Including less Ben Stokes than it should....
25 (22) – Samit Patel – After just two disappointing T20’s,
Patel’s career is slipping away after his failure in India. In his defence New
Zealand was never likely to offer him much but a strong start to the season is
needed.
24 (12) – Graham Onions – This tour really was it for
Onions, and in the only warm-up game, he was battered out of the England side.
One (extremely) poor game doesn’t make him a bad bowler, but there are younger
options who will get a chance in white ball cricket.
23 (21) – Jade Dernbach – Expensive as always, but really
showed his value in the T20’s. Despite not bowling his best, he offers
something that the other seamers really don’t with not only his variation but
his confidence in trying it. Until a fast bowler comes along that offers
something as varied, Dernbach will keep picking up caps.
22 (17) – James Tredwell – New Zealand was never likely to
be favourable for Tredwell, and unsurprisingly he got battered in the T20’s.
Drops down but can consider the winter a success overall.
21 (-) – James Harris – Ever since he burst onto the scene
with 11 wickets in a match at just the age of seventeen, Harris has been marked
for England. When he found out he’d be carrying drinks for the ODI series
instead of playing for the Lions, he might have been a touch disappointed, but
the Lions tour descended into a melee of poor discipline both on and off the
field, and then the Test bowler he most resembles in Onions suffered an almost
terminal tour. A move to Middlesex should give him a greater reputation and an
opportunity should present itself this summer.
20 (25) – James Taylor – A good winter for the Lions in
terms of runs and one of only two players (the other is Varun Chopra) to emerge
from Australia with any credit. Bairstow’s failure in the last Test should push
Taylor to back up batsman for the home New Zealand series.
19 (23) – Luke Wright – He remains T20 only, but produced an
excellent series in New Zealand, bowling well and most importantly providing
decent leadership throughout that section of the tour. After Pietersen and
Morgan is England’s most important T20 player.
18 (20) – Alex Hales – A brilliant cameo in the Big Bash,
and once again England highest scorer in the T20’s, Hales was unlucky not to get
a shot on the ODI tour. Nottinghamshire’s decision to prevent him playing in
the IPL will probably benefit his career too.
17 (15) – Jonny Bairstow – The final Test completed a fairly
miserable winter for Bairstow, who had two opportunities and failed to take
them, and watched Jos Buttler scoot past him as the white ball keeper. Batting
does not look ready for a full-time Test role and isn’t getting the hours
behind the stumps he needs to be Prior’s long term replacement.
16 (18) – Chris Woakes – Did a decent job in the ODIs,
didn’t go on the Lions tour and thus avoided any reputational damage and by all
accounts was a decent tourist. England definitely seem big fans of his batting
which does he claims no harm whatsoever.
15 (14) – Monty Panesar – Another great escape completed,
and whatever he achieves with the remainder of his career, will always be
remembered as an England cult hero. Pitches offered him very little, neither
did his captain (more on that later) and it was generally a struggle despite a
couple of excellent spells of control. Might get another go in the home series
but pitches will offer him little.
14 (16) – Jos Buttler – The ODI keeper for now, but the T20
keeper for a long time. He’s inventive and confident, and whatever he lacks as
a keeper he makes up for with his batting. He is one player who could have
benefited from going to the IPL.
13 (19) – Tim Bresnan – Sometimes not playing at all can do
a lot for a player’s reputation, as Bresnan’s inactivity after his operation
meant chances for other which they did not take. Woakes probably didn’t do
enough to displace him long-term and England’s policy of resting players should
mean plenty more caps this summer.
12 (11) – Eoin Morgan – He’s going to the IPL, which may
well prove to be effectively a retirement from Test cricket. But he’s still a
vital part of England’s white ball sides where he remains one of the best and
most unique players in the world.
11 (13) – Nick Compton – There was a lot of bumgush spoken
before the 1st Test about Compton, beautifully answered by
consecutive hundreds. This series was the polar opposite of India for Compton,
with two big scores and three failures after a succession of middling scores in
India. He has surely done enough to start the first Ashes Test but faces
competition for his spot from not only Root but Chopra as well.
10 (10) – Joe Root – The ODI series was a real announcement
from Root, particularly as England have struggled to find a four in ODI’s for a
while, but the Test series may be more important in his development. He
couldn’t possibly live up to the hype of the ODI series, and a struggle in the
Tests, particularly in finding the right pace to score at, lowers expectations
and relieves pressure.
9 (6) – Steven Finn – I will state straight off that I am no
fan of his new run-up, because whilst it should stop him running into the
stumps, I’d rather have a good bowler who kicks the stumps than a mediocre one
who doesn’t. His 6-for flattered him and generally looked down on pace for the
series, bowled too short and was worryingly erratic, although the improvements
in his batting are as pleasing as they were unexpected.
8 (9) – Stuart Broad – Excellent in T20’s, where he deserves
credit in particular for being prepared to pit himself against McCullum despite
the need to perform to ensure his Test place. Suffered at McCullum’s hands in
the ODI’s, but fronted up in the Tests. His batting however has gone backwards
and that plays into Bresnan’s hands.
7 (8) – Ian Bell – Reasonable in both series, the next 12
months are crucial for Bell. He’s in a place where he’s secure in both sides,
and he can start to think about his legacy. New Zealand don’t have a world
class spinner, and neither do Australia (although Lyon is better than people
think), which has always been his major weakness in the past. There are a lot
of runs for him there to score, he’s protected from the new ball in the Tests,
it’s a huge chance for his scores to live up to his technique.
6 (7) – Jonathan Trott – I don’t often agree with Bob
Willis, but he did score too slowly in the ODIs and should be replaced by
Pietersen come the summer ODIs, despite the incredible volume of runs in that
format. When it came to the Tests, he looked in fantastic touch, and despite averaging
over fifty would have been disappointed not to score bigger having reached at
least 27 in all five innings.
5 (5) – Graeme Swann – Was somewhat of a plaything for
McCullum during the ODI series, and if his elbow was going to fail, he couldn’t
have picked a better time for it to happen. Panesar was never going to take
enough wickets to push him out of the side, and he remains one of the world’s
best spinners. His slip catching is also crucial to England.
4 (1) – Alistair Cook – I’ll start with his batting, where
Cook played more loose shots than in the previous 24 months, but he got a ton
when it really mattered, and there doesn’t appear to be a technical weakness at
the moment for bowlers to work him on.
As for his captaincy, he was completely outshone but the
inventive and energetic McCullum. The abiding memory of this series should be
Cook, silent, shoulders shrugged at fine leg as Monty desperately looked to him
for inspiration, before he turned to Prior. I have nothing against quiet
captains, mainly because Steve Waugh, one of the finest captains of our era,
barely said a word. But whereas Waugh always projected an image of defiant
control, Cook’s body language was one of passive acceptance, particularly
during Peter Fulton’s assault in the final Test.
Cook is a young captain, and has time to learn and improve.
He’s been touring for six months, always as captain, but the sight of him
passing every tactical decision through Prior was troubling for England and
gold-dust for Australia, who having suffered a miserable tour of India, will
have spotted a potential area of weakness in England.
3 (2) – James Anderson – Not his greatest series against a
side he has always had great success against, but bowled so superbly in India
that he’s got a huge amount of credit in bank. His skill in bowling reverse
swing with the ball hidden in his left hand until right before delivery showed
a bowler of the highest skill, although he would like to know the secrets of
how Southee and Boult got the ball to hoop in the final Test where he could
barely make it move.
2 (4) – Kevin Pietersen – Injured for the entire tour even
when he played, and clearly struggling. But it was his absence from the ODI
series that most hurt England, where the lack of a dominant player hurt
England. The highlight of this summer may well be the first time him and James
Pattinson face-off for the first time.
1 (3) – Matt Prior – In his autobiography, Justin Langer
talks of the 1995 Australia tour of the West Indies, who hadn’t lost a series
for 15 years. 1-0 up entering the 3rd Test, the Aussies were reduced
to 18-3 with Curtly Ambrose bowling fire on a pitch best described as jagged.
Vice-captain Waugh came to the crease, and in an innings of sheer defiance,
made an unbeaten 63 that
got the Australians to 128. They lost the Test, but Waugh’s bravery in the face
of Ambrose inspired the Australians to win the final Test, in which Waugh got
200, and with it the series. It marked the end of West Indian dominance and the
start of Australia’s.
Langer said, from that innings onwards, despite the fact
that Mark Taylor was captain for another three years, that Waugh was the
leader. He was the example that was followed, the player the team looked to. I
was reminded of that story twice in the final Test, where firstly Matt Prior
led the riot act in the England team huddle before New Zealand’s 2nd
innings, and then when he scored a simply magnificent hundred to save the final
Test. Whereas Cook’s reputation as a leader fell this series, Prior’s has
soared after his performances, and it was noticeable the respect from his
teammates for his efforts in the series.
