Virat Kohli, Steve Smith a breath of fresh air among old-timers who are producing the goods
THE magic of Steve Smith and Virat Kohli has been the perfect Christmas gift this year for a game craving new young superstars.
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THE magic of Steve Smith and Virat Kohli has been the perfect Christmas gift this year for a game craving new young superstars.
Just when historians were about to pencil in 2014 as the year of the senior citizen along came Smith and Kohli to stop them mid-sentence.
It was a close thing though.
As the final round of Test matches for the year draw to a close two of the top three runs-corers for the year — Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Pakistan’s Younis Khan — are age 37.
And the top five bowlers on the annual wicket-takers list — Rangana Herath, Jimmy Anderson, Mitchell Johnson, Dale Steyn and Dilruwan Perera — are also older than 30.
The moral?
Test cricket is still essentially the homeland of the strong, hardy veteran.
It’s also searching for new, young fresh stars so Smith has arrived at the perfect time.
He and the likes of Kohli, David Warner and Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews are shaping as the poster men of the future.
Here’s my World XI for 2014.
DAVID WARNER (Australia): No-one has bettered his six centuries for the year and his 2014 strike rate of 80 runs per hundred balls makes him a true dam-buster. Scored centuries in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates as well as Australia. Seems to be getting better by the year.
BRENDON MCCULLUM (New Zealand): Wonderful entertainer who has redefined himself as a Test player this year with two double centuries, a triple century and a rip-roaring 195 off 134 balls against Sri Lanka last week. His 33 sixes for the year is twice as many as anyone else. Question marks remain about his ability to tame the best attacks with just one century from 38 Tests against Australia, England and South Africa but his game has risen to freakish heights.
STEVE SMITH (Australia): What more can we say? Five centuries plus a 97, an average of 87 at a strike rate of 60. It’s all there. This was the year the boy became a man.
YOUNIS KHAN (Pakistan): Just the mention of his name will forever haunt Australian bowlers who found his blade broader than a warehouse wall in the recent series in the United Arab Emirates. Two hundreds and double hundred in succession against Australia represented the epic highlight of another great year. Quiet, determined and respectful, he has averaged above 50 in eight out of his last nine years and has been a modest, unpretentious master of his craft.
KUMAR SANGAKKARA (Sri Lanka): Debonair batsman whose Test average of 58 makes him an underrated superstar if there is such a thing. Scored more runs than anyone this year including 319 against Bangladesh, 221 against Pakistan and 147 against England. A trainee lawyer who is quick on the lip, he is also a canny sledger. Averages 63 at home and 53 away which means he is a freak on home soil and still world class on foreign soil.
ANGELO MATHEWS (Sri Lanka): Like Steve Smith, became captain of his country at 25 and hasn’t let them down, averaging 90-plus this year. Scored Test tons against England at Lord’s and Headingley. The World Cup could be the stage for him to blossom into one of the biggest names in the game. Originally caught the eye for his flamboyant fielding but has blossomed into a heavyweight Test player.
AB DE VILLIERS (South Africa): A freakishly talented multidimensional cricketer who has played 97 Tests in a row. Has preserved his career batting average of over 50 despite the burden of wicketkeeping. Scored a Test ton against Australia in another strong year. Does everything well. It is merciful relief to know he is thinning on top because at least that means he is not perfect.
MITCHELL JOHNSON (Australia): Had he not bowled a ball which hit the cut stuff after March would still have got in here on the strength his effort to tear down South Africa on their own patch. His 22 wickets in three Tests sentenced the Proteas to a rare home series loss as he left a path of destruction which saw the premature retirement of Graeme Smith. His fire was blunted by flat decks in the United Arab Emirates.
RANGANA HERATH (Sri Lanka): The cagey left-arm spinner, who has taken over from Muttiah Muralitharan as Sri Lanka’s No 1 bowler, will finish the year with 60 Test wickets, easily the most of any Test bowler.
Accurate, patient and creative all at once, he took nine wickets in an innings against Pakistan. Better at home than away but has still done some nice work in South Africa and Australia.
DALE STEYN (South Africa): Slick, professional and ruthless, he cleaned up weak batting line-ups from the West Indies and Zimbabwe, scythed through Sri Lanka on the spinning deck of Galle and two four wicket hauls against Australia in South Africa. Picks himself. One of the finest fast men of any era.
JIMMY ANDERSON (England): Just about to become England’s milestone man — his next Test will be is 100th and four more Test wickets will make him England’s leading wicket-taker ahead of Ian Botham. This was a typical Anderson year — tireless toil netted him just one five wicket haul but a solid spread of lesser hauls gave him 40 wickets at 22.
VIRAT KOHLI (12th man, India): Had a horrible series against England in England but his three centuries against Australia in Australia shaped him as a true world class performer and a player of rare charisma.
Originally published as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith a breath of fresh air among old-timers who are producing the goods
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