2008 has been a breakthorugh year for Twenty Twenty cricket, as well as being the year that Michael Vaughan resigned as England Captain and Adam Gilchrist retired from international cricket. Among the drama there has also been some phenomenal performances with the willow and leather. Sport.co.uk took time out to take a look at the top ten cricketers of 2008.
10. Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
2008 was the year of the inaugural Indian Premier League, and no-one lit up the tournament quite like Kiwi wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum. McCullum, who represented the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, shook the tournament into life in just the first game with an unbelievable innings of 158 not out from 73 balls against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. McCullum’s 10 fours and 13 sixes showcased his incredible clean hitting ability and reinforced his reputation as one of cricket’s box office entertainers.
However, McCullum is not on this list simply through the playing of one single innings. The Kiwi has been New Zealand’s most consistent batsman over the last twelve months and continues to improve his already exemplary wicket-keeping. In March he guided Otago to New Zealand’s State Shield with a magnificent 170 in the final against Auckland, setting the record for highest individual score in one-day cricket in the country. In a year when New Zealand have struggled for results, McCullum’s breezy and effective style has been a rare positive for the Black Caps during a year when the team have struggled to get the results they deserve.
9. Michael Hussey (Australia)
When Mike Hussey began his international career in 2006 with an incredible sequence of exquisite innings his form was seen as being impressive but many thought his average to be inflated, a figure that would eventually plummet back to the levels of ordinary mortals. The fact that, two years after his debut, Hussey is still averaging 64 in Tests and 57 in ODI’s shows that the Western Australian is a remarkable talent.
Hussey has overtaken Ricky Ponting as Australia’s most consistent batsman and has played a vital role in stabilising the middle order during a time of transition in the wake of several high-profile retirements. Hussey’s batting is an enchanting mixture of the graceful and the workmanlike; he has elegant poise at the crease and plays his shots with a swaggering, classical ease. Hussey combines his easiness on the eye with a basic and compact technique, something which makes his wicket particularly difficult to claim. His batting ability in combination with a cool head under pressure has seen Michael Hussey become one of the world’s best batsmen in 2008.
8. James Anderson (England)
This has been a seminal year in the career of James Anderson. The fast bowler, once discarded as a talented but hugely erratic cricketer, has transformed his fortunes with strings of consistently inspired performances in 2008.
Anderson turned his Test match career around during England’s tour of New Zealand at the beginning of 2008 when he was called up to replace Matthew Hoggard for the second Test in Wellington. The Lancastrian took five wickets in the first innings and seven in total, impressing with his ability to swing the ball both ways with equal effect. Jimmy continued his good form throughout 2008, seizing himself the role of England’s strike bowler with 19 wickets during New Zealand’s tour to England and 15 scalps against the South Africans.
If Anderson can continue to improve then he can go on to establish himself as one of England’s finest international swing bowlers. At just 26, Jimmy still has at least six or seven seasons left at the highest level and could be leading England’s attack for years to come. Whatever happens, 2008 will be seen as the year James Anderson discovered his cricketing maturity.
7. Hashim Amla (South Africa)
After a nervous start to his international career, Hashim Amla finally realised his immense batting talents during 2008 and has become recognised as one of the most classically correct and mentally balanced batsmen in world cricket.
Amla’s elegant, unruffled stroke play has seen him compile some elegant innings over the last twelve months and come to the rescue of Graeme Smith’s team on more than one occasion. During South Africa’s tour to England during the summer Amla scored 275 runs in seven innings at an average of 45. During the tour, the South African of Indian descent showed great application to his craft and displayed powers of concentration which are unmatched in the international arena.
In some ways Amla is on this list more for his potential than for his form, although his form has been impressive in itself. The batsman has impressed team-mates and opponents alike with his cricketing intelligence and is in line to become the next captain of South African when Graeme Smith decides that it is time to pass on the mantle of leadership. In a few seasons time Amla could be one of the most important figures in the world game and 2008 can be seen as the year in which he first announced his abundant talents to cricket fans across the globe.
6. Stephen Harmison (England)
This has been Steve Harmison’s year of redemption. After a catastrophic Ashes tour in the winter of 2006 and early 2007 the fast bowler lost all form and confidence. The man who had once single-handedly destroyed the West Indies in their own back yard was a shadow of his former self.
However, 2008 will be remembered as the year when Harmison rediscovered his rampant best. 60 wickets in the County Championship with eventual champions Durham demonstrated his destructive ferocity with the ball and got him back in the frame for the national side.
Harmison’s return against South Africa at the Oval proved to be highly successful for the Durham man as he took four wickets in the match and scored a combative 49 not out in the first innings. He continued his good form during the ODI series and is now back to being somewhere near his best.
5. Yuvraj Singh (India)
Although Yuvraj’s Test form has never been particularly consistent, it is testament to his immense talents as a limited overs batsman that he makes this list largely on the strength of his ODI performances alone.
Yuvraj is one of a new breed of Indian cricketer, a young and dynamic performer with a penchant for delivering on the big stage. He is a stellar performer and 2008 has seen him continue the explosive form which saw him dominate the Twenty20 World Championships in 2007. Yuvraj was the driving force behind India’s thrashing of England in the recent ODI series, scoring 325 runs in 5 innings at an astronomical average of 108.3. He has followed that up with an impressive start to the brief Test series, scoring a majestic and assured 85 not out to guide his team to victory in an epic final-day run chase in Chennai.
4. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
A list of the top ten players of 2008 would not be complete without the inclusion of the ‘Little Master’. Although the last twelve moths haven’t perhaps been Tendulkar’s most productive in terms of sheer volume of runs, it has been the year in which he became Test cricket’s most prolific run scorer.
This year Tendulkar has added just the two centuries to his impressive tally, but he is not on this list for his form like the other nine players, he is on this list for his legacy. 2008 will be remembered as the year when Sachin Tendulkar carved his name into cricketing folklore. He is now the benchmark for every batsman that plays the game and it can be said with some degree of certainty that he is the greatest ever. Together with his huge capabilities he is also one of cricket’s genuine gentlemen and a true competitor. He may not be around for too much longer so we should appreciate the sheer greatness and elegance of the man before he walks off a cricket field for the final time.
3. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul just keeps relentlessly improving with age. The more seasons that go by, the better his batting seems to become. Chanderpaul’s form has seen him rise to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings and become quite possibly the most difficult man to dismiss in world cricket.
In a West Indies team that has found success hard to come by, Chanderpaul has often found himself batting to rescue his team from defeat. What was once the burden of Brian Lara has now been passed onto Chanderpaul and, fortunately for his team-mates, it is a job he is exceptionally good at. His capacity to bat out time is truly astonishing and his consistency over the last two seasons has been incredible.
Despite an unorthodox technique and bizarre mannerisms, Chanderpaul has transformed himself into a run machine and continues to blunt the world’s best bowling attacks on a frighteningly regular basis.
2. Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)
Daniel Vettori maybe a slightly left-field choice as the second best player of 2008, but the New Zealand captain continues to play exceptional cricket from match to match. The spinner has captained his side with the intelligence and subtlety that Stephen Fleming made his trademark and has been unlucky not to achieve better results during his first full year in charge.
Captaincy aside, Vettori is a superstar amongst what is generally a group of fairly mediocre players. His performances with the ball, in combination with McCullum’s adept batsmanship, is at the heart of every New Zealand performance. Vettori ‘s bowling is not his only strength, his batting has improved beyond all recognition over the course of the last year. His batting average of 27.19 is more than respectable for a player who regularly bats at eight. This, in combination with 274 Test wickets at 33.29 makes Vettori the key player in the New Zealand set-up.
However, the main reason Vettori is on this list is for the transformation in New Zealand’s ODI fortunes in the last year. The Black Cap’s are currently 5th in the ICC rankings but earlier this year were challenging for second spot in the list. If Vettori continues to inspire his side in the limited overs arena then we could well see the Kiwi’s challenging for honours during the next World Cup.
1. Virender Sehwag (India)
India’s Virender Sehwag has been simply unstoppable in 2008. This year we have seen the best of one of the world’s most brutal and destructive batsmen on a thrillingly regular basis.
In March we saw the very best of Sehwag as he destroyed South Africa’s much vaunted pace attack with ease. In Chennai Sehwag bludgeoned 319 runs from just 304 balls, the fastest triple hundred in history and one of the most incredible displays of raw attacking power ever witnessed. Sehwag’s revival after a uncharacteristically poor 2007 has been one of the driving forces behind India’s magnificent recent form, form which has seen the team outplay all opponents and become the unofficial best team in the world.
Sehwag’s Test average of 51.96 after 64 matches is a good indicator of the quality of this marvellous batsman. If he can carry his form over into the new year then India have every chance of enjoying another dominant year on the world stage.