As 2023 draws towards a close, Telegraph Sport will be assessing the top 30 players in Britain across various sports. On Monday our series started with women’s football while Tuesday was men’s football. Now it is time for men’s cricket.
To make the top 30, players must be playing domestically in Britain right now.
Do you agree with Tim’s choices? Scroll down and use the tool at the bottom of this article to help build the Telegraph readers’ ranking.
30 – Moeen Ali (Warwickshire and England)
A fine 10-year international career is now winding to a close. The T20 World Cup in June will, in all likelihood, mark the end of Moeen’s international career.
29 – Matthew Potts (Durham and England)
Only played a solitary Test, against Ireland – but, aged 25, will expect to enjoy more chances with the red and white-ball alike in 2024.
28 – Brydon Carse (Durham and England)
Developing into, England hope, Liam Plunkett’s long-term successor as a pound-the-pitch bowler in the middle overs in white-ball cricket. The improvement in Carse’s batting should help him to win further opportunities – including, perhaps, in Test cricket too.
27 – Gus Atkinson (Surrey and England)
Picked for England largely based on his pace, Atkinson’s early outings in international cricket justified the faith. Now, a tour of India will test his suitability for Test cricket too.
26 – Ben Foakes (Surrey and England)
Foakes’s omission for the Ashes was among the most controversial England decisions in years. Yet his return to the domestic was typical, unfussily continuing his fine wicketkeeping while averaging 40 to help Surrey regain the County Championship. A new central contract indicates that Foakes remains in England’s thoughts.
25 – Dawid Malan (Yorkshire and England)
Malan’s insatiable run-scoring edged Jason Roy out of a berth in the World Cup, where he was England’s top run-scorer. If his international career is at an end, Malan will finish with an ODI average of 56.
24 – Liam Livingstone (Lancashire and England)
Indifferent World Cup. However reliable his bowling has now become, Livingstone’s batting has not developed as hoped. Yet, aged 30, is now one of the senior players in the white-ball set-up.
23 – Sam Curran (Surrey and England)
A year after being player of the tournament in the victorious T20 World Cup, England still seem unsure of Curran’s best role. Using his batting more prominently, and reducing the pressure on him to bowl his full allocation of overs, might be wise.
22 – David Willey (Northants)
Retired from international cricket after understandably being miffed about not receiving a central contract. But a fine World Cup, including being player of the match in his last game, made for a very eloquent riposte.
21 – Liam Dawson (Hampshire and England)
Averaged 40 with the bat – normally batting at six – and 20 with the ball in an outstanding Division One campaign for Hampshire. No wonder England are keen for him to tour India. But, for all his domestic excellence in three formats, Dawson has no central contract and his international career might be over.
20 – Jack Leach (Somerset and England)
Eight wickets in England’s one-run defeat at Wellington suggested Leach’s adaptability. But a lower-back stress fracture prevented him from showing his development in the Ashes.
19 – Reece Topley (Surrey and England)
England’s best bowler in the World Cup, combining pace, swing, bounce and his left-arm angle, until suffering another injury.
18 – Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire and England)
A surprise Test selection, once again showing England’s willingness to trust in raw materials – pace and bounce – over County Championship statistics. Five wickets on debut against Ireland, and five in the match in his lone Ashes Test at Lord’s, created a fine impression – only for Tongue to suffer injuries that stopped him being capped in the white-ball formats too.
17 – Phil Salt (Lancashire and England)
Swashbuckling batting against West Indies, including back-to-back T20 hundreds, echoed Jason Roy’s role as opener in England’s post-2015 World Cup rebuild. Aged 27, Salt will now belatedly get an extended England opportunity.
16 – Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire and England)
It attests to Ahmed’s remarkable impact that England fans are already accustomed to having a 19-year-old leg spinner. By the end of 2024, Rehan could yet be first choice in all three formats. England believe that there is more to come from his batting, too.
15 – Will Jacks (Surrey and England)
English white-ball cricket’s coming man, making crucial contributions with bat and ball alike in the Caribbean. No central contract, but is already virtually inked in for the T20 World Cup.
14 – Adil Rashid (Yorkshire and England)
Quietly enjoyed a fine World Cup, with 15 wickets at 27 apiece. Has changed English attitudes to leg spin in white-ball cricket; now, for the first time, Rashid faces competition for his place.
13 – Ollie Pope (Surrey and England)
Injury limited England’s vice-captain to two Tests in the Ashes, when he failed to reach 50. The year ahead should being a chance to establish himself in ODIs too.
12 – Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire and England)
Technique and temperament came through the Ashes, though his returns dwindled slightly as the series wore on. His adaptability and prowess against spin means that he is being pushed as England’s new white-ball number four – at least until Ben Stokes returns once again.
11 – James Anderson (Lancashire and England)
Struggled in the Ashes but England’s highest ever Test wicket-taker has a new central contract, which will take him past his 42nd birthday. Now returns to India – the scene of perhaps his most celebrated over, in 2021.
10 – Jofra Archer (Sussex and England)
Began the year providing a reminder of his qualities – 12 wickets at 16 in four ODIs. A spate of injuries thereafter only emphasised how much England miss him, with real questions over whether Archer will be fit play Test cricket again.
9 – Zak Crawley (Kent and England)
Unexpected Ashes star, vindicating England’s long-held belief that his game is particularly well-suited to facing pace – especially short balls. Crawley’s 189 at Old Trafford, from 182 balls, left Australia looking bereft. England believe that these qualities will translate to the white-ball game too.
8 – Ollie Robinson (Sussex and England)
At 30, Robinson should now be the leader of England’s Test attack. His abundant quality only makes his injury absences, including for the last two Ashes Tests, more frustrating.
7 – Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire and England)
Returned for the Ashes in his old role as keeper-batsman, reopening English cricket’s eternal debate. Started unconvincingly, but improved with gloves and bat alike, though disappointed in the World Cup defence.
6 – Chris Woakes (Warwickshire and England)
His first Test of the Bazball was emphatically worth the wait: Woakes made such a sterling contribution that he was named player of the series. The only shame was that the ODI World Cup continued Woakes’s tendency to start white-ball tournaments slowly.
5 – Jos Buttler (Lancashire and England)
Torrid World Cup campaign as captain and with the bat, when he endured his most prolonged slump in international cricket. But remains among the most-feared white-ball batsmen in the world.
4 – Harry Brook (Yorkshire and England)
A good first Ashes series, including a match-winning innings at his home ground, confirmed Brook’s qualities. Now the only England batsman who is an automatic pick in all three formats.
3 – Mark Wood (Durham and England)
An outstanding Ashes showed how Wood’s blistering pace can be too much even for the world’s best. Little wonder that England awarded him a three-year central contract.
2 – Joe Root (Yorkshire and England)
Another outstanding year with the bat, averaging 66 in Tests, with the help of his reverse scoops. But, like England, endured a poor World Cup.
1 – Ben Stokes (Durham and England)
Ended the year on crutches, after a knee operation, but not before delivering a series of brilliant performances. His stunning 155 in the Ashes Test at Lord’s almost emulated his 2019 Headingley heist; his 80 at Leeds got England back into the series.
Ben Stokes is dismissed for 155 but receives a standing ovation from both sets of fans at Lord’s 👏 🏴 🇦🇺
What an innings. What a player. What a leader ✨ pic.twitter.com/amj5eNxagw
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 2, 2023
Without rain at Old Trafford, Stokes might well have become the first ever Englishman to win the Ashes from 2-0 down. His determination that England stick to their Bazball method after defeat in the opening two Tests was perhaps the most impressive feat of his Test captaincy yet.
After he reversed his ODI retirement, Stokes missed the first three games of the World Cup – but still ended up averaging 50.7. If he is indeed fit to play a full role with the ball, England will hope for even more to come next year
Have your say
Vote up or down for every player to help build a readers’ ranking of the names in our list
Article courtesy of
Source link
