Alastair Cook’s horror run in 2014 finally comes to an end. He walked back, dejected, to the Premadasa after a smart catch by Mahela Jayawardene off Tillakaratne Dilshan: both men were playing their last One-Day International (ODI) on home soil. Thus ended a wretched calendar year (spanning 20 ODIs) — which is the worst among England openers in a calendar year if we put a restriction of 500 runs.
Interestingly, 2013 was not a good year for Cook either. While his ODI career reached its nadir in 2014 (523 runs at 27.52 and a strike rate of 71.3), he had not really take the world by storm the previous year (560 at 35.00, strike rate 75.2), which is, once again, fifth on the list. Do note that the two worst strike rates also belong to Cook.
Worst averages by English openers in a calendar year (qualification: 500 runs)
Player
Year
M
R
Ave
SR
100s
50s
Alastair Cook
2014
20
523
27.52
71.3
1
Marcus Trescothick
2005
22
553
29.10
79.6
2
1
Andrew Strauss
2006
17
517
32.31
75.5
6
Andrew Strauss
2009
21
647
32.35
78.1
1
4
Alastair Cook
2013
16
560
35.00
75.2
5
Let us put Cook’s 2014 on a global perspective. How poor has his performance been? There have been men who have averaged less, but not many. In fact, his name is 11th on the unwanted list, which is headed by Kusal Janith Perera (506 at 23.00, strike rate 83.6, this year).
Worst averages by openers in a calendar year (qualification: 500 runs)
Player
Year
M
R
Ave
SR
100s
50s
Kusal Janith Perera
2014
22
506
23.00
83.6
1
2
Shahid Afridi
2000
22
509
23.13
81.1
3
Upul Tharanga
2007
27
628
24.15
65.8
4
Bryan Young
1994
27
606
24.24
54.2
2
Nasir Jamshed
2013
23
568
24.69
61.6
1
2
Sanath Jayasuriya
1999
26
647
25.88
85.8
7
Romesh Kaluwitharana
1996
28
677
26.03
103.8
1
5
Virender Sehwag
2004
25
633
26.37
91.1
5
Imran Nazir
2000
27
701
26.96
71.9
1
4
Aamer Sohail
1992
22
598
27.18
64.3
1
3
Alastair Cook
2014
20
523
27.52
71.3
1
Though England do not have too many matches before ICC World Cup 2015, it is probably time for England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to ponder on the Cook situation seriously: better late than never.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.