With the summer coming to an end and the controversy over who's in and who's out of the tours to Bangladesh and India this autumn and winter to come it's time to look back on a season of mixed cricket for England's international teams.
We've been relatively lucky weather-wise, with the majority of tests and ODIs finishing with full overs. Lets take a look at each format, highlighting the star players and those others who will be looking over their shoulder in the very near future.
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Test matches:
Sri Lanka: England won 2-0
The summer kicked off with a fairly comprehensive win for the hosts in a Test series that failed to live up to any expectations, that were pretty low in the first place. Alastair Cook became the youngest batsman to reach 10,000 runs, a truly outstanding feat, although the skipper took his time getting their after some early failures.
Importantly for England they looked to have found an opening partner for 'Chef' with Alex Hales impressing with three scored above 80 but no centuries. Chris Woakes surprised many when he replaced the injured Ben Stokes.
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Coming off the back of a ninether in the County Championships the previously unimpressive all-rounder finished with a batting average of 52.5 and bowling figures of 8/150 at 18.75.
The series saw the end of Nick Compton's second international stint, with the no.3 insisting he needed a break from the game.
Pakistan: Drew 2-2
The test series versus Pakistan won't be forgotten in a hurry by anyone lucky enough to see it. Played in great spirit, both sides proved why they occupy two of the top four test rankings in world cricket.
Yasir Shah showed why he was so feared ahead of the series starring at Lord's as the leg spinner took a tenther as Pakistan won the first Test. Joe Root's 254 and 71 not out was the highlight of the second Test as England leveled the series. Woakes was a continued improving presence for England with a batting average in the mid 30s and taking 26 wickets at a brilliant 16.73 runs.
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A see saw series finished with England grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat before Pakistan levelled at 2-2 to earn themselves their place as the number one Test team in the world.
One Day Internationals:
Sri Lanka: England won 3-0
The ODIs started in spectacular fashion with Liam Plunkett smashing a six from the final ball to grab Eoin Morgan's side an unlikely draw and get the ball rolling for an exciting summer of limited overs cricket. That dampened Sri Lanka's mood, who went out to lose the ODI series 3-0.
The second ODI saw Jason Roy and Alex Hales wash out Sri Lanka's score on their own and when Sri Lanka posted 305 in the 4th ODI, England were unfazed as Jason Roy knocked 162 to make light work of a competitive total. The end of the series saw former England captain Michael Vaughan label the current side 'the best English ODI side' he'd ever seen. I would agree.
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Pakistan: England won 4-1
Pakistan, who had been immense value in the test match series, were no match for a far more modern England ODI side. Mark Wood returned to the side giving England further selection dilemmas in the bowling unit despite his county teammate Ben Stokes being only declared to bowl for the opening few games of the series.
Azhar Ali continued to score well but Pakistan's batting was not quite what is was in the tests. A special mention to the 3rd ODI at Trent Bridge where record-breaking was common place, with Alex Hales posting the highest score by an Englishman in an ODI on the way to a world record score of 444... for 3. Runs, everywhere. A brilliant reward for an England side who have come so far since the ODI World cup, which now seems a lifetime ago.
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T20s:
Beat Sri Lanka- A fairly uncompetitive T20 against Sri Lanka saw debutant Liam Dawson and previous World Cup star Chris Jordan deliver with the ball. Batting-wise, it is no surprise that England saw off Sri Lanka's 140 all out with stylistic ease, Buttler and Morgan providing the runs.
Lost to Pakistan- England were comprehensively beaten by Pakistan at Old Trafford, ending the summer on a bit of a low. Wahab Riaz and Swansea-born Imad Wasim proved too much for England's prolific batting line up, as Sharjeel and Latif knocked off England's lowly score in relative ease.. As England had done many times throughout the summer.
Players who excelled:
Chris Woakes was the man for the summer in Tests and ODIs, surprising everyone by going from stand in to undroppable.
Alex Hales scored a record One Day score for England but failed to impress in the longer format past the easy Sri Lanka series and questions remain over his continued selection, especially as he won't be in Bangladesh.
Joe Root continues to be near perfect in every format of the game and his move up to number three in the Tests didn't change a thing.
Jason Roy exemplifies the attacking cricket that England want to play and do play in limited overs cricket. With him, Buttler and the like in the team the squad could win the World Cup on home soil in 2019.
An overall successful summer for England, winning both 'super-series' in some style. The test match batting remains a bit of an issue, with the middle order being almost non-existent all summer. Luckily, England have lower order saviours as well as captain Cook and Root.
In limited overs, England look well set for the future. Losses at the end of the Pakistan series will humble the English confidence, but that should not mean they will stop playing their new style. This summer has shown the depth of England's limited overs squad, with multiple batsman and bowlers all knocking on Trevor Bayliss' door.
Words by Stuart Fagg
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