2014 Yearender: Kevin Pietersen controversy, Alastair Cook axing highlights of insipid year for England

England promised much and delivered little by way of result in a topsy-turvy year that saw them lose more than they won. Alastair Cook‘s sacking as One-Day International (ODI) captain, and the Kevin Pietersen controversy lit up what was an otherwise uninspiring year for English cricket. Shiamak Unwalla looks back.

England have not been an exciting team in world cricket for quite some time now. Ever since they lost the top ranking in Tests, they have regressed rather than made any significant strides forward. Of the 45 matches they played across formats, England won only 15 and lost 28.

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They started the year with a loss to Australia in the final Ashes Test at Sydney, and lost the first three ODIs against them as well before finally breaking the rut with a 57-run win in the Perth ODI. Shockingly, they were unable to string together more than three wins at a time across formats; a testament to their inconsistency.

After losing comprehensively to Australia in all formats, England seemed resigned to another abysmal year. They managed to beat the West Indies 2-1 in the three-match ODI series, but lost the T20I series that followed 1-2. They managed a solitary victory in the ICC World T20 2014, beating Sri Lanka, but shockingly losing to the Netherlands. Perhaps the most shocking was their T20I, ODI, and Test series losses to Sri Lanka at home.

That they overcame India 3-1 in the Test series was due more to India’s impotency than their own ability, as was proven when they were beaten by the same margin in the ODI series against the visitors. While they expectedly lost the ODI series against hosts Sri Lanka by a 5-2 margin, they managed to go down swinging, and put a scare into the hearts of the Lankans.

Joe Root showed tremendous consistency in both Tests and ODIs, and carried the mantle of England’s most promising young batsman with aplomb. Backing him up were Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali, who at varying points in the year looked like fulfilling England’s hopes in either format. Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan showed a lot of potential with the ball, while James Taylor’s late surge helped him find a spot in England’s World Cup squad.

However, 2014 will remain a year remembered more due to their off-field shenanigans than their on-field exploits. Amid the ICC revamp and the emergence of the England Cricket Board (ECB) as one of the Big Three lay Kevin Pietersen‘s autobiographical outpouring of complaints, and the sacking of Alastair Cook from ODIs at the far end of the year.

With new ODI captain Eoin Morgan taking his team to Australia to play a triangular series also featuring India early in 2015, the wisdom or folly of dropping Cook will be known sooner rather than later. For now, England remains a team that is still learning how to play a game they invented.

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and cricket fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter @ShiamakUnwalla)