The English cricket season of 2022 breathed new life into the game and transformed the woes of the winter into a summer of celebration. The taste of victory was sweet and the pains of the recent past under Joe Root’s captaincy were forgotten as Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow led the way on the field under the inspirational off-field, ‘back-seat’ leadership of former New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum.
So, as a direct consequence, can we conclude that all is well in the game now that international test matches and test series are being won by England in home conditions?
Or, is the unwelcome truth that England scrapped through some fraught situations based on a new-found competitive spirit that covered up some long-held weaknesses?
Is England ready to be tested against quality opposition overseas? Will Pakistan prove to be a tough tour and potentially burst the bubble of Ben Stokes’ aggressive approach before England play Australia next summer?
The Ashes 2023 will be a more accurate barometer of success for the current team. Can the positive intent be retained if and when mid-series test match results go against England? Or, will the influential media’s suspicions about the viability of the ‘Baz-ball approach’ take hold of the public and then impact the team negatively over time?
England Test Team:
Opening partnership remains a major weakness. Alex Lees consistent selection seem to highlight his lack of quality. Zak Crawley had the most miserable of seasons, despite a strong finish at The Oval. His runs helped us win the final test of a scintillating summer of cricket in a ridiculously convincing manner, but his consistent ‘nicking off’ and desire to play ‘booming drives’ suggests to me he remains a highly promising ball-striker at number 4 or 5, and not a consistent opening batsman.
The number 3 position requires Ollie Pope to play well in overseas tests before he can secure the berth. Is Jack Leach good enough to be the spinner? For how long can the ageing James Anderson and Stuart Broad be the opening bowlers, and who will be both fit enough and good enough to take over?
Ben Foakes looks to have established himself as wicket-keeper batsman and Ben Stokes looks back to his best as an all-rounder, despite having knee problems which could prevent him from bowling as regularly as the team needs him to.
Joe Root has been an exemplar cricketer for so long now it is hard to find new words to praise him. His match-winning fourth innings century at Lord’s versus New Zealand set the ball rolling for this memorable summer of victories. He is a great batsman and a brilliant team man. But, much as I admire him, I fear that if he gets too caught up in trying to play his part in the creative and ultra-positive style of play inspired by the McCullum/Stokes leadership axis, he may undermine his tried and tested skills developed in the world of orthodoxy. The professional game can be a cruel one when individual players begin to take liberties with it. Consistency in the world of high performance requires 100% attention to ‘doing the basics brilliantly’.
England One Day International Team:
Under Australian coach Matthew Mott, the team is busy re-inventing itself too. They have endured a tough summer but are emerging as potential winners again.
I find Jos Buttler to be a most impressive person. His leadership capability plus all round excellence as a cricketer may prove to be the pivotal factor as England looks to defend their status ICC Cricket World Cup winners in a year’s time. The t20 England team is about to embark on the ICC t20 World Cup in Australia. Following a successful preparation phase in both the host country Australia and in Pakistan, it would seem England are realistic contenders for making the final the at this exciting tournament. The return of Alex Hales has been a major talking point, and may prove to be a major contributor to England’s possible success.
Domestic Cricket:
The HUNDRED experienced another edition and attracted a mix of welcome support and new audiences as well as receiving some vitriolic reactions form county club members and cynicism from established cricket people rejecting the ECB’s latest commercial ‘brainchild’ designed to ‘future-proof’ the game. From my perspective, I love cricket and hold the view that anything that helps get young people into playing and watching the sport is a good thing. However, the polarisation of cricket’s supporters into ‘pro-HUNDRED’ and ‘anti-HUNDRED’ camps has been sad to witness.
Surrey, for so long the financial powerhouse of the county game, have re-established as the County Champions on the field of play too. Full credit to Alec Stewart and the Stewart family for the wise guidance and dedication to cricketing excellence in Surrey over time. The south London giants of county cricket have produced many good young players under Gareth Townsend and Neil Stewart’s well-run Surrey Academy programme and the long term future of the club looks healthy if the likes of Will Jacks and Ollie Pope can establish themselves as international cricketers thus allowing more space for other top-class young players from Surrey to represent the 1st XI in the various domestic competitions.
How fitting and touching it was to see The Oval renamed after Micky Stewart on his 90th birthday, and simultaneously see Surrey defeat their long-held rivals Yorkshire so convincingly to seal their season in such triumphant style.
Hampshire and Lancashire were the other outstanding county teams. Hampshire ran Surrey close for most of the season and can feel pleased with their progress and also their continued success in t20Blast. The last-gasp win at t20 Finals Day offered the spectator incredible and dramatic viewing and highlighted what a remarkable feature t20 cricket is for the modern cricketer and supporter. To think the format has only been going for 20 years but is now regarded as ‘the showpiece day’ in the domestic calendar.
Kent, the Garden of England, has won another white ball trophy (admittedly what seemed like ‘the after-thought cup’ playing against what from a distance seemed to be County 2nd XI’s. In the case of some opposition teams, it appeared like they fielded their 3rd XI’s!
Kent have struggled all season despite the brilliance of their new opening batsman Ben Compton, who enjoyed a remarkable summer of heavy run-scoring against all-comers, including a century against the touring New Zealanders for an English First-Class cOUNTIES Select XI. England recognition may come next season if Compton continues to score heavily in county cricket, and especially if his Kent opening partner Zak Crawley experiences another miserable English summer in test and county cricket.
Kent wrapped up their season with a couple of vital wins in the county championship too, staving off the threat of relegation, largely thanks to Ben Compton’s obduracy against Hampshire in the penultimate fixture.
Kent’s end of season win against Somerset in the final fixture saw Darren Stevens, the legend of county cricket, say farewell to the Kent supporters as the club brought down the curtain on a truly remarkable career. Stevens all round excellence and boyish enthusiasm has served him and Kent Cricket brilliantly for nearly twenty years since joining from his boyhood club Leicestershire in 2004.
The Future:
As the sun set on another brilliant summer of cricket, the game turned in on itself again. Rather than celebrate all that is good in the game, the underlying fears for the future of count cricket took hold. The winter will be filled with debate about how best to respond to Sir Andrew Strauss’s high performance review of England Cricket and the role ECB want to the county clubs to play in supporting their recommended reforms.
The counties and the ECB seem to mistrust each other at best, and despise each other at worst. Hopefully, former Surrey Chairman Richard Thompson in his new role as ECB Chairman can bring the much-needed skills of collaborative leadership and unite everyone around the common purpose of making English cricket as healthy as possible.
Winter well !!!