2016: Memorable moments

As we reach the end of a long 2016, it's that time when reviews of the year are to be found everywhere you look, and so it's time for me to add another. In the past I've done a list of five highlights; this year I'm going for more of a round-up, some memorable moments of the year mostly from the English game.

Ben Stokes batters South Africa

What list couldn't include this innings? Just the numbers speak for themselves: 258 runs from 198 balls; 130 runs scored in the morning session alone; a partnership of 399 alongside Jonny Bairstow, who made his own 150*. 2016 had barely begun, and it had already had one of its finest performances. It was a brutal assault, and one of the most incredible innings I've seen. And it was the start of a stellar year for Stokes, his finest yet with the bat and with the ball.

Carlos Brathwaite hits a six, and another, and another, and another

But not everything went right for Ben Stokes this year. West Indies needed 19 from the last over in the final of the World T20, with England sensing victory. Though Marlon Samuels stood at the other end with 85*, not much had come in the way of support with England's bowlers keeping it tight and taking regular wickets. But it was never quite over. Stokes was the bowler, Brathwaite was the batsman. Six, six, six, six. Four massive hits, an extraordinary innings for an extraordinary win. England were heartbroken; West Indies could dance the champion dance once again.

West Indies Women win the World T20

The men weren't the only West Indies team celebrating that night. Ahead of the women's World T20 final, Australia were the favourites by a distance. They'd won the last three tournaments, and beaten the West Indies in all eight of their previous meetings in the format. But history doesn't matter when finals are concerned. West Indies had 149 to chase down and were in charge all the way, not losing a wicket until they already had 120 on the board. 18-year-old Hayley Matthews made 66, captain Stafanie Taylor 59, and there was a new team at the top of the women's game. 

A big year for women's cricket

The West Indies' win was just one moment from a big year for women's cricket. The first WBBL in Australia, starting in late 2015, was a huge success, bringing new opportunities for players and bringing women's domestic cricket to the television screens. WBBL02 has built on this further, with more games on television and others streamed across Facebook. In England, it was all change, with a new captain and new coaching regime, with new players coming into the side and making an impact, and others coming on in leaps and bounds - opener Tammy Beaumont leading the way. It was also the first season for England's own Twenty20 competition, the KSL - with the Southern Vipers lifting the trophy. With a World Cup in England in 2017, it promises to be a bumper year again.

Misbah's press-ups

Maybe the most memorable moment of the English summer was not Misbah-ul-Haq's century in the first test at Lord's, but the celebration that followed - the press-ups on the hallowed turf. Four days later, after Yasir Shah had taken ten wickets in the game to defeat England, the whole team followed suit - with Younis Khan leading the way as the drillmaster. It was a Pakistan team united, and putting the ignominy of their last visit firmly in the past, with captain Misbah leading from the front. The series ended 2-2, and Pakistan rose to number one in the test rankings for the first time. 

England reach new heights

Though in test whites England often struggled this year, they were at home in the shortened formats. The pick of the bunch had to be that glorious day at Trent Bridge, where they racked up a mere 444/3 against Pakistan, the highest score in ODI history. Leading the way was Alex Hales, a score of 171 finally breaking Robin Smith's 23-year-old record for England's highest ODI innings. Jos Buttler (90 from 51) and Eoin Morgan (57 from 27) almost made that look boring. Last year's World Cup had become a distant memory.

The County Championship finale

I don't have the chance to go to a great deal of cricket, but I made sure to head down to Lord's for the last two days of the final round of the County Championship. Middlesex, Somerset, and Yorkshire were all still in the running going into the last match, with Middlesex and Yorkshire playing each other. First it was the battle for the bonus points, with Yorkshire needing 350 in the first innings to stay in the race - and rain stopping play at 349/9. Then, after Somerset's win, both sides were needing a victory to win the title. It came down to an engineered run chase, 240 from 40 overs for Yorkshire and a never-say-die attitude. Toby Roland-Jones took a hat trick and Middlesex were the winners, a dramatic end to a thrilling season.

A new star for Bangladesh

A series that England would have expected to win turned into a thrilling two games. The first, won by England, was one that went down to the wire. Ben Stokes was the hero, an all round display capped off by taking the last two wickets, but Bangladesh had only fallen 22 runs short. The second test saw England making a strong start in chasing 273, but 100/0 became 164 all out in the evening session. Bangladesh had claimed their biggest scalp yet, with Mehedi Hasan the hero - nineteen wickets across two tests, including three six-wicket hauls. And he only turned nineteen between tests. The future looked bright.

Bairstow's golden year

The year began with him only just having taken the gloves from Jos Buttler, still looking to really cement his place in the team, and still looking for that first test century having made his debut in 2012. The year ended with him established as one of England's star players, having scored the most test runs by any keeper in a calendar year, and only just falling short of Michael Vaughan's record for most runs by an Englishman in a year. Three centuries and eight fifties came in between, innings where he counterattacked, just attacked, or really had to dig deep and fight. His keeping, whilst still a work in progress, was definitely improving too. 

World Twenty20 reflections

Four balls, four sixes. The final was over, just like that. A final full of twists and turns; ups, downs, and ups again; forty overs filled with drama. England found themselves in a strong position with the West Indies needing 19 runs from the last six balls, but Carlos Brathwaite only needed four of those to pull off a spectacular win. It was one of those brilliant, freakish innings that you can't count on to happen, and yet happen they do. England, and especially the bowler Ben Stokes, were left heartbroken. For the West Indies, it was time to celebrate.

But as painful as that final turned out to be, to finish the tournament as runners up is still a great achievement for this very young England side. It was a team that had made tonnes of progress over the past year, but over which there were still plenty of questions to be answered, plenty of new tests to be had. It was a team with minimal experience of playing in India, and a side that still seemed to be searching for its best eleven. It was a team filled with the optimism of youth and promising results over the past year, but whose confidence might easily have been dented by a Twenty20 series defeat in South Africa, with many also involved as a 2-0 lead was surrendered in the ODI series. It was a team that had the potential to do something, but just as much potential to crash out in dramatic fashion.

And after a game and a half, it was the latter that seemed the most likely outcome. An opening loss to a Chris Gayle-inspired West Indies, and the tall task of chasing down 230 against South Africa. The tournament had barely begun and England were already facing an uphill task to make it through to the next stage.

But there was Joe Root, and Jason Roy, and Jos Buttler. The total was, unbelievably, chased down. That mantra of no fear, to always play with confidence and aggression, didn't look quite so foolish as it sometimes could. This was a team that backed themselves, a team on the up. They stumbled against Afghanistan but they still came on through, then delivered two of their best and most complete performances in matches against Sri Lanka and New Zealand - the first an effective knock out game, the second being the semi final.

The players were coming through, making their mark on the big stage. The ones you'd expect - Joe Root and Jos Buttler making key innings with the bat, Ben Stokes taking on key overs at the death. And then those perhaps less heralded faces. Chris Jordan, often maligned, but who has turned into England's main man with the ball at the death of an innings. Liam Plunkett, in and out of the side, but becoming England's most economical bowler once he found his way back in. David Willey, England's leading wicket taker who earned a spot in the team of the tournament. Jason Roy was another rising England star who made that team (Root and Buttler being the other England men), his innings of 78 against New Zealand being a particular highlight.

The final, well, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. 23/3 down in the powerplay, a recovery led by Root and Buttler, then further stumbles, comebacks, and stumbles. 155/9 was a total that didn't quite look enough, but at the same time a decent total considering the start they made. And it looked a better total after Joe Root - of all people - opened the bowling and dismissed both openers Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle. England were taking wickets and keeping things tight, but they couldn't budge Marlon Samuels, his 85* keeping West Indies in the game. But still, with 19 required from the last six balls, England had to be the favourites. Then there was Carlos Brathwaite.

Ben Stokes will be hurting after that final, after that over. But it's what sport is about: those amazing moments for one team that are so heartbreaking for the other side; those setbacks and how the person responds. Stokes has already had his share of setbacks in his brief career, and still has come back to do brilliant things. And I would back him again, he will learn from this experience and come back stronger.

Yet still, England can be proud of their performance in this tournament. For an unfancied, unproven team to get to the final - and come so close to winning the thing - is still an achievement, and bodes well for the future. There might still be some maturity to learn, but already they are showing the potential to beat anyone and challenge at the top. And if you compare the team now to how they were after the 50 over World Cup, things are almost unrecognisable. What a difference a year makes. Hopefully the upward curve will only continue.

Stop gatekeeping cricket

Here's the thing: I wrote something similar to this a year ago. And I'm still angry. Another global tournament has rolled around, and once again associate teams are being treated as second-rate nations. A mere inconvenience before the big boys join the tournament. It's hardly even a surprise.

Today was a heartbreaking day for associate teams at this World Twenty20. Rain was the only winner, completely washing out Netherlands v Oman and cutting Bangladesh v Ireland short before a result could be achieved. It meant both the Netherlands and Ireland were knocked out of the competition after just one full game. What chance can a team really be given to impress anyone, if that's all it takes to knock them out? Or is that the point - a pat on the back and a 'thanks for coming, we can take it from here'?

But the sport doesn't belong to anybody. It's not one group's job to act as gamekeeper and keep the rest out. William Porterfield summed it up in the post-match press conference today:

It doesn't happen in any other world competition. Every other sport grows their competition. 

Cricket doesn't. Cricket does its best to maintain the status quo, stop it from growing with excuses of promoting competitiveness. Money has the loudest voice at the table, with what sells best to the broadcasters having more influence than the growth of the game. God forbid a test nation is knocked out early at the hands of an associate. The effect their underachievement might have is obviously far more important than what progress the associate team is making.

But look, look at the achievements associates have made. Look at Oman - in the fifth division of the World Cricket League - springing an upset over Ireland in their very first match at an ICC global event. Watch that catch by Zeeshan Maqsood and say it wasn't a special moment. Look at Afghanistan, and how they have every reason to think themselves with the upper hand when they take on Zimbabwe tomorrow for a place in the next stage of the tournament. Who would have thought that they could have risen so quickly through cricket in such a short space of time? And sure, both Netherlands and Ireland will come away from this tournament disappointed, but both have shown again and again that they are worthy of a place, an opportunity to compete with the others.

And yet they will barely get that chance. Opportunities are becoming more and more limited, what with World Cups cut down in sides and few chances to play full members in between. Money seems barely to reach them either. How then can you have that chance to improve to the point where those in charge will deem you as 'competitive'? The standard of associate cricket gets better and better, but still the gap widens.

I suppose it's all there in the names. Full members, associates, and affiliates. There's the hierarchy, the list of priorities. Test status, ODI status, T20I status. Because a match played by a team without the right status obviously doesn't count as a full international, doesn't deserve its place in the record books. Sure, associates lose more matches than they win against full members, but that doesn't mean that they don't deserve their chance. That they haven't earned the right to be there. Watch Peter Borren today, and say that they don't matter.

But cricket is guarded by its elite, ring-fenced so nobody leaves or enters. The gatekeepers do their job, put their interests first, look after what they see as the good of the game. Me, I think there's a brilliant sport, a sport that I love - and why wouldn't you want it to grow stronger, more accessible, reach further? Associates deserve better.