2018 is starting to fade in the rear-view mirror, but before we look ahead to 2019 and the final test between Australia and India in Sydney, we have to look back on the players who stood up over the last 12 months.
While it was a rough year for Australian cricket, there was plenty of excellence on show around the world throughout the year, and, in some respects at least, it was a changing of the guard sort of year with figures on this team and only just missing out who wouldn’t have even been close 12 months ago.
Onto the best XI of 2018.
1. Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)
Karunaratne has benefited from barely leaving the sub-continent, sure, but he has had an excellent year at the top of the order for Sri Lanka.
He will finish the year in the top ten for total runs, having 743 at 46.43, including going past 50 on seven occasions with a single century.
His consistency in going past 50 and getting Sri Lanka off to good starts, admittedly in conditions which suited him more often than not, has got the nation ahead of the ball plenty of times throughout 2018.
He will have goals to improve and turn 50s into 100s during 2019, but he won’t be complaining about the past 12 months.
2. Aiden Markram (South Africa)
It was another strong 12 months for Markram, who has been a consistent rock at the top of the order for the Proteas.
Facing some of the best attacks in the game including Australia and India, as well as making a trip to the sub-continent to take on Sri Lanka, there can be no doubting his place in the side.
Markram does edge out fellow South African opener Dean Elgar for the second spot, but finishing the year with 672 in the toughest spot in the batting order is better than a fair effort.
3. Cheteswhar Pujara (India)
The position of number three is an incredibly tough one to get right. To be successful here, you need to be able to both knuckle down and consolidate on the back of an early wicket, or take the game to the next level if the openers are able to build a solid platform.
Some of the best players to every grace a cricket field, like Ricky Ponting, made number three their own during their careers.
Pujara’s 2018 has put him on the right path to doing the same for India. His fighting century in the Adelaide Test against Australia shows exactly how far he has come, and he finishes the year with 837 runs, having been a key part of India’s tour of Australia.
4. Virat Kohli (c) (India)
Kohli was first picked for the team of the year, and is the undoubted choice as captain, even if he couldn’t get India over the line during their tough tour of England.
He has led from the front and rubber-stamped his authority as the best batsman in the world, finishing the year with 1322 runs at 55.08.
It’s not quite as good as the year Steve Smith put together in 2017, but it’s not far away and while others have been inconsistent at times, Kohli has suffered no such fate, going past, going past 100 on five occasions and 50 a further four times in 21 innings.
Maybe the best number for Kohli is his strike rate, which has sat just below 60 for the entire year. Quick runs aren’t the order of the day in Test cricket, but he hasn’t been stopped by any attack.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
5. Joe Root (England)
The English captain has had a strong year and will finish second on the total run-getters list for the year. He misses out on skippering because Kohli was just that good, but he wasnt far off given he led the side to that win over India and, with the exception of the Ashes which finished in January, England have had a pretty solid year.
Regardless, Root will finish just short of 1000 Test runs in the calendar year, sitting on 948 at 41, with a pair of centuries and a further six half centuries.
He will be frustrated by his inability to go the extra mile and turn starts into big centuries, but nonetheless, still a strong year for Root.
6. Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
Williamson may not have played many Tests in 2018, but he has made them all count, putting up runs at every opportunity for the New Zealanders.
The Kiwi captain, who has become one of the best in the game, racked up 651 runs in just 12 innings, averaging 59 and going past 50 once in every two innings.
It’s been a stunning 12 months for Williamson and his spot in the team was never really in question, despite a lack of overall Tests.
Logic says if he had of played as many Tests as Kohli or Root, he may well have scored more runs than any other batsman this calendar year.
7. Jonny Bairstow (wk) (England)
The selection of wicketkeeper was a tricky one, mainly because none of them have really stood up with the bat over the last 12 months.
Bairstow gets the spot despite not keeping during England’s recent tour of Sri Lanka where he handed the gloves away to Ben Foakes.
On the plus side, he has batted extremely well with the middle order and tail throughout the year, racking up over 600 runs and doing it at a fair clip for the most part.
8. Nathan Lyon (Australia)
While Lyon received strong competition for the spinners spot from Dilruwan Perera of Sri Lanka, there was nothing between them at the end of the year.
Perera had a slightly better average, however, had the benefit of playing most of his cricket throughout the year in the sub-continent as Sri Lanka didn’t make any major tours of note, except for the West Indies, which virtually doesn’t count at this stage.
Lyon, on the other hand, has bowled against some top batting attacks in tough spin bowling conditions. They include a tour of South Africa, a difficult trip to Pakistan and some home Tests against India.
The fact he has managed to end up at the top of the tree for wickets with 49 at an average of 34.02 is a testament to the way he has played his cricket this year in a struggling Australian team.
9. Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan)
What a breakout year it’s been for Mohammad Abbas. The Pakistani quick finishes 2018 with a strike rate most could only dream about, taking a wicket once every 36.3 balls.
He hasn’t done it through sheer pace or extreme ball movement, but rather, just deadly accurate consistently and the ability to get the ball to reverse swing when in the dry, barren conditions of the United Arab Emirates.
His performances against Australia in the recently completed series were outstanding, and finishing his first full year of Test cricket with 38 wickets makes him one of the more exciting debutants we have seen in recent times.
10. James Anderson (England)
Anderson just won’t go away. He might now be 36 years of age, but he hasn’t slowed down even a little bit and in fact, might just be getting better with age.
He finishes the year in the top five for total wickets, ending with 43 at a ridiculously good average of 22.51.
He was a pivotal part of England’s series win over India through the middle of the year, and while he struggled during last year’s Ashes series in Australia, he was able to put all of that behind him and perform at the top of his game during 2018.
(Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)
11. Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
Kagiso Rababda will finish just about at the top of the tree for 2018. He is the best pace bowler in the world right now without a shadow of a doubt, playing in a South African attack which strikes fear into every opposition line-up they face.
He finishes 2018 with 52 wickets at 20.07, taking a wicket once every six and a half overs.
They are staggering stats to maintain across the entire year, especially when you consider they have played Australia (before the ball-tampering scandal) and India.
He was almost first picked for this side and wouldn’t look out of place in any high-performance team from 2018.
Roarers, what did you make of 2018. Who would have made your Test team of the year?
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
Rabada is amazing. Just think he is only 23 and already has over 150 wickets. He will be near the top of the tree when he retires. SA just keep producing amazing quicks.
Marshall
Guest
Would have Cummins over Anderson and no way would I have Kohli as captain with Williamson in the team, a true leader who actually lets his bat do the talking and leads by example.
Boycey
Guest
It will be well over 50
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
My team would be Latham Karunaratne Mendis Williamson (c) Nicholls Buttler Matthews Rabada Abbas Cummins Lyon
Paul
Roar Guru
Anderson is the 2nd best bowler in the ICC rankings and Bumrah is 16th. Bumrah had plenty of chances to bowl out sides in very friendly conditions in both SA and England and could not do so. I suggest the rankings and Scott have this just about right - for now.
danno
Guest
Karunaratne 743 @46 Latham 658 @59 Williamson 651 @59 Kohli 1322 @55 Mendis 1023 @46 Nicholls 658 @73 Pant 537 @38 Cummins 44 @19 Rabada 52 @20 Bumrah 48 @21 Islam 43 @22
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Kohli will end his career with a batting average under 50, which makes him about as good as Justin Langer or Damien Martyn, nowhere near test great status. Like I said, Pujara is better than him.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Some good picks but as for the keeper- Mushfiqur ‘s double century vs was against Zimbabwe!! His average over 14 other innings was 19, and he still had a lower average for the year than Paine. As for Holder, I dont think two many top orders would be shaking in their boots if you picked him ahead of Bumrah whose 48 wickets at 21.0 in 9 Tests were all away from home, in his first 9 Tests overall! And against SA, England (no.s 2 and 3 in the world) and Australia (OK, not so tough).
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Even Tim Paine? Average for the year about the same and a better keeper than Watling.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Some good pickups regarding Latham and Azam, but otherwise you’ve got to compare apples with apples. Miraz’s figures are a complete furphy - six of his eight Tests and 36 of his wickets were against Zimbabwe and the Windies (definitely oranges, and rotten ones at that) . Whereas he averaged 53 against Sri Lanka. Likewise Gabriel got a pile of his wickets against Bangladesh but averaged 48 against India who flogged him to all parts. Holder did better against India and is on the up - but results against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at home don’t quite match the feats of Bumrah, Rabada and co. Latham had a good average but it all depended on 264* v Sri Lanka at home, whereas he had ordinary series vs England and Pakistan. Azam certainly worthy of consideration in team of the year but I’d suggest only De Villiers and Nicholls of those noted above are definites for the team of the year.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Wrong, wrong. Across the world a lot of wickets favoured the bowlers in 2018 - particularly in SA and England. And a couple of batsmen did even better than Kohli - de Villiers and Nicholls. If you don’t think Kohli matches past greats, I dont think you’d be in my list of the great students of the game.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Thanks for putting this out there, always good fun for us nerds. The selections are mostly spot on but I’d suggest there is one obvious howler and a couple of very contestable picks. The howler is Bairstow, who only averaged 30 with the bat and only 26 as a keeper. There is a reason he was dropped. His replacement Ben Foakes has had a brilliant start with the bat and is a fantastic keeper. But he only played three Tests. In fact, the best of the rest in terms of batting was our own Tim Paine, with the exception of India’s Pant. But Pant is a bit of an iron-gloves, dropping five catches so far against Australia- something overlooked by commentators drooling over the number of straightforward ones he did catch. Commentators have also bizarrely been enamoured with Pant’s contributions to banter - such witticisms as “he hasn’t got any shots” and “he can only talk, he can’t bat”. You know, the sort of cowardly third person reference that would have had a 21 year-old sorted out behind the sheds in the days before the slips cordon evolved into a baseball dugout. Paine on the other hand is probably the best keeper in the world technically along with Foakes, has been a great captain, and deserves a place in team of the year. It’s surely hard to omit Bumrah from team of the year. He took 48 wickets at 21 in nine Tests - better numbers than Anderson’s and all on foreign soil. I’d be inclined to keep Abbas rather than Anderson in recognition of his achievements. Another forgotten man among the pace bowlers is Philander who also had better numbers than Anderson- 32 wickets at 17, with a batting average of 24 to boot! He was equally or more important than Rabada in the victories against India (ave 16) and Australia (17) and wouldn’t be out of place in team of the year. You also overlooked Yasir Shah. He took 34 wickets at 24, much better than Lyon’s average of 34, or Perera’s, and became the fastest bowler ever to take 200 wickets in terms of games played. Lyon didn’t do much against South Africa, but on the other hand his numbers in the UAE series were as good as Yasir’s, so in context perhaps they weren’t too far apart. But never argue in terms of aggregate wickets or runs alone - or maybe you think Alistair Cook was twice as good as Don Bradman? I’d also give AB de Villiers a farewell cap for his brilliance in averaging 64 in seven Tests against India and Australia, along with Kiwi Henry Nicholls who averaged for the year with three centuries, ahead of Root and Markram, who tailed off with an average of 34 for the year. Jos Buttler also shaded Root for England. So my team: Karunaratne Pujara Williamson Kohli de Villiers Nicholls Paine Yasir Shah Rabada Abbas Bumrah. 12th man: Philander. Reserves: Lyon, Buttler.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Hahahaha
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Without getting into the best debate which we can leave until he retires you genuinely need to personally dislike Kohli and be blind to his cricket to label him overrated as a batsman.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Good team Scott but based on 2018 there is no way Jimmy Anderson makes the team ahead of Jasprit Bumrah. The figures and the performance don’t suggest it.
Bangers N Mash
Guest
All this Kohli worship is becoming quite a bore. He hits a ball , with a bat , and it runs to a fence , and you’d think he just parted the Red Sea.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Pretty lean year in test cricket if the best batsmen in the world has only averaged 55. He's so over-rated, Ponting and Tendulkar went most of their careers at over 60 until old man time caught up with them, Smith is averaging over 60 now. So Kohli is first picked by virtue of there being no one else. I think Pujara is the best at the moment. Kohl is pretty good, but nowhere near the level of past greats, I guess it shows where test cricket is at.
Paul
Roar Guru
I guess it shows just how weak the number 3 spot is in world cricket that Pujara gets the nod. He had an incredibly poor tour of SA and wasn't considered for the First Test in England. He made one not out hundred in that our where he only made 278 runs, then cam to Oz had has batted as he can when conditions suit. Williamson is a far better number 3 than Pujara and is also a way better captain than Kohli who had completely run out of ideas by the end of the England tour.
john
Guest
how did james anderson struggle in the 2017 ashes? 17 wickets @ 27, with en economy of 2.11, bowling 200+ overs (the lowest economy and most overs for a pacer in the series), not a bad for a 35 year old in hot conditions.
Brian
Guest
Karunaratne Pujara Williamson Kohli Root Stokes De Kock Cummins Rabada Lyon Bumrah