so were relations between the two sides, sparked by the use and blatant misuse of DRS.

Kohli pointed out to the umpires the tendency of Steve Smith to glance towards the dressing room for guidance before deciding on any reviews. This is banned under the laws of cricket. When the Aussie captain did it again after being given lbw, umpire Nigel Llong wasted no time in sending him back to the pavilion. India were fired up even more, and Ashwin proceeded to his 25th five-wicket haul. More than that, his 6-41 meant that for the first time EVER, four different bowlers had achieved six-fors in the same match. Unlike in Pune, Steve O’Keeffe was not one of them.

That would be quite a record, one to remember this match by. However, instead it will go down in history as the one when Kohli said the Aussies had “crossed the line” and made it clear he reckoned Steve Smith had cheated. Smith was unconvincing when he described his look to the balcony as “brain fade”.

We all know that technology has its place when used to aid umpires in coming to difficult decisions. Nevertheless, it is encumbent on players and officials to ensure that DRS is not abused. If Steve Smith and others have been caught out, they should be punished, and umpires will unfortunately have to add checking players’ eye movements to their already long list of duties. I can see captains demanding a review on whether the opposition illegally sought a review. What next? Team A demanding a review of whether Team B sought illegal assistance on whether or not Team A had sought illegal assistance on whether or not to review a decision on Team B? Aarrggghhh!

Let’s just say that India deserved to draw level 1-1 and hopefully common sense will prevail when the sides next meet at Ranchi. Somehow I anticipate another dearth of runs, spinners in the ascendancy and more grumpiness from Kohli. I just wish the game is played in the proper spirit and is remembered for cricketing reasons.

Smith and Warner lead Aussies to another Pakistan Whitewash

In Test cricket, fortunes can change quickly. Last winter, Australia beat the West Indies and New Zealand before coming a cropper at home to South Africa in November. Meanwhile, Pakistan briefly topped the ICC rankings after the England tour, maintained the momentum with a 2-1 series success over the Windies in the desert but lost it all again in New Zealand.

So there was a lot at stake in the Australia-Pakistan encounters over the past month or so. Would the Aussie pacemen make the most of quick pitches or could the Pakistani veteran batsmen galvanise the tourists? The answer was neither. It was very much a series for the batsmen. In the three matches, there were ten centuries and no fewer than eight individuals averaged more than 50. With the ball, only Josh Hazelwood averaged under 25, while his 15-wicket aggregate took him past the century for his career so far.

The series caught light on the last day of the Brisbane opener. After Steve Smith declared 489 ahead, a crushing defeat for Pakistan was the likely outcome. However, Azhar Ali and Younis Khan weren’t to be cowed, then Asad Shafiq brilliantly shepherded the tail past 300, past 400,… Could a new world record be achieved? Not on this occasion, but the amazing effort took Pakistan to 450, just 39 short.

Only two sides had ever scored more in the fourth innings, and all sorts of records were broken at The Gabba. One which did hold was Australia’s long unbeaten sequence, now extended to 28.

At the MCG, Pakistan again passed 400, helped by an unbeaten 205 from opener Azhar Ali. However, David Warner’s run-a-ball 144, Steve Smith’s third consecutive Boxing Day Test century, Khawaja’s 97 and a late blast from Mitchell Starc established another handsome first innings lead. There was to be no repeat of the Gabba fightback as Starc and spinner Nathan Lyon nabbed seven cheap wickets to pull off an innings victory.

On to Sydney at the start of 2017. And what a star it was for David Warner. His century before lunch on day one was the first in Test cricket for more than 30 years, even outshining Matt Renshaw’s substantial debut hundred and Peter Handscomb’s second in three games. In response, Younis Khan’s 175 not out was his 34th three-figure score, keeping Pakistan in with a shout. A fourth day batting blitz set up another huge target and, despite a series-best 38 from skipper Misbah and a quick 72 not out from Sarfraz, it proved far too much.

And so Australia could enjoy a fourth successive 3-0 whitewash at home to Pakistan. Question marks have been raised against Misbah’s captaincy. Understandable given the series result and his own mediocre form. Nevertheless, he has been magnificent for his country in recent years. If he chooses to retire at 42, nobody would blame him. On the other hand, it would be unfair to hound him out based on one lost series in a land where they haven’t won for decades.

The Aussies can reflect proudly on a great all-round display, with runs down the order and wickets well distributed across the attack. Smith and Warner are at the top of their game, and it was an encouraging series for new boys Renshaw and Handscomb. If they can hang on to their bowlers longer than South Africa, they may yet in the next 18 months challenge India for the ceremonial mace.

Kohli, Ashwin and Bairstow lead the 2016 Team of the Year

2016 ended with no one nation able to claim domination of world cricket. In my mind, that’s a good thing. It means most of the top nations have something to boast about, to aspire to and keep the fans interested. All the above are vital if cricket is to remain a viable professional sport not only for TV viewers but those who shell out good money to support the team or the game they love.

England began the year in good spirit. A new aggressive approach to one-dayers yielded some spectacular performances yet only a modest ODI world ranking of five and T20 position of equal sixth. They even managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the World T20 final at Eden Gardens. This was the scene of probably the most incredible moment in the calendar. Fresh from his daredevil Test double-century, Ben Stokes served up four ‘death’ balls for Carlo Brathwaite to slam four successive sixes to take the trophy back to the West Indies, making a remarkable double to accompany the successful Women’s team.

Pakistan’s prolific press-up pumpers briefly held the ICC mace, but India remained unbeaten in Tests throughout 2016 to lead the rankings comfortably at the end of December. Australia have held off South Africa to top the ODI table while New Zealand are the stars of T20. It’s been a miserable year for Sri Lanka, no higher than sixth in any of the formats and dependant on 38 year-old Rangana Herath for their Test match wickets. His 28 in three summer games against Australia constitute a remarkable solo performance.

So who have been the stars of 2016? In the three international formats, Joe Root, David Warner and Virat Kohli were the leading run scorers while Ravi Ashwin, Adam Zampa and Jasprit Bumrah topped the wickets tables. Across all first-class cricket, Jonny Bairstow was the only man to break the 2,000 run barrier and the ever-dependable Jeetan Patel the sole 100-wicket taker, thanks largely to continued sterling work for Warwickshire. However, he doesn’t make my 2016 Team of the Year.

As opener, David Warner is a no-brainer, accumulating well over 3,000 runs in total, including seven ODI centuries. Alastair Cook had plenty of Tests in which to boost his career aggregate beyond 11,000 runs, but I’ve gone for South Africa’s 50-over opener Quinton de Kock for his consistency and reliable strike rate.

There are plenty of candidates for the middle –order. Azhar Ali, Pujara and Williamson have pressing claims but it’s impossible to leave out Joe Root, Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. The Englishman accumulated more than 2500 first-class and ODI runs, including numerous fifties even if centuries were in short supply. The India captain is in the form of his life, leading his country with distinction whilst averaging 76 in Tests and maintaining a 100+ strike rate across ten ODIs and 147 in his 31 twenty-over fixtures. Steve Smith didn’t quite hit the heights of 2015 but he remained a crucial part of Australia’s teams. Remarkably, his career Test average stands above 60, and his ability to reach three figures when it matters is better than anyone in the world.

Jonny Bairstow may not have taken the gloves in many one-dayers but his 70 Test dismissals easily outnumbered his rivals. Together with his runs, this gives him the edge over the likes of De Kock and Sarfraz Ahmed as my wicketkeeper.

Few genuine all-rounders have shone in the past twelve months. Shakib al- Hasan was as reliable as ever, Chris Woakes had his moments and Dwayne Bravo whacked and bowled with customary relish for his numerous employers in T20. Ben Stokes spat, snarled, swore and occasionally produced breathtaking innings and spells for England and, setting aside that final over in Kolkata, I reluctantly hand him a place at seven in my XI.

Ravichindra Ashwin was easily the star bowler in Test matches throughout 2016, taking 72 wickets in 12 matches at under 24 apiece. His lower-order runs have also elevated him to all-rounder status and, while he is not an obvious choice for ODIs, he remains an extremely economical T20 spinner, too. Young Aussie leggie Adam Zampa has a dreadful first-class record but his limited-overs stats last year were mighty impressive, propelling him into my team of 2016.

For the second consecutive year, Mitchell Starc walks tall into the team. He takes plenty of Test and ODI wickets while conceding few runs, and what else could you ask of a fast bowler in any form of cricket? As a new-ball partner, it’s between England’s Stuart Broad, New Zealander Neil Wagner and 21 year-old Kagiso Rabada. Broad played plenty of Tests but injury rest restricted his appearances elsewhere. Wagner was prolific for Lancashire, Otago and the Black Caps but my selection is right-armer Rabada. With Steyn often missing, the young quick from Jo’burg has been propelled into the frontline with considerable success, especially at home against England and, more recently, in Australia.

So, to sum up, here is my 2016 Team of the Year:-

Warner (Aus), De Kock (SA), Root (Eng), Kohli (Ind *), Smith (Aus), Bairstow (Eng +), Stokes (Eng), Ashwin (Ind), Starc (Aus), Rabada (SA), Zampa (Aus). My ‘squad replacements’ would be Cook, Azhar Ali and Wagner.

Can Smith, Ashwin and Starc make it three in a row this time next year? We’ll see!

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.

Women’s Cricket Deserves Centre Stage

There were many reasons why August Bank Holiday in Cardiff was so enjoyable. Firstly, it actually refrained from raining between 10am and 6pm. Secondly, the T20 double-header provided twice the entertainment value that I expected.

I rarely glean much satisfaction from watching a Twenty20 match. Too much biff-bang, little finesse and despite the paucity of balls bowled, there’s no guarantee of an exciting finish. However, if there’s an opportunity of watching two matches in succession, I can be persuaded!

Monday was just such an occasion. The headlines focussed on the men’s game. They enjoyed the full house, the patriotic, vociferous support (maybe not from the few Welsh locals, of whom I am an honourable member!) and the enthralling climax. There were Eoin Morgan’s seven sixes, a beautiful innings from Moeen Ali, Steve Smith’s excellently paced 90 and the thrilling catch by Ben Stokes which turned the game England’s way. There was also the unfortunate dismissal of Shane Watson which not only stirred the derision of the crowd but also hilarity of his own bench upon the repeat showing on the big screen later on. I know because I was sitting close to the Aussies. Even Darren Lehmann was laughing heartily!

However, to concentrate on the men’s one-off fixture would do the women’s game a gross injustice. I hadn’t bought my ticket just to see Hales, Watson, Buttler, Starc and co. I was intrigued by the prospect of watching first-hand the newly-professionalised Women’s teams doing battle for their version of the Ashes. While a batting collapse at Hove a few days earlier had rendered the Cardiff tie redundant as an Ashes decider, there was still much to play for.

I’d familiarised myself with the leading players with a few snippets of gams in the past year or two so I was keenly awaiting the chance to see global stars such as England’s skipper Charlotte Edwards, her Aussie counterpart Meg Lanning, star all-rounder Ellyse Perry and our own wicketkeeper-batsman Sarah Taylor, my new favourite cricketer!

It was interesting to compare the two games. Of course the men’s game provided more power, pace and sixes. However, the opener featured no less skill and was played in great spirit. One reason I like watching Sarah Taylor is her enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment of playing. Something the men should remember from time to time.

Two performances stood out. Anya Shrubsole ripped out the first four Aussie wickets, including the ever-dangerous Lanning and newcomer Jess Jonassen. Perry stuck around for 16 before becoming one of Natalie Scriver’s four victims. Grace Harris struck a few sixes but 111 didn’t look a formidable total. Nevertheless, England had failed to reach even 90 in the previous T20, so anything was possible, especially when Edwards, Wyatt and Taylor were all gone by the fourth over.

Enter Scriver once more. She steadied the ship, put on 55 with Katherine Brunt and was run out with only six needed. Lydia Greenway did the rest and victory came in the nineteenth over. A wonderful all-round display from Sciver but I was mightily impressed by all the bowlers and in particular the fielding, every bit as smart as the men’s.

The awards and celebrations were a bit muted. Maybe it was because the Aussies had done most of their champagne cork-popping at Hove. However, most of the players on both sides were happy to sign autographs and pose for selfies afterwards. These weren’t the big strapping selfish sports stars we have become familiar with. They were young ‘normal’ athletes keen to build a rapport with the fans, and they seemed genuinely pleased to do so.

I sincerely hope that women’s cricket continues to grow and attract not only TV audiences but also youngsters willing to pick up a ball and bat. From what I experienced at Cardiff on and off the field, they are going about it in the right way. Those who couldn’t be bothered to turn up in the morning at the SSE Swalec missed a real treat.