How England’s players rate after Tests against Sri Lanka and India

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/aug/18/england-test-summer-player-ratings

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Alastair Cook 7/10

Despite ending the summer with three half centuries in four innings, a total of 376 runs in 11 with an average of less than 40 represents unacceptably slim pickings given Cook’s previous standards – and his wait for a Test ton will now stretch until next April, at the earliest, which will be a startling 23 months since his last. He gains an extra point for captaincy; not for funky field placings, but as a leader of men who has earned total respect from an inexperienced international team for the way he coped with pressure.

Sam Robson 4/10

He only scored 40 runs fewer than Cook from the same number of innings, although his average only scrapes above 30 because of the absence of red ink. But whereas his captain has improved after a bad start, Robson has faded badly after early promise, with only 106 runs from six innings against India after he had opened the series with a half century at Trent Bridge. He’ll always have happy memories of his second Test at Headingley, when he scored an efficient century against Sri Lanka while his parents watched on, but that must already seem a long time ago.

Gary Ballance 9/10

Eyebrows were raised when Ballance was given the No3 role, which had been filled for so long by Jonathan Trott and was expected to go to Ian Bell or Joe Root, for his second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in May. At that point he had 25 runs from two Test innings. Now he has 729 from 13, including three centuries, and is averaging more than 60. Even when he took his top off outside a Nottingham nightclub, the Zimbabwe-born left-hander demonstrated his assimilation by chanting “England, England, England” – and he ended with a blinding slip catch at The Oval. Perhaps the biggest of several ticks for James Whitaker and the rest of his selection panel.

Ian Bell 6/10

An aggregate of 434 runs, and an average within 0.6 of 40, sounds perfectly respectable, and England’s de facto vice captain did have his moments – a handy half century on the first Test morning of the season at Lord’s, and a big ton (167) to help reclaim the initiative and demoralise India in Southampton. But the pleasing, and infuriatingly insubstantial, half centuries in Leeds and Manchester were a reversion to the bad Bell of old. More is needed, although he is definitely a good influence in the dressing room and a handy bloke to have at second slip.

Joe Root 9/10

He looks as happy at five as his Yorkshire pal Ballance at three, and his summer statistics are even more impressive. Scoring at least a half century in each match of a five-Test series earned him a place in the record books alongside Wally Hammond and Peter May, and Root may never again enjoy a summer as golden as 777 runs at 97. His baby face may have looked incongruous on the front row of the team photo at Lord’s in May, but he now acts like a senior player, albeit a pleasingly mischievous one. Most encouragingly of all, he seems to have grown from, rather than been broken by, last winter’s Ashes trauma.

Moeen Ali 7/10

He ends an unforgettable debut Test summer with a batting average (31.77) slightly higher than the cost of his 22 wickets (28.09), the bald statistic which confirms that England have a proper all-rounder. But there is so much more to Moeen than numbers. As he says himself, it’s still too early to rely on him as a long-term spinning successor to Graeme Swann. But he’s shown huge promise – and it certainly isn’t too early to identify him as a cult hero and a player of potentially huge significance for English cricket in all sorts of ways. And that’s without mentioning his batting. His century at Headingley may have been in vain, but there is a good argument that it remains the best and most memorable innings of the summer.

Matt Prior 4/10

That’s a harsh mark for a bloke who went through the pain barrier for the first four Tests of the summer, gave his all as ever, and made a significant contribution to a positive if ultimately frustrating start against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. But the manner of his departure, with a shot every bit as self-indulgent as that played by his nemesis Kevin Pietersen in Perth, left a sour taste. His ‘keeping became clunky, and if that was understandable given his physical condition, then nobody was forcing him to play. Perhaps Prior’s greatest contribution to England’s summer was delaying the introduction of his successor until what has turned out to be the perfect time.

Jos Buttler 8/10

He obviously hasn’t made as substantial a contribution to the summer as the ever-present top six, but equally he couldn’t have done much better in the three matches he has played. England have won all three – if Buttler maintains that strikerate, he would equal Tim Bresnan’s record against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next autumn, with an Ashes whitewash in the bank. Buttler has contributed to all three, too, with 200 runs from three innings, all scored with speed and style, and many of them in partnership with Root. His glovework has not looked out of place. In fact that’s an understatement. Another big reason to be cheerful.

Ben Stokes 4/10

He paid a heavy penalty for thumping that locker in the Caribbean. Without damaging his hand, Stokes would surely have started the Test summer against Sri Lanka in May, probably batting at No6 or No7 on the back of that brilliant century in Perth. Instead he had to wait until the India series, found himself down at No8, and was spectacularly incapable of pressing a case for promotion as he was out for three consecutive ducks. His bowling was much more promising, as he showed the capability and willingness to charge in for long spells, and occasionally to drag some life from unrewarding surfaces. England will hope the chastening experience of missing three great victories having driven away from each on the first morning will sharpen Stokes’s hunger.

Jimmy Anderson 8/10

For what will the 2014 summer be best remembered? The fall and rise of Cook has been a captivating personal story with a happy ending, but in an international career stretching back to 2003 Anderson has surely never commanded so many headlines and column inches. It is easy to forget efforts that bordered on the heroic against Sri Lanka, but which left him bitterly disappointed on each occasion having failed to force victory with the ball at Lord’s or to avert defeat with the bat at Headingley. Then came Trent Bridge, and a combination of more bowling frustration, which bubbled over in his clash with Ravindra Jadeja, alleviated by an improbable batting bonanza. He could have bowled better in helpful conditions at Lord’s, but it’s been all milk and honey since Southampton, with Anderson’s disciplinary record left unstained, and 16 wickets at 13 to take his tally for the summer to 37. That probably deserves nine out of 10, but he loses a mark for bad behaviour. Sorry, Jim.

Stuart Broad 7/10

It is easy to forget that Broad was arguably the senior player who had let Cook down most damagingly in the first four Tests of the summer. With the spectacular exception of a hat-trick at Headingley, which initially escaped his own notice, he’d failed to match the standards set by Anderson and seemed to be struggling mentally as much physically to cope with his niggling knee. But Broad took crucial first-innings wickets in Southampton and then set up the victory at Old Trafford with six more on the first day, before putting himself at the centre of the Oval build-up by under-edging Varun Aaron’s bouncer through the gap in his helmet. His freewheeling innings in the fifth Test showed courage, but also confirmed that he has underachieved with the bat too often.

Liam Plunkett 6/10

The joy of his international recall at the age of 29, more than seven years since his last Test appearance, had started to fade when he experienced a second defeat, against India at Lord’s, to go with two draws. But Plunkett’s wholehearted and pacy performances deserved much better than that, and it was cruel for him to miss all three victories – suffering an ankle injury that ruled him out of Old Trafford and The Oval after being rested in Southampton. The worry for him now must be that with England’s next Tests in the Caribbean next April, he may struggle to get back in for the Ashes.

Chris Jordan 6.5/10

A bit of a rollercoaster, leading to a slightly indeterminate mark. He made a promising start against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, was less impressive in Leeds, and then omitted for the first two Tests against India, and not very good at all when recalled in Southampton. But Jordan’s batting, and especially fielding ability, helped to persuade England to stick with him, and it all came right in the second innings at Old Trafford, and especially at The Oval, his former county ground with Surrey, where he had match figures of seven for 50. Falls in that same reason-to-be-cheerful category as Buttler, Ballance and Root.

Chris Woakes 6/10

The lazy option would be to cut and paste some of the above about Jordan, although Woakes had to wait longer for his first chance of the summer – in Southampton – and bowled much better there than Chris-Jo, even if he also remained wicketless. He confirmed that positive impression in Manchester, where he also batted well, and especially at The Oval, where he also fielded well. The sort of intelligent, reliable, hard-working, adaptable cricketer who Cook and Peter Moores will want to keep in their set-up. They’ll see Woakes as another reason to be cheerful, even if he has yet to dazzle the wider cricketing public.