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Farewell Alastair Cook... viva Virat Kohli... bravo Kent... 2018 has been some season

Farewell, Cook: Alastair Cook acknowledges the Oval support after his final Test: AFP/Getty Images
Farewell, Cook: Alastair Cook acknowledges the Oval support after his final Test: AFP/Getty Images

Champagne moment

The Oval Test. Alastair Cook’s valedictory century and the nerves and ovations around it were magical, but for sheer drama, nothing beats Jimmy Anderson’s 564th Test wicket to overtake Glenn McGrath as Test cricket’s leading seamer. Anderson entered the summer needing 33 wickets, and sealed his 33rd with England’s final ball; the Oval was a much better place to take it than Galle. A shout here, too, for Worcestershire’s brilliant win on Finals Day. They have lost Joe Clarke, but let’s hope they can cling on to the super set of young bowlers — Josh Tongue, Ed Barnard, Dillon Pennington and Pat Brown — they have brought through.

Domestic player of the summer

Rory Burns. First summer as Surrey captain, Kumar Sangakkara’s runs to make up, a young squad to pull together, years of being overlooked by the selectors. Burns did all that and more to win the title, top the run charts and earn his first Test call-up. His next challenge is his toughest yet: solving England’s top order issues.

International player of the summer

(REUTERS)
(REUTERS)

A word for Jos Buttler, Sam Curran and Mohammad Abbas, but Virat Kohli operates on a different plane. Carried his team at Edgbaston, and the weight told later on, although he still found time for a 200-run match at Trent Bridge. Buried ghosts of 2014 in style and, for county bowlers’ sake, it is probably good that Surrey stint never happened. India are next here in 2021 and England best beware. A joy to watch, and a decent advert for the spot.

Best day out

Scotland (371 for five) beat England 365 by six runs. Just a great game and a hilarious day, with Scotsfolk running wild at the gorgeous Grange.

Signing of the summer

(Stu Forster/Getty Images)
(Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Quibble if you like, but Morne Morkel — like Simon Harmer last year — is everything that can be good about the Kolpak signing. A genuinely world-class player doing things that others in county cricket can’t, all the while getting stuck in and embracing life at his new club. Holds a decent fines’ meeting apparently, too. Others worth a shout: Will Rhodes, Matt Henry, Ryan Higgins.

Raise a glass to…

County livestreams, which are becoming more plentiful, higher quality and better watched. They are taking the game to new places.

Surprise package

Kent’s promotion is a great story, because things did not look pretty in April. Captain Sam Northeast had left, following a fallout. The squad looked stale and the club somewhat archaic. Paul Downton had arrived to fix things, but new captain Sam Billings was at the IPL. On day one, they were bowled out for 64 by Gloucestershire and lost but, since, they have won nine of 12 championship games, reached the One-Day Final, Blast quarters and have the best win ratio across formats in the county game. Bravo.

Best bromance

(Stu Forster/Getty Images)
(Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Ed Smith and James Taylor have selected pretty well so far, are impressively accountable and explain their decisions better than selectors before. Even dress similarly and, in each other’s company, look a little like Scooby and Scrappy-Do.

Pleasing resolution

The Adil Rashid-England-Yorkshire saga was ended for another 12 months yesterday, when he signed a new all-format deal. Rashid has been a terrific servant for his county across formats with bat and ball for well over a decade, an important plank of a successful era. That he turned his back on red-ball cricket says more about the state of the domestic game for spinners and his treatment by England than it does about him, but it’s good to have him back following an argument that was desperately immature and with fault on all sides. Hopefully, everyone can move on.

2018 in 40 words

A great international summer in which England’s white-ball side kicked on and the Test team were never dull, even if results against India flattered them. Not vintage domestically, but that’s at least in part down to a farcical schedule.

Hopes for 2019

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

England win a brilliant World Cup and that momentum keeps going in the Ashes that rides in its wake. That Marcus Trescothick plays on. A formal county transfer system is introduced. More championship cricket in high summer on better pitches. That the ECB pause to consider the by-products of the Hundred and whether it is worth it.

A retirees XI

Jimmy Adams, Alastair Cook (yes, I know he’s playing on at Essex), Jonathan Trott, Paul Collingwood (c), Sean Ervine, Andrew Hodd, James Foster (wkt), Steven Crook, James Tredwell, Jack Shantry, Steve Magoffin.