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England’s summer ended with a disappointing defeat to Sri Lanka at The Oval but there were plenty of positives to be taken from two series wins and a 5-1 aggregate record.
A resounding 3-0 win over the West Indies was followed by a 2-1 success over Sri Lanka, which was achieved without captain Ben Stokes and fly-half Zak Cawley due to injury.
In their absence, others have cemented their place in the England squad while others have buckled under the pressure of Test cricket. And with overseas tours to Pakistan and New Zealand scheduled this winter, all eyes are on the visit of India next summer.
Telegraph Sport ranks the importance of each player who will be present this summer, from least to most compelling, with an eye toward next year’s blockbuster series.
Dan Lawrence
Desperate to succeed, when given the role of opener in the absence of Zak Crawley, he overplayed his assignment to put pressure on Sri Lanka. His wild hitting at the Oval was an excess of virtue. But it would be unfair to judge him when he is out of place. In future, he will resume his role as first-choice replacement when a mid-order batsman is ill or injured – or perhaps as Pakistan’s No. 7, given his off-spin.
Summer Note: 4/10
Matthew Potts
Few players have been dropped during the Stokes-McCullum era, but Potts had to be to make way for the experience of Josh Hull. In his two Tests, with his five wickets, he was a willing workhorse at fourth seamer – and he will have his moments in that role from time to time overseas – but England will be yearning for something more.
Summer Note: 5
Harry Brook
A summer of diminishing returns. A few videos of Sir Vivian Richards are recommended. Like Brook, he played shots and looked to dominate the bowlers from the start, but once he had them, Richards didn’t push his luck, he controlled himself, blocked and took singles for an hour, then started again when the bowlers were completely subdued. Brook keeps them hopeful. And if he has to throw his hands at balls that aren’t at stump, he needs to get his front foot closer to the line, not plant it on the track. As it is, he hasn’t scored a run in Australia and third man out – as at the Oval – will be waiting for him in the next Ashes.
Summer Note: 6
Ollie Pope
Pope thought highly of the similarly sized Oval Test player Pathum Nissanka, who demonstrated exactly how England’s stand-in captain should go about his No. 3 role if he is to become a regular – away from the Oval. Nissanka is balanced, composed, compact, trusts his defence, not desperate to play shots, confident enough in his ability to score on the run. England supporters have reason to hope that Pope’s experience as captain, at any rate, will give him the confidence to be less frantic at the start of his innings, and to play patiently for the first 25 balls of his innings, and shake off the label of England’s most inconsistent No. 3.
Summer Note: 6
Josh Hull
Australian Brett Lee, one of the fastest bowlers of all time, says that to bowl fast, you need a lead arm, not a bowling arm. The lead arm should reach up to the sky and then curl into a handshake, which allows the bowling arm to rise more quickly. Hull has all the attributes to bowl effectively at 80mph and swing it. To reach 90mph, he needs to stop his lead arm from spreading out almost horizontally in front of him as he bowls, and do the handshake. An encouraging start. He can match the other English left-handers, but to become the first to take 100 Test wickets, he must listen to his uncle Brett.
Summer Note: 6
Ben Duckett
It is a shame that Ricky Ponting has arrived at the Oval to join the TV commentary team for this Test, ahead of the white-ball series against Australia. As the leading batting analyst, his report to Pat Cummins on England’s unique left-handed striker would be a goldmine. Duckett has only given one ball away in the Sri Lanka series, according to Sky’s data, so how can we best exploit that impatience? Right-arm around the wicket, and full – nothing short to pull or wide to cut – could be the key. Will Duckett adapt by the time the next Ashes comes around and make significant, not modest, contributions?
Summer Note: 6
Shoaib Bashir
While his 15 wickets this summer do not seem exceptional, England can be absolutely certain that he will be their No. 1 spinner in Australia – their answer to Nathan Lyon, a provider of off-breaks with plenty of over-spin. But to be the definitive answer, he will need to bowl a more aggressive line than he has for much of the summer: he needs a pitch with four players on the off-side, not three, to bowl just outside off-stump. He had a fielding day at Trent Bridge against the West Indies, but no more than the odd wicket elsewhere when bowling defensively over middle and leg.
Summer Note: 7
Pierre Olly
In the absence of Mark Wood, he surprised the batsmen with his pace early in the season and booked his trips to Pakistan and New Zealand before Christmas. He doesn’t do much with a new ball – or at least England kept him until the ball was old – but he does enough with an old one to have a bright future, even if he had to wait until his 30s for his breakthrough season.
Summer Note: 7
Chris Woakes
The Wizard produced another tour de force, emerging as the leader of the England attack following James Anderson and taking 24 wickets to just 20 this summer. He had his outswinger in hand and caught several batsmen, including Jamie Smith, as he dove down the leg side with his inswinger. Brilliant progress for a 35-year-old, and he now has to travel to Pakistan, with a more distant prospect of the pink-ball Test in Brisbane. Unfortunately, given the demands of bowling, his runs at number 7 have dried up (only 46 against Sri Lanka) but his defensive play has remained top-notch.
Summer Note: 8
Zak Crawley
Everyone’s value increases when they’re out of the team, but Crawley’s value is even higher after he broke his finger. He might not have been missed so much if Keaton Jennings had replaced him at fly-half, but Crawley’s value skyrocketed when Lawrence took over: Crawley’s kicking from the first ball seemed much more controlled, less swaying. An interesting little point for the future: Brook filled in perfectly as a second-half in Crawley’s absence, but won’t Crawley reclaim his place in that position?
Summer Note: 7
Joe Root
The devil did his work when Root saw his summer run total stop at 666 on a perfect shot from Vishwa Fernando. Sir Alastair Cook can also smile because his record for most Test runs for England will survive for a few more weeks, even if Root broke his record for most Test runs with his 34th. He was a role model for Ben Stokes and Pope … but he will always be peeved that he could not make more than 25 runs at the Oval. He should not feel guilty: he was a pallbearer at Graham Thorpe’s funeral before the match, the day before the Test, in an emotional week.
Summer Note: 9
Jamie Smith
Smith, in his first Test series, got extremely frequent opportunities to prove himself as a batsman and at every important moment, he found a way to score. After playing calmly and assessing his performance, he was able to switch to power batting mode. His wicket-keeping role was also calm and consistent, but should he become a specialist batsman? His technique is superb, better than any other English batsman except Root.
Summer Note: 9
Gus Atkinson
The most remarkable debutant of this or any other summer with his 34 wickets at 20 and his maiden first-class century. I must still be wary of judging his bowling a bit as West Indies and Sri Lanka had only a handful of Test-level batsmen between them, but he is certainly learning calmly and quickly, as he does when he first takes a new ball. And the sweetness of his timing when he hooks and drives at Lord’s Will will live long in the memory.
Summer Note: 9
Ben Stokes
England would surely not have played as stupidly as they did at the Oval, when they were bowled out in 34 overs, had he not been injured in the Hundred, and he would have put more pressure on Sri Lanka in their chase. England cannot get him back early enough as their No. 6 batsman and fifth bowler. Their batting has become frayed and fragile without him because Woakes has had to bowl so much that his runs have dried up.
Summer Note: 7
Marc Wood
He remains England’s most valuable cricketer, even with Jofra Archer permanently absent. No one else can spark, thrill the crowd and impress the batsmen like he can, let alone his batting. He is injured again for a long time, but the important thing is that he is preparing to play two Tests next summer against India and three or ideally four (missing the pink-ball Test in Brisbane?) in Australia to complete his Test career.
Summer Note: 8
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