Published: Dec 31, 2015, 01:07 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 31, 2015, 01:13 PM (IST)
2015 has been a curious year for England. The year started with the sacking of Alastair Cook as One-Day International (ODI) captain. They did not even make it to the quarter-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015; they even failed to win the series in West Indies, who are currently going through the lowest point of their illustrious history. And though New Zealand are on the ascent (and a rather steep one), a drawn Test series did not help their cause. All in all, things were looking rather bleak, and memories of the dark 1990s crept back.
Then, out of nowhere, they conjured an ODI team that knew no fear. They thrashed the New Zealand attack — the same one that won every match on their way to ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final. The Ashes was regained (the last Test was a dead rubber); and though they lost the ODIs to Australia 2-3, they won the one-off T20Is against both countries.
The other tour — their toughest of the year — was against Pakistan at UAE. After four-and-a-half days of boring cricket, England surprisingly came close to winning the first Test; then Yasir Shah returned, and the inevitable happened: England lost the series 0-2. Then, in an encore of 2012, they beat them 3-1 in the ODIs and 3-0 in the T20Is.
The year, of course, ended for them in splendid fashion, when they defeated South Africa comprehensively at Kingsmead. England have lost only once (back in 1928) on the ground in 16 attempts. While South Africa keeps sliding down the ladder (mind you, they still head the chart), England will definitely embrace the result with open arms.
England finished 2015 with 6 wins and 6 defeats from 14 Tests; 12 wins and 13 defeats from 26 ODIs; and an unexpected 5-0 run in T20Is. Given their abysmal start to the year, they will settle for that.
Deeply Rooted
Stripped of ODI captaincy, Cook roared back into form after two extremely ordinary years. The fact that he went past Graham Gooch’s England record of 8,900 Test runs and became the first Englishman to 9,000 runs only added to his confidence. Cook finished the year with 1,364 runs at 54.56 — third on the list.
But more importantly, he faced 3,123 balls (over 500 overs) in the year, nearly 750 balls more than anyone else. Cook’s tally is also next to Rahul Dravid (3,237 in 2002) and Dennis Amiss (3,126 in 1974). His magnum opus, of course, was the 14-hour marathon in the heat of Abu Dhabi.
While Cook finished third in the year, Joe Root finished second, sneaking past his captain at Kingsmead. Root’s 1,385 runs at 60.21 (and a phenomenal strike rate of 63.7) is an indication of things to come. Cook, 31, and Root, 25, will probably form the fulcrum of England’s batting line-up for years to come.
Barring the two big guns, the batting often looked fragile, especially when one of them failed. Ben Stokes had an outstanding Lord’s outing against New Zealand, smashing a 94-ball 92 and a 92-ball 101 to decide the Test in England’s favour. Moeen Ali gritted out down the order during The Ashes, but the experiment to open with him did not come off.
Adam Lyth failed in The Ashes, and Alex Hales did not click either. However, the inclusion of Nick Compton at Kingsmead was an excellent homecoming for him. After being on the fringes for long, and watching the likes of Michael Carberry and Lyth (and Hales) partner Cook, Compton is finally back, albeit at No. 3.
With Ian Bell’s future looking uncertain, James Taylor seems quite competent to take his place in the line-up. Pushing Compton up the order may be a good idea, accommodating Hales (or Jos Buttler, provides he finds form) somewhere in the middle-order.
Stuart Broad (56 wickets at 23.82) led England’s Ashes campaign and helped rout South Africa at Kingsmead, but James Anderson (46 wickets at 22.65) actually had better numbers. People will talk of Broad’s lethal 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge for years to come (he actually blew Australia away in a single session), but Anderson, to his credit, bowled brilliantly in West Indies, took 6 for 47 in The Ashes Test of Edgbaston, and most significantly, took 13 wickets at 15.61 at UAE on tracks that had nothing for him. ALSO READ — Stuart Broad: The batting and bowling marvel for England
Steven Finn also had a six-for at Edgbaston, while Stokes had one at Trent Bridge. The year also saw Mark Wood emerge, leaving England with the enviable problem of plenty. Wood took 25 wickets from 8 Tests, but looked good every time he bowled. He may not get a chance if Anderson, Broad, and Finn are all fit, but he has done enough to maintain a place in the squad.
The attack is rounded off by Moeen; he did not do as well in 2015 (compared to 2014), but he still maintains an excellent strike rate. It is not every day that you see an overseas off-spinner running away with wickets and winning a Test on South African soil.
New England
A curious sport, this, limited-overs cricket. As mentioned before, England emerged with their head high against New Zealand and Australia after their World Cup debacle. In fact, they started their summer with their first ever score in excess of 400.
New stars emerged on the horizon. Some of them were debutants; some others, as good as newcomers. Names like Sam Billings, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Reece Topley, and Stephen Parry suddenly cropped up out of nowhere. Liam Plunkett was recalled. Specialists from other versions of the sport, like Wood, Hales, and Bairstow, made their way to ODIs. Even the likes of Zafar Ansari, and James Vince made fleeting appearances.
Bell quit from the shorter formats, but it did not matter. Leading the side was Morgan; and the seniors, Stokes, Root, Taylor, Woakes, and Moeen (do note that the ‘seniors’ of the side are all on the right side of 30) rose to the occasion.
The moniker of New England cropped up from somewhere. Till May they had won 4 limited-over matches and lost 7. Since June the counts read 13-6. New England, indeed.
What did England do right? Buttler, Morgan, and Root all averaged above 50 in ODIs with a strike rate of 100 or more (technically speaking, Root had 99.3) in the phase from June to December. Stokes, Roy, and Hales did not match their averages, but had strike rates in excess of 90. And Taylor, with a strike rate of 86.8, averaged in excess of 50. Bairstow, Rashid, and Billings (and even Plunkett!), none of whom got to bat for long, all had strike rates in excess of 100. No, this was certainly not the England of yore.
What about the bowling? Consider this: Moeen, Topley, and Woakes all conceded less than 5 an over while taking less than 35 a wicket in the second half of the year. When it came to taking wickets, Willey stepped in, with 17 wickets at 24.64 and an economy rate of 5.58.
2016 holds a lot in store for New England in all three formats. It starts with regaining the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, but there is more in store. Winning ODIs and T20Is in South Africa is never an even proposition, nor is the World T20 in India. The home summer will feature Sri Lanka and — after what it seems like ages — Pakistan. And then, there is India to conquer in winter…
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)
