Lions Squad Post Six Nations

Post Six Nations, and with the Lions tour coming up, here’s my 37 man squad.

Props - Dan Cole, Alex Corbisiero, Cian Healy, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Mike Ross

The main question with the props is how many the Lions will take. If they decide to take five, then Paul James will really fancy his chances. I’m backing the Lions to take six, in which case at Loosehead, Healy and Jenkins are dead certainties. With two good players already in that position, Alex Corbisiero, if he can get some game time before the end of the season, is worth taking. At Tighthead, whatever passionate Welshmen say, Dan Cole is the current starter with Adam Jones backing him up. I’m not massively enthused about Mike Ross, but it’s him or part-timer Euan Murray and I’d rather have Ross in the midweek team.

Hookers - Rory Best, Dylan Hartley, Richard Hibbard

The main job for the hooker in a side which has so many back row options should be to secure decent lineout ball, which is why Best and Hartley are there. The third choice hooker could frankly be anyone, I’ve plumped for Hibbard on the basis that the coach is the Welsh coach and Matthew Rees is almost certainly going to be broken again.

Locks - Joe Launchbery, Alun Wyn Jones, Geoff Parling, Donnacha Ryan

Parling was the best lock in the championship by a mile, and will go. AWJ got a lot of press for a man who produced two good games, but he’s also secure in selection. Ryan has a petulant streak in his game which needs removing, but he’s also got the necessary talent to make the squad. The fourth lock hopefully the Lions will take the punt on Launchbery, leaving Mike McCarthy wondering how he’s at home and Hibbard isn’t.

Back Row - Kelly Brown, Toby Faletau, Jamie Heaslip, Ryan Jones, Chris Robshaw, Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton, Tom Wood

The main area of contention, with a list of around 15 players who can make a case for going, yet a large number of those will not. To start with, given the strength in depth, I’m ignoring Steven Ferris and Ross Rennie due to their injury concerns, and Dan Lydiate due to both his injury concerns and the fact he is massively overrated, a problem which also rules out Tom Croft.

The fact is, Tipuric, Warburton, Robshaw and Wood should and will all go. So would Ben Morgan had he not got injured. Number eight is somewhat of a problem area not due to talent but form, with Faletau not exactly setting the world alight and Jamie Heaslip struggling with the weight of captaining a rapidly declining team. Jonnie Beattie is not real competition and Morgan’s injury however sends them on the tour. The two remaining spots go to two old timers, Kelly Brown and Ryan Jones. Both are unflashy players who do the right things, Brown helped by coming through a Saracens environment that demands the best from them. Jones does seem like a bit of a left field selection but he can also play in the second row. Sean O’Brien doesn’t go on the basis that if you doubled his IQ he’d still be an idiot and Chris Henry got injured at a bad time.

Scrum-Halfs - Conor Murray, Mike Phillips, Ben Youngs

Phillips and Youngs should both be fairly confident of selection, although I have a nasty feeling Gatland and Howley might fancy a bit of Danny Care. Murray, Laidlaw and Care are all at roughly the same level, but the Welsh philosophy seems to be with players of equal ability pick the biggest one and that’s why Murray will tour.

Fly-Halfs - Owen Farrell, James Hook, Jonny Sexton

Ireland were pretty good when Jonny Sexton played, and awful when he didn’t. Farrell will prove to be a solid back up but lacks the running game to challenge Sexton, unless Sexton’s injury rules him out of the tour. Due to the limits of squad size, the third fly-half will be James Hook. He’s playing well in France and can cover a multitude of positions, which given I’ve only got two full-backs I need.

Centres - Jonathan Davies, Luke Marshall, Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Roberts

I typed Jamie Roberts name, thought for some time, typed Brian O’Driscoll’s name, and then thought for a hell of a long time. This is a position of surprising weakness, due to the fact that so many of the centres playing for the home nations are highly one dimentional. I think Jonathan Davies had a quietly awful tournament for Wales, where he did nothing particularly well and was covered by his inside partner, but he was excellent last year so he has cash in the bank. The final centre is a nightmare. Brad Barritt can tackle and organise, but offers nothing in attack. Manu Tuilagi divides opinion massively but even as a big fan I can admit he is a black hole in terms of passing the ball. Luke Marshall has had a good season for Ulster, has a reasonable eye for a break and was unlucky to get knocked unconscious twice. Max Scott looks a decent player but the tour has come maybe 12 months too early.

Wingers - Alex Cuthbert, Craig Gilroy, Sean Maitland, George North

Tommy Bowe’s injury casts a big shadow here, because he was an absolutely certain starter and the only winger with previous Lions experience. North would have to lose form quite spectacularly to not start, but after that it’s a fairly open race. Cuthbert is a deadly finisher but he creates tries at both ends of the field, and whoever starts right wing has to deal with Digby Ioane. That said, Cuthbert is favourite to start ahead of the exciting Gilroy, and the solid Maitland. Chris Ashton will not go, due to both form and personality and Tim Visser is another player whose one-dimensional game will count against him.

Full-backs - Leigh Halfpenny, Stuart Hogg

This could be a closer battle for the shirt than people think, and would be closer if Halfpenny wasn’t such a fantastic goal kicker. Halfpenny is defensively superb but people tend to overlook his weakness is joining the line and broken field running. That is not a problem for Stuart Hogg, who not only is a good player but made sure he had good games when people were watching and a bad one when no-one cared (he was rubbish in Paris). Halfpenny will start the first Test but if Cuthbert struggles early on the tour don’t be surprised if the Lions try Halfpenny on the wing with Hogg at full-back.

Team for 1^st Test and Captain

Cian Healy, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Alun Wyn Jones, Geoff Parling, Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Toby Faletau, Mike Phillips, Jonny Sexton, George North, Jamie Roberts, Brian O’Driscoll (c), Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny

Some of these selections will be obvious from the comments above, but I’ll explain some. At hooker, I think if Gatland and Hartley can get over their previous bad blood, they will find that Gatland is the perfect coach for Hartley and that will push him ahead of Best. In the back-row, Robshaw and Wood will be extremely unfortunate to miss out but Warburton and Tipuric worked so spectacularly well for Wales against England that it would appear to be the best combination at this point in time, particularly as Wood struggled with the technical aspects of number eight throughout the tournament (Wood struck me as an outstanding blindside trying to play eight throughout the tournament)

The backs are fairly clean cut, but the selection of O’Driscoll as captain is based on the view that Gatland will want to avoid picking a polairising choice as captain. If he chooses Warburton or Robshaw, that is going to annoy one nation of players either way, and given that supposedly some of the Englishmen are already a bit uncertain about Gatland he doesn’t want to get off on the wrong foot. O’Driscoll has been on good tours and bad tours, and will understand the importance of all nations pulling together.

Selection Leaves Australia Spinning

Since Michael Clarke took over as Australian captain, Australia have played 23 Tests, and in that time picked 28 players, of which 13 have been bowlers and a further 4 all-rounders* (list at the bottom if you want to try and guess them all). Even more concerning for the Australians is that a further 14 bowlers and another all-rounder have been used in white ball cricket**. That's a quite remarkable 32 bowling options in 26 months.

The Australian rotation policy has led to lots of criticism from their own press, a large chunk of it justified and a large chunk of it not. They have been beset by injuries during this period, although you have to ask yourself the question that when you have ten bowlers out injured for an ODI, is that bad luck or is it just poor conditioning.

But one of the oddities about this is, T20s aside where the Aussies have been pretty horrid, most of the bowlers have performed well enough to justify further inclusion. They do seem to be going through a period where they are producing a lot of talented quick bowlers, but this however, does not justify picking every single one of them.

The confusion with Australian bowling begins with the Test spinner Nathan Lyon. Lyon is not the greatest bowler I have ever seen, but he is a decent Test bowler capable of a doing a job. Despite an encouraging start of his career, even before the current tour of India where he's been dropped, Australia seem very reluctant to back him, shown by his non-selection in white ball cricket and the fast tracked passport of Shali Ahmad.

The reluctance over Lyon and his exact role within the team then affects the balance of the quicks they select. Unable to decide whether Lyon is there to take wickets or keep thinks tight, the Aussies keep alternating between two wicket takers and one stock bowler and the reverse, which in turn causes confusion between the three quicks as to who should be bowling in what role. The biggest victim of this is Ben Hilfenhaus, who despite an excellent record over the period, is out of the side as he falls between the camps. Causing more trouble is the refusal of the Australians to make a decision as to whether they back Mitchell Johnson as an international bowler or that he's a busted flush and they should move on, and the rolling list of injuries suffered by the best prospects in Starc, Cummins and Pattinson, and you end up with a system that leaves Glenn Maxwell playing as a front-line Test bowler.

But as bad as this muddle seems, as mentioned previously a lot of those bowlers have performed well. Australia are failing to make the most of their bowling options, but their attack is still able to compete. The batting line-up however is suffering from the opposite problem - a lack of talent and overly consistent selection.

In the same period, only three Aussie batters have averaged over 40 in Tests (Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey and Dave Warner). Ed Cowan, Phil Hughes and Shane Watson, numbers 1,3 and 4 in the current series, average 32, 27 and 26 respectively. Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja produced similar averages in their spells in the team, and this is completely ignoring the ongoing Wade/Haddin/Hartley debate as to who Australia should use to keep wicket.

The key to sorting out Australia's batting line-up comes down to making a big decision over Shane Watson. Watson is a fantastically talented cricketer, but his form in Tests shows that if he doesn't bowl he isn't worth his spot in the side, certainly not at four. Watson is saved only by his fantastic white ball form with the bat and his potential to bowl again, but Australia cannot afford to bat him higher than six and need to be prepared to drop him if he doesn't do the job they need.

The other selection issue relates to two players not in the team - Shaun Marsh and George Bailey. The Australian batting line-up lacks grit and Cowan doesn't seem to be able to push on from his starts, putting his place under threat from the quickly improving Alex Doolan. Marsh and Bailey could potentially replace the technically inept Phil Hughes, allowing the struggling Cowan to be replaced by Doolan, or possibly a return to his favoured position for Watson. 

Both Marsh and Bailey have their own problems. Marsh has twice been in trouble for drinking related activity in the past six months and his own horror series against India is still fresh in the minds of the selectors. Bailey's problems are not entirely of his own making. He is a proud Tasmania captain, in a country where Tasmania are seen very much as the sickly child of Australian cricket. He is happy to be outspoken, taking on media mogul Steve McNamara during the summer in a war of words over selection. Bailey does have limited strokeplay and is used to being his own captain, but would provided much needed leadership.

Whatever they do, the selection problems are becoming cyclical. The poor batting forces the selection of Wade as keeper, whose poor keeping in particular lets Lyon down. That leads to questions over Lyon's role and the fast bowling merry go round gets into full swing. If the Australians don't solve this by the summer, it could be a very good time to be an English cricket fan.

*Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Ryan Harris, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Trent Copeland, Michael Beer, Xavier Doherty, John Hastings, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques and Steve Smith.

**Brett Lee, Clint McKay, Doug Bollinger, Shaun Tait, James Faulkner, Jason Krejza, Ben Cutting, Nathan Hauritz, Kane Richardson, Brad Hogg, Steven O'Keefe, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Josh Hazelwood, Ben Laughlin and Dan Christian.

Better the Devil You Know?

When I first started watching Test cricket, it was drilled into me by commentators and players need time to settle when making their debut, particularly batsmen. It was best summarised by an ex-player (I cannot remember who) who said that when you play elite club cricket, there will be a bad ball every couple of overs. When stepping up into county cricket, there would be a bad ball every four overs. But in Test matches, there would be no bad balls. Instead, as a batsman, you had to change your perspective on what was actually a bad ball.

This meant that even if a player struggled on debut, that they shouldn't be judged for it. Players did often struggle. But a quick look at the debuts of the current England test squad shows that a different dynamic is developing:-

Alistair Cook - 60 & 104*
Jonny Bairstow - 16 & 0*
Ian Bell - 70
Nick Compton - 9 & 37
Kevin Pietersen - 57 & 64*
Matt Prior - 126* & 21
Joe Root - 73 & 20*
Jonathan Trott - 41 & 119

As a group, they average 81.70 on debut compared to 47.74 for their overall Test career. Mid-summer, with Strauss in the team (who scored nearly 200 runs on debut), that figure was even higher. What has caused this success on debut for so many of the England batsmen (for the bowlers, it is a similar story, although not quite as pronounced. It is also easier for bowlers to debut - a nervous opening spell is not the end of their game whilst a nervous shot from a batsman could well be)

There are many factors at play. Half of the above players (Bairstow, Pietersen, Prior and Trott) had made their international debuts in other formats, and with the exception of Trott had at least had some success. The England Lions programme is immensely successful (even if the Australian A team is thumping them currently), and most of the players had experience of that. England now select better players, with more weight since Duncan Fletcher's appointment given to personality and less to pure runs. But for me the biggest factor is a lot of international coaches favourite weapon - video analysis.

Put yourself in Fletcher's shoes before the 4th test in India when Joe Root made his debut. Fletcher, and his bowlers, decide to come up with new plans for England's batsman. They start with Kevin Pietersen. I can say with almost pure certainty that every single innings KP has played at international level will have been shown on some form of live television. Watch him play any Test bowler he has faced, on any Test ground he has played at. Want to watch him play the sweep one hundred times? The drive? The pull? A request to the analysts section of the team support and it should be done.

But whilst coverage of international cricket has increased, coverage of domestic cricket has almost ceased to exist. If India want footage of Joe Root in that situation, particularly in red-ball cricket, then they will have to search long and hard to find it. The absence of footage makes a player harder to plan for, harder to analyse strengths and weaknesses. With the added benefit of the better preparation mentioned above, there has never been a better time to make your debut in Test cricket.

This could well have a significant impact on the Ashes. England have the benefit of home conditions, the more settled side and less injury concerns. A lot has been made of how few of the potential touring party, particularly batsmen, have played in England before. But this may benefit Australia, with the likes of Cowan, Warner, Maxwell, Wade, Cummins, Pattinson and Starc all partially hidden from England. 

There may of course be the perfect storm for England. Enough footage to plan and the Aussies inexperienced enough to deal with English conditions. But if the Australians adapt quicker then the retirements of Katich, Ponting and Hussey may not seem the brilliant news it was in the winter.

The Curious Case of Craig Kieswetter

For the upcoming tour of New Zealand, England have once again changed their white ball wicket-keeper. For long time England fans this isn't anything new, since the 2001 tour of India when Alec Stewart chose not to go due to safety concerns, England have seemingly changed their ODI wicket-keeper with free abandon. In that time, England have been through Alec Stewart, Chris Read, James Foster, Geraint Jones, Phil Nixon, Matt Prior, Tim Ambrose, Phil Mustard, Steven Davies, Craig Kieswetter and now Jos Buttler. This list doesn't even include the brief experiments with Marcus Trescothick and Eoin Morgan. 

Kieswetter is the latest player to have been tried, deemed to have failed, and sent back to county cricket to re-learn his trade. I am happy to admit that I am no fan of Kieswetter, and was a firm advocate of dropping him for Buttler, but a closer look at Kieswetter's career shows just how hard it is going to be for Buttler (or Jonny Bairstow) to nail down this position.

With the gloves, Kieswetter averages just short of 29 at a strike rate of 90. Those don't sound amazing figures, but of the ten keepers mentioned above (ignoring Buttler) that's good enough for 3rd for both average and strike rate (behind Stewart and Davies, and Davies and Mustard). Whilst his keeping is often maligned, his bye/dismissal ratio is a match for anyone on this list.

So why has he been dropped? Well, firstly it's no surprise. Forced out of the T20 side by Buttler in October, many felt that Kieswetter was merely keeping the gloves warm. The only debate was whether to replace him with Buttler, or bring back Matt Prior. Yet whilst Kieswetter both keeps and bats ahead of Buttler when they play together for Somerset, Prior averages significantly less than Kieswetter and scores his runs significantly slower. 

England's and Kieswetter's problems may simply be that the standard for an international white ball keeper has been set too high. Over the last decade, firstly Adam Gilchrist re-defined what it meant to be a wicket-keeper/batsman, and in ODI cricket, MS Dhoni has taken that even further. Dhoni is not just the keeper, he is the key wicket to beat India. Every ODI against India this winter the message has been clear - "Got to get Dhoni early"

Now, it seems the model for every side is either to try and find a Gilchrist, or a Dhoni. So many keepers can be used as evidence, but one of the best examples is the use of 20-year-old Quinton de Kock in the ODI series between South Africa and New Zealand. Bought in for his debut, de Kock was not given a chance to learn at seven. He was expected to open.

My last thought on this - Mark Boucher is rightly regarded as one of the finest wicket-keepers in international history, and has 295 ODI caps to his credit. His stats? An average of 28 at a strike rate of 85. Matthew Wade, the new Australian wicket-keeping hope who most feel has started his career promisingly? He's averaging 22 at a rate of 67.

I'm not saying Kieswetter is better than Boucher, but simply showing that the standard for an international keeper has reached dizzying heights. Good luck Jos, you're going to need it.

England's Top 25 Cricketers after India

25 – James Taylor – Seems a long time ago that he played those two Test matches, but Lions captaincy and dropping of Morgan and Patel means he’s still in the picture.

24 – Stuart Meaker – Good red ball part of the India followed by a poor white ball part, but offers England something different.

23 – Luke Wright – T20 only, but hugely important to England going forward both with the runs he scores and his global knowledge of T20 players.

22 – Samit Patel – Had his chance in India, and failed to take it. Remains a part of the white ball set-up, but the emergence of Root means he’s under pressure.

21 – Jade Dernbach – Out of sorts in India, and expensive even when bowling well. In his defence he is another bowler offering something different but needs a good run this summer.

20 – Alex Hales – England’s highest T20 run scorer in 2012, 2013 is an opportunity to push on and pressure players in the ODI team.

19 – Tim Bresnan – Dropping fast, England have kindly offered his elbow as an excuse but there is perhaps a feeling that opposition batsmen have worked him out. Performance in last ODI gives him something to run with though.

18 – Chris Woakes – Going to New Zealand against expectations having lost a lot of his pace over the past 18 months. However, can bat better than any of England’s over bowlers and if he can get back up to 85mph he’ll take Bresnan’s white ball place without much resistance.

17 – James Tredwell – Full credit to Tredwell, he always looks an uninspiring choice but he has done the job every time in an England shirt. The likes of Kerrigan and Briggs will have to wait.

16 – Jos Buttler – Keiswetter’s dropping means the pressure is now on Buttler, no longer the young man in the side learning the game but now expected to produce. He has the ability to do so.

15 – Jonny Bairstow – Rough tour for Bairstow, who played only one Test, was passed by Root and then headed home due to a family illness. Still a part of all three set-ups, needs to show he’s the man to keep wicket and not Buttler.

14 – Monty Panesar – Excellent in India but remains behind Swann in the Test pecking order, and his white ball international career is over. Could force England to play two spinners in the Ashes next summer on the right pitch.

13 – Nick Compton – Quietly impressive in India, but unlikely to break into the white ball sides and the feeling is he is merely keeping the opening spot warm for Root. Runs in New Zealand might dispel that until the Ashes.

12 – Graham Onions – Extremely unlucky not to be selected for the final Test in India, but New Zealand is the big moment for Onions. Bowl well and he can take Broad’s place, but bowl poorly and that might be it. More likely the former than the latter.

11 – Eoin Morgan – Test career looks in tatters, but is crucial to both England white ball teams. Decision over the IPL this year will give a strong indicator of whether he feels he can get back in the Test team.

10 – Joe Root – Debuts in all three formats, an impressive batsman, an impressive tourist and looks to have a massive future. Off-spin and fielding are both extremely handy.

9 – Stuart Broad – Probably the worst tour of his England career, but he’s still T20 captain and still our best quick bowler with the white ball. Would like to out-perform Onions in New Zealand to re-affirm test hierarchy.

8 – Ian Bell – Fair to describe India as an up and down tour for Bell, although test performances can be excused for obvious reasons. Would be higher but England have a fair amount of top-order batting currently.

7 – Jonathan Trott – Talking of top order batting, Trott remains integral to the Test side and is probably the most natural number 3 I’ve seen for England. Expect a tussle with Bell for the opening spot in the ODI side this summer.

6 – Steven Finn – If he can have 12 months of fitness and lose this habit of kicking the stumps or make it so the umpires don’t single him out, then he might well end the tour of Australia as England’s best bowler.

5 – Graeme Swann – Hugely important to all three sides, although performances of Panesar and Tredwell highlight he is not as irreplaceable as others above him. Elbow remains an injury concern and if England want him at the 2015 World Cup something has got to give.

4 – Kevin Pietersen – Fully re-integrated and remains England’s only batsman who you would fear across all formats. Has to be given time to make big innings in both white ball formats and that means staying at 3 in the ODI side and opening with Hales in the T20.

3 – Matt Prior – White ball career is over, but Prior is the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world and when Broad was injured was the vice-captain to all intensive purposes. Anyone doubting his performance needs to think about who would replace him if he got injured.

2 – James Anderson – Outstanding in the Tests in India, and missed in the ODI series. England right to keep him fit for the Ashes as the Australians remain highly suspect against high quality swing bowling.

1 – Alistair Cook – His batting was truly brilliant in India, and his relentless discipline an outstanding example to his younger teammates and some of the others as well. Must keep his ODI scoring rate above 80 this year to alleviate the pressure on KP but there are no Australians looking forward to bowling at him.

6 Cricketers to Watch in 2013

Six players you might not have heard of who could break through in 2013

Azeem Rafiq

For a young man of 21, Rafiq has worryingly twice made the headlines for the wrong reasons, firstly when Yorkshire selected him for their T20 side without realising he was ineligable, and then three years later when a twitter outburst when he was dropped from the England U19 side (Twitter - English cricket's best friend). However, Rafiq is a highly talented off-spinner who can both bat and field to a better than average standard.

Where Rafiq might make progress is through both personality and opportunity. He was England U19 captain, he has captained Yorkshire last season and is seen to have long term leadershi potential. The opportunity may come as there are growing concerns about Graeme Swann's elbow, and with the next T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, and the next 50 over World Cup not until 2015, England may look to blood a young spinner, particularly one who could function as an international number seven.

Quinton de Kock

When you lose one of the finest wicketkeepers to have played Test cricket to a sudden career ending injury, and the domestic replacements seem uninspiring and you feel forced to load one of your best batters and vice-captain with keeping in all three formats, you would probably be quite excited if a young 20 year old genuine wicketkeeper batsman suddenly burst through.

South Africa are excited and on the minimal evidence so far, they have good reason to be. First Class runs have come easy, as did runs in the under-19 World Cup, before de Kock announced himself with mature and impressive performances in the T20 Champions League. He played all three T20's against New Zealand and with South Africa having to manage AB de Villiers workload, more caps could come, and he could force his way into the Test team.

Meg Lanning

Lanning's problem is not one of making her way into the Australia side - at the age of 20 she is already regarded as their best batter. Her problem is one of notoriety, with the Aussie women's cricket side remaining unknown in their own country. This could change this year with both a women's World Cup, and a women's Ashes series. Lanning will open for Australia in all three forms of the game and be the key wicket for England to get.

As for 2012, Lanning was an integral part of the Aussie side that won the World T20 (3rd highest run scorer in the competition). In the last two months she's broken the record for the highest score in Aussie domestic cricket, before in four games against New Zealand she scored 300 runs off 209 balls, including the fastest ever hundred by a woman in an ODI and the third fastest by someone of either gender.

Anamul Haque

Bangladesh have been playing Test cricket for a decade now, and whilst sides should be given a long settling period, now is the time that they should be producing youngsters that can consistently produce on the international stage. They will be hoping that Anamul Haque will be one of the first.

He comes with a big reputation. He has a reputation for scoring big runs, and was way ahead of all other batters at the Under-19 World Cup. The hype, particularly in a country starved of success with a highly excitable fanbase, built quickly. He made his ODI debut against West Indies, and scored a match winning 100 in the second game, a series Bangladesh ended up winning. For Haque, who will certainly play all three formats, he must score runs, he must learn quickly and he must help Bangladesh to win games.

Lahiru Madushanka

This is very, very speculative and based entirely on promising performances at the under-19 World Cup, but sometimes it's the player with the greater opportunity than the player with greater talent that makes waves.

Sri Lankan cricket is struggling at the minute, with financial issues at board level and a major loss of talent either having happened with Muralitharan and Malinga, or about the happen with the pending retirement of Jaywardene, with Sangakarra and Dilshan not far behind. In particular, Sri Lanka are without any notorious fast bowlers (with the exception of white ball specialist Malinga). Maybe this will be the year they take a risk and go with the 20 year old Nondescripts bowler.

Ajinkya Rahane

If ever a player summed the confused state of the Indian selectors then Ajinkya "Jinx" Rahane is the problem in a nutshell. Whilst Gambhir and Sehwag have muddled their way through the past three years, Rahane has scored run after run for Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. Blessed with a calm temperament, nigh on perfect technique, and a habit of scoring big, Rahane is Dravid-incarnate.

Rahane has been given chances in ODI's and T20's, with limited success, but it is widely acknowledged that red ball cricket is his best format yet a test debut has not yet come. With the defeat to England, surely Rahane will now finally, finally get his chance. Seen by Indian fans as the kind of player who will instantly change the fortunes of the side, he will be under pressure, but expect him to rise to it. A truly outstanding player certain to make an impact.

Other players worth a look - Pat Cummins, Junaid Khan, Akila Dananjaya, Ben Foakes, Merchant de Lange, Georgia Elwiss, Shiv Thakor

2012 in Cricket

A post of the best in cricket in 2012:-

Team of the Year

In four Test series, three ODI's series and four T20 series they were unbeaten. They topped the rankings in all three formats, and have players in the top two or three of both Test and ODI rankings. 2012 should be remembered as the year South Africa finally delivered on their undoubted talent and went from being one of the best to the best.

Success was built around the form of Amla and Kallis's batting in Tests, and Amla and AB de Villiers in ODI's. Steyn, Philander and Morkel have a perfect mixture of being three outstanding fast bowlers with vastly different skill sets, and they still have Merchant de Lange to bring in should one of the previous three lose form. The batting line-up, now with the addition of Faf du Plessis, looks to have six quality test batters. AB's long term future as the keeper needs to be sorted, but with almost perfect timing 19 year-old Quintin De Kock has popped up. They could be very good for a very long time.

Honourable Mentions - West Indies (please not another false dawn), England Women (won every game bar the one that mattered most), Ireland (deserve their chance at the top table)

Batter of the Year

Tests - 11M, 1,595R @ 106.33
ODI - 15M, 656R @ 46.85

For Michael Clarke, the ODI numbers are very good, and only Kohli, Amla and De Villiers can be said to have had better years in that format. The Test numbers are staggering, not only compared to other players this year, but any player for any year in the last decade. What makes it so special is his progression into a truly heavy run scorer (no Test 200's before this year, four in 2012, one of which was a 300) whilst balancing the captaincy and the state of flux that the Aussie top order finds itself in, he hasn't always had the luxury of good starts to fall back.

He probably would have broken the world record against India, where he declared when he was on 329, to give his bowlers two and a half days to bowl out India. They did it in half that time. But his best innings, the sensational 230 against Australia, where on the first day he simply battered the best bowling attack in the world to all parts of Adelaide, only for his bowlers to be unable to force the win, will live long in the memory

Honourable Mentions - Hashim Amla (run machine), Marlon Samuels (a talent finally, finally delivered), Virat Kohli (white ball king)

Bowler of the Year

Tests - 39W @ 20.56
ODI - 31W @ 19.77
T20 - 25W @ 15.64

Whatever the format, wherever the game, Saeed Ajmal is the premier bowler in Pakistan's armoury. The debate over his action and doosra will continue (In my view if Murali got away with it then why shouldn't he), but that shouldn't detract from the fact that he has reached a level that very few spinners reach. He can bowl with both control and the ability to take wickets, attested by both a better than average strike rate and a fantastic economy rate in the limited overs game.

He blitzed England earlier in the year, and has performed consistently for Pakistan in white ball cricket, which is remarkable given the words "Pakistan", "cricket" and "consistent" and mentioned about as often as the words "Jonathan Trott" and "flair". He's come to international cricket late and will likely never play a match in his home country, so try and forget about the action and watch him bowl.

Honourable Mentions - Rangana Herath (who knew?), Peter Siddle (guts, guts and more guts), Sunil Narine (true test comes in Test matches in 2013)

Innings of the Year

Kevin Pietersen - 149 v South Africa, 2nd Test

Whatever the rights and wrongs, the whispers and the truths of the KP text/twitter/teammate farrago, there are a few things that hold true when he walked out to bat at Headingley in the 2nd test:-

- in his own mind he was unhappy in the dressing room
- South Africa were utterly on top in the series and match
- The South African pace bowling attack was currently the best in the world

The innings that followed showed the very best of Pietersen as both a player and individual (much as behaviour after the test showed the very worst). South Africa are on top, the best fast bowler in the world is somewhere near his best and he is ably supported by a varied attack and the best fielding unit you could want. Pietersen came out, puffed out his shoulders, and single handly grabbed back the momentum for England.

He began by building an innings, brutally dispatching the few bad balls he received. When South Africa switched to short ball tactics, he swatted Morkel into the leg side fence. But the coupe of grace was late in the day, when South Africa took the new ball. Firstly he thumped Philander for four and then strolled down the wicket to push him for one to bring up his hundred. But the best was yet to come as he launched Dale Steyn, the most intimidating bowler in world cricket, straight back over his head into the sightscreen. It was a shot of utter dismissiveness that showed on his day, there is simply no bowler that can stop Pietersen in full cry.

Honourable Mentions - Hashim Amla, 311* v England (the concentration of a monk), Michael Clarke, 230 v South Africa (carnage in Adelaide), Virat Kohli, 183 v Pakistan (330 to win an ODI against your biggest rivals), Marlon Samuels, 78 v Sri Lanka (the best T20 innings ever?)

Bowling Performance of the Year

Peter Siddle - 33-15-65-4 v South Africa, 2nd Test

Peter Siddle is not an outstanding fast bowler. In the grand scheme of things, he is, but when it comes to international level, he does nothing special. He's not particularly quick, he doesn't swing the ball a lot, he doesn't seam the ball a lot and he bowls more bad balls than he should. He's in the Australian team through sheer graft, and in the 2nd test in Adelaide that graft was finally met with the skills mentioned above.

South Africa needed to bat over a day and a half to save the test. The Aussies were already a quick bowler down with James Pattinson injured in the 1st innings, with Siddle having sent down 30 overs already. In the 2nd innings, with Hilfenhaus and Lyon accurate but ineffective, and Pattinson unable to bowl, Siddle tore in time and time again, giving an outstanding performance of sheer will and no lack of quality. He bowled de Villiers with a snorter, and when the game seemed to have slipped away from Australia he picked up Steyn and Kleinveldt, jogging back to his mark between balls to save. He lost two wickets through reviews, and sank to his knees when Morne Morkel confirmed the draw for South Africa. Sometimes the best performances of a career go unrewarded.

Honourable Mentions - Tim Southee, 7-64 v India (another unrewarded effort), Saeed Ajmal, 7-55 v England (so devastating the England team psycologist was summoned to the UAE), Dale Steyn, 5-56 v England (the begining of the end for Strauss's England)

And Finally - Fielding of the Year

Because surely nothing can beat this from Steven Smith?

Well, Andre Russell can try....

As can Lydia Greenway...

Andre wants another go...

But Bevan Small comes out on top